Fontaine.
Now that Furina had stepped down from the position of Hydro Archon, she no longer went to the Opera Epiclese to watch trials. Instead, she'd become a leisurely shut-in.
She took part of her savings and bought a house. Most days—aside from buying food and going to see Focalors and the others—she stayed home alone.
After five hundred years of acting as a god, she'd long since gotten used to loneliness. Now there was no pressure like that anymore. The quiet ease of being by herself actually felt pretty comfortable.
Knock, knock, knock…
"…Who is it?"
Furina opened the door, her hair a total mess, wearing blue-and-white pajamas.
"It's you guys. Long time no see—come in, come in!"
Seeing Koji, Lumine, and Paimon, Furina's face lit up with surprise. She hurriedly invited them inside.
"Want some cake?"
Koji produced an absurdly huge cream cake—bought in the Honkai world. It was one of Furina's favorite desserts.
"Waaah…"
Furina's waterdrop-patterned eyes instantly shone. That sweet, rich smell was downright irresistible.
She hadn't eaten cake in ages—she'd been living on macaroni. Saliva immediately betrayed her and slid from the corner of her mouth.
"Want some?" Koji asked.
He waved the cake in front of her, and Furina looked completely entranced, her head tracking it as it moved—adorable, like a little jellyfish.
Lumine and Paimon covered their mouths, snickering. Furina was too cute. Honestly, with nothing but cake, you could probably coax her into having two kids.
"Ahem!"
Furina snapped back to reality, her cheeks flushing bright red. The embarrassment hit critical mass—how could she do something that humiliating?!
Great. Multiple people saw it.
Hmph. Using my favorite cake to make me embarrass myself… I'm remembering this grudge.
Eula: ? This "grudge"… never mind. Just pay the copyright fee and we'll call it even.
"Fufu, what do you eat for your three meals now?" Lumine asked curiously.
Furina didn't live in the Palais Mermonia anymore, so meals weren't delivered on schedule like before. Whatever she ate now, she had to handle it herself.
Lumine was genuinely curious: what did Furina's daily meals look like when she wasn't the Hydro Archon anymore?
"Macaroni. With different sauces," Furina said, counting them off like treasured family heirlooms. "Tomato sauce for a week, meat sauce for a week…"
"Hold it." Paimon cut her off, stunned. "Furina, you've been eating only macaroni as your one ingredient?!"
Paimon couldn't even process it. Was macaroni that good? Furina had been eating it for that long?
"Yeah. It's easy," Furina said seriously. "You just boil the macaroni, then mix in sauce, and you can eat to your heart's content."
She'd never learned how to cook. How was she supposed to make complicated dishes? Macaroni with sauce tasted great, was simple, and was easy to learn—perfect.
If she had cooking skills like Xiangling or Escoffier, then sure, she could make all kinds of dishes.
"I… actually have nothing to say," Lumine said, half-laughing, half-crying.
Furina's reasoning was totally fair. If you lived alone and couldn't cook, of course you'd go for whatever was simplest.
"Does Focalors know about this?" Koji asked.
If Focalors knew, she'd definitely try to fix it—after all, she carried deep guilt toward Furina.
"She knows." Furina nodded. "Focalors came by and asked if I wanted the Palais Mermonia to send meals over. But I'm not the Hydro Archon anymore—I didn't want to trouble them."
Since she'd decided to be an ordinary Fontaine citizen, she didn't want to stay entangled with her past.
Sure, her food was a bit monotonous—but Furina felt incredibly relaxed now. Her mental state was so good it was ridiculous: she ate well, slept straight through the night, and didn't even have nightmares.
This was the life she wanted. Acting like a god and presiding over trials wasn't what she'd originally desired.
Koji cut a slice of cake and handed it to Furina.
"Mmm!" Furina sat on the couch and took a bite of the sweet cake. "So good… and it's a flavor I've never had before."
Her two pale legs lifted up as she ate, and her bare feet were fully on display right in front of Koji and Lumine.
There was carpet indoors, so Furina didn't wear shoes—rewarding the two of them on the spot.
A foot fetish was totally normal. Plenty of people had one.
"What are you staring at, you perverts?!" Furina snapped.
How could she not notice their gaze? She glared at them shyly, and her pretty feet immediately had nowhere to go.
"Don't misunderstand," Koji said with a straight face. "We're just appreciating beautiful things."
"Yeah, Fufu," Lumine said, licking her lips. "Your feet are like a work of art. Can I… play with them a little?"
Everything becomes 'jade' and it's still only going to ruin you.
Paimon pressed a hand to her forehead, exhausted. She'd known them forever—she knew exactly what they were like. Two shameless horn-dogs. The fact they got along so well was just birds of a feather.
"Not a chance! I misjudged you two—how can you be this twisted?!"
Furina stared at them like they were bottom-tier trash. Wanting to touch someone's feet—what kind of bizarre hobby even was that?
"Yes—exactly that look," Lumine said blissfully. "It's perfect."
That "trash" look made Lumine feel refreshed all over. That was the look she wanted.
Koji's mouth twitched. Lumine was acting up again. Still… Furina's "trash-tier" stare really did have a certain something.
"You two are enough already!"
Furina suddenly felt deeply unsafe. These two friends were finally showing their true colors—she was honestly worried they'd just pounce on her.
Even so… as weird as they were, she felt very relaxed.
Back when she was acting as the Hydro Archon, she didn't have friends. She didn't dare have friends, either—she feared she might accidentally let the secret she kept buried slip out.
As a cursed human, she had a very long lifespan. If she made friends, then in the end she'd have to endure the pain of separation.
"Aren't you eating?" Furina asked.
With a cake this big, even she couldn't finish it in one morning.
You couldn't live on cake alone. Furina thought for a moment, then brought out her black tea—making it properly afternoon tea time.
"I'm digging in!"
Koji cut everyone a slice. With Furina's black tea, it became a cozy little afternoon tea session.
"So you're traveling all over the nations?" Furina asked out of nowhere.
"Traveling counts as tourism," Lumine said after thinking it over, "it's just a bit more tiring."
They really were traveling everywhere. Wasn't that the whole point? To witness all kinds of scenery and meet all kinds of people.
"What is it, Fufu?" Koji asked, amused. "Don't tell me you want to come with us?"
Gods generally didn't leave their nations casually—Venti being the obvious exception. But the Hydro Archon now was Focalors, and Furina was just a human with a longer lifespan.
"I do have that thought," Furina admitted. "I'm kind of bored lately. I don't know if you'd be willing."
"Of course," Koji said. "Fufu is welcome to join!"
…
(End of Chapter)
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