It was another morning.
Today, Fontaine's weather was gloomy; clouds hung heavy overhead as if ready to spill rain at any moment, making people reluctant to go out. A few pedestrians still wandered the streets, umbrellas in hand, unwilling to be drenched.
Compared to the weather, Furina's mood was better — after all, today was a long-awaited day off.
In the room, Liu Yuan had stood by Furina's bed since early morning, having put down her book and remained there for half an hour. The reason was simple — Furina had asked her yesterday to remember to wake her at eight.
Time ticked by, and Liu Yuan's gaze never left the clock. The room was dim, but that didn't stop her from watching the hands inch toward eight. Finally, the moment arrived.
The curtains were drawn back, light poured through the window, and Liu Yuan switched on the room lights. The darkness that had filled the room a moment before was gone.
Furina, not fully awake, sensed the change and burrowed deeper under the blanket, clearly wanting to sleep in.
"Furina?"
Liu Yuan reached out and patted Furina lightly, but there was no reaction. She frowned, then condensed a little Hydro elemental power and patted again through the blanket. After a while Furina finally wriggled free, her stubborn cowlick and head emerging from the covers.
"Good morning… Liu Yuan. Isn't today a day off? Can't I sleep a bit longer?" Furina mumbled groggily.
"You told me to wake you up yesterday," Liu Yuan replied softly.
"Hm? Did I? Wait— oh! I remember now!"
Furina shot upright and hurried through her morning routine.
Liu Yuan turned away silently, went to the wardrobe, selected an outfit, and waited in front of the changing room. When Furina finished and came out to retrieve the clothes, Liu Yuan handed them over as always — her movements natural, as if this had always been the routine.
"Wait a moment."
Liu Yuan's unexpected voice made Furina pause and look at her in confusion. Liu Yuan didn't speak; she bent down slightly, her fingers tinted with Hydro, and gently wiped the toothpaste foam from the corner of Furina's mouth.
Furina blinked in surprise. By the time she reacted, Liu Yuan had already withdrawn and returned to the bookshelf, a faint smile lingering on Furina's lips even though she didn't know when it had appeared.
"Hmph… bookworm," Furina teased, cheeks faintly flushed, then darted into the changing room.
Liu Yuan lowered her eyes over the book she held — but her attention wasn't truly on the text. She was feeling the small changes in her own body.
"Sure enough… is my heartbeat changing because of Furina?" Liu Yuan murmured, glancing toward the changing room before looking away.
"Am I… coveting that feeling?" She replayed recent moments with Furina. Each approach, each touch seemed to stir something within her. "Further experiments are needed…"
---
Soon Furina stepped out in her clothes. Liu Yuan put down the book she'd used as a cover and, as always, followed behind.
"Any plans for today?" Liu Yuan asked.
Some time earlier, after Furina feigned a pitiful request, Liu Yuan had started helping manage her schedule: when to wake, when to go to the Opera House, what needed to happen at what time. Furina had come to rely on her, and Liu Yuan never refused.
She remembered that Furina had no official engagements slated for today — then she recalled something.
"That playwright from yesterday?"
"Yes. I… I have some things I want to ask him."
Yesterday, on her way back from the Opera House, Furina had met an elderly gentleman — Okote, a respected contemporary playwright in Fontaine. She had invited him to Palais Mermonia for the morning, and he had agreed at once. After all, the Hydro Archon had requested it, and as Fontaine's foremost actress, Furina's invitations were rarely refused.
Because the meeting hadn't been scheduled in Liu Yuan's logs, she had overlooked it — until now. She nodded, a thought already returning to the incomplete script with multiple endings that Furina had been holding.
Is it… because of that unfinished script?
They arrived at the reception room to find the gentleman already there — impeccably dressed, monocle in place, waiting calmly. When Furina entered, he rose and bowed slightly.
"Good morning, Ms. Furina," he said.
"Good morning, Mr. Okote. I very much enjoyed your works— 'Goodnight, World' and 'Undisturbed Love'," Furina replied.
"I never expected an old man's scripts to please anyone anymore. Thank you, Ms. Furina. What brings you to invite me today?"
"Oh— this. Recently I found an unfinished script on my bookshelf." Furina explained, over her countless years she'd accumulated books at odd times, and this one had appeared among them. She wanted to try finishing its ending but felt unsure, so she'd asked for Okote's opinion.
Furina took out the three endings she'd drafted and handed them over.
Okote took the papers without hesitation and began to read carefully.
.
.
.
_