Valeriy

Your new bodyguard deserved multiple raises for how good he was at his job. Mostly from your father though, not from you. He doesn’t deserve ANY of your precious Mora…That mostly came from your father’s allowance. If anything, he deserved multiple punches from you! But he always manages to dodge each punch, much to your dismay…

For context, your father was one of the most important people in Snezhnaya, known as the 6th Fatui Harbinger; Brighella, infamous for his profits and his sly nature paired with his intelligence. His main role was to control what exactly the Fatui’s money was spent on, and to oversee the use and distribution of equipment vital to Snezhnaya’s interests. Be it the military installations, Fatui facilities, the House of Hearth’s training equipment, Northland Bank, etc…If something required a substantial amount of specialized equipment, machinery, or logistical resources, your father’s name eventually appeared somewhere on the paperwork.

And of course, that would obviously mean he had a lot of money which you spent on freely, always spending and going on sprees. You can walk into any high-end establishment in Snezhnaya, order half the entire store, and the merchants will question whether or not you just bought the entire nation. Be it clothes, jewelry, perfumes, books, decorations, furniture, pets, things you didn’t even need, things you forgot about in your cart, things you just thought were pretty…You always ended up getting it!

Unfortunately however, there was one thing the Brighella’s wealth couldn’t buy; your safety. With you being the child of Brighella themself and his future successor, you were a big target with a whole bounty on your head.

Several assassinations attempts had been made on you. Either a suspicious servant, a poisoned drink that nearly reached your lips if a Fatui member (who got a raise) didn’t notice in time, a carriage that’s brakes mysteriously began to fail and almost got you into a car crash if the rider didn’t feel something off and stopped, a stranger who followed you into an empty street in Snezhnograd that you wandered into, clearly lost, before they quickly disappeared upon a Fatui agent appearing and escorting you.

Thus came an assassination attempt that actually almost worked and caused an outbreak in the news nation-wide. That was the last straw for your father and he hired a bodyguard for you. According to him, he was a very disciplined and professional man and serves as a high-ranking Fatui Major for the Armory Palace.

Of course, the last thing you wanted was a random man breathing on your neck no matter where you go, and had argued with your father about this, even throwing a few insults to this Valeriy as if he wasn’t standing right there, but no amount of your pleas won him over this time. No matter! You’ll just drive that bodyguard crazy until he gives up. He can’t be that good.

Clearly, Valeriy wasn’t who you thought he was. No wonder he’s the Major of the Armory Palace, your father definitely knew who he was choosing…

No matter where you go, he was there; be it your bedroom—though he has the decency to not watch you change—a tea party with a certain Harbinger which makes Valeriy wonder how far your friendships exactly go, although he's not really surprised you two had managed to befriend each other, shopping as he carries your bags (you weren’t exactly complaining on that part), even to the bathroom! I would say he’d stand outside the door, but a certain incident made him change his mind where you had taken being alone in the bathroom to your advantage and jumped out a 6 story window that was placed at the very end of the bathroom stalls, and almost died if Valeriy didn’t somehow manage to catch you, having had a hunch you were doing something stupid.

Just no ounce of privacy! Mitya really wasn’t exaggerating about this guy…He’s like a hawk! So of course, you would end up continue bolting from his gaze when he dared to look away for a second, driving him more and more insane just like you wanted. Although Valeriy never quit, much to your dismay.

Darting down a hall from him? He was suddenly calmly walking right in-front of you while you were still looking behind to see if he was there, just to see no one, only to slam into a hard muscular chest that was as hard as a door. The “Mr. Door” had turned out to be your insufferable bodyguard who was staring down at you with a deadpan while you tried to explain yourself.

"Enough. The more you try to explain, the more you’re embarrassing yourself. You’re only going to exhaust yourself doing this, give up while you still can.”

Was all you heard Valeriy saying before he grabbed your waist and tossed you over his shoulder, ignoring every one of your protests and kicking.

Giving up was something you were unfamiliar with however. You’ll do whatever it takes to escape from this oaf! Even if it means nearly getting yourself killed.

A few other times you’d try to escape him, it wasn’t simply him that’d catch you, it was also the Fatui agents who’d be with him, dragging you back as you cry out and thrash, trying to bribe them even.

"No! Don't bring me to him~! Please, pleaseee! If you don't, I promise I'll have my father raise your pay, I promise! Just don't bring me back there!" You had practically sobbed, kicking your feet and thrashing.

One time, a Fatui agent was actually nearly willing to take your bribery if it weren't for another Fatui agent literally smacking the sense back into them.

This time, you and Valeriy were at another one of your shopping districts in one of Snezhnograd’s larger commercial building, and Valeriy was carrying your bags as usual with no trouble and paying attention to his surroundings while still focusing on you like a hawk. You on the other hand were pretending to look around for more stores, when in reality, you were actually looking for a possible escape.

And an escape you found. There was a big crowd nearby due to there being a sale or something, and you immediately took that as your chance to bolt and blend in with it. Valeriy had a feeling you were going to do this and he was growing increasingly fed up with you.

A grumble left him as he stood in the middle of the bustling mall, eyes narrowed while he looks around for you, “Huff…I should put a leash on them at this point…If it weren't for their father, I would've done so already…” He huffed, continuing to look around.

Finally, Valeriy’s purple eyes caught a blur of your familiarly expensive coat that not many can purchase, and immediately locked in, eyes never leaving your figure like a predator hunting it’s prey as he began moving.

”Caught you.”

Your heart dropped once realizing he had spotted you and quickly began to try and outrun him, sprinting faster and faster. But despite the fact Valeriy was literally walking, he still managed to keep up with you.

Unfortunately, you reached a dead end and every other area nearby was blocked, causing you to frantically look around for an escape, until you suddenly felt a looming presence behind you, causing you to freeze and slowly turn. There stood your freakishly tall bodyguard with an irritated look that screamed how exasperated he was with you now, now pinning you against the wall with one hand next to your head.

By the Tsaritsa, he was huge…You never really paid attention to his appearance as much as you did right now since you were usually more focused on escaping him, but looking up at him was hurting your neck like crazy! His biceps were actually pretty strong too, even straining against his sleeves—to think those are the same arms that’d pick you up effortlessly or carry you bridal style when he catches you...

And when he spoke, it only had you growing even more warmer, “Finally caught you, Mx. Brighella. I wonder what excuse you have for me this time…” Valeriy’s deep and cold voice murmured, narrowing his eyes down at you, face darkened in irritation, “Out of all the clients I’ve had to protect, I don’t think I’ve had any as exhausting and stressful as you…I might as well cuff your wrist to mine to ensure you stay by my side. I’m sure your father wouldn’t mind, would he?”

And since when did he sound this attractive when threatening you…?