Finally back.
Neuvillette looked at the thriving Court of Fontaine, a gratified smile on his face.
It seemed Furina and Focalors had managed Fontaine well during his absence. He had worried he'd return to clean up another mess.
Indeed, people do grow. He could assign them more work later to further temper their skills. He believed they would one day become qualified rulers.
"Monsieur Neuvillette, you're back!"
A Maison Gardiennage officer on routine patrol spotted Neuvillette, immediately snapped to attention, saluted, and spoke with an excited expression.
Hearing the commotion, many people realized the person disembarking from the Aquabus was none other than Neuvillette. They immediately gathered around him with great enthusiasm.
"Monsieur Neuvillette is back!"
"We haven't seen Monsieur Neuvillette in a while. We've really missed him!"
"I heard Monsieur Neuvillette went to Sumeru to negotiate a partnership. His quick return must mean the negotiations were a great success!"
Listening to the noisy but concerned chatter around him, Neuvillette maintained a faint smile. Just as he was about to speak, a soft, sweet voice came from the side.
"Dad, this place is so beautiful!"
D-Dad?!
The crowd stared at the adorable little girl who had run over and grabbed Neuvillette's hand, their minds going completely blank.
Monsieur Neuvillette's child is already this big?!
She's old enough to run errands!
"Lia, come back! Don't call that man 'Dad'! He's not your father!"
At that moment, a woman in sharp, practical attire with a commanding presence disembarked from the Aquabus. She slowly walked over, glaring at Neuvillette with hostility, as if he were a thief trying to steal her most precious treasure.
When the crowd saw the Dendro Dragon Apep appear, their bodies trembled violently again, their faces filled with disbelief.
Monsieur Neuvillette went on a trip and came back with a wife?!
"Monsieur Neuvillette has a wife... My youth is over!"
"Why, Monsieur Neuvillette? If you wanted a wife, you could have looked at me! What advantages does this woman have, besides being taller, having a better figure, being prettier, and being younger than me? Was it her lush, grassy-green hair that caught your eye?"
"Dendro plus Hydro can create Cores, so their union is perfectly logical. It's just too logical!"
...
Sensing the commotion, Neuvillette sighed softly. He had anticipated this scene but couldn't avoid it. His only option was to consider issuing a clarification through official Fontaine channels in collaboration with the press later.
Suddenly, many people noticed that Apep's tone was less than polite, even tinged with resentment. She sounded exactly like a tragic wife who had been cruelly abandoned!
Could Monsieur Neuvillette actually be a scumbag?
A thought far more shocking than before emerged in everyone's minds, even causing their faith in Neuvillette to waver slightly.
No matter how they looked at it, Neuvillette seemed like a man who had abandoned a tragic woman who had borne his child!
Then they realized the child was already old enough to run errands, clearly born several years ago. Yet, all these years, Neuvillette had been alone, and no one had ever heard of him having a child or a wife.
In that moment, the crowd's imaginations ran wild. A convoluted and bizarre story—where a single mistake altered the destinies of three people—quietly brewed in their minds.
Sensing the increasingly condemnatory gazes around him, Neuvillette knew this was no place to linger. If unscrupulous reporters caught wind of this and rushed over, he would have to expend considerable effort dealing with the aftermath.
"Dad, slow down! Wait for Lia!"
"Lia, slow down! Wait for Mom!"
The crowd watched the strange family's retreating figures, only snapping back to reality after a long moment. Then, an incredibly intense discussion erupted.
Meanwhile, despite it being working hours, Focalors stood by the window gazing at the sky, while Furina was at the desk, gorging on the cake.
"Why did the weather change so suddenly? It looks like it's about to rain. Could it be that Neuvillette is back?"
Focalors watched the gloomy sky outside, her mood growing heavy as well.
If Neuvillette really had returned, such weather clearly indicated that his trip to Sumeru had not gone smoothly. Something new must have happened after Clorinde left.
No, Clorinde must have known something. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been so evasive when she and Furina questioned her, even saying they would understand once Neuvillette returned.
Would she have acted that way if Neuvillette hadn't encountered some major trouble?
If Neuvillette had suffered such a setback, she and Furina should comfort him properly when he returned!
At this thought, Focalors immediately stepped back from the window. She then walked over to Furina and, under Furina's shocked gaze, stuffed the last piece of cake from the table into her own mouth.
"Stop... stop eating!"
Focalors mumbled, her mouth feeling a bit cloying, then picked up Furina's half-finished black tea and drank it all in one gulp.
"Neuvillette needs our comfort!"
"Focalors, you've gone too far!"
Furina exploded.
"Why did you have to ruin mine after you finished your own dessert?!"
"I just saw you were eating too slowly, so I helped you finish it."
Focalors said slowly after swallowing the last sip of black tea.
She wasn't lying. Furina's cake-eating speed was noticeably slower than before. After tasting Emily's handmade cake, all other cakes had become bland to her.
"Alright, alright, Neuvillette is about to return. Let's hurry up and get ready."
Seeing that Furina, the big balloon, was about to burst, Focalors quickly changed the subject.
"Neuvillette is coming back?"
Hearing this, Furina immediately became excited.
"Great! We can finally be free!"
"Neuvillette is coming back, but look at the weather."
After speaking, Focalors pointed to the gloomy sky outside, where a storm seemed imminent. Furina instantly understood what Focalors meant.
"I get it, don't worry! After all these years with Neuvillette, his mood is guaranteed to improve the moment he sees me!"
"As long as I intervene just a little, the rain won't fall!"
Furina declared with a confident expression.
Just then, a knock sounded at the door.
"Come in."
Furina called out without a second thought. By the time Focalors tried to stop her, it was already too late.
Soon, Neuvillette pushed the door open. His brow furrowed instantly at the sight of the utterly chaotic desk.
"Neuvillette!"
Furina froze for a moment upon seeing Neuvillette, then her face immediately lit up with joy.
"You're finally back! Let me tell you, we've been working so hard lately!"
Neuvillette glanced at the desk, then at the several plates still sitting on it, which were covered in crumbs from some kind of pastry. He didn't believe a single word Furina said!
"So, Neuvillette, did your mood improve a lot after seeing me?!"
Thanks, but no.
Neuvillette stared at Furina's face, wondering just how thick-skinned she had to be to ask such a question.
Seeing that Furina's words had no effect, Focalors took two steps forward, about to speak, when a cute little head suddenly peeked in through the doorway.
"Is this where Dad usually works?"
Hearing that soft, sweet voice, seeing those large, watery eyes that seemed to glow, and that round little face still chubby with baby fat, Furina's heart was instantly captured.
"Whose child is this? So adorable... Neuvillette!!!"
Furina wanted to sweep the child into her arms and take a big sniff, but after taking just a few steps, she suddenly remembered how the child had addressed Neuvillette upon entering. Her mind went completely blank.
Focalors was also struck dumb by the revelation. This juicy gossip was almost too much for her to handle!
"Neuvillette, since when did you have an illegitimate child out there?!"
Hearing Furina's accusation, Neuvillette looked slightly exasperated. Just as he was about to speak, a cool female voice came from outside the room.
"Neuvillette is not Lia's father!"
Soon, a figure brimming with vibrant life appeared before Furina and Focalors.
Yes, the impression was the same both visually and perceptually.
Furina looked at the woman before her, who had a lush forest on her head, and tentatively asked.
"This lady is..."
"Mommy!"
Hearing this, Furina and Focalors were once again stunned. In their daze, they watched the girl throw herself into the woman's arms. The woman's stern expression instantly melted into boundless tenderness, but it quickly froze again.
"Mommy, didn't you say last time that you and Dad had already made up?"
The Dendro Dragon, Apep, snapped back to reality and patiently corrected her.
"Last time, we only had a temporary truce."
"My grudge against Neuvillette is like the solid ice on Dragonspine; it will never melt in this lifetime!"
Hearing this, Otillia's eyes immediately filled with tears. The Dendro Dragon, Apep, panicked.
"It can melt! It can melt!"
You're changing your tune way too fast!
Wait a minute, why does this whole conversation sound so strange?!
Furina and Focalors thought it over carefully and suddenly realized: isn't this the cliché plot of a good woman being abandoned by a scumbag, with their daughter desperately trying to salvage the relationship?
At this thought, Furina and Focalors immediately looked at Neuvillette with contempt.
To think Neuvillette was such a scumbag dragon!
"She's not my daughter."
Seeing Furina and Focalors' misunderstanding, Neuvillette tried to defend himself. However, just as he finished speaking, a pitiful, aggrieved voice came from nearby.
"Daddy, don't you want Lia anymore?"
Instantly, the contempt in Furina and Focalors' eyes grew even more pronounced.
In the end, Neuvillette could only let out a sigh of utter helplessness.
At that moment, the rain finally began to pour outside with a "pitter-patter."
Although it had been brewing for some time, the intensity of the downpour still caught many by surprise. People cursed the wretched weather as they sprinted for shelter.
Then, the rain fell even harder...
After a detailed explanation, which even involved bringing in Clorinde to testify, Furina and Focalors finally understood the whole story. Both felt rather awkward.
At the same time, they were deeply shocked to learn that the woman before them was Apep, the Dendro Dragon of Sumeru.
Damn, as expected of Neuvillette. He even managed to rope in the dragon from the neighboring nation.
Furina then looked at Otillia, who was playing on her phone nearby, and asked curiously.
"Lia, why do you think Neuvillette is your dad?"
However, upon hearing Furina's question, Otillia looked puzzled instead.
"Dad is just Dad!"
Alright, she might as well not have asked.
Furina looked at Otillia, scratched her head, then turned to Neuvillette, a gloating expression suddenly appearing on her face.
No, I can't laugh. Otherwise, Neuvillette will definitely make things difficult for me later.
Although Furina tried her best to hide it, she couldn't conceal the smile on her face.
Even Focalors couldn't help but laugh. It was rare to see Neuvillette so utterly helpless.
Whenever Focalors saw Neuvillette's current expression of utter helplessness and frustration, and recalled his performance in Fontaine over the past five hundred years, she couldn't stop the smile from spreading across her face.
Seeing the smiles on Furina and Focalors' faces, Neuvillette decided their current workload was clearly insufficient. Otherwise, how could they be laughing so freely?
So, Neuvillette was already plotting to increase their workload by several levels.
"After I left, nothing major happened in Fontaine, right?"
Upon hearing Neuvillette's question, the smiles on Furina and Focalors' faces vanished instantly, and they slowly explained what had happened.
Hearing that the Abyss Order had made a move, Neuvillette nodded thoughtfully.
He had discussed this with Lumine back in Sumeru and had some theories about the Abyss Order's motives.
He just hadn't expected Lumine to arrive in Sumeru so quickly; he thought she would spend some time exploring and traveling there.
Busy dealing with the Cult of the Dragon and other matters, he had forgotten to mention this to Furina and Focalors, leading to this massive misunderstanding.
Especially the victims, who should have still been alive and well.
Moreover, many of Fontaine's most prominent officials had died, which was a significant blow to the nation.
Although the Abyss Order suffered greater losses, the outcome still pained him deeply.
However, the Dendro Dragon Apep, standing nearby, heard this and spoke with disbelief.
"You're telling me you faced a simultaneous attack from thousands of Abyss Monsters and the Overlord of the Vortex Osial, yet only a few hundred people died, you repelled Osial, and nearly wiped out all the Abyss Monsters?"
"How could I possibly believe that!"