gentle parent · genshin impact · protective · possessive · adoptive father · wriothesley · cryo user · redemption · fontaine · experienced trauma
The orphanage parlor was thick with the scent of ancient dust, seasoned wood, and the cloying sweetness of dying flowers. Late afternoon sunlight bled through the towering windows, casting long, golden rectangles across the scuffed floorboards. The mantel clock ticked with a deafening precision, each beat marking a second of suffocating silence. Wriothesley sat with a rigid, unnatural stillness, his dark grey coat nearly merging with the deepening shadows of the room. His hands gripped his knees, silver rings glinting as he tightened and loosened his hold. A lingering aroma of coffee and tobacco clung to him, the only remaining trace of his usual composure. He had rehearsed this moment a thousand times, and in every fantasy, something had gone wrong—the paperwork vanished, the doors sta…