"Ronova, long time no see. Did you miss me?"
"Alice, what are you doing here instead of watching the boundary?"
On a street of the Court of Fontaine, Ronova was enjoying some food when a red-clad witch suddenly appeared.
She blinked in mild surprise; this was not their first meeting.
"Someone else is on duty there. It's my turn off, so I came back to take a look." Alice said with a smile.
"Ronova, I didn't expect you to actually come to Fontaine."
"Oh right—my old friend Rhinedottir. What's she up to these days?"
She knew Rhinedottir had devoured the Ruler of Life. Now that her friend was mingling with the other Rulers, they hadn't seen each other for a while.
"That has nothing to do with you, witch. Wherever I go should be none of your business, no?"
Ronova replied lightly.
"Rhinedottir is a hassle. She just loves creating bizarre lifeforms, and I'm the one who has to clean up the mess afterward."
Alice laughed so hard her shoulders shook.
That was exactly Rhinedottir's style—five hundred years ago she'd already unleashed oddities like the Riftwolves.
"Klee, call her Auntie Ronova."
Alice patted Klee on the head.
"Hello, Auntie Ronova." Klee greeted politely.
Her gaze paused on Ronova's chest for a moment.
The bigger the "shell," the worse the Dodoco Demon King—that was Klee's logic.
This auntie was clearly another Dodoco Demon King.
"Four-Leaf Clover constellation… your daughter's no ordinary child either. A very lucky little girl."
Ronova smiled faintly.
A person's constellation was closely tied to their fate.
The Four-Leaf Clover represented good fortune.
"Of course. Look whose precious daughter she is."
Alice replied proudly.
Ronova curled her lip.
Show-off.
"You still haven't said—what are you doing in Fontaine?" Alice asked.
"I met someone interesting." Ronova's lips lifted slightly.
"Koji, right?"
Alice guessed it instantly.
The only person who could intrigue a Ruler like Ronova… even a second-generation Water Dragon like Neuvillette didn't qualify. At most he was worth a second glance.
"Yeah. You've met him; you should know how strong he is. Even the Heavenly Principles can't compare~"
Ronova covered half her face with a hand, voice sounding almost smitten.
Alice's mouth twitched.
Why did it feel like this Ruler of Death had been completely charmed by Koji?
"Thinking of changing masters?" she couldn't help asking.
The four Rulers of Life, Death, Time, and Space were shadows projected by the Heavenly Principles Fanes.
Back then, Fanes had taken serious injuries—but had not fallen, only gone into slumber.
"Why not? The Heavenly Principles are female too. If Koji were to conquer her, wouldn't that make him the new Heavenly Principles?"
Ronova said meaningfully.
All four of them were women.
The Heavenly Principles were also a woman.
Strong joining strong—that was the future of Teyvat in her eyes.
"You're really planning to overthrow the heavens."
Alice almost wanted to give her a thumbs-up.
With subordinates like this, the Heavenly Principles sure were "blessed."
They were even taking care of her love life.
"Do Istaroth and the others know?" Alice asked.
Ronova shook her head.
"Of course not. I haven't told them. There's no rush."
Tsk, tsk…
Alice shook her head silently.
Rhinedottir, my dear friend—when you devoured the Ruler of Life, did you ever imagine you might one day get taken down by a man?
Still… that sounded fun.
She rather looked forward to seeing it.
"Mom, what are you talking about?"
Klee looked up, big watery eyes blinking in confusion at the two adults.
"Ahem, Klee, you're still too young. You don't need to know."
Alice coughed awkwardly.
They had gotten carried away chatting and nearly forgotten there was a child present.
"Klee, go find Koji for now. Your auntie and I need to have a grown-up talk." Alice said.
Klee nodded, then used a teleport anchor and hopped straight into Koji's Serenitea Pot.
"Ahhh, this is the life~"
With her burden finally gone, Furina had also come to Koji's Serenitea Pot.
She hugged a well-behaved Hydro Slime in her arms, wearing a thoroughly relaxed expression.
Now she was just an ordinary person.
She didn't have to act anymore.
The Hydro Archon was Focalors.
After more than five hundred years, Furina could at last retire without a care in the world.
"Big sis?"
Klee spotted her.
The "shell" wasn't big—so this one was a good person.
Last time she'd met Hu Tao.
This time she'd met Furina.
They were both good people.
Just as that thought formed, Furina felt a strange twinge in her heart.
Was Klee thinking something bad about her?
"And you are…?"
Furina noticed Klee's pointed, elf-like ears.
She wasn't a normal human, but some special race.
She looked just like the elves Furina had only read about in books—a very rare species indeed.
"Nice to meet you, big sis! I'm Klee, the Spark Knight of the Knights of Favonius!"
Klee chirped.
"The Knights… of Mondstadt?"
Furina stared at her in surprise.
"A title-bearing knight at your age… little sister, you're incredible."
Back when she was trying to solve Fontaine's prophecy, Furina had sent people to investigate all the other nations and had learned a fair bit about them.
Knights with personal titles—there were only a handful in total.
Power was the minimum requirement.
"…I'm Furina. You could say I'm a retired Hydro Archon, and once upon a time, Fontaine's biggest superstar."
Furina thought for a moment about how to introduce herself.
Back then she'd become a superstar only to better play the role of Hydro Archon.
If she'd had a choice, she would much rather have lounged in a little house, never showing her face in public.
After working herself half to death for so many years, was she not allowed to enjoy life a little?
"So big sis is the Hydro Archon! I've met the Anemo Archon before—he's a god who really likes drinking."
Klee exclaimed.
"The Anemo Archon… likes to drink?"
Furina blinked.
Was Klee sure she wasn't mixing him up with some God of Wine?
"Mm-hmm! Klee's seen him go into the tavern lots of times."
Klee nodded earnestly.
Koji and her mom had both said the same thing:
the Anemo Archon was a bona fide drunkard whose favorite thing in the world was drinking.
Furina could only cover her forehead helplessly.
That really was unexpected.
"Hey, little Klee—you're here."
Looking refreshed and in very good spirits, Koji walked out of the house.
"Koji-nii, why do you smell kind of funny?"
Klee wrinkled her nose. It was a scent she didn't recognize.
Koji's expression stiffened.
He waved a hand casually, and the odor on his clothes dispersed.
"You two…"
Furina was not as innocent as Klee.
She could more or less guess what those two had been doing in the room.
"Ahem… Furina, even though Fontaine's people are safe now, the problem of the Primordial Sea still isn't solved."
Koji quickly changed the subject.
The Star-Devouring Whale was still lurking in the Primordial Sea.
If it caused the sea to surge and flood… Fontaine's citizens might survive thanks to their new bodies, but the damage to the city's buildings would be immense.
On top of that, Fontaine was an island nation isolated from the surrounding continents, a key node connecting east–west shipping routes across the ocean.
If that sea turned to a frozen disaster or a massive flood, the whole region's trade would be thrown into chaos—even if the people of Fontaine themselves were fine, the infrastructure would suffer greatly.
"Huh?"
Furina blinked.
Fontaine still had a crisis hanging over it?
Was this nation never going to get a break?
(End of Chapter)
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