The Prince despised every second he had to spend being with the human girl. How dare she hold his sister's hairclip in her filthy hands? 

Everyone in Teyvat didn't deserve to be near him or Lumine. Not one of those wretched humans, archons, whatever or whomever lived in the Seven Nations deserved her time. 

What was more infuriating was her recognition of him. She seemed to recognise him, which couldn't be possible considering he was almost always within the shadows observing his plans. 

Did she mistake him for another?

"Oh!! Is this hairclip yours?" The girl walked towards him, and he had to resist the instinctive urge to break her neck or draw out his sword. He couldn't risk it with Lumine's head piece being in her hand. 

Not willing to talk to her, he simply nodded his head. 

"Here" She stretched out her hand in front of Aether, the Inteyvat flowers and feathers resting delicately on her palm. 

His lip curled into an almost imperceptible frown as his clenched fists seemed to get even stiffer. His eyebrows knitted together, as his glare got even narrower. That didn't seem to disturb the brunette, quite the contrary, her smile seemed to grow more genuine. 

How ridiculously irritating...

"Do you find touching me repulsive?" Aether hated himself for recoiling at the rather blunt question. 

How did she simply smile at something that most mortals found insulting?

"I normally don't force people to initiate physical contact with me, but the flowers feel very delicate, and I don't want to accidentally crush them. You, however, would be a lot more careful with the clip than I would be" 

His knitted eyebrows relaxed as his golden eyes grew a little wider. The Inteyvat flowers were... delicate? How could they be delicate in this girl's hands? That was...unnatural, to put it mildly. 

On another note, the mortal unfortunately also made a valid point regarding the clips. 

Begrudgingly, he took a few steps towards the brunette, quietly noting the severe height difference. His gloved hand flexed, and in one swift swoop, he snatched the hairclip away from her. He tried to back away, putting as much distance between him and her as possible, but ended up dropping the accessory.

Quicker than he had expected, the brunette had stopped the fall of the clip. 

"Be careful there!" she exclaimed as she idly straightened out the feathers. Then, as gently as she could, she let the clip drop down onto the frozen golden-haired male's still outstretched hand. 

"Please take care of that from now on, it seems really important to you" Flashing him another blinding smile, she turned to walk away from him. 

"Halt" Snapping out of his momentary daze, Aether finally opened his mouth and uttered a word. Stopping midway, she turned around and raised an eyebrow, a questioning look on her face.

"Tell me your name"

"My name is Divyasree, but some people find it to be a mouthful, so you can call me Divya if you wish"

Now being able to put a name to a face, Aether nodded his head at Divya, a sign of acknowledgement. Meanwhile, his mind sped to analyse her origins.

A native from Sumeru? No, that is not it. She seems to wear clothes from Mondstadt, so perhaps a traveler?

"What is your name?" Divya suddenly asked him. 

"...Just call me Prince"

"I believe I asked for your name, not for your nickname" The Ruler of the Abyss scoffed at her statement, before crossing his arms and once again glaring at her.

"And who are you to believe I am lying?"

Another smile. That smile was beginning to infuriate him. Why did she smile in a dangerous situation? Did she have no sense of self-preservation?

"You asked for my name, so it's only fair you give me yours"

"Names have power"

"So, I am to accept that you now have power over me whereas I am not given a chance to do the same? I hardly think that is fair"

"Nothing in this wretched world is fair"

"Then you wish to be a part of that unfairness, is it?"

Aether stilled at her rhetorical question. Teyvat did not welcome him nor Lumine. This world went far beyond simple dislike to outlanders, his memories and emotions and that innocent nation were proof of it. 

Then you wish to be a part of that unfairness, is it? 

Stop it-!

He winced, clutching his head at the mild headache that was beginning to develop.

"Aether. That is my true name" The blonde gave in to her request to try and stop the pain that was building up in his head. 

"Stay safe then Aether. I hope we meet again" giving him a small wave, Divya turned back around and started to walk away from him.

I DIDN'T DIE YET!! WHICHEVER ARCHON IS SAVING MY ASS RIGHT NOW, THANK YOU!!

Divya sat down at Windrise, inhaling and exhaling to remove the anxiety that had threatened to spill over during her short yet dangerous conversation with Aether. Clearly, the guy didn't like her, because it looked like he had wanted to break her bones right on the spot.

The brunette subconsciously began to clench and unclench her hands, trying to regulate her now irregular breathing. Her nails kept inducing short bursts of pain as they were just a little away from breaking the skin on her palm. She winced, noting her burn scar on her left hand flaring up due to her constant movement. Sighing, the eighteen-year-old tried her best to remove any unwanted thoughts from her mind. Placing a hand atop the pendant of her necklace, she leaned back against the tree and closed her eyes. 

She focused on the soft chirping of birds, the sound of dry leaves occasionally crunching due to her shifting weight, the insects chittering occasionally, the very faint echo of water flowing, the stomping of shoes against the earth...it really was peaceful enough for her to calm do-

Wait...shoes?

"Oh~? Did you finally understand the meaning of taking a break?" a playful, deep masculine voice sounded above her. 

Divya stiffened but didn't dare open her eyes.

Please let it not be him, please let it not be him, I will literally take anyone but him please-

"Pretending to still be asleep? Then if i tickle you, you should wake up, am i right-"

"Yes I'm awake Captain. Is there something you need?" The brunette didn't bother opening her eyes, for she already knew Kaeya was smiling mischievously at her. Subconsciously, the eighteen-year-old shifted her injured hand away from view, covering the burn scar with her right hand.

"Come now Divya, surely I have reminded you multiple times to address me casually haven't I?" Kaeya said, laughing lightly at the way she finally opened her eyes to stare at him in mild irritation.

"You have a senior position Captain, not to mention you are older than me. I have to give respect where respect is due" She leaned forward, before standing up to meet the startled man's blue eye.

"Brrr... how boring!! I was hoping we had established some form of personal connection by now" The blue haired man had to admit, he was a little puzzled at the sharp response. He hadn't expected her to draw the line between them so suddenly and abruptly. 

Hadn't she become comfortable with him? Or did he perhaps, for the first time, made a mistake in reading her actions?

"Tell me, do you speak like this to everyone where you're from?" Kaeya asked curiously, genuinely interested in the way she acted. The two had started to walk towards the City Gates, away from the brunette's resting position.

"I do actually. I speak like this when I talk to someone who is considerably older than me, or someone who has a respectable position. If I know that person outside of their line of work, then I address them as a brother or a sister in our local language...or maybe auntie or uncle." 

Fascinating, so her culture is a little similar to that of Sumeru's but still vastly different...

"You however, my dear, know me outside of my work though, don't you?"

"Every time you have come to meet me; you have come to meet me as the Cavalry Captain of the Knights of Favonius, not as Kaeya"

She's.... right

The stark realisation hit the knight harder than he anticipated. He had, in fact, always approached her and the Traveler with ulterior motives in mind and he had, indeed, always sought her out so that he could somehow extract information from her.

He had done this before countless times, so why did he feel guilty? 

He enjoyed seeing the uncertainty on his acquaintance's faces when he tossed them into dangerous situatons. He kept his secrets tightly bound to himself, while seeking out other's secrets. He never revealed his true motives since that fateful moment.

So why did he feel ashamed when she called him out on this? 

"Please don't feel guilty. I don't mind you doing your duty. If anything, I respect that you would go to any lengths to finish it, even if it meant keeping tabs on someone who is innocent." 

So she understood my motives

Kaeya knew he had to feel guilty, especially after Divya's declaration. And yet he felt... relieved. 

Strange

"Besides, do you want me to call you my brother?"

"W-what? No that's not what i meant by-"

Noticing her shaking shoulders and the amusement in her eyes, he sighed, laughing along with her.

"Why did you come to meet me?" The brunette suddenly asked, raising an eyebrow at him. The knight chuckled at her question, before winking at her. She stared back at him with a confused and slightly wary expression.

"I was assigned to escort you back to Mondstadt by the Acting Grand Master. Though i do not know from where..."

"I can't tell you"

The man nursed another brutal hit by laughing it off. Truly, the girl beside him was a mystery. 

He stopped when he realised the brunette had stopped a little behind him. The blue-haired knight turned, and was about to question the eighteen-year-old, before she opened her mouth and said, "Do you hear that?" 

Hm?

The Cavalry Captain raised an eyebrow, before concentrating on the sounds around him. On the surface, nothing appeared to be odd. He could hear the ever-flowing breeze, the soft falling of leaves, the chirping of birds, the extremely faint bustle of the city that was just a little ways away, and...

The sound of something approaching, very quickly.

Kaeya's head snapped up as he stared hard at the horizon. His periwinkle eye squinted as he tried to pin-point the source of the sound. 

"Hilichurls...." Divya breathed, her deep chocolate orbs widening the moment they identified the source.

"It might be an attack on Mondstadt. A rather smart move for creatures who do not have much intelligence" 

The knight's rather positive mood melted immediately at the thought of working while he was conversing with her. However, a job was a job.

Summoning his sword, he gestured for the brunette to run to the gates and call upon the remaining knights. He could easily hold off the weak creatures while the knights assembled behind him. 

The sooner i can finish this, the sooner I will be able to determine just who is behind this attack

.....

Perhaps have a conversation with Divya at Good Hunter's after?