Genshin Impact: Even a Fatui Deputy Has a Need for Love

[The bonus chapters are still stuck in labor... The new story is delayed, probably until winter break (looks away)] [I've reflected on things. The romance has been moving too slowly, so I'll pick up the pace. Written July 14.] [Important: Remember to read the reader's guide below the blurb before starting the story.] The pairing is with an original character. Other people get a golden finger from the start when they end up in another world. Xie Miao started out as an orphan. His parents died in battle, and he was sent to an orphanage where he endured the devilish training of “Mother.” In local terms, he became one of the children of the House of the Hearth, under the Fatui of Snezhnaya. He was expected to inherit the duties of his Fatui parents, who had also come from the House of the Hearth, and continue serving the great Tsaritsa. Xie Miao thought, Fine, no problem. She provides food, shelter, and care, and I'll risk life and limb for the Tsaritsa in return. Fair enough. That was assuming he survived to adulthood and became a full-fledged Fatui soldier. After all, the House of the Hearth, run by Lady “Mother,” was practically a living hell. If not for the fact that his parents had died as heroes, and he couldn't be treated like an ordinary orphan, Xie Miao figured he would have been turned into fertilizer and died long ago. Xie Miao wanted to survive, and to live well. So he did everything he could to learn how to kill and complete the missions “Mother” assigned him. On the day he officially joined the Fatui, the Harbinger “The Knave,” or rather the House of the Hearth's “Mother,” Crucabena, gave him a Pyro Delusion. Xie Miao wielded dual blades, raised Electro Cicin Mages, carried a great hammer, and used a rifle. After escaping the House of the Hearth, the hardships faced by new Fatui recruits were nothing. On the night Crucabena died, he even earned a glance from the Tsaritsa, and a Cryo Vision appeared in his palm. Xie Miao firmly believed that his future would be as crystal-clear as this Gnosis. That was until he became the Eleventh Harbinger, Tartaglia's adjutant. Xie Miao: “...” Tartaglia was a good person. Or rather, he was one of the few good-natured Harbingers in the Fatui. But that kindness was nothing compared to his terrifying destructive power and appetite for battle. Xie Miao had never understood why a sniper like him had been transferred to serve as an adjutant, until he realized he could calmly maintain contact with the Captain's adjutant and arrange his boss's next sparring match; perfectly interpret what “The Rooster,” “The Balladeer,” “The Fair Lady,” and the others really meant, and pull his boss back from the vortex of solving every problem with brute force into a world ordinary people could understand; face a financial mess with composure, withstand “The Regrator's” icy smile, and secure the expected funds; and protect his boss's image in front of his family... “Xie Miao, you're the best adjutant I could ask for!” After Xie Miao had once again bailed his boss out of trouble, the man slung an arm around his shoulders like an old buddy. “We'll be the best of brothers for life.” “Sure,” Xie Miao said. “Then please sign my leave application first.” “What leave... Marriage leave? You're getting married? To whom?” His boss stared in disbelief, as if their journey was meant to reach the stars and the sea, but his good brother had chosen to fall in love instead. “No way. When did you start dating?” “When you went to Liyue to seize the Gnosis, I was your accompanying adjutant. Amid the crowds of Liyue Harbor, I found the love of my life.” Xie Miao's usually expressionless face took on a shy look, making his boss stare in horror. “He's from a respectable family. There's nothing suspicious about him.” His boss: “No, there is something suspicious, and it's a big problem. What kind of love potion did he give you? I remember you two were practically trying to kill each other before. Tell me the truth.” Xie Miao: “Marriage leave is long. My application won't be rejected.” His boss: “...I give up!” Xie Miao and Feng Yang first met on an official assignment. In the chilly spring weather at a Liyue dock, a handsome young man from Snezhnaya seemed to be fretting over how to find his destination in the vast expanse of Liyue Harbor. Feng Yang happened to pass by and kindly took the stranger under his wing, smoothly winning over a foreign visitor and getting hired as his tour guide. What a familiar scenario... But Xie Miao's disguise was so convincing, blending truth and lies together, that the young master of Liyue Harbor quickly fell for those blue-violet eyes. That lasted until “Tartaglia” arrived in Liyue Harbor as planned, and the drama of the Gnosis heist began in earnest. Xie Miao, wearing a mask as Xie Miaoer, was the Fatui adjutant Feng Yang hated, able to decide life and death with one shot from two thousand meters away. Unmasked, Xie Miao was the icy Snezhnayan whose heart Feng Yang had warmed, and who made an exception for him alone. A kiss on the corner of Feng Yang's mouth, shared after a few drinks, had him imagining the fabric and patterns of their wedding clothes, as well as how many guests to invite. Then Feng Yang saw his boyfriend, the man he'd already proposed to and become engaged to, standing beside the infamous Fatui Harbinger. Only then did he realize that the year and a half they'd shared had been nothing but a fragile dream. “Did you ever really care about me?” “I don't kiss my targets on the lips.” The Fatui adjutant spoke frankly in front of the gods and the Harbinger. “My feelings for you are real, but so was using you.” Xie Miao was blunt as ever. Who said being Fatui meant giving up on love? The Harbingers had their missions and ambitions. He was just a lowly adjutant. What was wrong with falling in love on a business trip? Was needing a relationship really such an unforgivable thing? “The Fair Lady” scoffed. “He looks like a pathetic little dog. Aren't you going to comfort him?” Xie Miao replied coldly, “The ship back to Snezhnaya is about to leave, Lady. We need to get going.” There was a bonus for going back. He wasn't about to give it up. Leaving Feng Yang in despair, weeping bitterly, he returned home in a daze, only to find his ex-boyfriend, who'd dumped him, sitting in the living room drinking tea. “I am Xie Miao, adjutant to the Fatui Harbinger ‘Tartaglia.’ I came to Liyue for a mission, and now it's complete. Can we get to know each other again?” “...Why didn't you leave with that woman?” “She kicked me off the ship.” “...Xie Miao!!!” [Reader's guide] 1. An ostensibly expressionless, career-minded bottom × an outgoing, lovesick, cool-guy top. The top is younger. 2. The main story won't be changed much. The Fatui sections will involve extensive invention based on the material already available. There will be many original characters, so if that's not your thing, steer clear. 3. The protagonist isn't from Teyvat, hasn't played the game, and doesn't know the story or characters. This is a realistic take on life in another world. 4. The protagonist is actually pretty career-minded. He falls in love while traveling on business at the company's expense, without neglecting his work. There's little romance in the early part of the story. 5. They're Fatui, so expect bloodshed. 6. His relationship with Tartaglia is pure brotherhood, best-buddy stuff. He's his boss, which is why he takes up so much of the blurb. 7. If you're interested, please add the story to your favorites and leave a comment. I really love reading them!!! (spins around, sobbing dramatically.jpg) Theme: As long as life goes on, so does the struggle