Evening.
Xia Zhi returned to his room.
He took out his small square device and saw that there were already dozens of unread messages.
[Cousin's Cream Puff]: Cousin! Good morning!
[Cousin's Cream Puff]: I just had breakfast—bread and milk. What did you guys eat?
[Cousin's Cream Puff]: The trials this morning are sooo boring~ I miss you again~
[Cousin's Cream Puff]: Cousin, cousin, why haven't you replied yet?
[Cousin's Cream Puff]: Say something, please~
[Cousin's Cream Puff]: Lunch was pasta with meat sauce…
[Cousin's Cream Puff]: Taking a nap! Hope to see your reply when I wake up.
[Cousin's Cream Puff]: 55555
…
Even though Furina was all the way in Fontaine, Xia Zhi could imagine her spending the entire day staring at her screen, waiting for his reply.
Each time she hoped, only to be disappointed again.
Xia Zhi read through all the messages, then finally replied.
[Xia Zhi]: Sorry, I had my phone put away all day. Just saw your messages now.
As soon as the message was sent, a reply came instantly.
[Cousin's Cream Puff]: I knew it! Hehe! It's okay! I know you're busy!
Xia Zhi stared at the screen for a moment, taken aback by the near-instant response.
This... felt a little too humble…
But it also revealed exactly how important he was to Furina.
After all, unless it was genuine affection, who would—
Xia Zhi sighed softly, sat on the edge of his bed, and began chatting with her, telling her about the interesting things that had happened today.
---
Fontaine, Palais Mermonia.
Inside one of the chambers.
Furina lay sprawled on her bed, phone in hand, staring at the screen with a dramatic sigh.
"It's been a whole day, and Cousin still hasn't replied!"
"Does he not like me anymore?"
"Maybe he's just really busy?"
"Ughhh—"
"Ah! He replied!"
"I knew it! I knew Cousin still cares about me, hehe~"
She giggled happily as she typed away.
Focalors stepped out from a nearby mirror, sat on the edge of the bed, crossed one slender leg, and gave her a sidelong look. "Seriously?"
Furina didn't even look up. "What?"
Focalors looked unimpressed. "I said, seriously? You're acting like this over a message? You'll see him in your dream tonight anyway. Whatever you want to say, you can just say it then."
Furina shrugged. "So what? I like doing this. None of your business."
Focalors sighed in exasperation. "Don't you know? People never cherish what comes too easily. Do you really think being this clingy will—"
Furina raised her head, expression amused. "Huh?"
Focalors frowned. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
Furina burst out laughing. "Wow, I can't believe I'm hearing this from you."
"I'm just looking out for you. You're the Hydro Archon. If you wanted to, all of Fontaine could be your—"
"Dowry?"
"..."
Focalors' face darkened.
"Do you hear yourself right now?"
"Am I wrong?"
"You're such a hopeless romantic!"
"I haven't even confessed yet, so technically it's not romance."
Furina spoke with utmost seriousness.
Focalors stared at her. "Last time he entered your dream, you were doing... that thing in the bath. He definitely knows how you feel."
"Dreams don't count."
"You do this kind of stuff every night. Are you sure you like him, or are you just thirsty? You're shameless!"
"Yup. Shameless."
"You—"
Focalors choked.
Furina grinned mischievously. "So I'm shameless. Why are you so agitated?"
"I am not agitated."
Furina gave her a look. "Sure you aren't. You don't know anything about this, so stop trying to give advice. We're two halves of the same soul, remember? Once I win Cousin over, you'll get to enjoy it too."
"Do you even hear yourself?!"
"Am I wrong?"
"I want no part in that!"
"You tsundere! Don't you know that 'absence makes the heart grow fonder'? Or that 'the squeaky wheel gets the grease'? That's why I have to keep messaging him daily—to subtly remind him of my presence. Real world and dream world—gotta work both sides! Enough chatter, I'm going to keep texting him."
"..."
---
In her room, Xia Ci was enjoying some osmanthus cake when she felt a buzz from her device.
Huh?
A message?
From who?
She wiped her hands with a napkin, picked up the device, and looked at the screen.
A friend request popped up from a strange username:
[Cousin's Cream Puff] wants to add you as a friend.
The odd name made Xia Ci pause.
The prefix "Cousin"—wasn't she the only one in the family who called him that?
Now there was someone else?
And the "Cream Puff" part… Xia Ci immediately thought of the two new players from last night's dream café: [Cream Puff] and [Cake].
She fell into thought.
She had handed out all the devices yesterday—one for each person.
Everyone had already been added as a friend.
Since she'd programmed each device to only allow one account per device, [Cream Puff] couldn't be a smurf or alt account.
So where did this new phone come from?
Xia Ci pondered a moment, then tapped to accept the request.
[Xia Ci]: Who are you?
[Cousin's Cream Puff]: Teacher Xia Ci! Hello! I'm your most devoted fan! So happy to meet you!
Xia Ci frowned in confusion.
Teacher? Since when?
And since when did she have a "most devoted fan"?
Wait… fan?
Aside from her scholarly works during her time as the Dendro Archon, the only recent things she'd written were... those novels.
No way…
[Xia Ci]: Sorry, when you say fan, are you referring to…?
[Cousin's Cream Puff]: Your novels, of course! They're amazing! I love them so much! I've reread each one tens of thousands of times! My favorite is Cousin Capture Strategy, but My Cousin is a Fox Spirit is also great—even though it's unfinished. When are you updating it?
Xia Ci stared at the message and fell silent.
So it was those novels…
But "tens of thousands of times" was obviously an exaggeration, right?
Still, the real question was—how did this person even get access to her writing?
She'd only ever shown them to her best friend Xia Zhen.
She'd once let Ganyu read them too, but Ganyu was too shy and returned the phone before reading much.
And then there was her cousin. She'd chosen her old device as a gift for him, leaving the novels intact as a surprise.
Could it be… he gave the phone to someone else?
No, that couldn't be.
She'd just messaged him that morning, and he replied, which meant the phone was still in his hands.
So where did this person's phone come from?
She couldn't figure it out.
Could it be… the person who replied this morning wasn't her cousin?
Better confirm.
Xia Ci sent Xia Zhi a message.
[Xia Ci]: Cousin, are you in your room?
[Xia Zhi]: Yup.
[Xia Ci]: Do you have a moment? I need to borrow the old Akasha Terminal.
[Xia Zhi]: Sure, come on over.
Xia Ci got up and left her room, heading toward Xia Zhi's.
At the door, she gave a light knock.
"Cousin, I'm here."
"Come in."
The door opened, revealing Xia Zhi in pajamas.
The top wasn't fully buttoned—two buttons near the collar were undone, exposing part of his chest.
Xia Ci's gaze lingered for a split second.
Cousin had a really nice body.
Xia Zhi smiled. "What's up? Need something?"
Xia Ci said seriously, "I just remembered I need to contact Nahida. I'll need my old Akasha Terminal."
"The old one? Oh, the phone you gave me?"
"Yup."
"Here you go."
Xia Zhi handed it over, then added, "By the way, don't peek at my messages."
"Relax. I'm just using the terminal. I don't even need to unlock the screen."
She took it and instantly sensed that it was indeed her old device.
Strange… So where did the other phone come from?
----
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