"This... all right..." Furina lowered her head, looking a little downcast.
Chaya and Neuvillette exchanged a glance, both seeing the same helplessness in each other's eyes, like exhausted parents trying to raise a troublesome child.
Lora, standing nearby, reached out and rubbed Furina's hair comfortingly.
"Don't rub the Hydro Archon's hair!" Furina protested.
"I'm just rubbing your hair," Lora replied without thinking.
A flash of panic crossed Furina's eyes. She quickly said, "I am the Hydro Archon!"
"Ah... of course. Of course you're the Hydro Archon!" Lora nodded, soothing her. "What I mean is, in my eyes, you're still just a child. What's wrong with someone older patting a child on the head? Even if you're a god, you're still younger than me."
"Even a god can be a child?" Furina looked at Lora blankly.
Lora nodded. "Of course! Not every god is some mature adult. Isn't the Dendro Archon in neighboring Sumeru still basically a child herself?"
"Can I act like a child in front of you?" Furina asked instinctively.
Then she suddenly realized she should not have said that in front of Neuvillette and Chaya, so she immediately cut herself off.
"...I'm going back first!"
Watching Furina hurry away, Lora slowly lowered her hand. When she turned around, she saw Chaya and Neuvillette both staring at her.
She touched her face. "Do I have something on my face?"
"Of course not," Neuvillette said, shaking his head.
"All right, I won't disturb you two anymore. I'm going to let those two out. Fontaine's future still depends on them recklessly charging ahead." Lora waved goodbye to Neuvillette and Chaya.
Neuvillette said to her, "By the way, those two Oceanids, Rhodeia and Idyia, are currently working at the Opera Epiclese..."
"...Mm, got it." Lora nodded after hearing that.
Thinking about it, she could understand why the two of them had gone to the opera house. It seemed they still had trouble dealing with Furina's personality.
After Lora left the office, Neuvillette invited Chaya to sit down and placed a stack of documents before her.
"Miss Chaya, these documents concern various recent issues in Fontaine. I would like to hear your thoughts on these matters, as well as possible solutions..."
Chaya took the documents from Neuvillette and began reading them carefully.
Neuvillette had already written his own opinions on most of the documents, but there were still a few cases involving too many parties that required a final decision.
Chaya nodded slightly and said to Neuvillette, "Your handling of most of these matters is excellent and fully in accordance with Fontaine's laws. You simply need to consider these few issues a little more carefully..."
While the two of them discussed Fontaine's affairs, Fontaine's true ruler arrived at the Maison Gardiennage holding area and released Lumine and Paimon.
"Sorry for the trouble," Lora said with a smile.
Paimon shook her head. "It wasn't really much trouble. Or maybe we're just used to this sort of thing by now..."
"But I want to know why you're so familiar with the Hydro Archon, and why Miss Chaya is Fontaine's Acting Chief Justice," Lumine said, looking at Lora and asking the question on her mind.
"That..." Lora blinked, considering how to explain it to Lumine.
But Lumine suddenly patted her shoulder and said, "If you don't want to tell me, you don't have to! For beings like you, I'll probably understand once the time comes, right?"
Hearing Lumine say that, Lora froze slightly and looked at her in surprise.
"Lumine... you..."
"All right! Let's not talk about that anymore. Let's get out of here first. We can't just stay in this place forever, can we?" Lumine changed the subject.
Lora smiled faintly and nodded. "All right."
Lora led Lumine and Paimon out of the Palais Mermonia. As they stepped outside, Paimon looked back and sighed.
"So this is the Palais Mermonia. Its style is completely different from Tenshukaku and the Sanctuary of Surasthana. You can even see the scenery of the Court of Fontaine from up here..."
Lora spoke up at just the right moment. "Want to look around? I'll show you the city, as an apology for earlier."
"You didn't do anything wrong. Why are you apologizing...?" Paimon asked, looking at Lora in confusion.
Lora laughed helplessly. "Either way, I'm still the one who should apologize."
"Then show us around. You must know this place really well. We have no idea where anything is..." Lumine said.
Under Lora's guidance, the two left the Palais Mermonia and stepped onto the streets of Fontaine.
At the Palais Mermonia, Furina leaned against the windowsill and watched the three of them walk away, frowning.
"What's going on? She didn't even come see me. She just took them out instead!"
"Should I follow them and take a look? No, no, no... forget it. I'm the Hydro Archon! Why would I secretly follow them around? That would be way too embarrassing!"
Furina paced alone in her room, muttering to herself.
More than once, she wanted to follow them and see what was happening, but in the end, she forced herself to suppress the thought. She knew very well that she could not show behavior unbecoming of a god right now. This was the Court of Fontaine, with people watching everywhere. It was not like when she had followed Lora around out in the wilderness before.
Lora knew nothing about her daughter's inner struggle. She simply took Lumine and Paimon on a stroll through the Court of Fontaine.
As they walked, they arrived near the Beaumont Workshop, and Lora introduced it to them.
"This is the Beaumont Workshop. If there's anything you need forged, Estelle can handle it."
"Eh? That giant machine is used for crafting?" Paimon stared in surprise at the enormous machine inside the workshop. "Paimon thought it'd be like everywhere else, where people just hammer things out by hand..."
Hearing voices outside, Estelle came out. When she saw Lora, she smiled and greeted her.
"Well, if it isn't Miss Lora. I heard you left Fontaine a while ago. When did you get back?"
"Just now. Didn't I come see you the moment I got back?" Lora replied with a smile.
When Lora previously returned to Fontaine, she had not simply wandered the streets aimlessly. With her unique charm, she had already become a familiar face throughout much of the Court of Fontaine.
Behind her, Paimon quietly whispered to Lumine, "Paimon's noticed Lora knows a ton of people here. That's amazing..."
"It's normal for her to know people here," Lumine said with a nod, not surprised at all.
However, just as Estelle and Lora were chatting, several thugs with an intimidating air approached from the side.
The man leading them crossed his arms, looking thoroughly arrogant.
Truand looked at Estelle and said, "Instead of getting back to work and making money, you're chatting with people again, boss lady? Why don't you come chat with me for a bit instead?"