The next morning.
Even if he hadn't known how to cook before, Neuvillette was now learning diligently. Not only that, he demanded mastery from himself—he intended to reach a professional level.
Naturally, he wasn't doing it for himself.
He was doing it for the True King's young form.
Every time he watched the young dragon eat heartily, Neuvillette felt deeply satisfied.
Sitting to the side and eating breakfast, Focalors examined Neuvillette, who was smiling as he watched the Ancient Progenitor.
Something about him felt strange today.
If she had to describe Neuvillette before…
He had seemed like someone difficult to communicate with.
Actually, that wasn't quite right.
Thinking about it carefully, it was more like he rarely initiated conversations—he would only respond when someone asked him something.
But today…
He looked like he was in a very good mood.
It had only been one night.
What happened?
Focalors couldn't help asking curiously,
"You seem to be in a good mood today?"
Neuvillette returned to his senses, glanced at her, and simply replied:
"Mm."
What kind of person is this!
Focalors rolled her eyes and didn't bother asking further. After seeing the True King's young form finish eating, she said:
"Alright, little dragon—let's go!"
The young dragon could understand Focalors.
It didn't need to walk with its limbs; instead, it floated directly into the air, slipped into Focalors' arms, crawled along her arm, and settled on her shoulder.
Focalors hummed a tune as she headed out the door.
Neuvillette paused slightly.
In truth, he was very dissatisfied with the way Focalors addressed the True King.
Such a title was disrespectful.
A crime!
Yet the young True King seemed to like Focalors very much, which left Neuvillette deeply puzzled.
Could it be that dragons were similar to other creatures—that the first being they saw after hatching would be regarded as their mother?
At that thought, Neuvillette felt slightly alarmed.
"…That shouldn't be the case."
He reassured himself before quickly following behind to continue acting as a bodyguard.
That day, Focalors had many things to handle.
She had to appear publicly in Fontaine to reassure the citizens that the Hydro Archon still existed.
Then she needed to review government affairs.
And finally, examine various observation reports.
Prophecies never appeared out of nowhere.
They would happen eventually.
Because Focalors understood this clearly, she found the situation extremely troublesome.
Neuvillette refused to help.
As for the Ancient Progenitor… she didn't believe she had the qualifications to even catch its attention, let alone ask for help.
"The situation isn't good…"
At dusk, walking home, Focalors sighed and scratched her hair helplessly.
When she messed up her hair, the little dragon on her shoulder raised its claws to smooth it out again, then burrowed into her long hair and poked its head out between the strands to play.
Back home.
Neuvillette spent some time carefully preparing dinner for the True King's young form.
The young dragon seemed very satisfied with the meal.
After finishing, it floated onto Neuvillette's shoulder and lightly patted his shoulder with its claw, seemingly expressing approval.
Neuvillette's lips curled upward immediately.
A broad smile spread across his face.
Focalors glanced between the young dragon and the extremely happy Neuvillette and smacked her lips.
Just getting his shoulder tapped made him this happy?
If he slept beside it every day, wouldn't he wake up laughing in the middle of the night?
Shaking her head, Focalors still couldn't quite understand Neuvillette's emotions.
Perhaps the reverence she felt toward the Ancient Progenitor was completely different from the dragons' devotion toward the Primordial True King.
"Time to sleep!"
Sleeping whenever faced with problems was obviously not a real solution.
But since she couldn't think of a solution anyway, there was no point staying up late trying to solve a problem that might take years to unravel.
After watching Focalors return to her room, the ever-dutiful Neuvillette began his nightly patrol around the surrounding area to eliminate dangers.
[Thoma]: The True King's young form is getting more and more spirited. (lifting)
[Nahida]: It's growing up little by little, becoming smarter too~ (thumbs up)
[Yae Miko]: Does the young True King crawl around inside Focalors' blanket at night? (Sucrose • curious)
[Kamisato Ayaka]: Lady Guuji, your questions always feel… strangely abstract! (confused)
[Alice]: That mischievous fox is like that—her thoughts are always naughty. (Klee • it's you!)
[Yae Miko]: I've never raised a dragon before, just asking. (smirk)
[Albedo]: Now that you mention it, this actually deserves a research project. It would help people understand dragon habits. (nod)
[Kaeya]: What's this? You want to raise a Brother Gu too? (smirk)
[Venti]: The Cult Leader's unit of measurement has become "one dragon." (Hu Tao • mischievous grin)
[Gu Chen]: My suggestion is to find Neuvillette, have him get married quickly, and produce a dragon for everyone to play with. (Zhongli • dragon king smirk)
[Neuvillette]: Huh? (scratching head)
[Furina]: Neuvillette!!! (Klee • begging)
[Sigewinne]: Um… Mr. Neuvillette, we'll just have to trouble you. (Klee • pleading)
[Neuvillette]: For something like this, ask Senior Apep. Azhdaha and Dvalin count as dragons too. As for me—I'm temporarily resigning from dragonhood! (keeping distance)
[Osial]: Good good, quitting the dragon race so your future dragon kids won't suffer, huh? I'll go fetch you some Mora from the kitchen. (smirk)
[Nilou]: By the way, when will the young True King be able to contain that immense will? This cute version is fun, but it's hard to ship! (frowning)
[Collei]: I think the Primordial True King and Mr. Neuvillette are true love. The True King looked at Neuvillette but didn't glance at Focalors! (Venti • throwing flowers)
[Neuvillette]: That's probably because Focalors wouldn't be able to withstand the power of the True King's gaze… Or perhaps it's simply because I'm a dragon. (sweat)
[Focalors]: Looks like I'm being disliked~ (Sucrose • aggrieved)
[Kirara]: Don't worry! At least the young True King likes you! (yay)
Life remained calm before the crisis arrived.
But calm never lasted forever.
One day, Focalors encountered a problem.
Fontaine was the Nation of Justice.
Where there was justice, there would naturally be judgment.
The current Chief Justice was a human who had grown too old to continue holding the position.
The Chief Justice needed to be someone impartial enough to earn public trust.
Choosing such a person became Focalors' biggest challenge.
After much thought…
She set her sights on Neuvillette.
"What do you mean?"
"You want me to become Fontaine's Chief Justice?"
"And how would I protect the True King's young form then?"
Neuvillette frowned deeply.
Focalors' eyes immediately lit up.
Neuvillette wasn't rejecting the position itself.
He was rejecting the idea that work might prevent him from staying near the True King.
Once she realized this key point, she felt confident she could persuade him.
"Not every case requires the Chief Justice's attention," she explained.
"Your work won't be too busy."
"And as Fontaine's god, I'll attend many trials too. Gathering divine power is important if Fontaine is going to survive the crisis~"
"So when you're judging cases, I'll be there watching."
"And the young True King will also be there!"
Neuvillette fell into thought.
But he still shook his head.
"I must refuse."
"Why?" Focalors asked.
Neuvillette replied calmly,
"If I must focus on trials, I will be distracted. That means I cannot guarantee the young True King's absolute safety."
Focalors smiled slightly.
"The young True King is growing every day—you've seen that."
"And honestly, your social skills are quite poor. You should practice interacting with people. Otherwise how will you communicate with the Ancient Progenitor once he becomes smarter?"
"As for safety… don't underestimate me!"
Neuvillette tugged at his mouth slightly.
"You're only saying all this to make me take the position."
"Mhm!" Focalors nodded openly.
"Of course! But it benefits you too."
"Spending time with humans is good."
"After all… they were created by Egeria using the waters of the Primordial Sea."
"In a way, you and humans share the same origin."
Neuvillette froze.
From that perspective…
He and the people of Fontaine truly were connected.
Of course, their bloodlines were far less pure than elemental dragons.
Since the Primordial Sea originated from holy blood, the people of Fontaine and Neuvillette could indeed be considered distant relatives.
His expression turned slightly strange.
"Even so…"
Focalors quickly pressed her advantage.
"An older brother taking care of younger siblings is perfectly normal, right?"
Neuvillette nodded instinctively.
He knew certain ancient secrets.
Just like Nibelung once cared for his younger dragon siblings in ancient times.
After thinking carefully, Fontaine's humans really were different from other humans.
They had flaws.
But their connection to the True King was closer.
"…Very well."
Neuvillette finally nodded.
"But I don't care about anything else."
"The True King's young form must never be far from me."
"Of course!" Focalors nodded enthusiastically.
Then she happily lifted the young dragon and exclaimed:
"Operation trickery—complete success!"
Neuvillette: "…"
Since he had already agreed, he naturally wouldn't go back on his word.
The next day, Focalors publicly announced Neuvillette's appointment.
She trusted his character.
He was indeed extremely impartial.
At the same time, Focalors used her divine power to create the Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale, designed to accumulate Indemnitium energy.
She hoped that once enough power gathered, it could break the constraints of fate and avert the coming crisis.
Whether it would succeed, she didn't know.
But Focalors would rather try everything than watch Fontaine be destroyed.
Time passed.
The True King's young form grew slowly, and its intelligence improved visibly.
Meanwhile, a new race appeared in Fontaine—
The Melusines.
Elynas regarded the Melusines born from his body as his children and taught them how to survive in the world.
When Neuvillette learned about this, he was quite surprised.
"Just like the True King…"
He gazed at Elynas' enormous skeletal remains.
He knew that after the True King's fall, his body became the universe.
Even Teyvat itself was merely formed from a few of his scales.
All living beings were born from the holy blood.
As for Elynas…
Its flesh and bones shared some similarities with the True King's nature.
However, the marks of artificial creation were obvious—like something deliberately imitated.
Its status, however, was nowhere near comparable.
While thinking this, Neuvillette also felt a sense of fondness for this new race.
"What? You want to pass laws for those little ones?" Focalors asked in surprise.
"Of course."
Neuvillette nodded.
"Whether because their origin resembles mine or because of their natural abilities, they are well suited for certain tasks humans cannot perform."
"Oh."
Focalors nodded while feeding small fish and shrimp to the young dragon.
"Sure. I approve."
With the Hydro Archon's support, everything proceeded smoothly.
Neuvillette even pushed through legislation requiring that Melusines be referred to using the personal pronoun 'she', recognizing their personhood.
He had long since established a strong position within Fontaine's government.
One day, in the Opera Epiclese.
Focalors sat high above, holding the young True King while watching the trial.
The judgment proceeded.
Indemnitium energy quietly accumulated during the process.
After Neuvillette delivered the final verdict, the trial ended.
A large amount of energy flowed into the Oratrice, unnoticed by ordinary people.
Just as Focalors stood up to leave—
The young dragon in her arms suddenly raised its head and looked at the Oratrice.
"Little dragon, let's go. Time to go home for dinner."
Focalors patted its head.
But the young dragon pointed its claw at the Oratrice.
"Hm? You want that?" Focalors blinked.
Then she shook her head.
"That one can't be given to you."
The young dragon stubbornly pointed at the Oratrice again, looking at her with big pleading eyes.
Focalors was puzzled.
In decades, the young dragon had always listened to her.
This was the first time it had insisted on something.
What did it want the Oratrice for?
By now the audience had left.
Neuvillette walked over.
"What's wrong?"
"It wants the Oratrice," Focalors said helplessly.
"The True King wants the Oratrice?"
Neuvillette paused.
He thought for two seconds.
"The young True King's mental age is roughly that of a five-year-old human."
"In the past, it had no reaction to the Oratrice."
"But recently its growth rate has slowed."
"The Oratrice stores large amounts of Indemnitium energy."
"Perhaps what the True King wants is not the Oratrice itself—but the energy inside it."
After hearing his analysis, Focalors' eyes widened.
"Let's test it!"
They arrived at the core of the Oratrice.
Although it had only existed for five years, it had already accumulated a considerable amount of energy.
The moment they arrived, the young dragon became visibly excited—like a child seeing delicious food.
Looking at the eager dragon staring at her, Focalors nodded.
"Go ahead."
Neuvillette held his breath, ready for emergencies.
He watched as the young dragon floated toward the energy source.
Then it opened its mouth—
And inhaled.
More and more Indemnitium energy was absorbed.
The young dragon's body began growing visibly.
Five minutes later—
After absorbing ninety percent of the energy, the dragon let out a satisfied burp.
Then it flew back into Focalors' arms and fell asleep.
Holding the now three-meter-long young dragon, Focalors said:
"…It's gotten much heavier."
Neuvillette rubbed his chin.
"The food it normally eats clearly isn't enough for rapid growth."
"This is the instinct of growth driving it."
"If there were more energy like this…"
"The True King would grow even faster."
As he spoke, Neuvillette's excitement gradually grew. 🐉
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