A marriage of convenience

by Mirageofadreamstuff

Summary:

To improve the strained relations between Monstadt, Liyue, and Snezhnaya, Barbatos suggests a marriage between the acting grand master, a member of the Quixing, and a Harbinger. Morax and the Tsarita agree, and so Celestia has made its choice.

(INDEFINITE HIATUS)

Notes:

We are referring to Childe as Ajax. This is the only warning you get

Chapter 1: Jean:Lord Barbatos, I say this with respect, but what the fuck

It really wasn’t every day Lord Barbatos descended from Celestia with a heavenly decree. As the people rejoiced, Jean could only question what madness awaited them. Lord Barbatos, or Venti as he now preferred to be called, spent most of his time drunk or singing ballads, he refused to take on his godly form even when Dvalin was attacking the city. If he was here in all his celestial glory, (if you could call it that), then truly whatever was headed for them was tevyat-shattering. As she broke out of her thoughts, she heard the last of his speech. “Now if I may personally address our acting grandmaster, I would be most pleased.” The people cleared a path straight to her. “Jean, the acting grandmaster, a hard worker, and honestly one of the people I’m most impressed by.” The people murmured in agreement. “You’ve also kept my identity secret from the people of Monstadt!” Oh, so he was doing this now. This was fine. (Maybe she should act on the free drink offer Charles gave her…) “You have proven to be an honorable woman, greatly respected by even gods. As of such, you have been chosen to help bring about a new era of peace between nations.”

A new era of peace? The people ooh’d and ahh’d around them. Well, at least it wasn’t a declaration of another archon war. “Jean, if you agree, you will participate in a marriage with Lady Ningguang of the Liyue Quixing, and Tartaglia of the Fatui harbingers. This marriage is meant to bring peace and unite these people for their own good. I’m not trying to pressure you, but you’re kinda the only candidate we have. So, do you agree?”

All the people looked towards Jean, but the only one she paid attention to was Barbara. Her little sister. If she accepted, she would have to leave her behind, but her safety and the safety of her people would be guaranteed. An alliance with Liyue and Snezhnaya would greatly benefit Monstadt, opening their horizons to new materials and trade offers. She didn’t know much, but both Lady Ningguang and Tartaglia have been stated to be extremely good leaders, so even if their marriage was an unhappy one, she felt she could trust them to maintain their responsibilities and not take out marital issues on the people they lead. She looked into Barbara’s eyes, looking for one more piece of guidance, and as Barbara nodded, her mind was made up.

“Lord Barbatos, I agree to the marriage.”

Chapter 2: Ajax: Orders from the Tsarita

Another day, another discovery. Today it was that Her Majesty the Tsarita had called a meeting of utmost importance. The subject? Tartaglia. As he walked down the hallway, his footsteps echoing as the snow fell on the crystal pillars on the outside of the building, he couldn’t help but worry. Being chosen by the Tsarita to be a harbinger and wield nearly godlike power was an honor. Or so he had always been told. But what if she decided to revoke that honor?

He would be cast out into the snow, left to fend for himself. No. He took a deep breath. He wouldn’t let that happen. He worked so hard to get here, to secure a place in the world for himself, to keep his siblings safe. Although he enjoyed his life of battle and diplomacy, it wasn’t the life he wished for his siblings. The only reason he even started down this path was because of the teachings from the strange sword wielder in the abyss.

It was them who taught him to wield the blade. It was also them who imparted the knowledge of foul legacy to him, and for that he would be forever grateful. However after meeting the traveler, she saw the resemblance between them. Blonde hair, clothing unlike any seen in Tevayt, and a mysterious flame in their eyes, revealing that they were much more dangerous and far stronger then their innocent appearances gave away. The traveler was the only one other then that person from the abyss that was able to beat him.

He looked up from his feet and realized he was at the door of the throne room. He put on his best confident smile, and walked in. Most of the other harbingers were there, excluding Scaramouche and Signora. They were in Inazuma on the Tsarita’s orders. “Ajax.”

The Tsarita wasn’t one to call her harbingers by their given names, preferring to keep a professional air about her. As the other harbingers looked at him, he could feel his stomach twist, but he pushed it down. “To improve relations with Monstadt and Liyue, you will be getting married.” Still with a smile on his face, he was now screaming internally. Marriage? Him? To people he didn’t even know? Obviously there was a good reason for this, but it was quite shocking.

“The people you will be getting married to are the acting grandmaster Jean Gunnhildr and and Ningguang, the Tianquan of the Liyue Qixing. The goal of this marriage is to bring a new era of prosperity to Snezhnaya and its people. Do you accept?”

Knowing the Tsarita, he would probably be moved to Monstadt or Liyue, as most people didn’t adapt well to Snezhnaya’s climate. His siblings wouldn’t take well to that, seeing as he had arrived home a mere six months ago. However, it would allow him the opportunity to bring them with him, and secure a future where they would never need or want for anything.

Seeing the calculating look in his eyes, the Tsarita spoke once more. “If you accept, your personal budget will be raised, allowing you to have family accompany you if you so wish. If you did bring them with you, proper accommodations would be made.”

The smile on his face no longer feeling fake, he nodded. “I accept your Majesty.”

Chapter 3: Ningguang: why is there so much paperwork

Summary:

if this doesn’t make sense I’m sorry but I haven’t slept and I’m eating a popsicle at nearly six in the morning so I think you can tell how fast my mental state is deteriorating

Ningguang looked up from the forms she was filling out and took a glance at her desk. Paperwork, paperwork, some Snezhnayan fire water as a pre-wedding gift, paperwork, more fucking paperwork. Ever since Rex Lapis revealed he was still alive to the general public, (which had been nearly two days ago) hundreds of forms piled on her desk.

Apparently a group of successful merchants had been slacking off and forging the annual tax forms that were turned in a week ago. So now she had to look at the files and write down the accurate information.

The merchants in question were dealt with rather quickly thanks to Yanfei seeing the inconsistencies and compiling a case to be brought to her attention, leaving the paperwork all that was yet to be completed. It was times like this when she understood why Beidou tended to avoid the law.

“Hey Ningguang, how’s it going?!” Speak of the devil. Beidou, the alcoholic pirate captain in question had kicked open her door again, leaving yet another small mark from her heel. One of these days Beidou was just going to rip down her door and she wouldn’t be surprised.

“I came back from taking the traveler to Inazuma, only to hear everywhere that you’ve finessed yourself into a marriage with a harbinger and the acting grandmaster. What’s that about?”
She pulled the chair in front of Ningguang’s desk forward and sat down. “Celestia has made a decree to prevent bad relations with Monstadt and Snezhnaya. I’m starting to understand your love for the bottle.”

Beidou smiled. It wasn’t her usual cocky smile, but a soft one. The one Beidou usually directed to the rock musician and Inazuman poet she thought of has her children. “Ya know, you’ve got quite a lot of work to catch up on, and it’ll be way harder if you can’t see straight. Here, let me look through the files for you while you write down the figures so you’re not still here at sunrise.”

Chapter 4: Jean: moving out

Summary:

A home has been prepared as part of the marriage contract, and Jean is the first to move in.

As Jean counted bags and crates, she couldn’t help but be thankful for the help of the traveler, on one of their commissions outside Inazuma. Both their incredible strength and their ability to bypass a barrier put in place by one of the Seven made her question if they weren’t quite as human as they seemed. However, she didn’t want to think about it and pushed it to the back of her mind. Besides, she reasoned, it was none of her business. With the help of the traveler, the Journey from Monstadt to Liyue was quite simple.

However the trek up the stairs of this unreasonably large house was a bit harder. They were only halfway up, and as Paimon’s counting reminded her, they were four hundred seventy three steps up. Jean hoped she could work from home in someway, as going up and down these stairs multiple times a day was not how she would prefer to get her exercise.

Luckily she only had to take a one way trip up these stairs. And then she had to put everything away, including the two vases she got from Kaeya and Dulic. She remembered that both her father and Barbara’s mother had vases as gifts from Master Crepus. What was it with the Ragnvindrs and giving people vases? “Andddd, nine hundred forty six! We’re at the top now! Fucking Finally!”

She would never get used to Paimon swearing like a sailor whenever she wasn’t translating for the traveler. Although the traveler understood the basics, they never really had the time to sit down and study Tevayt’s linguistics, what with their journey to find their sibling and their rather chaotic lifestyle. Added to the fact that they tended to be rather quiet (she wondered if they were selectively mute) Paimon did the talking (and the swearing) for both of them. Now that she could stop pushing the cart up the stairs, she took the opportunity to stretch before opening the doors. A grand yet empty and slightly dusty mansion lay before her, vaguely reminiscent of the travelers home inside their serenitea pot before it was filled with furniture, pets, and the calming aura that seemed to surround the traveler.

it seemed like an eternity before the basic necessities and her room were set up and ready to be lived in. As the traveler and Paimon departed with a swirl of stars, she watched the sun set before retiring for the night. Tomorrow one of her fiancé’s would move in, Ningguang of the Liyue Quixing. It would take more time before Tartaglia, the Eleventh Fatui Harbinger would arrive, but she decided against thinking about it further and fell into a deep sleep.

Chapter 5

Notes:

I know it’s been like a year but I got COVID, failed all my classes, and got partially hospitalized so I spend 8 hours a day 5 days a week in another city for adolescent group therapy and I also found out I grew up in a sex cult so yeah

Ningguang was having trouble moving out. As the Tianquan of the Liyue Qixing, she had a rather large house and a catalogs worth of personal possessions. It was the kind of home she had dreamed of as a child while bandaging her raw fingers after spending a day crawling through rocks to find shells good enough to sell. She still had little white scars on her hands and feet from years of doing so. She hadn’t seen the house yet, but the traveler assured her there was more then enough room for her things after they saw the house, and she trusted their judgment.

As an outlander who managed to catch the attention of three Archons, defeated “Stormterror” Dvalin, gained the favor of the Adepti, survived the Electro Archon’s fatal blow, harnessed the ambitions of the people, defeated two harbingers, bypassed a gods barrier and defeated the slumbering god Osai, she was quite glad that Liyue fell under the protection of the traveler. Considering recent events from the Inazuman news brought by Beidou, she doubted Liyue would still be standing if they had earned the ire of the traveler.

Luckily her home was in an out of the way location, so she wouldn’t have to cart her things through the middle of Liyue Harbor. She wasn’t fond of the idea of any more foot traffic.

The new house overlooked Liyue Harbor from a hill nearby it, and there were a few lights on inside the second floor of the huge house. It dwarfed the Jade Chamber, which was not an easy feat. The Jade Chamber was currently in the process of being rebuilt bigger then ever before, currently planned to be twice the size, but it would still be like a puppy standing next to a wolf.

It appeared the money came from the Tsarita’s personal coffers, as somewhat of an apology for the disturbances her forces had created in her name. As the large door opened, the traveler appeared inside, beckoning her in. Paimon explained that after the struggle of moving in Jean’s possessions, they decided to ask for help from a certain maid.

Ningguang had seen much, but she couldn’t say she expected this dainty girl to carry her antique statues in one hand without being crushed. Noelle, as she now knew her name was, finished moving her things in only an hour, and then asked the traveler for more work.

Seeing the Geo vision on her back, Ningguang smiled. For some reason, seeing this girl working happily, reminded her of herself in her young adulthood. As Paimon asked what she wanted for dinner because traveler was ready to cook, she let herself relax. Things would be okay.