"Wuwu..."
A aggrieved whimper drifted over.
King subconsciously turned his head.
Furina stood where she was, staring straight at King.
In those heterochromatic eyes, there was a sea of complex emotions that King had never seen before.
Like a kitten that had waited a long, long time for its owner to come home, only to find the owner petting a big fat cat on the side of the road first.
Furina was incredibly aggrieved.
Her eyes were red, the tip of her nose was red, and tears were swirling inside, yet she stubbornly refused to let them fall.
She bit her lower lip, her mouth pressed into a downward-curving line.
What a miserable little bitter melon she was.
A super little bitter melon that had been frost-bitten, soaked in salt water, and boiled in a pot for three days and three nights.
Furina's inner monologue at this moment was rich enough to film an eighty-episode Fontaine melodrama.
She knew Raiden Ei was here for a study visit.
She also knew King had just stopped Raiden Ei from drawing her blade and hurting someone.
It was just that the method of stopping her was a bit, very, extremely over the line.
She understood it all.
Logically, she understood everything.
But, but... 〒_〒
Waaaah!!!
Furina could not accept this!!!
She had waited so many days for King!
Every day she paced around the Opera Epiclese, brewing black tea only to pour it out, then brewing it again; she burned eight trays of small cakes, and even got a big blister on her hand from the oven!
And yet,
And yet, as soon as King returned to the Opera Epiclese, before she could even say "Welcome home," she was beaten to it by that fellow Neuvillette!
Even that wouldn't have mattered!
After all, Neuvillette is the Iudex, and representing Fontaine to welcome guests is his duty.
Lady Furina is magnanimous; she can accept that!
The fact that King went to touch Raiden Ei, Lady Furina could also accept.
Really, she really could accept it.
As the god of water who had ruled Fontaine for five hundred years—even if she was actually just a mascot—her heart was still very broad.
Sharing a husband or whatever... she, she could also work hard to adapt.
But!
But she couldn't lose favor!!
Not losing favor was the bottom line!
It was her dignity!
It was Lady Furina's last bit of stubbornness!!!
If she could even endure losing favor, then what was the difference between her and a salted fish?!
The more Furina thought about it, the sadder she became.
And then—
"Waaaah—!"
Furina took a step back, her calf tripping over the doorframe behind her.
She lost her footing, her body swaying.
Then, her vision went dark, and she fell backward limply.
"Hey, be careful!"
Ganyu cried out in alarm.
She was closest to the corridor and instinctively moved to rush over.
But someone was faster than her.
King.
Almost the instant Furina fell, that blue figure had already vanished from his spot.
The next second, he appeared by the corridor and caught the soft, sliding little bitter melon.
Furina hadn't completely lost consciousness.
It was just that reality was too cruel.
She was too aggrieved, so aggrieved that her brain chose to shut down and escape reality.
But as soon as reality became beautiful again, she would wake up.
In short, she was faking a faint.
After feeling King's embrace,
Furina's eyelashes fluttered, but she still didn't open her eyes.
She decided to stay "fainted" for a while longer.
King looked down at the faking Furina in his arms.
Her two rows of eyelashes were trembling like butterfly wings.
Yet she kept her eyes tightly shut, her small face set in a serious expression.
As if as long as she didn't open her eyes, the whole world wouldn't know she was faking.
However, when masters clash, the difference is often in the smallest details.
Among those present, who wasn't an old monster with maxed-out perception?
Although Raiden Ei's brain had just short-circuited, a God's powerful perception remained.
With one glance, she saw the blue-haired woman's steady breathing, strong heartbeat, and rosy complexion... Fainted, my foot.
This girl was faking it.
Absolutely faking it.
A sour feeling welled up in Raiden Ei's heart.
She didn't know what this was.
She had never felt this emotion before.
"Grind, grind—"
Raiden Ei gnashed her teeth.
She suddenly really wanted to draw her sword, but she didn't know who to slash.
Ganyu stood in the crowd, watching this scene, her face flushing red.
As a half-illuminated beast whose strength in her youth was enough to solo a God, Ganyu naturally saw through it too.
This blue-haired woman was clearly just faking a faint!
Faking a faint was one thing, but the way she was being held by Mr. King... it was, it was so... that.
Suddenly, titles of those novels circulating in the streets of Liyue popped into Ganyu's head: "The Buff Man's Night Visit to the Lonely Girl's House," "Secret Records of the Bedchamber," "The Eighteen Shy, Shy, Shy Poses."
Of course, she never "watched" those!
She hadn't "read" a single one!
But at this moment, those plots she "hadn't read" were frantically drilling into her brain.
No, no, no!
Ganyu shook her head violently, trying to shake out those messy images.
Ganyu, oh Ganyu.
The Lord of Geo sent you to Fontaine to learn governance experience!
Not to learn dating tips!
Lumine's expression was also very subtle.
She watched Furina leaning "weakly" against King's chest, then looked at the group of masters around her with their various expressions—
Everyone was silent.
Everyone was pretending to be blind.
The atmosphere was as eerie as the sea before a storm—calm, but capable of capsizing ten ships at any moment.
Paimon broke free from Lumine's clutches, poked his head out, and deliberately muttered loudly, "Furina is so bad at faking a faint; her mouth is still smiling..."
Lumine covered his mouth again.
"Children shouldn't talk."
Paimon struggled, but Lumine's hand was as steady as a rock.
After Paimon's mouth was covered, the surroundings became terrifyingly quiet.
The soldiers of the Equitable Judgment stood ramrod straight, eyes on their noses and noses on their hearts, treating themselves as a row of emotionless sculptures.
The musicians of the orchestra held their instruments, not knowing whether to play or flee; the hands holding the instruments hung in mid-air, trembling like they had Parkinson's.
Venti... Venti was drinking wine.
He drank while watching the show, his emerald eyes sparkling, wishing he could write a narrative poem on the spot titled "The Godly Shura Field of Water and Thunder."
Of course, he didn't dare write it.
After all, he still wanted to live a few more years.
"Report—!!!"
A pig-slaughtering howl tore through the courtyard of the Opera Epiclese.
A young Guard in the uniform of the Equitable Judgment rushed up from the steps, rolling and crawling with a face full of panic.
His hat was crooked to the back of his head, and his belt hung loosely on his hips; he had clearly run all the way here.
Then he looked closely.
What did he see?
He saw their supreme god of water of Fontaine—Her Majesty Furina!
Collapsing weakly into the arms of Fontaine's Guardian, Lord Su Ze!
Her face full of "agony"!
Her complexion pale!
(Furina was too nervous and had held her breath until she turned pale)
Fireworks exploded in the young Guard's brain with a "buzz."
Something happened to Lady Water God!
"Ah—!!!"
The Guard let out a blood-curdling scream.
"The Water God has been assassinated—!!!"
"Lady Water God has been assassinated!!!"
"Someone! There's an assassin! Protect her! Protect her!!!"
"Quick! Call a doctor!!! Lock down the scene!!! Don't let anyone escape—!!!"
He wailed while frantically waving his hands.
His face turned beet red, looking like a rooster that had its neck stepped on.
Silence.
A deathly silence.
Neuvillette slowly closed his eyes.
He dropped his cane to the ground and said nothing.
It was over.
Completely over.
Fontaine's reputation was going to be completely lost.
The fact that Furina faked a faint was going to spread throughout all of Teyvat.
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