"What you just said…"
Furina stared at him in a daze, her eyes wide, absent-minded, and tinged with suspicion.
"No, no, I just—"
"Tell me, who are you, really?"
Furina rose to her feet, voice suddenly cold. Her ocean-blue eyes sharpened with wariness. "No one should know what you just said. No one but me."
Luc Vaudelier realized there was no longer any point in pretending. He exhaled slowly, then gave a half-smile of surrender.
"Alright. I'll tell you the truth."
"I'm not from this world. I'm… a traveler of sorts. The cause of my death back in my world was likely something mundane—maybe sudden cardiac arrest. But I somehow found myself here, in Teyvat. I guess that makes me a kind of 'adventurer from another world.'
"I didn't come here by accident. Someone—an 'expert'—guided me. That person told me about Fontaine, about the curse… and about you, Furina."
Furina's pupils trembled, her breath catching.
"I know… that you played the part of the Hydro Archon for over five hundred years, using only a mortal vessel and willpower. I know it wasn't always you who held the Gnosis. And that behind your theatrical facade, you carried the weight of an entire nation's faith—all without losing yourself."
He paused, searching her face for a reaction.
"If it were me, I would've crumbled. I mean… why try so hard? Why carry the whole world on your shoulders, when no one even knows? But you did it. And I truly, deeply admire you for that."
Wanting to soften the blow of his knowledge, Luc quickly added a bit of fiction:
"That's all I know. I don't know your daily life or private thoughts. Just that someone—finally—sees what you've done."
Furina sat down slowly. She placed her fingers against her chest, as though checking that her heart was still beating. Then, trembling slightly, she placed her hands on her knees and wept—not from sadness, but something else. Joy. Relief. Vindication.
Tears streamed silently from her sea-glass eyes.
"You mean… someone actually saw it? All of it?"
Luc said nothing, letting the silence speak for him.
It was a long time before Furina's tears dried and she smiled again—this time, as brightly as Fontaine's rising sun.
The next morning, Furina padded sleepily onto the balcony in a loose dressing gown, yawning and stretching. Her petite frame and graceful posture were backlit by the early sunlight, making her look ethereal.
Luc blinked. Even in his own world, he'd never seen a sight like this.
"What's for breakfast?" she asked, blinking blearily.
"Let me help. I'll make some macaroni."
"You think I hired you just to cook macaroni?" Furina scoffed, putting her hands on her hips. "Try harder."
"Alright, alright. I'll make pancakes."
"Pancakes with fruit?" she asked. "You used all the fruit for that cake yesterday, didn't you? And mixing pancakes and fruit—ew. That sounds awful."
"You misunderstand. It's not that kind of pancake. It's from my old world."
"That's not fruit?"
"Nope. It just sounds like it. Like how 'wife cake' has no wife in it. Or how 'husband-and-wife lung slices' aren't made of lungs."
Furina made a face. "Your world is weird. Your food either sounds like it's made of bugs or people. Except beef noodles."
As Luc started cooking, Furina hovered nearby, eyeing the thick batter he poured onto a hot surface.
"Looks dry."
"It's better with shredded meat, lettuce, and meat sauce."
Luc's movements were confident and precise. The batter spread into a perfect circle, golden and thin. Furina tried mimicking his hand motions in the air, but her invisible pancake warped beyond recognition.
She took the finished wrap, sniffed it curiously, then took a bite.
Crunch. The lettuce and shredded potato mixed with the meat and sauce in a symphony of flavors.
"…Okay, that was worth the price I pay you."
After breakfast, Luc cleaned up and turned his attention to the mysterious sack that had followed him since his arrival in Fontaine. It didn't behave like normal cloth. It shimmered subtly and seemed… aware.
It had to be his "cheat" he reasoned. Every otherworld traveler gets one, right?
Curious, he tossed in a few rags and scraps and prayed silently:
"Please give me… something Furina wore—"
Knock knock knock!
The knock shattered his focus. He grumbled and went to open the door.
Furina stood there, arms crossed but eyes twinkling.
"What is it?" Luc asked, eyebrow raised.
"I want to play Go."
Luc blinked. "Again?"
She huffed. "It's fun! I'm getting better."
He smirked. "I'm your cook and cooking teacher, not your board-game companion."
Furina pouted dramatically, clearly fishing for sympathy. Luc imagined her holding his sleeve, blinking those big eyes, and saying:
'Please, just one game?'
Instead…
"I was going to give you a raise," she said coldly. "But now that you've annoyed me, I think I'll buy cat treats instead."
Luc panicked. "No, no, Lady Furina! I'll get the board right away. Would you like some tea? Pastries?"
Furina raised her nose smugly. "Hm. I suppose I could accept your pitiful apology."
As Luc laid out the board, he mentally cursed his own weakness. She was just a girl—but one who could twist him around her finger like a pro.
Despite having stayed up studying Go all night, Furina was still a novice. Luc beat her mercilessly.
"Ugh! I lost again?" she cried, staring at the board in disbelief.
"Of course. I'm an amateur 3rd dan. That's not pro level, but… it's enough to crush a beginner like you."
Her head snapped up. "Are you… looking down on me?"