As the saying goes, "The wind fills the tower before the mountain rain comes."
After the initial eruption of the primordial sea water, the hard-won peace in Fontaine was completely shattered.
Beryl Region was completely destroyed by the rising primordial sea water, Auxiliary Officer Yuto went missing, and torrential rain poured down across Fontaine...
These three events alone caused panic among the people of Fontaine, and the Water God, who had remained silent, made them even more worried about their future.
Although some of her previous actions had been vouched for by the Chief Justice, now... Mr. Yuto himself was swept away by the Primordial Sea due to the Water God's decision, leading to his disappearance.
Trust between people is a very abstract thing.
It can be very resilient, just like the trust between Yuto and Furina.
But it can also be very fragile, just like... the trust the people of Fontaine now have in Furina.
Furina's silence about her plan, her confusion regarding the Oratrice Mecanique D'analyse Cardinale's judgment...
These two points alone had torn a huge gap in the trust between her and the people of Fontaine.
Although Yuto had tried his best to mend that gap, a crack in trust... even if you try everything, you might not be able to restore it to its original state.
—Especially when such an accident occurred.
...
Returning to Palais Mermonia from the Opera House, Furina could clearly perceive that... the way people looked at her had changed.
Originally, their gazes were filled with respect and expectation, but now...
Their eyes were filled with suspicion and incomprehension, and some even showed a hint of disgust.
All of this made Furina's heart somewhat anxious, but she still comforted herself in her usual way.
"Soon... it will be over soon. She definitely won't lie to me. She will eliminate the crisis brought by The Prophecy as promised!"
"Just hold on a little longer, Furina, just a little longer..."
Thus, the young girl who had single-handedly borne Fontaine's five hundred years of burden lowered her head slightly and quickened her pace back to Palais Mermonia.
Furina feared nothing, not even facing death would make her frown.
But the one thing she feared was seeing the people of Fontaine look at her with such eyes.
Because... her identity was being doubted, and the mission given to her by her Mirror Self was about to fail.
She had borne this inhuman responsibility for a full five hundred years! One hundred eighty-two thousand three hundred seventy-six days and nights of effort instantly turned to naught—this was what she feared.
"Don't... don't look at me with such eyes..."
Feeling the increasing number of suspicious gazes, Furina's heart trembled slightly, but the only thing she could do was raise her head again and walk past them as if nothing was wrong.
Because what a God does does not need to be understood by mortals, and everything a God does... does not need to be explained to mortals.
Only in this way could she maintain her composure, and only in this way could she prevent the suspicion, like a raging flood, from engulfing her.
But... being engulfed was only a matter of time.
Furina knew that under the pressure of crisis, when life was threatened... the contradictions that had been lurking in people's hearts would one day completely erupt.
And now was just the beginning.
Thus, Furina, outwardly calm but inwardly chaotic, walked back to Palais Mermonia.
She gently pushed open the doors of Palais Mermonia, looking at the dim light within the Momang Hall, and a sense of loneliness inexplicably crept into her heart.
The young girl stood at the entrance for a moment, then let out an almost imperceptible sigh, preparing to go to Yuto's office to soothe herself a little.
"Lady Furina!"
However, before the young girl could even step through the doors of Palais Mermonia, a somewhat childish voice came from behind her, scaring her quite a bit.
She turned her head blankly and saw Sedna standing behind her, which made her slowly let out a sigh of relief.
"...It's Sedna... Is something the matter?"
Sedna nodded her small head heavily, then spread her hand, symbolically pointing to Lord Neuvillette's office and saying:
"Lord Neuvillette asked me to tell you to please come to his office tomorrow morning. He has some very important questions and matters to report to you."
Hearing this, Furina was first stunned, then she gently nodded, and then said:
"Mm, I understand. Thank you, Sedna."
"It's nothing, Lady Furina. If you don't need anything else... then I'll be going?"
Furina nodded without speaking, then walked heavily towards the second floor of Palais Mermonia.
Sedna, on the other hand, watched the figure gradually disappear into the shadows, tilted her head slightly, and muttered to herself in confusion:
"Hmm... why does Lady Furina seem so unhappy?"
However, this was just a thought of Sedna's; for her... human emotions were actually very difficult to understand.
Moreover, she had witnessed Yuto and Furina's interactions, so she just assumed Furina was in a bad mood because of Yuto's disappearance.
She gently shook her small head, then slowly closed the doors of Palais Mermonia and left.
...
Furina arrived at Yuto's office.
Today, she did not sit in her usual chair. Instead, she gently picked up Little Sanhua, who was curled up on the desk, and slowly sat in Yuto's seat.
She curled herself into a ball on the chair, holding Little Sanhua in her arms, as if enduring something.
And Little Sanhua seemed to sense that her mistress's emotions were not quite normal. She somewhat laboriously poked her cat head out from Furina's embrace and gently rubbed against her face.
"Meow~"
Little Sanhua let out a soft meow, hoping that this action would improve Furina's mood.
But it was that one rub... that completely broke Furina.
A glimmer of crystal tears flowed down from the corner of her eyes. She sobbed softly, murmuring Yuto's name.
At this moment, how she wished Yuto could appear before her, gently comforting her as he had for the past four hundred and eighty-nine years.
But hope was ultimately just hope, not reality.
In this locked office... the young girl's sobs echoed.
Only in such a completely enclosed place could she release a little of her emotions.
"Yuto... what should I... do?"
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