"Sister Furina, do you really want to know things about Brother Richard?" Klee suddenly asked.
"Yes… huh?" Furina instinctively answered, then realized, 'Wait a second, did I just get cornered by a child?'
Meanwhile, Klee looked completely unfazed. As Richard's little sister, she'd seen this plenty of times; every time Richard came back to see her, a bunch of unfamiliar big sisters would show up soon after.
At first, they'd say they were there to play with Klee, but somehow, the conversation would always shift to Brother Richard. They'd try to probe her for anything about him, just like Sister Furina was doing now!
Klee used to think they really wanted to play with her, but then she realized they actually just wanted to spend time with her brother.
Eventually, somehow Jean found out about this, and after that, those big sisters never showed up to ask Klee about Richard again.
Thankfully, clever little Klee had never revealed anything important about Richard, other than stuff everyone knew anyway.
But Sister Furina was different; Sister Furina was a good person. So Klee was willing to help her out a bit.
"Klee, you're mistaken, I absolutely do not want to dig up any information about Richard," Furina insisted stubbornly.
"Then should Klee still talk?"
"Well… if you really insist, I guess I don't mind…"
Klee scratched her head. 'Sister Furina really was a strange grown-up! She clearly wanted to know everything about Brother Richard, but kept being shy.'
'Is this what Master Jean had called 'saying the opposite of what you mean'?'
Sweet Klee didn't plan on exposing Furina's 'lie.' Jean had taught her that sometimes, saying certain things directly can hurt people, so if you can't say it nicely, it's better not to say it at all.
Klee didn't really get it, but she remembered it well.
"Brother Richard is a really, really good person! Klee's watched him grow up since I was little!"
"Isn't it more like he's watched you grow up?" Furina asked. After all, Klee certainly didn't look like she was 500 years old.
"Mmm, but I've watched Brother Richard too!" Klee didn't get what the difference was.
"Forget it, that's not important, go on." Furina decided not to argue with her about that.
"Okay! Brother Richard takes Klee to all kinds of fun places, Starfell Lake, the creek by Springvale, the ruins Mom blew up…" Klee started listing Mondstadt's spots like reading off a menu, and for places without official names, she even gave approximate descriptions so Furina wouldn't get lost.
Worried Furina wouldn't find them, Klee even took out her precious little notebook, filled with her hand-drawn maps, done in an abstract doodle style.
"Oh! Brother Richard also makes lots of tasty food. Anything Klee wants to eat, he can make, especially grilled fish! Klee loves Brother Richard's grilled fish the most! To Klee, he's just as amazing as Mom!" Klee said, and her eyes sparkled as she swallowed a bit of drool. It was obvious Richard's cooking left quite an impression.
"Good cook, huh? Makes sense… Anything else?" Furina thought back to Richard's seafood soup; it really was delicious.
"And, and! Every time Brother Richard comes back, it means Klee can go out to play! Even if I'm stuck in confinement, Brother Richard always finds a way to sneak me out behind Master Jean's back!" Klee added, though she sounded a little puzzled.
"But every time Brother Richard leaves, Master Jean somehow knows exactly when I escaped, and then locks me back in to finish my time…"
Hearing this, Furina felt like Richard and Jean were working together, like parents playing good cop, bad cop, managing little Klee perfectly.
But comparing Richard and Jean to Klee's 'parents' made Furina feel oddly uncomfortable, like something that belonged to her was being stolen.
"So what does Klee think of Jean and Richard?" Furina asked.
"They're both really good people! Though Master Jean can be a bit scary sometimes…" Klee answered without hesitation.
"And what does Klee think about Richard and Jean's relationship?" Furina asked again.
"Brother Richard and Master Jean? They're great! I always see them talking together, and Master Jean smiles in ways she doesn't usually smile when she's with Brother Richard! She really likes being around him!" Klee said after thinking for a moment.
Hearing this, Furina felt even more annoyed. She couldn't help but ask, "So does Klee think they're a couple?"
"Couple? Is that when you write love letters to each other?" Klee asked, thinking of letters.
"Uh… more or less, yeah."
"Klee doesn't know! But Master Jean does write letters to Brother Richard, but they're usually about Klee, because Master Jean makes me help her write them!"
"She never writes them secretly when you're not around?" Furina asked softly.
Klee lowered her voice too: "Maybe! But Klee isn't sure!"
She did remember once asking Richard to send her some primordium ore from Fontaine because she heard it made great bomb materials, but in his reply, Richard never mentioned it. Who knew if Master Jean 'edited' the letter?
"So if they really became a couple… would Klee mind?"
"Mind? Why?" Klee tilted her head, confused.
"Like… your brother being taken away from you…?" Furina explained.
"Nope! Master Jean wouldn't take Brother Richard away, she's really nice! Even if she became his couple-person, she'd still be super good to Klee!" Klee answered confidently.
Before Furina could respond, Klee added brightly, "I hope Sister Furina can be Brother Richard's couple-person too, together with Captain Jean!"
Furina: !!!
"You can't say things like that!" Furina panicked; if someone overheard, the misunderstandings would be catastrophic!
"But Klee's not lying! Doesn't Sister Furina want to be Brother Richard's couple-person?" Klee asked, puzzled.
"Of course not! I'm the Hydro Archon! How could I ever fall in love with one of my own people?!" Furina shot back immediately. Her relationship with Richard wasn't anywhere near that, and besides, with everything going on, how did she even have time to think about personal feelings…?
Klee just looked at Furina for a moment and thought:
'Sister Furina is great and all, but she really likes to 'lie.''