[Look at her pout. It's like he's the one who caught her in 4K this time. But he waits patiently for her answer as she sighs in resignation and thinks about it, feeling his heart soar with her answer. Ultimately, he wanted to be feared by others, for his opponents on the battlefield to quake at the sound of his name. But there's a certain elation he feels now hearing her express how she's come to admire another side of him, the one that was never able to be erased by the Abyss's influence on his mind. The one that was nurtured in him from a young age, upholding the ideal that Her Majesty herself used to hold so dear: love. Love for his family and the sense of innocence he wanted every child to have.
So enamored with her answer, he doesn't notice how his cheeks flush and his expression softens, sighing with content out of his nose. Lumine brings him out of his reverie by poking him and huffing, getting him to laugh and cough at the same time, his body shaking with the effort but still happy all the same.]
Hahaha-! [Cough cough] Oh, I suppose I can't keep all my secrets now, can I? Well...
[He clears his throat as he thinks, but there's really only one answer here for him.]
I'd say it was back in Liyue. You'd already earned my respect after our battle at the Golden House, but it wasn't until after we'd visited Dottore's facility that I really started to look at you in a different light. You took good care of Teucer, despite perhaps needing a few lessons on how to deal with kids, [he teases, ruffling her hair a little as he laughs.]
Your kindness that day has never gone unappreciated. Maybe it was then, when I realized that someone who strives to become strong like myself and who also has a deep well of kindness was someone who I could truly admire. After we parted at the bank, I couldn't get you off my mind. It took some time, but eventually I had to accept that I'd fallen in love.
SOB THE BETRAYAL HERE, HE CAN'T BELIEVE IT
So enamored with her answer, he doesn't notice how his cheeks flush and his expression softens, sighing with content out of his nose. Lumine brings him out of his reverie by poking him and huffing, getting him to laugh and cough at the same time, his body shaking with the effort but still happy all the same.]
Hahaha-! [Cough cough] Oh, I suppose I can't keep all my secrets now, can I? Well...
[He clears his throat as he thinks, but there's really only one answer here for him.]
I'd say it was back in Liyue. You'd already earned my respect after our battle at the Golden House, but it wasn't until after we'd visited Dottore's facility that I really started to look at you in a different light. You took good care of Teucer, despite perhaps needing a few lessons on how to deal with kids, [he teases, ruffling her hair a little as he laughs.]
Your kindness that day has never gone unappreciated. Maybe it was then, when I realized that someone who strives to become strong like myself and who also has a deep well of kindness was someone who I could truly admire. After we parted at the bank, I couldn't get you off my mind. It took some time, but eventually I had to accept that I'd fallen in love.