[Genshin Impact] The Snow of Snezhnaya

Whenever he dreamed of her, he could clearly feel her cool, piercing presence, purer and lovelier than snow. Tartaglia dreamed of her again, her clear, sweet voice calling his name. Whenever his heart wavered, remembering that moment was enough to make him look back and hold firm to his convictions.

He had thought she was the Tsaritsa. Even after disaster changed her nature, he would protect her, becoming the sharpest blade to defend Snezhnaya and its queen.

For her, he would gladly give his life.

-- From Chacha's perspective --

The first time she met him, the girl smiled faintly. "What's your name?"

"Tartaglia."

What a pity. He wasn't the one.

The second time they met, his gaze paused on her for a brief moment.

By the third time, the girl already knew he was the person she had been looking for.

To keep from starving in a foreign land, she worked herself to the bone to earn money. She sold tea leaves and paintings, took odd jobs, and made plenty of friends. She even managed to buy an entire home in Liyue Harbor, where property prices were sky-high. The payment term was a hundred years. Only later did she discover that she had lived for several thousand years and was still so broke she could barely afford a meal.

Everyone knew Tartaglia was Chacha's beloved, but only Tartaglia knew she had never fully clarified their relationship or plainly said she liked him. Even someone as confident and powerful as Tartaglia began to feel lost.

Badly injured, Tartaglia collapsed in her arms as her gentle Hydro power healed him. He asked the question that had been weighing on his heart: "Are you her?"

The person who had given him a meal in that freezing, snow-covered mountain, sung a beautiful ballad, and shown him the way home.

Whether she was or wasn't no longer mattered.

The boy had grown into the person he wanted to be, becoming Snezhnaya's unbreakable weapon. But the woman from that time was no longer so powerful. It would have taken just one word, one nod, to change everything.

--

Tartaglia didn't consider himself a decent, blameless man, but around Chacha he did his best to be gentle and chivalrous, always putting her first.

"Harbinger, Mr. Zhongli says he wants to watch Miss Chacha carve flowers."

Tartaglia, who had been practicing his chopstick skills with Chacha, snapped his chopsticks in half. A vein throbbed at his temple. "Get someone else to do it!"

"Harbinger! This is bad, the dog next door is back!"

"Dog? What dog?"

"Miss Chacha's dog! Harbinger, why are you going out with a weapon?"

"I'm going to neuter them."

A sharp-tongued, stubborn duck who thinks he has no interest in women x a sweet on the surface, cunning underneath, nonhuman girl who plays the pig to eat the tiger

[1. Original character x Tartaglia, with heavy alterations. Genshin Impact only, with changes to the plot. The love interest is not the Tsaritsa. The heroine isn't especially powerful, though that may change later.

The writing style is still pretty humorous. If it bothers you, feel free to come beat me up. The male lead suffers... ahem, not suffers, just doesn't always get his way.]

Premise: Love bravely, and live without regrets