Furina glanced at the small cake on the table, which was no different from usual, then looked up at Yuto, who was sitting opposite her quite naturally. Her heart instantly felt… complicated.
Having spent over four hundred years with Yuto, his appearance hadn't changed in the slightest; one could even say his skin hadn't developed a single wrinkle.
So she didn't have to worry about the so-called lifespan theory.
But even though that was true, it didn't mean there was nothing she needed to care about.
Or rather, what she needed to care about was far more terrifying than the lifespan theory.
The Prophecy, which she still had no clue about, made her extremely uneasy.
She remembered the last time that very elegant Seven Stars from Ritou personally came to Fontaine to discuss business cooperation, she said a very classic Ritou proverb.
"There's only a thousand days of being a thief, but no thousand days of guarding against a thief."
Furina's current state was more than just guarding against a thief for a thousand days; she had been guarding for a full five hundred years! And she couldn't say a single word about it!
Recently, The Prophecy about Fontaine's future had once again stirred up a storm among the populace.
For five hundred years, she had sat on the divine throne of the Hydro Archon, and she had also been secretly searching for a way to break that prophecy.
But… recently, the voices accusing her of inaction grew louder and more numerous, to the point where she could hear a discussion or two about her even when she went out at night to feed the kittens.
This made her uneasy.
She was afraid of disappointing Focalors; she was afraid of disappointing the people of Fontaine who had always trusted her.
She was also afraid that Yuto would dissolve into the sea and disappear from her side.
Thinking of this, Furina couldn't help but shiver. Having grown accustomed to Yuto's companionship, she couldn't imagine such a future.
"Furina? Are you alright?"
Just as Furina was immersed in her fear of the doomsday predicted by The Prophecy, Yuto's voice pulled her out of that incomprehensible reality.
Furina, whose name was called, suddenly looked up at Yuto, who looked worried, and instantly realized her lapse in composure.
Yuto's aura was too gentle; although he occasionally used honorifics like "God," most of the time he still called her "Furina."
He even omitted the words "Ms."!
This treatment made Furina feel at times that she wasn't the lofty God, nor the so-called big star of Fontaine, Furina—
—but just an ordinary Fontaine girl named "Furina."
Although Furina at one point suspected that Yuto knew something, he would always deny it whenever asked such questions.
"What do I know? Ah~ I know, you mean how did I notice you're in a bad mood today?"
"That's what an excellent subordinate, an excellent friend, should do, isn't it?"
Time passed little by little amidst these disturbances, and Yuto's existence naturally became the only flaw in Furina's "performance."
She would unconsciously… reveal her vulnerable side in front of Yuto.
Yuto, meanwhile, looked at the somewhat dazed Furina in front of him, his brows tightly furrowed.
"Could it be that because of recent events, her spirit is starting to break?"
Yuto symbolically stretched out his hand and waved it in front of Furina's beautiful heterochromatic eyes, softly saying:
"Furina? Why did you start spacing out after you shivered? Did something happen?"
Hearing this, Furina shook her head quickly as if waking from a dream, saying somewhat anxiously:
"No, no, what could possibly trouble the esteemed Hydro Archon Focalors, the household name and big star of Fontaine, Furina de Fontaine?"
A hint of tsundere smile appeared on Furina's face, while Yuto looked at this Furina, full of performance, and gently shook his head.
He wouldn't expose Furina, nor could he stand by her side and say cheap words.
As her Assistant Administrator, and in his previous life, Furina's biggest fan… there was only one thing he could do: protect her well.
Thinking of this, Yuto gently sighed, then a characteristic gentle smile appeared on his face.
"Hurry and eat, I made your favorite matcha and mousse cakes."
"Today's official duties are exceptionally heavy, so if there's nothing else, I'll go take care of work now."
Yuto said as he slowly stood up from his seat, and seeing the hat that was about to slip off Furina's small head, he instinctively reached out to help her adjust it.
"Don't wear your hat when having afternoon tea. As the big star of Fontaine, your appearance and demeanor are already excellent; you don't need to be so formal all the time."
"Hmm~ that's much better. I'll be going now, Ms. Furina, I wish you a pleasant afternoon tea~"
Yuto said as he left her room with Furina's tacit permission, while she looked at the cake in front of her, wondering what she was thinking.
...
Time passed quite quickly for Yuto; as the Deputy Administrator of Fontaine, he hardly had a moment to rest.
Looking at the stack of documents, which was even thicker than when he first received them in the morning, he sighed helplessly.
"This is really… a headache…"
Yuto said as he sat down at his desk as if resigned to his fate, and began to process the extra documents.
As time went by, it was already evening when Yuto finally finished dealing with the documents in front of him.
"Did it pass so quickly…?" Yuto gently shook his head, then turned his gaze to the countdown panel.
"Five… four… three… two… one!"
As the time on the panel completely reset to zero, the screen in front of Yuto suddenly expanded several times, as if… there was a projector in his office.
As a familiar figure appeared on the light screen, Yuto's pupils contracted to pinholes in shock.
He hadn't heard the familiar "Hello, Travelers" and seen that somewhat aged figure for nearly four hundred years.
"Today, I bring you preliminary information on the Nation of Water, Fontaine!"
As soon as Weizi finished speaking, the light screen in front of Yuto suddenly went black, followed by the genshin logo, which Yuto had almost forgotten, and the scene of the deep sea in Fontaine.
"We want to know what exactly is inside the Oratrice Mecanique D'analyse Cardinale?"
"What does it use to generate energy, and what… does it use to make judgments?"
Linney's voice rang in Yuto's ears, and the Oratrice Mecanique D'analyse Cardinale on the light screen in front of him gradually shrunk, finally becoming a complete darkness.
And the scene after the darkness shocked Yuto even more.
Thump—thump—thump—
As a series of heavy footsteps sounded, a face Yuto was more than familiar with appeared in the center of the Opera Epiclese stage.
"Ignorance is bliss, I can understand your curiosity about the Oratrice Mecanique D'analyse Cardinale, but…"
"Mr. Linney, if there is an 'accusation,' there must be a 'Judgment.'"
"Although I do not participate in any Judgment in Fontaine, I can guarantee…"
"Fontaine's judges, Assistant Administrator, and the Oratrice Mecanique D'analyse Cardinale will give you the outcome you deserve."
Yuto, sitting in front of the light screen, looked at the figure on the light screen with a shocked expression.
"Who… is that person?"
"Is it… myself?"