Clorinde walked over and took out the "root of all evil" from her Vision—the Fishy Toast.
"Ta-da!" Furina even made a magician-like gesture.
"How about it? Do you like it?"
Furina smiled at Lucian, her eyes curving into crescents.
That smile was like a child seeking praise.
Faced with such an expression from Furina, Lucian found it hard to say anything hurtful.
He could only turn his gaze to Clorinde, thinking:
'Have you been carrying this "bomb" around with me all this time?'
'What do I do? Now I feel like you're covered in a "stink"!'
'Love me, love my dog,' I guess.
Clorinde couldn't decipher Lucian's gaze. Was he about to compliment her again?
Was he thanking her?
After all, it was because she told Furina about his favorite food that this surprise was possible."No need to thank me," Clorinde forced a faint smile.
To Lucian, this smile looked like she was trying hard not to laugh.
If he didn't know Clorinde wasn't that kind of person, he'd have thought she was secretly laughing at him.
"...Clorinde, did you take a bath yesterday?" Lucian asked.
"Huh?" Furina was startled.
Have you two already reached the point where you can ask such questions? It hasn't even been that
long!
Clorinde was equally confused about why Lucian would suddenly ask this.
But she still nodded to confirm she had.
"I bathed at your place."
"Wha—!?" Furina was floored.
You're already at the stage where you bathe at each other's houses!? When did this happen? How come I didn't know?
She had only asked Clorinde to interact with and protect Lucian, but Clorinde interpreted it as "surveillance."
So Clorinde had been sticking to Lucian like glue.
Naturally, bathing was also done at Lucian's home.
Furina's network of informants was vast, but it didn't extend into Lucian's bathroom.
Clorinde also wouldn't report something like bathing to Furina.
"Makes sense," Lucian nodded.
"Could you go take another bath?" Lucian said.
Go wash up again—I need to talk to Furina about something private, and you could use a rinse to get rid of the "stink" of the Fishy Toast.
"Why?" Clorinde was puzzled.
Lucian couldn't exactly say, "I think you smell," so he thought of a more tactful way to phrase it.
"You'll smell nice afterward."
"Alright, then I'll wait for you at your place," she replied amiably.
Truthfully, Clorinde had also realized that Lucian seemed to want some alone time with Furina.
Her words meant: After I bathe, I won't come back to guard you.
Lucian had mentioned the Waypoints to her, so she knew he could teleport home directly and didn't need her to escort him back.
But her words led to a misunderstanding for little Furina.
"Wha—!?!" Furina's small mouth hung open as she covered it with her hands.
You two are just getting more and more scandalous!
What kind of things are you saying in front of the Hydro Archon!? What exactly are you planning!?
I'm just a child! I shouldn't be hearing things like this!
What do you mean by "smell nice afterward"!?
Furina sniffed Clorinde, who was standing beside her.
She already smells great now! Isn't that enough!?
Furina then secretly sniffed herself—she smelled nice too.
Lucian stared blankly at Furina.
He had no idea why Furina had been exclaiming "huh" and "what" since earlier.
Was there really anything that surprising?
He hadn't even dropped any future revelations yet—wasn't it too early to be shocked?
Was she preemptively shocked to make his predictions seem more accurate?
Furina noticed Lucian looking at her.
Worried he'd caught her sniffing Clorinde and herself, she quickly changed the subject."Ahem, aren't you going to eat?" Furina pointed at the Fishy Toast.
As she spoke, she took a bite of the small cake Lucian had given her, leaving tiny tooth marks on it.
Hmm, though the presentation isn't great, the taste isn't bad.
Lucian knew Furina had genuinely given this gift out of kindness.
"I'll eat," Lucian surrendered, picking up a piece and putting it in his mouth.
To his surprise, it tasted quite good. But because his last experience was so deeply ingrained, Lucian felt like his past trauma was attacking him!
His mind was still filled with fish throwing a party!!
"Is it good?" Furina asked.
Furina didn't particularly like Fishy Toast herself.
She had thought Lucian loved it, so she specially had someone make a delicious version to surprise him.
This wasn't the strange Fishy Toast from before—it was a tasty one.
Lucian nodded, because objectively, the flavor was fine. It was just the lingering mental pollution from his last encounter.
"I'm glad you like it."
Furina crossed her hands under her chin, her delicate face breaking into a smile.
The scene was so beautiful it seemed to shimmer with bubbles—no, not "seemed," it actually was shimmering with bubbles.
These bubbles were special effects Lucian had added for Furina.
The "duang, duang" effects made the scene even more picturesque.
So appetizing! Just looking at this, I could down three bowls of rice!
"These bubbles...?" Furina, however, noticed something else.
These bubbles looked just like the ones she'd seen a few days ago when she was feeling down at the opera house.
Furina wasn't entirely sure, since many Hydro users could create them.
But now, as she looked at the cake in her hand, she felt a strong sense of déjà vu.
Hadn't this cake been reflected in those bubbles back then? The one she'd chosen seemed to be this one?
It was just that the execution differed slightly from the image, so she hadn't recognized it at first glance.
Was it really him? But why would he be so nice to me? Why?
"Just a little trick, don't mind it."
Lucian didn't know what Furina was thinking and assumed she was just curious about the bubbles.
"Mmm..."
Furina hesitated for a moment.
In the end, she decided to take Lucian's advice. If he didn't want to talk about it, she'd keep it to herself and not ask.
Coincidentally, whether intentional or not, Lucian had already managed to send Clorinde away.
"Lucian, do you... know about Fontaine's prophecy?" Furina asked.
Lucian didn't notice the change in how Furina addressed him and answered directly.
"I probably know more than you think."
Yes, Lucian did know.
He not only knew about the prophecy but also that Fontaine's first and second civilizations had both perished in their attempts to resist it.
Fontaine's prophecy was more like fate, arriving in waves.
The key to resolving it lay with Neuvillette.
Only by making Neuvillette understand humans, acknowledge them, and willingly protect them could the prophecy be solved.
Only the complete dragon, the Hydro Sovereign who held the authority of the ancient dragons, could fully control Teyvat's waters—including the Primordial Seawater—and prevent the prophecy from unfolding.
Focalors had been playing a long game over five hundred years.
She was betting that human emotions could influence this ancient dragon.
That was why Neuvillette's role over these five centuries was so crucial.
And in the end, she won her bet—humans truly did affect the dragon.
Then, she sacrificed herself for humanity.
The god who most wanted to become human judged herself for the people.