The Tsaritsa's Protégée

You were the Tsaritsa's precious protégée, a girl she had favored and protected from a young age. She had given you privileges that no other young woman in Snezhnaya could have imagined. You received an exceptional education, had access to the court, and were given the possibility of deciding what path you would follow someday. The Tsaritsa trusted you completely, and for a long time, you believed your future was secure. However, everything changed when the Traveler arrived. You had heard stories about him, about the nations he had traveled through and the wonders he had witnessed, but meeting him in person was completely different. You were fascinated by his stories about Mondstadt, Liyue, and the other nations he had visited, their cultures, and everything that existed beyond the borders of Snezhnaya. Little by little, he gained your trust and, taking advantage of your curiosity and innocence, managed to convince you to give him confidential information about Snezhnaya. You were too young to understand the true consequences of what you were doing and, fascinated by everything he represented, you agreed without thinking too much about it.

Only a few days passed before the Tsaritsa discovered what had happened. Her fury was immense, but what hurt you the most were not her words, but the disappointment in her eyes. The woman who had always protected you could no longer trust you. As punishment for your betrayal, you were completely removed from everything related to Snezhnaya's politics, laws, economy, and military. From one day to the next, you lost all the privileges that had once been part of your life. Even so, you were still just a child and still had the right to decide what you would do with your future. You could study, learn a trade, and build a life of your own. However, your betrayal came with a price: the Tsaritsa decided to take that freedom away from you. Instead of continuing the education you had always dreamed of, you began being trained to become a court concubine, destined to be promised to one of her Harbingers, one of the most powerful members of Snezhnaya's Fatui.

It broke your heart. All your dreams, desires, and expectations for the future were thrown away. It no longer mattered what you wanted to study, the places you wanted to see, or the life you had imagined for yourself. Your future had been decided by others. Eventually, the day of your wedding to Pantalone arrived, the Regrator and one of the Eleven Fatui Harbingers. Throughout the ceremony, you could barely hold back your tears; while everyone else celebrated the union, you felt as though you were saying goodbye to the life you had once wanted. When you arrived at your new home with him, you discovered that your situation would be even worse than you had imagined. Pantalone controlled practically every aspect of your life: the clothes you wore, the activities you took part in, your schedule, the people you were allowed to associate with, and even when you were allowed to leave the house. You rarely walked through the streets of Snezhnaya without someone accompanying you and, little by little, you began to feel that those walls were more of a prison than a home.

At night, when you were finally alone, you would stare out the window and remember who you had been before meeting the Traveler. You remembered the girl who dreamed of seeing the world, learning new things, and deciding for herself what she wanted to do with her life. Now all those dreams seemed to belong to someone else. All you could do was wonder how different your fate might have been if you had decided not to trust him that day.

One day, you decided that you had to put an end to all of this. Pantalone had gone to a meeting with the Tsaritsa and, for the first time in a long while, you had an opportunity. You did not think twice. You left the house and began running as fast as you could, getting as far away as possible from the place that had been your prison for so long. Your heart pounded in your chest and tears streamed down your face as you ran through the streets of Snezhnaya. For a moment, you truly believed you would escape, that you could finally reclaim the freedom that had been taken from you. But your hope was short-lived. As you turned a corner, you found yourself face-to-face with her.

The Tsaritsa herself stood before you.

You froze completely. Your legs gave out beneath you and you fell to your knees in front of her. You lowered your gaze, trying to hold back your tears, but all the frustration, pain, and years of helplessness finally came pouring out.

“Why did you do this to me?!” you cried through your tears. “I don't want to be married! I hate this! I can't even support myself... No one in Snezhnaya would even give me the chance to get a job.”

The Tsaritsa did not react. She simply stood before you, watching you with a cold and distant expression, as though you were a complete stranger. There was no compassion, no regret, not even a single word to show that you had once been important to her. In that moment, you understood that she was not going to help you. The hope you had held onto for so long finally shattered when you realized that, to her, the girl she had once protected no longer existed.

Then you heard footsteps approaching. Pantalone had arrived. When he saw you kneeling before the Tsaritsa, his expression immediately changed. He approached and, before addressing you, bowed his head respectfully toward her.

“My sincerest apologies, Your Majesty. I will make sure this does not happen again.”

The Tsaritsa remained silent. Pantalone then approached you and motioned for you to stand. You did not argue. You no longer had the strength to do so. With your eyes distant and tears still on your face, you followed him to the car. You got inside in silence, and he sat beside you as the vehicle began moving through the streets of Snezhnaya. You stared out the window, trying to hold back your tears as the city slowly passed by. Your attempt to escape had changed nothing; you had returned to exactly the place you had tried to flee from, except now you felt that even the last hope of regaining your freedom had disappeared.

As they drove, Pantalone remained silent for a few minutes. Eventually, he sighed and glanced at you, as if he genuinely could not understand why you were so unhappy with your life.

“You're very difficult, darling. Why can't you simply be happy with this?” he said calmly, in stark contrast to the anguish you were feeling. “You don't have any worries beyond looking pretty. Perhaps a baby would be good for you. Maybe then you wouldn't spend so much time with nothing to do... Apparently, that's what makes you so anxious.”

He smiled sweetly at you, as though he had just offered a simple solution to all your problems, and raised a hand to gently caress your cheek. You remained silent, looking away toward the window. His words only made you feel even more trapped. To him, your desperation was not the result of a life that had been forced upon you; it was simply the consequence of having too much free time.

Then Pantalone smiled again, this time in a different way. There was something victorious in his expression, as though he had just made certain that you had nowhere left to go. He leaned slightly toward you and spoke in a low voice.

“The Tsaritsa isn't going to help you anymore. You're at my mercy now, darling.”