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Chapter 03
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PRINCESS OF TEYVAT.

•••

"Princess Lumine?"

The girl froze upon the call of her name, staring at you with a mixture of shock and fear present in her royal features. Even Paimon, who had literally just been fished out of the cold lake, stayed silent when you spoke the name of the princess in front of you.

Lumine took one step back, which did not go unnoticed to both you and your companion.

"Hold on!" you instinctively called out of fear she would run off. Whether the princess listened to you or not, you weren't sure, but she definitely froze in place at the sound of your voice. "We bring you no harm," you attempted to assure, even slightly bowing to her.

The fear that was laced in her eyes died down just a tad in her eyes, though hesitation remained. It was quite obvious she held suspicions over you, though you hoped Paimon's little drowning stunt would make her disregard the idea of you being a threat. However, Paimon not being exactly human could also be another cause of her suspicions, but you supposed it was better than her running off.

"Who are you?" she questioned, and her voice was severely different from the friendly apology she yelled out a few minutes ago when she fished out Paimon. Though she asked a question, it was demanding. The query came off as a command for an answer, and it boomed like the voice of any royal should.

After your name, you introduced yourself as, "An official from the Faction of Favonius, here on a mission to bring you home safely."

You expected her suspicions to double over after that, but what you witnessed instead was the rolling of her eyes. She scoffed at what seemed to be the notion of your mission: to escort her back home. At least it was better than her being wary of you as a potential threat, you figured.

Still, this wasn't quite the reaction nor meeting you were anticipating. With the princess missing and the kingdom officials in panic, you more or less expected her to be thrilled seeing someone like you coming to her rescue. In fact, you fully envisioned some sort of confrontation or great escape to happen just to save her—not that you wanted her to be in danger, or anything, but it was an expectation nonetheless.

And that expectation was the only doubt you had left over this mission.

But now that the threat of danger was gone, this mission suddenly seemed like an easy one. In fact, it was so easy, that Paimon and you had only been venturing for half a day at most, so the faction capital shouldn't be too far. Plus, while this forest was a bit far away from any village, you were still safe knowing you were still sectioned in your home faction, at least. Since the sun would be beginning to set quiet soon, it seemed smart to set up a camp here for the night, and then to travel back once morning dawned.

"But..." Paimon started to voice out after (surprisingly) being quiet for so long. "It can't be that easy, right?"

You silently agreed, but you also weren't complaining.

At Paimon's little jab, Lumine seemed to remember something and began, "By the way, Miss Escort."

"'Miss Escort'?" you echoed in distaste of the princess' attitude. "If I'm recalling things correctly, I've already told you my name."

"But you're my self-proclaimed escort, correct?" she shot back stubbornly with a spoiled pout. "Then as the princess, I choose to refer to you as such."

You suddenly regretted telling her the details of your mission.

Dear Celestia, were all the royals of Teyvat this snooty? You could only ponder what her brother may act like on the throne. However, it wasn't like you were going to deal with her much longer, anyways, for this mission would be over by tomorrow. You explained to Lumine the plan to sleep in this forest overnight, and then travel back to the capital by morning. All she gave you was a scoff under her hooded cape and the crossing of her arms, but she didn't leave, so you could only hope that meant she'd comply.

Four nations at the compass corners of one continent, the Celestial Altar sitting in the center—that was the final destination. But the Faction of Favonius capital was your first stop, and soon, this would all be over.

•••

Carelessly tossed wood cracked and crackled under mundane flames, yet as unremarkable as they were, this small patch of fire was the only source of entertainment the three of you had.

Paimon flew a bit above the flames, doing her best to cook some of the fish Princess Lumine had caught out of the lake earlier. Meanwhile, you and the princess sat a little ways apart from each other on the ground as you watched your tiny companion cook fish on a stick. When she seemed to finish the first one, she handed it over to Lumine first.

"Here you go!" she said with a proud, toothy grin. "As a thanks for saving my life!"

The princess wordlessly took the fish from her hands, reluctantly beginning to chew on the food. In the meantime, Paimon quickly got out another fish from the batch and started cooking that one, presumably for you. She was a lot quicker this time, especially after she experienced cooking the first one.

Then, as if to break the silence, Lumine suddenly made a noise of distaste before remarking, "This tastes awful—did you even cook it properly? One end tastes undercooked, and the other side is practically burned."

Offended, Paimon gasped as the princess, "Excuse me? I am a perfect chef, mind you!" She then lifted what she was currently cooking away from the fire and stuck the fish right in front of your face. "Captain! Try my cooking so you can prove her wrong!" Your companion's angry little face gave you no room to refuse, and so you took the stick off of her hands, and bit into it.

"It's..." you hummed for a moment with a mouthful of the food. "It's pretty good, Paimon!"

Your companion gasped again, but this time in pure glee from your words of approval. She stuck her tongue out at Lumine, who could only groan and roll her eyes in both annoyance and disagreement. But she worked her way around eating the fish nevertheless, presumably because there was nothing else to eat.

"I'm gonna go catch a few more fish!" Paimon announced after a few seconds. "There is only a bit left, and I want to bring some for our travels tomorrow."

"Don't drown again," Lumine muttered.

"I won't!" Paimon glared. "I know how to do it this time," she claimed. You wordlessly gave her a thumbs up, to which she smiled at and took as a sign to go on ahead back to the lake.

You waited for a moment. Once you were sure she was fully out of hearing range, you quickly spit the food out of your mouth and onto the dirt before burying it with your shoe. You uttered something along the lines of "Dear Celestia, that was awful," and then you quickly scarfed down some water.

Beside you, Lumine suddenly let out an uncontrolled laugh, which she tried her best to muffle behind her hand.

"So that's why you weren't talking," she spoke triumphantly. "I knew I wasn't crazy. Her cooking was horrible."

"Well, yeah," you agreed guilty after wiping your mouth. "But the last thing I want to do is make her feel bad about it."

"Actually, I didn't want to ask this while she was still here," Lumine thoughtfully began to ask, "but what exactly is she? Paimon, I mean. I've never seen anything like her before."

Ah, you knew this question would come up eventually. You never intended for the princess to see Paimon—your plan was to hide your little companion in your backpack once you found her—but it seems fate had other plans the moment Paimon first dove into that lake. Nevertheless you were thankful that Lumine was respectful enough to hold off this question until Paimon was gone.

"I'm not quite sure myself," you sheepishly answered. "I've always thought of her as one of those fairies you read in storybooks, but Paimon herself doesn't quite know what she is, either." You didn't really mind telling the princess the truth about your companion, to be frank, just as long as she didn't turn her in. "Just, please don't tell anyone about her," you pleaded. "I'd hate for her to be the subject of some supernatural experiment."

"The two of you seem close, and even fond of each other in a sort of sibling way," she hummed. "And what's up with that 'captain' nickname she calls you?" The princess didn't quite respond to your request, but considering she didn't turn it down, you'd take it as compliance.

You shrugged, "She's been calling me that ever since she put her trust in me." Lumine seemed to take your short explanation as a full answer as she nodded. "Paimon's a good companion, I promise," you told her. "She just... hasn't been outside very often, and she's easily excitable."

"I can tell," Lumine almost scoffed. Her voice then lowered to an almost-whisper as she cast her gaze thoughtfully towards the fire, telling you, "I thought she was some annoying baby you were taking care of at first. But... I think it's nice that you have her." You remained quiet at her little admittance, allowing her to finish. "The both of you aren't alone when you have each other..."

Silence fell upon you two for a moment, and the princess' expression seemed like she was deep in thought. As a form of respect, you turned away to watch the fire as well.

Among the sounds of crackling and burning, you couldn't help but wonder how things ended up this way. From her disappearance to this easy find—were you just lucky to be the first one to find her? But she didn't seem most. In fact, she was casually fishing before you found her. The hooded cloak she still wore around her figure notioned that she was hiding as well, and you couldn't help but ponder Lisa's parting conversation with you.

"This may just be some speculation, but I feel it's important to note that the princess may have chosen to leave out of her own free will," was what Lisa told you before you left.

Her words, which you initially paid no heed to, played like a record in your mind.

"The true dangers to the princess... may be the kingdom itself."

"Say," you began, breaking the silence. Lumine snapped out of her thoughts and looked towards you in curiosity. Her features no longer held much hesitance or distaste towards you, which you appreciated. "If I may ask," you carefully brought up, "why did you leave the throne?" Under the assumption you willingly left, you inwardly added.

Lumine's eyes clouded with panic for a moment. Her mouth opened to say something, before shutting as if she cut herself off. She took a few seconds to presumably organize her thoughts. And then she opened her mouth again to speak, until—

BOOM!

Both of your heads snapped towards the direction of the sound.

"What was that?" Lumine hurriedly uttered.

"Paimon? Was that you? Are you there?" you panicked, worried that she had drowned or ran into an enemy.

But your little companion suddenly flew right into your vision, and to your surprise, in her tiny arms she carried a fish that was practically bigger than her own body. Despite its size, she flew excitedly around with it in glee, leaving you and Lumine basically stunned in surprise.

"Captain, look!" she giddily yelled. "I caught a sturgeon!"

Squinting at her fast-paced motions, you saw that the large fish was, in fact, a sturgeon. Are we even near a river mouth for her to catch one...? you thought incredulously. And how did she even catch one? But all your thoughts—and even Lumine's thoughts, for that matter—were left unspoken as Paimon continued to happily fly around with the sturgeon in pride.

"We're eating caviar tonight, girls!" she squealed.

Lumine quickly shook her head to snap herself out of the initial shock, before she scoffed, "I only eat caviar cured from Snezhnaya." She stubbornly crossed her arms as Paimon groaned at her attitude, but then she quickly casted her gaze down to the side. "...But thank you," she muttered quietly.

You caught yourself smiling at their little interaction—at least Lumine was starting to warm up, you supposed. Standing up, you made your way over to your floating companion to take the fish out of her arms. Once the weight was gone, she made a sound of gratitude as she stretched her arms and flew around much easier now.

"I'll prepare the rest of the food for tonight," you declared before Paimon could offer, and you swore you saw Lumine thank the heavens from the corner of your eyes. "Caviar spoils when it's packed incorrectly, so let's feast now before we leave, shall we?"

"Yes, captain!" Paimon delightedly agreed. "We got a long hike back to the capital tomorrow!"

"We sure do," you laughed at her.

Unbeknownst to even herself, a small smile settled its way onto Princess Lumine's face, and she found herself talking and laughing along with her new friends until you all soundly fell asleep under the stars.

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ALLEGIANCE
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