Who would've thought? Even "after death," she had to watch her colleagues critique her. Another reason not to die! Suddenly, Rosalyne felt a bit grateful to that jerk Shikikan!
No, wait—compared to this, Shikikan was starting to look "handsome and refined."
[The Captain: "By the way, 'Dottore,' what about 'Scaramouche' and Inazuma's Gnosis?"]
The Captain was addressing "The Doctor," inquiring about "The Balladeer" and the Electro Archon's Gnosis.
The Captain knew Scaramouche had been swayed by Dottore, so it was natural to question Dottore about his doubts regarding Scaramouche.
The final panel of this page focused on "The Doctor" Dottore.
His silver-blue short hair was adorned with blue "test tube" earrings, and his face was partially obscured by a crow-beak mask covering his eyes, making it impossible to see his full expression.
A "blue wine glass" swayed in his hand, his lips curved as if tinged with a smile.
[The Doctor: "Common sense holds that the 'divine knowledge' of a Gnosis is sacred wisdom beyond mortal reason."]
["After conquering the 'gaze of the gods,' he will take a new step forward."]
A new step: "Beelzebul, I have ascended to godhood."
However, for someone like Dottore, who spoke in riddles, most ordinary readers couldn't grasp the meaning behind his words.
So, the majority didn't dwell on it and simply continued reading.
The next page featured "Pierro" once again.
The handsome older man with long white hair, accented by a streak of deep blue, wore a single-sided mask. A lone earring hung from the ear on the unmasked side.
His blue eyes, half-covered by his eyelids, gave the impression of serpentine pupils.
Pierro stepped out from the shadows and said:
["The foolish play of the night must end. At this moment, you have no audience."]
"Pfft." Tartaglia couldn't hold back a laugh.
"…" Lucian's book left Pierro speechless.
"No audience"—that's how it was supposed to be. But now? The entirety of Teyvat was their audience.
"This feeling of being constantly watched…" Pierro sighed. Was this what it felt like to have a Prophet as an enemy?
Forget keeping secrets—it was as if "my life has no rehearsal; every day is a live broadcast!"
Even worse, Lucian had drawn it out, with each character getting unique camera angles, and the cinematography was, annoyingly, pretty professional.
You're live-streaming our lives with multiple camera angles, huh?
Even Pierro felt uneasy, and someone like Columbina, the "Damselette," felt even more uncomfortable, as if she were being watched even while bathing.
In the story, Lucian had drawn a full-page illustration, with Pierro at the center and the other Harbingers on either side of the coffin.
Rosalyne finally got her moment—she was the coffin in the middle.
[Pierro: "All noble sacrifices shall be etched upon eternal ice, enduring with the nation."]
["Under the noble banner of the Tsaritsa of Ice, we shall seize the authority of the gods!"]
All the Harbingers and the Director bowed their heads and closed their eyes in mourning for Rosalyne.
Rosalyne was satisfied. This was more like a funeral. The earlier scenes didn't feel like a funeral at all!
You need to keep some of the funeral's original flavor so people know you're attending one!
In Liyue, at Lucian's home, three Archons witnessed this scene firsthand.
"They say they'll seize the authority of the gods, huh," Venti said with a chuckle.
"Hmm," Zhongli nodded with a smile.
"Mmm…" Nahida tapped her finger against her lips, deep in thought.
The three Archons weren't fazed, but Furina was panicking.
"What do I do, what do I do!?" Furina paced back and forth in the room, clutching the book.
She didn't have the strength to resist. If she got pushed over, that'd be one thing—she was delicate and easy to topple, after all.
But the problem was, if she were pushed over, wouldn't they discover she didn't have the divine authority of a god!?
If that secret got out, what would happen to Fontaine's prophecy? She really needed to stay far away from "The Knave"!
Right now, the two people who gave Furina the most sense of security were Lucian and Neuvillette.
Lucian was too far away, so she'd better go find Neuvillette. Reading near him felt safer.
Furina didn't know that part of the gods' authority came from usurping the Ancient Dragons, but she wasn't planning to show Neuvillette this story. She just wanted to read near him.
"Lady Furina?" Neuvillette looked at Furina, who had suddenly barged in.
"Ahem, I'm just here to take a look. Don't mind me," Furina said, raising her voice and waving her hand dismissively.
"Understood," Neuvillette nodded, assuming Furina was inspecting his work.
Furina was pleased. She sat on the sofa in the room and started reading. As her sense of security grew, her posture became more relaxed, almost to the point of sprawling across the sofa.
Neuvillette glanced at her. He had previously had a brief private chat with Lucian, so he wasn't just handling administrative duties now—he was also looking into intelligence regarding the "Fontaine Prophecy."
Ever since Lucian confirmed the prophecy's authenticity, Neuvillette had been investigating.
He noticed Furina was also looking into the prophecy and had asked her about it.
At the time, Furina had been very agitated, asking Neuvillette if he had any solutions.
Unfortunately, Neuvillette didn't have a way to fully resolve the prophecy. Furina was disappointed and claimed she had a solution but refused to share what it was.
"What an incomprehensible god," Neuvillette muttered to himself.
In the end, the scene shifted to Neuvillette working at his desk while Furina lounged on the nearby sofa, reading her book.
Given Furina's state, it wouldn't be surprising if the book ended up covering her face as she dozed off.
Back to the story, Pierro continued:
["Absolute tranquility—this is the Tsaritsa's grace, her mercy."]
The scene showed ice sealing the palace, with Rosalyne's coffin encased in layers of frost.
["Though you rest eternally in this coffin, sealed within layers of unyielding ice."]
["But, Rosalyne, I promise you… your sarcophagus shall be the entire 'old world.'"]
The panel went black (originally where the Genshin Impact logo would be, haha). Just when everyone thought the story was truly over, turning the page revealed more content.
It was another black backdrop, but this time with dialogue.
[Columbina: "Doctor, you look quite young today."]
[The Doctor: "You know that's hardly a compliment to me."]
[Columbina: "Then where is the 'slice' from your prime right now?"]
The next panel was no longer pitch black but depicted a massive fire consuming a great tree, with Dottore's small silhouette standing before it.
[The Doctor: "In an experiment… concerning blasphemy."]
===✧✦✧===
Character Voice: Furina – About A Winter Night's Lazzo
"With Neuvillette and Lucian around, I should be fine… probably, right?"