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It was a sunny Tuesday morning when Diluc Ragnvindr was given the news that Kaeya Alberich had died.
He had forgotten the details of that morning, just remembering that the sun shone brightly through the windows of his office when there was a knock on his door.
“Come in, Adelinde.” He didn’t even bother to look up from the documents he was sifting through.
“Master Diluc, Acting Grand Master Jean has come to visit.” Her voice was leveled, not knowing what was to come.
It was unusual for Jean to come uninvited, but he asked Adelinde to let her in. Jean walked over to his desk, looking the same as always.
“Why are you here?” He didn’t bother looking up.
“Diluc.” No response.
“Diluc.” The only sound in the room was the handling of paper.
“Diluc, please look at me. It’s important.” He finally stopped what he was doing and looked at Jean.
“Please make it quick, I’m quite busy at the moment.”
Jean took a deep breath before speaking. “I am sorry to inform you, but the Cavalry Captain Kaeya Alberich has passed away on a mission.”
Diluc almost dropped his pen.
“He was a great coworker and I hope that Lady Vennessa will take good care of him. On behalf of the Knights of Favonius, we are truly sorry for your loss. As you should know, we will compensate his whole family and sort everything else out.”
“Stop-”
“In 3 to 5 business days, we will contact you to pick up items he has decided to give you from his will.”
“Jean, stop-”
“Everything else that was not listed in the will goes to you, his closest relative. They will be distributed with the other items.”
Jean continued to give out the same speech every family member of a deceased member of the Knights of Favonius gets, but Diluc knew it like the back of his hand. He’s given out this speech far too many times before in his youth.
“If you have any questions regarding his death, please come visit me at the headquarters.” She looked like she had just finished reciting a normal reading.
Letting everything sink in, they both sat in silence. “I don’t think that’ll be necessary. Thank you.” As Diluc stood up, he straightened his jacket.
Jean bowed. “Would you like me to tell Adelinde or do you want to tell her yourself?”
“I can do it myself.”
“Noted, have a nice day.” She promptly left without another word.
Once she left, Diluc didn’t cry. There was no need to.
He didn’t cry as he told Adelinde and the other maids. He didn’t cry when they started bawling. He didn’t cry when he went back to his office to work. He didn’t cry when he went to bed nor when he woke up the next morning.
Diluc didn’t cry for the loss of Kaeya Alberich. Why would he?
3 days later, Jean arrived at Dawn Winery again. None of them spoke the whole trip to the headquarters. It wasn’t until they got close to Kaeya’s room when Jean spoke up.
“I remember when he first moved in. He was so excited, you know?” Diluc just nodded. “He came in with huge boxes. There were only 3 when he got here, but I think there’s over 10 now. I brought a cart to help you take them.”
“Me?”
“Yes. It was specified to give all of the boxes and their contents to you when he passed.” There was silence.
Trying to start small talk, Jean spoke some more. “He said he wanted to give them to you himself. He was always talking about you and I don’t think he even noticed half the time.”
“That’s enough. I don’t want to hear it.” She stopped talking and finally unlocked the door to the room.
The window was open and the bed was unmade. Jean wasn’t lying when she said that there were a bunch of boxes. They varied in size but were all relatively big.
“You can look through the boxes as I pack everything else that he has chosen to give to you.”
“Everything else?”
“Yes, he asked for almost everything to be given to you.”
“Oh.”
Diluc grabbed the box labelled “1” and opened it up.
It was filled with hundreds of envelopes. They were surprisingly organized neatly, stacked up and sorted by oldest to newest.
He just picked one from the middle, not knowing what the contents could possibly be.
It was a letter dated from when Kaeya was 15.
Dear ‘Luc,
It’s day 150 of writing to you. I can’t believe I’ve been writing to you for this long. Hard to believe that this all started because father told me to improve my handwriting, huh? I wonder if I’ll ever give these to you, I hope not. I said a bunch of things in previous letters that I don’t want anyone to see. Well, I guess we’ll just have to wait for the future to find out.
He picked up another envelope near the end of the box.
Hey Diluc!
I don’t have much to say but here’s a seashell we found today. Thank you for coming with me to find seashells.
Inside the envelope was a blue-ish seashell that was next to the letter.
He continued looking through letters, each one either revealing a bit more about Kaeya or just random nonsense like how the trees looked that day. Some had items, some didn’t. Some letters were only a sentence long and some had taken multiple pieces of paper. All of them were addressed to Diluc.
Hello Diluc,
I wonder how you’re doing. I miss you.
Yo!
It’s your birthday today! I’m gonna visit you at the tavern. Hope you don’t kick me out.
Update: You kicked me out again. At least I got to see you. I hope you like your gift.
I really miss you.
Hello Diluc.
I love you. Wish I could tell you in person.
Hey!
I know I say this every year, but I think tomorrow will finally be the day I tell you how I feel. I’m prepared for the rejection. Are you eating enough? Lisa saw you in town earlier and she said you got skinnier. I know you hate eating fowl, but the protein’s good for you. Maybe I’ll send some over to the winery. How’s Adelinde? Is she still her same-old self? Anyways, I’m going to go kill the birds on the bridge to send to you. See ya later I guess.
Diluc,
It’s my birthday. The traveller planned a dinner for me. We’re having fun, but it would be better if you were here with me. Well, nothing I can do to change that. Might visit the tavern later today.
Update: Thanks for the free drinks.
Good morning ‘Luc,
I have to go on a mission today. I’m only going with one other person since Jean didn’t approve of it. I found something that could give us more information about the Abyss. When I come back home, I’ll tell you how I feel. Please forgive me.
These letters won’t make Diluc cry. No matter how much it hurt, he won’t cry. He carefully put all of the letters back and stacked the boxes on the cart Jean brought. She was almost done packing.
“Diluc, Kaeya was found with this in the cave.” Jean held a crumpled up letter that came from her pocket.
“A cave?”
“He was searching for the Abyss. The other knight who was with him was new. He said that they got ambushed and were outnumbered. They managed to run away to a cave, but Kaeya was bleeding out. He told the knight to run back and to send backup. When we arrived, he… he was already gone.” She bit her lip to stop the tears from falling. “He had a piece of paper in his hand. He usually carries paper with him to every mission. I assume it’s the letters he put in the boxes.”
“I had to read the letter to make sure that there wasn’t any crucial information about the abyss in it. I wasn’t trying to get in your personal business, I’m sorry.” For the first time in a few days, the dandelion knight looked sincere.
“Diluc, he really cared for you. He constantly wanted to make up with you. He’s loved you for years, please know that. Everyone else knew. Diluc-”
“Please refrain from saying anymore,” Diluc snapped. They both went silent, the ceiling fan whirring.
They moved everything to Dawn Winery without a word being spoken and eye contact being made. Once they were done, Jean left.
Sitting alone in his room, the young man carefully unfolded the letter to read its contents. It was covered in blood, but he chose to ignore it.
The handwriting was considerably worse than before, like it was written in a rush. Each word held so much meaning in them, so much intent. Each word being written for Diluc. With Kaeya’s dying words, he decided to use them to convey his feelings for his first and only love. The person who had helped him through childhood and his reason for fighting as an adult.
Upon finishing the letter, Diluc finally let his walls down and his tears fall.