[The comfort that flows into him as he feels Lumine relax in his hold is everything. She was always on guard around him when they first met, understandably so, and it wasn't until recently where their meet ups had less tension in it. Maybe it had something to do with the few days before he'd parted Inazuma, when she'd ran into himself and Yoimiya tracking down the Great Mujina Yokai and spending time with those kids, maybe it had to do with Teucer and the realization that he wasn't always being a Harbinger every time she saw him. But whatever the reason was, it helped lead to this, and he couldn't be more grateful for it.

Tartaglia can't help but laugh at how she reacts. Those glowing eyes, amused and happy at his decision, that sight alone was worth any reprimand he'd get from Jester and then some.]

To think, the Traveler single-handedly delaying our special project because she refused to let a Harbinger go, [he teases, already forgetting the name of Project Stuzha.]

"My deepest apologies," [he begins to say as if he were speaking with the other Harbingers,] "you see, I've been a prisoner of war, locked up against my will. I was weak and unable to do much, subject to all of the Traveler's whims. There was nothing I could do other than focus on recovering until I could escape." Does that sound like a good excuse?

[He asks with a laugh, knowing full well that no one's buying that story. It's no secret that he'd taken a liking to Lumine, and no Harbinger will believe that he was kidnapped. He definitely stayed of his own volition.]

It'll put you in the books for one of the greatest blows dealt to the Fatui. Not even that Mondstadter came close to ruining our plans, hahaha.