"Hmph!"
Furina crossed her arms, turning her face away again, an expression that clearly said, "I'm still unhappy, keep coaxing me."
Is this... what the books call a "tsundere"?
Liu Yuan thought to herself.
The tsundere girl didn't realize that the young woman had already seen through her, but she (Furina) was quite happy to hear her sincere apology. However, this little apology wasn't enough!
But... it was still the same old saying: she, Furina, could easily manipulate Liu Yuan!
"What did you do wrong?"
Furina's tone still carried a hint of anger, but it was clearly less intense than before.
"I shouldn't have kissed your lips..."
Furina nodded, just about to speak, but then Liu Yuan continued:
"...And your cheeks, ears, neck..."
"Stop, stop, stop!"
Furina's face flushed crimson, her previously calm thoughts once again in disarray. She looked at Liu Yuan with a scarlet face, only to see a slightly puzzled expression on her face, as if she was asking why she interrupted her "enumeration of sins."
"You... you..."
"Hmm?"
Liu Yuan was puzzled, Liu Yuan pondered, Liu Yuan didn't understand, Liu Yuan was at a loss.
Did I do something wrong? Didn't Furina ask me to say what I did wrong?
Liu Yuan thought about the "bad things" she had done to Furina in the room earlier; it seemed like they all counted as wrongdoings?
Gradually getting used to occasionally suppressing her rationality to indulge her emotions, this made Liu Yuan less "rational" when doing things, and more... emotional?
Liu Yuan felt that since that night, she had entered a state where emotions were born and erupted, but it seemed... it only worked on Furina?
She still felt nothing towards others, not even strangers. She remained an "aloof" observer, just as she was when she first arrived.
She observed, she learned, but she felt nothing, only experiencing that strange feeling when talking and chatting with Furina.
If Liu Yuan's emotions were likened to a system, then currently, only Furina possessed the authority to open that part of the system.
"Big pervert! Big lecher!"
Furina said loudly, her face red. If Liu Yuan hadn't set up a transparent, sound-isolating water membrane around the viewing platform beforehand, Furina's voice on the platform would probably have been heard by the people below.
Liu Yuan was slightly stunned, a little at a loss.
After speaking, Furina turned away directly, her entire face red, refusing to look at Liu Yuan.
She was angry, the kind that couldn't be coaxed!
Hmph!
Standing up, Furina didn't look at Liu Yuan and walked directly towards her resting room, giving Liu Yuan no time to react.
Liu Yuan, left in place, could only follow Furina, a deep look of confusion on her face.
"A girl's mood is like the rain that appears at any time in Fontaine, sudden and completely unpredictable."
Liu Yuan now had a deeper understanding of this statement.
A girl's mood... or rather, Furina's mood, is really hard to understand...
Liu Yuan sighed slightly in her heart, feeling a little troubled.
---
Under normal circumstances, after a trial, the Opera House would have thirty minutes to an hour to prepare for the next performance.
At this moment, Lyney was watching several masked individuals, dressed in assistant uniforms, moving various props.
These were the assistants "Father" had sent him, trustworthy individuals.
His assistants were not just Lynette; besides the most important prop creation, he usually entrusted the arrangement and setup of props to these assistants.
He looked up at the viewing platform; just a moment ago, the Hydro Archon was sitting there.
He was one of the spectators at the trial that morning, and frankly, he was very shocked.
He had seen the Hydro Archon's past performances in trials.
Most of the time, her questions were driven by curiosity, often having little logical connection to the case, and mostly causing everyone to burst into laughter.
But whenever an audience member questioned whether Furina was just a clown who only joked around, without even a full grasp of the case, she would throw out some highly insightful questions.
This strange situation repeatedly played out with Furina, making everyone believe she did it on purpose, or to liven up the atmosphere.
But Furina this morning was truly extraordinary.
Her confident and bold statements were full of theatricality, and she presented the full picture of the case as if she had witnessed it herself.
Moreover, from Furina's remarks on the two Alchemy poisons, she seemed to have a deep understanding of Alchemy, which was completely unlike the Hydro Archon!
Because it was too strange, Lyney naturally reported this matter to "Father." However, "Father" only remained silent for a while before telling him not to act rashly, to proceed with the plan as normal, and not to deliberately investigate anything about the Hydro Archon.
Lyney was a bit puzzled, but still chose to obey "Father's" command and continue with the plan.
He looked down at his feet; below him was the stage of the Opera Epiclese, and behind him was a part of the massive Oratrice Mecanique D'analyse Cardinale.
He subtly glanced at the Garde in the distance who was constantly watching the area, and began to think about how to implement the plan.
After a long time, he sighed softly in his heart:
'I still need to make a name for myself first, otherwise, even with "Father's" help in submitting the application, I wouldn't be able to modify the stage...'
---
Meanwhile, on the other side, in Fontaine, within the Fatui's stronghold.
In The Knave Arlecchino's office, some sounds emanated from within.
"...Just go and check if there are toxins on the tableware the poor president used that day, and check for toxins in the Fish..."
The Knave's eyes were lowered, a record of the morning's trial in her hand, and the recording of the entire trial in her ears.
Her fingers tapped rhythmically on the desk, but gradually, a jumble of information and thoughts in her mind caused the rhythm of her fingers to become chaotic as well.
She stopped thinking, reached into a drawer, took out a file placed on top, and then opened it.
This was the Fatui's collected data over the years regarding Furina's performance in every trial and her public appearances in other situations.
In the first few years of the investigation, Furina's personality hadn't changed much, but starting a few months ago, Furina gradually began to act unusually.
For example, recently, the books in Furina's room had never been updated in the past two years, but starting five months ago, Furina would have people from Palais Mermonia replace the books on her bookshelf every two to three weeks on average.
And occasionally, she would ask people from Palais Mermonia to prepare some board games for her.
Another example, also starting five months ago, Furina spoke less and less in public and seemed to have lost her previous habit of casually striking up conversations.
Two months ago, Fontaine held a gathering to discuss Fontaine literature, primarily focusing on current Fontaine scripts, novels, and other literary works.
Many well-known figures were invited, and Furina was one of them. Of course, invitations were sent, but whether she came or not mainly depended on Furina's willingness.
Before this, this literary discussion group was held once every three years on average. However, Furina's attendance was very rare; even if Furina didn't come, invitation letters were still sent out as a matter of formality.
However, to everyone's surprise, Furina actually attended this gathering this time.
At the gathering, there was a segment where invited guests discussed their favorite works. Everyone thought Furina would talk about some novels, but the result was that Furina talked about a whole host of Fontaine literary works.
And that wasn't all; after Furina finished speaking, she began to voice her own questions. However, it would have been better if she hadn't asked; Furina's questions left everyone speechless.
And it wasn't enough to just ask questions; Furina also expressed her own ideas and discussed them with everyone present.
Hmm... after everyone present heard Furina's ideas, they were equally speechless.
In short, at that gathering, Furina, in just two hours, became the honorary president of the Fontaine Literary Association.
And since five months ago, similar unexpected things have not been uncommon.
"Five months ago..."
The Knave murmured softly.
Furina must have encountered something five months ago, otherwise, there wouldn't be such a big change, but... what kind of change was it?
The Knave fell into deep thought, and only the sound of the recorder echoed in the room.
.
.
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_