Chapter 40: Cleaning Up
Despite Liu Yuan's help, Furina still missed the 6:30 PM dinner deadline, as it was already close to 7:00 PM when she left Chioriya Boutique.
Learning how to take body measurements took some time, and then Eloffe's gift made Furina freeze for a while, so by the time Liu Yuan quietly brought Furina back to her room, it was already 7:00 PM.
Furina hurried to the changing room, changed back into her usual clothes, then took off her mask and placed it in a box, finally setting the two red string bracelets aside carefully.
After finishing everything, Furina went to the full-length mirror, looking at herself in the reflection, feeling a bit dazed.
"I am now, once again, the Hydro Archon..." Furina murmured softly, lost in thought for a moment. After a long while, she clapped her hands to her cheeks, clearing her head, then looked at herself in the mirror and said earnestly, "You can do it, Furina!"
After giving herself a cheerful pep talk, Furina turned and pushed open the changing room door. When she saw Liu Yuan leaning against the wall, silently waiting, an indescribable feeling filled her heart.
"Furina?" Liu Yuan asked softly, looking at Furina, who was staring at her.
"Ah, I... I'm fine! Let's go out quickly!" Furina quickly averted her gaze, then walked ahead, so Liu Yuan couldn't see her face, and controlled her inner turmoil until her heart gradually calmed.
"Mm." Liu Yuan nodded slightly, then followed her out.
Tonight's dinner was quite good — Lasagna, Fricassee de Poulet, and Bulle Souffle as dessert.
As the Hydro Archon of Fontaine, Furina's meals were all handled by Palais Mermonia. Although not overly luxurious, the dishes were never the same each day.
Furina wasn't picky in the strict sense, but she disliked so-called "creative dishes." These "innovative" recipes were mostly the result of a sudden inspiration from some imaginative chef who, feeling proud, would invite Furina to taste them.
However, most of the results were... hard to describe. Since then, Furina no longer liked trying those strange experiments, unless they were dishes proven by the market before being served at her table.
At the dining table, Furina was initially a bit apprehensive, as she had, after all, "disappeared" again. Yet, no one questioned her, as if everyone had simply ignored the fact.
Even when they saw her, they just greeted respectfully as usual, then continued with their own business, which once again rendered Furina's pre-prepared excuses useless.
After finishing the main course and enjoying her dessert, Furina sighed and looked at Liu Yuan beside her.
"Liu Yuan, why do you think they don't ask me about my disappearance? It's so strange..."
"Perhaps it's because of the reason you gave during your last speech," Liu Yuan said softly.
"Reason?" Furina began to recall, remembering what she had said during her speech on the second day after she awoke: "I had a sudden whim and decided to inspect every inch of Fontaine!"
Hmm... a reason that seemed to have no problems.
After all, as the Hydro Archon, inspecting her own nation was perfectly reasonable, right?
At least, the people of Fontaine had never doubted Furina — because she was their god. There was no reason to question that.
"So, they think I've snuck out again?" Furina's expression turned strange. I sneaked out secretly, but they all knew? How strange...
"At least I don't need to come up with an excuse?" she muttered. After eating the last bite of Bulle Souffle, Furina decided to put these thoughts aside for now. Next up, it's the script!
Oh... right, and ordering clothes for Liu Yuan! That was also very important!
Furina looked at Liu Yuan beside her, her mind already rehearsing how to measure Liu Yuan's body.
After dinner, Furina rested for a while, then went to her desk and began her daily script reading.
Only the ending of the script remained, and Furina was still unsure about it, so she temporarily put that aside and began revising the smaller details instead.
Liu Yuan quietly took an unfinished book, "Hydromancy – On the Art of Divination," from the bookshelf, then stood not far away and began to read.
Time slowly passed. Palais Mermonia grew quieter as the night deepened. Furina finally put down her pen and paper — the detail revisions for the first act were mostly done.
Furina stretched slightly, revealing the girl's graceful figure. The only regrettable thing, perhaps, was that the girl's chest did not have much undulation...
"I'm going to take a bath," Furina announced. Liu Yuan nodded slightly, then stood at the bathroom door with her book.
Don't misunderstand — Liu Yuan wasn't a pervert. It was purely because of the special connection between the two that she couldn't be too far from Furina. Whenever Furina needed to bathe or change clothes, Liu Yuan could only wait by the bathroom or changing room door.
At first, Furina was a bit shy. After all, the thought of someone standing outside while she bathed was... nerve-wracking.
But after the first few times Furina came out and saw Liu Yuan simply standing there, reading quietly with a calm expression, she realized this bookworm definitely didn't have any strange thoughts.
Eventually, she got used to it.
Looking at Liu Yuan, who was reading intently, Furina walked into the bathroom.
With a click, the bathroom door closed — but it wasn't locked.
This was the damsel's trust in the girl.
Liu Yuan put down her book, her mind still lingering on the events of the day.
When she took Furina out earlier, Liu Yuan had felt a gaze from very, very far away — constantly watching Furina's room.
From her usual observations, she knew Furina disliked villainous characters who casually annihilated others (in reality, those indiscriminate killers from the novels Furina stayed up late reading).
Therefore, adhering to the idea of not wanting to be disliked by Furina, Liu Yuan did not directly annihilate the lurking presence but instead planted a mark on it.
And when she brought Furina back that night, Liu Yuan could feel the aura of that marked presence appear inside the room.
"If it's an enemy... I should be able to clear it out, right?" Liu Yuan murmured softly.
She could feel a hint of malice from that presence, and she didn't like it — because the malice was directed at Furina.
Malice toward Furina = Not a good person = Enemy = Can be cleared.
An equation slowly formed in Liu Yuan's mind. She had no memories, so she was exceptionally pure. And because of this purity, Liu Yuan did not have a complete sense of good and evil in the true sense.
She simply believed that anything directed at Furina — anything that made Furina unhappy — should be eliminated.
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