Chapter Text
Sunset settled over the Dawn Winerys grounds as the day called to an end. Crepus Ragnvindr sat awake in his office, filling out and checking through assorted business files and forms for this month's sales, and for a moment, nothing was amiss. Business had been thriving as autumn had come in, the winery had hired more staff to up their production rate, and his boys had been excelling in their knight training.
The wine tycoon found himself smiling alone at the thought. His two, young sons, aged 14 & 15 respectively, currently lay in their beds across the winery, blissfully unaware of the hurried footsteps of one of the house's most trusted butlers as he strode with a determined speed to the housemasters office.
Three firm knocks at his door brought Crepus’ attention away from his current files (and wandering thoughts), immediately curious as to what the meaning of a disturbance so late into the afternoon was for.
It was almost an unspoken rule in the house to not disturb Master Crepus with new business so late into the night and to instead wait until morning to bring it to his attention- so he felt little hesitation to accept the interruption, curiosity hitting him as to what message could possibly be waiting for him.
“Hm? Come in..?” He called out, remaining sat at his desk and closing the current business file he held open.
The door knob twisted and entered Elzer, grasping two slightly crumpled pieces of paper within his hands. He silently closed the door behind him and walked forward to stand before Crepus’ desk wordlessly.
Elzer was undoubtedly one of the most reliable and level headed members of the family's staff, which is why Crepus couldn't shove the slight anxious feeling that crept up his neck seeing visible apprehension hidden in his butler's expression.
“Sorry for disturbing you at such an hour, Master Crepus, I hope I'm not interrupting much at this moment” he began as his grip on the two pieces of paper grew tighter.
The wine tycoon simply shook his head and folded his arms together in a lighthearted move, shaking his head dismissively with a peaceful smile to his lips, “of course not, simple business transactions is all. Is everything alright, though? You look rather… nervous?”
Elzer blinked for a moment before clearly attempting to compose himself, slightly embarrassed he had been caught out in his nerves, “Ah! Nono, i’m alright, my apologies. It’s just… I have received news from two separate informants in the last 30 or so minutes about a certain… man, they have spotted recently entering and wandering Mond over these past few days.”
That certainly got Crepus to raise his eyebrow, a suspicious man entering and wandering around Mondstadt?
It wasn’t the most out of the ordinary thing to hear of, all cities were prone to strange travellers coming in and out of the country, but why report this to him?
His informants mainly only reported to him for business related reasons- informing him of local threats that may affect trade or if there is a sudden sway in the general publics feelings that may play a factor in wine sales. A suspicious man seems like something much more suited to be reported to the Knights Of Favonius.
Elzer paused to gauge Crepus’ reaction, making sure he had the space to continue before following himself up, “the reports claim this man mainly wanders the wilderness at night and is scarcely seen in the day, but the informants have noted a pattern in his frequency to visiting Angels Share every few nights."
Elzer paused once more to glance down at the papers gripped in his hands, as if reassuring himself that whatever was written on the paper had actually been inked down and not some figment of his imagination.
“Forgive me for interrupting,” Crepus spoke in a cool tone, “but you seem far too anxious to just be informing me of a peculiar man visiting our establishment? Are there any explicit signs he seems to hold a threat to business?”
The young butler paused for a moment before shaking his head with a decided determination, “no- it’s not that, I don't believe. It’s just…” he paused once more, whatever words he needed to get out were clearly causing mild distress in his mind based on his unusual restlessness while trying to convey his point, “both of the informants have reported this to you after both of them noticed that this man's eyes… they look just like Young Master Kaeyas.”
A beat passed over the room. Elzer clearly felt more relieved to finally have spoken the message while Crepus had barely processed it.
“As in…?” the master questioned with a furrowed brow, demanding clarification to make sure this wasn’t some horrific miscommunication.
“As in,’ Elzer continued, “he holds the same star-shaped pupils the Young Master does.”
Slowly, the implications of the words crashed over Crepus like a wave.
Years ago, when Kaeya had first been adopted into the Ragnvindr family at age 8, Crepus had finally started to notice and question some of the peculiar things about Kaeya.
Such as how he had an aversion to praying to any of the 7 Archons, usually ending up going along with it while the apprehension was clearly still in his body, or how he knew survival skills no child should know and yet didn't know the simple pleasures in life such as the beach and crystalflies.
These questions found themselves frequently bothering Crepus’ mind, but he never pushed. Kaeya was by-and-large a shy child, and it was learnt very quickly that bombarding him with questions never led to anything productive and usually only freaked the boy out, especially questions about his heritage.
So it was almost another unspoken rule in the household to not question such things. But Crepus had never found himself unable to shake the worry and curiosity that stemmed from this estranged child. And one question he found himself always asking- what was with Kaeyas eye?
The boy almost aggressively guarded his left eye, refusing to allow anyone, not even Crepus or the maids to look under the bandages he had wrapped over it- eventually getting them to concede and stop their questioning, accepting it and providing him with eyepatches to make him feel comfortable.
And despite his secrecy, he wore his right eye out like there was nothing amiss. As if the pointed star that reflected in his eye was nothing to feel concern or curiosity for.
Crepus recalls once he attempted to subtly ask what was the cause of such a unique eye but Kaeya had been stubborn in his refusal to give the man anything.
And no matter how much Crepus wished for answers to understand his son better, he knew better than to push. The boy was allowed to keep some secrets, especially if thinking about them brought back negative memories for him.
Crepus wasn’t that much of a fool to ignore the obvious signs of trauma the child tried to suppress.
Despite not having known the boy for much more than a year at that point, Crepus already knew his choice. He would not allow the mere factor of curiosity get in the way of Kaeyas safety.
If ignoring the problem and forgetting was what he needed to do to heal, Crepus would do all he could to build a new childhood for him.
But still, for a time period, he wished there was more he could do to help. Which is how, years ago, he had found himself sending out a specific request to all of his informants, to keep an eye out for any people or any information about the star eyes.
The request had been sent to his nationwide informants, the request even reaching those he hired in Natlan and Fontaine, but nothing. There never was. Not one hint of evidence for a reason his son's eyes shone differently, nor any trace of a group of people who had held this trait. It was almost as if any possible hint had been erased.
It had been years since he sent out that request, finding he had almost completely given up on the question. It no longer pertained to his nor his sons lives. Diluc and Kaeya were now teenagers with their whole lives ahead of them, it felt almost silly pondering on this old question.
Yet still, when the confirmation had left Elzers mouth Crepus couldn’t stop the shockwave of realisation that fell over him. There were others.. Or atleast one other. And the second realisation almost made him feel sick as the feeling of vertigo washed over him.
“I.. Is it his..” Crepus began before getting cut off.
“It’s not his father,” Elzer immediately reassured with determination in his voice, letting his fond protectiveness over the Young Master show before composing his voice to a more level-headed tone, “I mean- it doesn’t seem to be. Both of the reports separately included a description of the man and his traits don’t seem to line up with Master Kaeyas.”
The butler reached his hand out that held the two pieces of paper, offering them for Crepus to read.
The dizzying shock could still be felt over Crepus’ mind as he took the letters, not feeling enough care to read them in thorough and only choosing to skim over the notes his informants wrote to reassure himself.
Blonde hair… star shaped pupils, colour an aqua blue… dressed in all black… intricate details on his clothing…
The first note read.
His eyes are light blue with a star shaped pupil… pale skin… short blonde hair… black outfit with a cape.. Outfit details in purple and gold…
The second note backed up.
Blonde hair and pale skin..? Almost an exact opposite of Kaeyas appearance.
Crepus let out a breath he wasn’t even aware he was holding. Unsure why the feeling of dread filled him so much at the prospect of Kaeyas biological father returning for him, but he didn’t feel as if he had the time to dwell on it currently.
He could feel some of the initial panic he held fall away as he attempted to rationalise his thinking for the moment. This didn’t sound to be a biological relative to Kaeya, and yet even so, he may be Crepus’ only hint to finding out about the issues that plague his sons past, if the eye truly is a trait born of a specific nation of people.
The wine tycoon found himself closing his eyes as he dragged in a deep breath before turning his attention back to Elzer. “I trust noone else in the Winery is aware of this information?”
The butler shook his head in response, “I have been the only one to read through these notes, and by the sound of it the general public isn’t too aware of his presence either, based upon the fact he seems to mainly operate at night and only enter the city for brief stops in the tavern.”
“I see..” Crepus paused, bringing a hand up to his chin to ponder, “you said the informants had noted a pattern with his visits to the tavern? Have they included predictions for when he may next visit?” His spare hand gripped to one of the sheets of paper, attempting to read the decently thorough blocks of text this time instead of briefly skimming it.
“I believe that information is detailed in one of the notes, yes Sir.”
“I see.. Well in that case, do me a favour and make sure my schedule is completely clear for the next night he is expected to show up, I would like to pay this man a bit of a visit,” he spoke with another raised eyebrow, his voice adopting a low tone while he pondered how to approach this issue.
“Of course, right away, Sir,” Elzer spoke as he turned his back to exit the room, only stopping when Crepus raised his voice to speak again.
“Oh, and Elzer.. Just making sure,” for the first time this conversation his voice raised to one with a serious undertone, “do not allow these rumours to reach Kaeya. I don’t want him to know.. Not yet atleast.”
Elzer was swift to nod his head before turning again to exit, shutting the door silently behind him and leaving Crepus alone again to think this through.
With a drawn out sigh, he rubbed his forehead with his hand, trying to suppress the anxiety he could feel bubbling inside of his chest.
He should be happy, he tried to tell himself, he may have finally found someone Kaeya can relate back to in terms of wherever he came from, and yet he felt no such excitement.
It wasn’t the fear of them taking Kaeya, no- Crepus had legally adopted Kaeya years ago, no force in Teyvat could argue that he wasn’t his legal guardian.
It was more so an unshakeable anxiety about what this could mean for Kaeya. Crepus had thought that whatever traumatic events Kaeya lived through as a child no longer plagued his mind, he didn't flinch at loud noises like he had when he first arrived nor were his nightmares so frequent.
He had grown from the scared and shy 8 year old Crepus had found shivering in the rain into a confident and mischievous 14 year old, nearly 15 in a month.
A young knight who somehow always had a perfect strategy when he and his knights went out to clear camps. A best friend to many others in the city, such as his close friend Jean. And of course, he was a brother to arguably his best friend in all of Teyvat, Diluc. He had a life for himself here, one far away from whatever dangers tormented him as a young child - Crepus could never erase any of the memories that bothered Kaeya from before his stay in Mond, but he could try and cover them up with new, happier ones.
That’s what he had always tried to do for his sons. And this new wild card in the pile may very well pose a disruption to the life Crepus so carefully built for his sons to thrive in.
If he caught even the slightest hint that this strange man posed a threat to either of his sons, he would never allow them to live to do it again. But for now, such violent thoughts seemed too preemptive. One step at a time.
And the first step seemed to be a schedule change.