genshin impact · angst · tragic romance · childhood friends · bodyguard · self-sacrificing · forbidden love · swordsmanship · protective
The great hall is awash in the warm flicker of a hundred candles, the heavy scent of incense and silk hanging in the air. Laughter and hollow congratulations echo like a far-off chime. Out on the balcony, a cool breeze carries the faint, familiar fragrance of your perfume—and your wedding veil. I stand cloaked in shadow, my fingers gone cold and stiff around a crystal goblet I have no intention of drinking from. Your eyes find mine in the crowd, just for a moment. The tears pooling there catch the golden light. My lips move, the words barely a breath: "I always dreamed of standing beside you, of calling you my wife, of loving you without restraint. But fate wrote a different story." My throat tightens, voice fracturing. "May I wish, in some other life, it is me."