The sun was setting in the west.
The distant sky was dyed in hues of orange and red.
On the streets of Fontaine, the streetlights on either side of the road gradually flickered to life.
Inside the private room.
After the attendant left, Furina relaxed visibly.
She chatted casually with Lu Heng, and before they knew it, the topic turned to Arlecchino.
"Though I don't know what kind of fate she'll face, it's quite admirable that she's prepared to cut through destiny itself," Furina remarked with respect.
Even though she knew Arlecchino planned to seize the Gnosis, it didn't diminish her admiration for those who dared to defy fate.
"Anyone with the courage and determination to resist fate is remarkable," Lu Heng agreed wholeheartedly.
"Speaking of which..."
Furina leaned in slightly, her expression turning serious. "I've always felt like you seem to know a little about everything—almost as if you can see through fate itself."
Lu Heng smiled but didn't deny it.
If he stood independently outside of Teyvat, he would be an outsider reading from a script.
But now that he lived in Teyvat, fate had already shifted because of him.
How much of the original "script" remained was something even Lu Heng couldn't say for sure.
Still, he remembered the old version of events clearly.
"So it wasn't just my imagination?"
Seeing that Lu Heng didn't deny it, Furina blinked, her curiosity burning even brighter. "Can you tell me how my performance will come to an end?"
This question made Lu Heng hesitate.
Should he tell her that the finale of this performance would come at her most desperate, most hopeless moment?
"It must be pretty bad, right?"
Furina studied Lu Heng's expression. Though he didn't say anything, she could already guess.
Her gaze lowered slightly.
"You..."
Just as Lu Heng was about to console her, Furina lifted her head again, a bright smile on her face.
A Catalyst materialized at her waist, golden and purple cards swirling around her.
"What about now?"
Lu Heng couldn't help but chuckle. "Now, it depends on how the 'Queen' decides her own finale."
"I knew it!"
Furina clapped her hands together, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
"Knew what?" Lu Heng was puzzled.
"About you!"
"You're so mysteriously unfathomable, and you're from another world—you must exist outside of fate, right?"
Furina said it as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "So I thought, maybe you're the anomaly in destiny. With your arrival, fate would ripple and change, becoming completely different from what it was supposed to be!"
Lu Heng looked at her in surprise. "I didn't expect you to figure all that out?"
"What's with that shocked expression?!"
Furina puffed up her cheeks indignantly. "Do I really seem that clueless to you? What kind of image do you even have of me in your head?!"
"...Hard to say."
Lu Heng suppressed a laugh.
"Ugh!"
Furina flailed her arms in mock outrage, her claws swiping harmlessly through the air without actually hitting him.
Then she settled down, resting her chin on one hand. "So that means me, and everyone in Fontaine, are heading toward a new future now."
"Can you tell me what the original future was like?"
She hesitated, then added, "If it's too inconvenient, it's fine."
Her pleading gaze was impossible to resist.
Lu Heng sighed. "Looking at me like that, it's hard to say no."
"Hehe."
Furina flashed a peace sign. "Acting is my specialty~"
"Are you really prepared to face everything?" Lu Heng's tone grew more serious.
Furina straightened up, her expression solemn.
She had thought about it—a lot.
The prophecy crisis in Fontaine had to be resolved.
And the freedom she longed for needed to come as soon as possible.
Before, she could only passively wait for each scene to unfold. But now, she had the power to protect everyone, didn't she?
"I want to know everything!"
"I want to protect every person in Fontaine!"
"Before, I didn't know how. But now, I have strength. Even if I'm not the true Hydro Archon, I'll do everything I can to keep everyone safe!"
Lu Heng could sense the sincerity in Furina's words.
This was her true heart, laid bare.
What Focalors had told her, the promises made, stretched over five hundred years—it was nothing short of a distant, almost illusory dream.
Yet she had endured it all, stubbornly holding on.
"You're truly incredible," Lu Heng said softly.
"Huh?"
Furina blinked, momentarily taken aback. Realizing he was praising her, her lips slowly curled into a smile.
"I'll tell you everything I know now."
Lu Heng began:
"Long ago, the oceanids who followed the previous Hydro Archon, Egeria, prayed to her. They envied human forms, yearning to become humans and live on land... Egeria stole power from the Primordial Sea to transform the oceanids into the people of Fontaine today..."
Furina listened intently, not interrupting. This was history she had never heard before.
"Before her death, Egeria entrusted the Gnosis and the 'original sin' to Focalors. And so, Focalors began to ponder how to confront the prophecy crisis."
"She descended into the depths of the sea, quietly devising a plan..."
"Slowly, a scheme took shape in her mind—only by deceiving the Heavenly Principles could Fontaine be saved when the prophecy came to pass."
"She invited Neuvillette to Fontaine to serve as the Iudex, then separated her 'divine self' from her body and spirit, leaving behind only a newly created human version of herself."
Furina wasn't foolish. Connecting the dots with what she already knew, she pointed at herself in disbelief.
"Me?"
When Lu Heng nodded, Furina fell silent.
This was a revelation she had never anticipated.
It left her dazed, struggling to believe.
It took her a long moment to recover. "And then? What was her plan?"
"She cursed you. As long as the divine Focalors existed, Furina would never die."
"She invited you, an actress, to play the role of the Hydro Archon in the prophecy..."
"...In the end, you would be exposed in a grand, theatrical trial, weeping on the throne. Meanwhile, Focalors—having accumulated five hundred years of Indemnitium—would finally destroy the divine throne."
"She destroyed herself, completing the transfer of the incomplete Dragon's Authority. With Neuvillette now possessing humanity, he would pardon the sins of Fontaine's people... and the waters of the Primordial Sea would no longer dissolve them."
Furina listened to Lu Heng's revelations in silence.
For a long time, she said nothing.
So this was the truth. This was the plan of the "person in the mirror."
She had expected to feel a storm of emotions after hearing it, but instead, an eerie calm settled over her.
"Furina?"
"Huh?"
She looked up, still slightly dazed.
"You've worked hard," Lu Heng said gently, his gaze soft.
Her vision blurred suddenly.
The strange calm in her heart shattered. His words were like a pebble dropped into still water, sending ripples that soon swelled into towering waves.
Her nose felt stuffed, making it hard to breathe.
Furina couldn't quite describe what she was feeling.
"I was fine just now... why did you have to say it in such a heartbreaking tone..."
She buried her face in Lu Heng's chest, tears finally spilling over.
Seeing this, Lu Heng patted her back gently in comfort.
"Let it all out."
"These tears are your farewell to the fate of the past. Once you've cried it out, the future ahead will be a new one—yours to decide."
"When the time comes, the 'Queen' must stand tall."
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T/N:
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