"My goodness, two Lady Furinas!"
"What in the world is going on?"
"Ah, two of such a perfect deity... am I in heaven?"
The journey back was anything but peaceful. Furina and Neuvillette had rushed out of the city with a squad of the Special Patrol, which naturally caught everyone's eye. Many had speculated that something major had happened.
The result...
Well, Xia Yu kept a stiff, expressionless face the entire way. This was her first time being the center of such intense public attention.
It's so awkward...
She didn't breathe a sigh of relief until they finally stepped back into the Palais Mermonia.
"Neuvillette, I'll leave the criminals to you!" Furina announced impatiently. "We have urgent matters to attend to, so we'll be going now!"
Without waiting for a response, she grabbed Xia Yu's hand and ran toward her private quarters upstairs. Neuvillette was left standing there with his hand half-extended, looking stunned as they vanished from sight.
"Miss Furina, we still need her help to organize the case files..." He finally spoke, but they were long gone. With a heavy sigh of resignation, he turned back to his work.
Upstairs, Furina held both of Xia Yu's hands, looking at her with eyes full of desperate expectation. Xia Yu knew exactly what she wanted to ask, but she couldn't say a single word.
Focalors' plan could not be revealed to anyone until it succeeded. If it failed, the consequences would be unthinkable—Fontaine would lose all hope.
"Don't look at me like that, Furina," Xia Yu sighed, meeting her gaze. "I know what you're hoping for, but I am not the 'her' you've been waiting for."
"Ah? But... but..." Furina panicked. "But you can control water..."
"It's just the effect of a Vision," Xia Yu pulled the Vision from behind her to show it off. "It was an ordeal just fighting thirty-odd Clockwork Meka."
"I am not Focalors. I'm sorry for giving you false hope." Xia Yu's tone grew somber. "I'm just... someone who appeared here due to an unknown accident. I have nothing to do with her."
"But you look exactly like me..." Furina wasn't ready to give up.
"Don't ask me, I don't understand it either," Xia Yu said helplessly. She truly didn't know the cause. "As for this appearance, well, that's part of the accident too."
"Is that so..." Furina lowered her head. "I thought... I thought these five hundred years of suffering were finally coming to an end... and yet..."
"..." Xia Yu fell silent, unsure how to comfort her. Based on her experience with novels and movies, this was the moment to pull the girl into a hug and pat her back. But since they weren't that close yet, she simply squeezed Furina's hands tightly.
"Wait, you know about the agreement between her and me?" Suddenly, Furina snapped out of it and looked up. "That should be something only she and I know!"
"I told you, I'm here because of an accident," Xia Yu explained. "And that accident allowed me to know many things. I know the God of the Land of Wind is usually an unreliable drunkard but is surprisingly dependable when things get serious."
"The Geo Archon of Liyue wants to retire and is pondering how to test his people."
"The Electro Archon of Inazuma is still in self-isolation, unaware of what her people are facing under her headstrong policies."
"The Dendro Archon of Sumeru... Little Kusanali is quite pitiful, currently imprisoned in the Akademiya, waiting for someone to become her First Sage and lead her out of her cage."
"As for Lady Mavuika of Natlan… well, I quite admire her."
"And the Tsaritsa of Snezhnaya—she will become the center of a storm that is approaching."
"So you see, I know many secrets," Xia Yu smiled at her. "So it's quite normal for me to know about your agreement with Focalors, right?"
"I even know what Focalors is trying to do, and I know the truth behind the prophecy of Fontaine." She shook her head. "But I can't say it, Furina. I can't tell anyone."
"In Teyvat, not everything can be expressed through words. I cannot let her five hundred years of preparation go to waste."
"Promise me, don't ask, okay? Just like you promised Focalors five hundred years ago."
"...I understand," Furina wiped the corners of her eyes. "I won't ask anymore. Uh..."
She turned slightly awkward. "Could you tell me your name?"
She had dragged the woman all the way home and didn't even know her name yet.
"...Just call me Xia Yu," Xia Yu replied, her emotions complicated.
"Xia... Yu? A Liyue name?" Furina asked curiously.
"You can think of it that way," Xia Yu sighed. "It's just... haah, never mind."
"So, what do you plan to do next?" Furina blinked and asked.
"I don't know," Xia Yu shrugged. "I'm still a stranger to Fontaine..."
"What did you do before?" Furina pressed.
"Before? Hmm... Drawing, I guess?" Xia Yu rubbed her chin.
"Drawing? Oh, an artist!" Furina's eyes lit up. "Artists are very popular in Fontaine!"
Xia Yu hesitated. She had no idea how to explain to Furina that drawing design blueprints on a computer and painting by hand were two completely different things.
After graduating, she had barely touched a sketchboard or paintbrush.
Meanwhile, her glasses prescription had only gotten worse and worse.
"But I can't just give you a normal job," Furina began thinking aloud. "You look exactly like me; you'll be the center of attention in the outside world."
"Hmm, what other positions are there in the Palais Mermonia..."
"No, I don't think that's necessary," Xia Yu said, half-laughing and half-crying as she watched Furina seemingly preparing to shove her straight into Fontaine's government. In her previous life, countless people envied government positions.
And now one was practically falling into her lap.
"I've never managed anything. Putting me in any department would be a bad idea. How about this—there must be a reward for solving the missing girls case, right?"
Xia Yu pondered: "Give me the reward money. It should be enough to live on for a while. I'll get familiar with Fontaine first and then we'll see?"
In reality, she knew that with her current appearance, it would be difficult to do anything outside the Fontaine government. Furina had governed this country for five hundred years; she wouldn't even consider letting someone who looked exactly like her—and could control water with a Vision—run around unsupervised.
If Xia Yu were in her position, she would probably do the same thing: keep that person close where she could watch them. In fact, if Furina thought more like a cold ruler, she might have already called for executioners. It was only because of Furina's kind heart that she was being so accommodating.