The Opera Epiclese had become a courtroom so quickly that I wondered if Fontaine buildings came with emergency drama modes installed.
The audience returned by section after section, their whispers crawling through the hall like a thousand nervous insects. The stage had been cleared of its bright illusion and replaced by the heavy presence of official inquiry. Guards stood near the exits. Officers remained posted by the stage mechanisms. Lyney and Lynette were positioned where everyone could see them, no longer performers beneath applause but suspects beneath judgment.
I hated how easy the shift was.
A few moments ago, Lyney's smile had been stage light and practiced wonder. Lynette's silence had been part of the act, elegant and mysterious. Now every piece of that same performance had been rearranged into accusation. His smile became concealment. Her silence became suspicion. The hidden tunnel became opportunity. The injured Cowell became consequence. Halsey's disappearance became the center of a story that Fontaine was already hungry to consume.
Neuvillette took his place with calm authority, and the entire room adjusted around him. He did not need to raise his voice. He simply existed with enough judicial gravity that the Opera remembered it was supposed to be a court before it was a circus. Furina stood with one hand poised dramatically near her chest, eyes bright and chin lifted, ready to prosecute like she had spent the last five hundred years rehearsing every possible way to say I told you so with elegance.
Which, to be fair, she probably had.
Lumine sat at the defense side with controlled focus, evidence arranged before her and expression sharpened into that dangerous calm she wore whenever injustice tried to dress itself as procedure. Paimon hovered close, wringing her hands but clearly prepared to yell at any legal statement she found personally offensive. Nilou sat beside me with quiet worry in her eyes, her hands folded together as if she could hold the whole room's fear more gently than Fontaine did. Greg perched on my shoulder, tail resting against my collar like a judge's gavel waiting for stupidity.
I, meanwhile, was trying very hard to look responsible.
This concerned everyone.
Paimon floated closer and whispered with the seriousness of someone preventing national collapse. "Remember, no talking unless Lumine tells you to."
I leaned back slightly, offended by the lack of faith. "Paimon, I am a responsible adult."
Greg flicked his tail.
Lumine did not even look at me as she said, "Greg disagrees."
"Greg is biased."
Nilou gave me a gentle smile that somehow contained both affection and fear. "Maybe just wait for the right moment before saying anything?"
"Exactly," I whispered, nodding with total confidence. "I will only speak when the moment is perfect."
The moment was not perfect.
I would speak anyway.
Neuvillette's voice moved across the court, steady and measured. "We convene regarding the incident that occurred during Mr. Lyney and Miss Lynette's performance. The volunteer known as Halsey remains missing. Cowell, a member of the performance staff, was discovered seriously injured beneath the stage. The mechanism used in the trick appears to have been tampered with. The court will hear arguments and examine evidence to determine the truth."
A hush followed, dense enough to press against the skin.
Furina stepped forward.
The air changed.
I felt it in the audience before she even spoke. Fontaine loved Furina because Furina understood performance. She knew how to occupy silence, how to turn a raised hand into expectation, how to make everyone lean forward before the first word arrived. Her eyes swept over the hall, bright and theatrical, but beneath the sparkle I still saw the thing she hid from everyone. The weight. The exhaustion. The frightened little tremor behind the mask.
And then she smiled.
Oh no.
Furifuri was sparkling.
This was dangerous.
"Monsieur Neuvillette, people of Fontaine, honored guests," Furina began, her voice ringing with perfect drama. "A magic show promises wonder. It asks the audience to surrender disbelief and trust that the impossible is harmless. Yet today, before all our eyes, that trust has been shattered. A woman entered a magician's box and vanished. A man involved in the performance was found gravely injured below the stage. A hidden mechanism failed, or perhaps, succeeded too well."
The crowd murmured.
Furina turned toward Lyney with devastating timing. "At the center stands Mr. Lyney, master magician, designer of the act, controller of the box, and the one person most familiar with the stage's hidden routes. During the very moment when Halsey disappeared, Mr. Lyney himself left the visible stage. Convenient? Perhaps. Suspicious? Undeniably."
Lyney kept his face composed, but I saw the tension in his jaw. Lynette stood beside him like a quiet blade, her expression unreadable except to anyone who understood siblings. She was worried. Not panicking, not showing weakness, but worried in that deep, controlled way that made her stillness louder.
Nilou leaned slightly toward me and whispered, "Her argument sounds strong."
I whispered back, "Worse."
Nilou blinked. "Worse?"
I stared at Furina as she lifted one finger with theatrical precision. "I am worried about how cute the argument is."
Nilou opened her mouth, closed it, then looked at me as if she could not decide whether to laugh or pray for me. "Shigeru, please."
"I came prepared for evidence," I murmured. "I was not prepared for prosecutor cuteness advantage."
Lumine's elbow struck my ribs without her turning her head.
Fair.
Furina continued, gathering momentum with every sentence. She did not overstate too quickly. That was what made her dangerous. She let the audience build the accusation with her, guiding them from one fact to another until suspicion felt like a staircase they had climbed willingly.
"Mr. Lyney invited Halsey onto the stage. Mr. Lyney possessed knowledge of the box and its mechanisms. Mr. Lyney left the stage during the critical moment. Cowell, who helped prepare the performance, now lies unable to speak. If this is all coincidence, then Fontaine has witnessed a coincidence so elegant that even a magician might envy it."
The audience murmured louder.
Paimon clenched her tiny fists. "She's making everything sound bad!"
"It is bad," Lumine said quietly. "But bad does not mean solved."
That was my Blondie. Sharp, steady, beautiful, and far less likely than me to call a Harbinger Mommy in public.
For now.
Neuvillette turned his attention toward Lumine. "The defense may respond."
Lumine rose.
The murmurs quieted again, but differently this time. Furina commanded the room through spectacle. Lumine took it through clarity. She did not need to glow. She did not need to pose. She simply stood with her evidence in hand and the expression of someone who had crossed nations, fought gods, and had absolutely no patience for sloppy conclusions.
"Suspicion is not proof," Lumine said. "Yes, Lyney knew the stage. Yes, he left during part of the trick. Yes, Halsey vanished, and Cowell was found injured. But those facts do not prove Lyney caused either event. The mechanism was tampered with beyond the intended performance design. Cowell had access to the stage preparation. The hidden routes create possibilities for more than one person, not just Lyney."
Paimon nodded rapidly, recovering some courage. "Yeah! Lyney is suspicious, but not every suspicious person is the culprit! If that were true, Shigeru would be arrested every week!"
The courtroom turned toward me.
I nodded. "Valid."
Lumine's head turned slowly. "Do not agree with that in court."
"I was supporting the logic."
"You were supporting your criminal profile."
Greg flicked his tail.
I glared at him. "You are too comfortable with legal betrayal."
Nilou covered her mouth, but I could see her shoulders tremble once. Good. If Nilou could still laugh, the courtroom had not eaten all the air yet.
Furina, however, was not done. She tilted her head toward Lumine with bright, dangerous curiosity. "An excellent distinction, Traveler. Suspicion is not proof. But tell me this: has Mr. Lyney been fully honest? If he concealed his movements, if he concealed his purpose, if he concealed what he knew of the stage, then how much of this defense rests on truth, and how much rests upon the magician's own misdirection?"
That landed.
Hard.
Lumine's eyes narrowed, preparing to respond.
Unfortunately, my mouth heard the word honest and decided this was the perfect time to become a public service announcement.
I stood.
Lumine's hand twitched toward me, but she was half a second too late.
"Your Honor," I said with solemn confidence, "my boy Lyney is innocent of this crime."
Good start.
Excellent start.
Beautiful start.
Then I kept talking.
"Is he suspicious? Absolutely."
Lyney's face lost one shade of color.
Lynette's eyes closed.
Paimon made a strangled noise.
I, a fool, continued because I thought I was building contrast. "Does he have secrets? Many. Did he leave the stage during the trick? Unfortunately, yes. Does he have the general aura of a man who knows five things, explains two, and smiles through the remaining three like that will solve everything? Also yes."
The courtroom absorbed every word like hungry soil absorbing rain.
Lumine grabbed my sleeve.
Nilou whispered, "Shigeru…"
Paimon whisper-screamed, "WHY ARE YOU LISTING THE BAD THINGS?"
I lifted one finger, still confident. "But that only proves he is guilty of being dramatic, secretive, professionally magical, and extremely bad at looking innocent."
There.
Nailed it.
Probably.
Furina's expression changed.
Not much. Just enough for me to realize a beautiful predator had spotted a free meal.
"So," she said slowly, eyes gleaming, "even the defense admits that Mr. Lyney is suspicious, secretive, and concealed his movements during the precise moment of the incident?"
I froze.
Lumine's grip on my sleeve became painful.
Nilou whispered, with heartbreaking gentleness, "You made it worse."
Greg flicked his tail once against my neck.
Lyney gave me a careful, pained smile. "I appreciate the intention. I fear the execution."
Lynette opened her eyes and said, "Our position has suffered."
Paimon grabbed her head. "Our position was pushed down the stairs!"
Furina recovered from her moment of opportunity with terrifying speed. "How gracious of the defense to acknowledge the weight of my concerns. Truly, Fontaine's pursuit of justice is blessed when even those seated opposite me cannot deny the suspicious nature of the accused."
Oh no.
She thought I was helping her.
Worse.
Part of me wanted her to win the sentence.
Furina lifted her hand again, catching the room's attention, and I saw the glow of confidence return to her face. She was in her element now: audience, accusation, drama, and one extremely stupid defense assistant feeding her rhetorical ammunition with both hands.
My traitorous emotional support instincts activated.
I raised my hand slightly and waved.
"Furifuri, you can do it!"
The court died.
Not literally, thankfully, because I was trying to reduce Fontaine's body count, but spiritually, emotionally, legally, several souls left their bodies.
Lumine turned toward me so slowly I felt my ancestors preparing apologies.
Paimon screamed, "WHY ARE YOU CHEERING FOR THE PROSECUTION?"
Nilou covered her mouth with both hands. "Shigeru…"
Lynette closed her eyes again. "Defense strategy has collapsed."
Lyney whispered, "I thought you were defending me."
I froze with my hand still half-raised. "Emotionally, yes."
Furina blinked once, then twice. Her cheeks turned faintly pink, but her theatrical pride recovered so quickly it might have been a trained reflex. "H-Hmph! Naturally! Even the defense recognizes the brilliance of my pursuit of justice!"
I pointed weakly at her. "See? She's glowing. How am I supposed to fight that?"
Neuvillette looked down from his seat, silent for a long moment. His expression did not change, but somehow the entire courtroom felt the weight of his exhausted patience.
"The court reminds Mr. Shigeru that he is seated with the defense."
I slowly lowered my hand. "Right. Legal team. My bad."
Greg flicked his tail.
Deserved.
Lumine dragged me back down by the sleeve with a smile that did not reach her eyes. "You are one sentence away from being gagged with Paimon's emergency snack pouch."
Paimon gasped. "Don't use Paimon's snack pouch for legal punishment!"
"That is the only objection from the defense I currently respect," Lynette said.
I sat.
I should have remained seated.
I did not.
Furina, now fully empowered by my accidental betrayal, turned to Lyney with renewed sparkle. "Since honesty has become such a delicate subject, perhaps the court should ask whether Mr. Lyney concealed anything else. Affiliations, perhaps. Allegiances. Connections that might explain why he moved through hidden routes during a public performance."
Lyney and Lynette both went very still.
Lumine's eyes sharpened, and I saw the calculation move across her face. She knew something was there. She knew Furina had found pressure. She was already preparing to control the reveal, to separate the secret from the crime and prevent it from swallowing the defense.
Unfortunately, I recognized this as a problem that could be solved by getting ahead of it.
This was the worst thought I had all day.
I stood again.
Lumine made a small sound that was not language but carried the spiritual weight of do not.
I did.
"Look," I said, raising both hands with the calm authority of a man about to set himself on fire. "Is Lyney connected to the Fatui? Technically, yes."
The courtroom exploded into silence.
Lyney's face became funeral-white.
Lynette stared at the floor like she had discovered a fascinating pattern there and wished to die inside it.
Paimon's mouth opened with no sound.
Furina's eyes lit up like someone had handed her a golden cannon and asked if she wanted matching ribbons.
Lumine's hand tightened on the bench.
Nilou's face went pale. "Shigeru, please stop explaining."
I did not stop explaining.
"But not the ginger one," I added quickly. "Different department. He's under Arlecchino."
Neuvillette's gaze fixed on me. "Are you stating that the defendant has a direct connection to a Fatui Harbinger?"
Sweat touched the back of my neck.
Greg's tail pressed slowly against my jaw, a final warning.
I ignored my lizard, which history would identify as mistake number seven hundred and something.
"Yes," I said. "But listen. She is called Father because she was such a Mommy that everyone collectively decided normal titles weren't enough."
The courtroom did not move.
Even Furina froze.
Somewhere in the audience, someone coughed once and then seemed to regret having lungs.
I lifted a finger because apparently the brakes had fallen off my soul. "Honestly? Father is Mommier than Signora, which is insane because Signora had premium villainess energy. But Arlecchino? Terrifying. Elegant. Deadly. Emotionally unavailable. That's not just Mommy. That's advanced Mommy. I might call her Daddy someday just to respect the danger category."
Paimon screamed.
Not whispered.
Screamed.
"WHY ARE YOU COMPARING HARBINGERS IN COURT?"
Lumine grabbed my arm hard enough to remind me she had defeated gods. "You just called a Fatui Harbinger Mommy, Daddy, and evidence."
"I was establishing hierarchy."
Nilou looked horrified in the softest possible way. "That was not hierarchy. That was personal preference."
Lynette spoke with dead calm. "Our defense has become a second prosecution."
Lyney looked like he was considering pleading guilty purely to end the conversation. "Shigeru, my friend, I beg you to stop helping."
Furina recovered.
Oh, Archons.
She recovered beautifully.
Her smile spread with the slow, delighted danger of someone realizing the opposing side had just opened the gates, lowered the bridge, and provided snacks for the invading army.
"So," Furina said, stepping forward with radiant theatrical cruelty, "the defense confirms that the accused is connected to the Fatui, operates under a Harbinger, concealed that affiliation from those now defending him, concealed his movements during the trick, and stood at the center of a disappearance and an attack beneath the stage."
The audience gasped.
Lyney looked guiltier than some actual criminals I had met.
Lynette's tail went rigid.
Paimon floated backward like the words had physically struck her.
Furina's eyes sparkled with triumph, and I realized with growing horror that she had used my entire personality as a prosecution exhibit.
I clutched my chest.
"Oh my Archons…"
Lumine turned her glare toward me. "What now?"
I staggered against the bench with all the dignity of a man defeated by divinity. "Furifuri beat me using sheer cuteness."
Silence returned for a second round.
Furina's cheeks turned red. "C-Cuteness? I am the God of Justice!"
I pointed weakly at her. "See? She's doing it again. Your Honor, I request protection from divine cuteness manipulation."
Neuvillette closed his eyes.
The pause lasted long enough for Fontaine's entire legal system to reconsider itself.
"Request denied," he said.
Greg flicked his tail.
Deserved.
Paimon pulled at her hair. "YOU SENTENCED LYNEY YOURSELF!"
"I almost won," I whispered.
"You were never winning!" Lumine hissed.
That was when she took over.
Properly.
Completely.
Absolutely.
Lumine rose beside me, and the air around her changed. It was not loud. It was not theatrical. But every person close enough to see her face understood that the defense had just removed its faulty fireworks and drawn a blade.
"Enough," Lumine said.
I sat immediately.
Paimon exhaled so hard she nearly sank.
Nilou's hands slowly lowered from her mouth, relief and lingering horror still fighting on her face.
Lumine looked toward Neuvillette first, then Furina, then the crowd. "Lyney's affiliation is serious. His secrets are serious. I will not dismiss that. But this court is not deciding whether Lyney has hidden parts of his life. It is deciding whether he caused Halsey's disappearance and Cowell's injuries during the performance."
The shift was immediate. Furina's smile remained, but her eyes sharpened. She knew Lumine had found the correct path: separate the moral suspicion from the specific crime.
"Lyney leaving the stage explains why he looks suspicious," Lumine continued. "It does not explain who tampered with the mechanism. It does not explain why Cowell was in the position he was found. It does not explain the abnormal substance discovered near the hidden structure. And it does not prove that Halsey's disappearance happened the way the prosecution suggests."
Neuvillette inclined his head slightly. "The defense makes a valid distinction. Continue."
Lumine glanced at me.
I held both hands up.
Silent.
Responsible.
Terrified.
She turned back to the court. "The question is not whether Lyney concealed something. He did. The question is whether that concealed action aligns with the actual incident. If someone else used the performance as cover, then Lyney's secrecy may have made him look guilty while hiding the real culprit."
Paimon recovered enough to point dramatically. "Yeah! Suspicious doesn't always mean criminal! Sometimes it just means stupid!"
Everyone looked at me again.
I nodded before I could stop myself. "Valid."
Lumine's gaze snapped toward me.
I pressed my lips shut and pretended to zip them.
Nilou leaned closer and whispered, "Maybe notes?"
Good idea.
Great idea.
Safe idea.
I pulled a small folded paper from my pocket and began writing. Since my mouth had committed crimes against the defense, perhaps my hand could do community service.
My first note said:
Cowell sus. Magic boy guilty-looking but not murder-flavored. Ask about tunnel timing.
I slid it to Lumine.
She read it.
Her expression went through several stages: irritation, comprehension, resignation, and the painful acceptance that the idiot note contained useful information.
She looked back at Neuvillette. "We need to establish timing. Lyney leaving the visible stage matters only if it overlaps with the tampering itself. If Cowell had already altered the mechanism or was moving independently below, then Lyney's absence cannot explain everything."
Furina's fingers tightened slightly. "Or perhaps it explains too much."
"Then prove that," Lumine said.
The court murmured again, but this time the sound was less one-sided.
Good.
Blondie had turned the wheel before I drove us into the sea.
Nilou glanced at my note, then at me. "Your notes are helping."
"My mouth walked so my handwriting could run," I whispered.
Paimon, still emotionally wounded, whispered back, "Your mouth committed crimes."
Greg flicked his tail.
I sighed. "The lizard agrees."
Lyney looked at me from the accused position with cautious hope and exhausted fear. I gave him a solemn nod that hopefully communicated, I am sorry for legally throwing you into a pit, but Blondie is pulling you out now.
His expression suggested he received, Please never speak again.
Fair.
The trial continued with evidence brought forward: the box mechanism, the hidden passage, testimony from stagehands, and the timeline of movements during the performance. Furina pushed every clue toward Lyney with dramatic precision. Lumine pushed back with structure, forcing each assumption to prove itself. Neuvillette listened, weighing each argument with the cold patience of a judge and the deep, unseen ache of a dragon learning human justice one wound at a time.
Nilou remained beside me, watching everything carefully. She was not a lawyer, not an investigator by trade, but she understood rhythm. She could feel when Furina's performance swept the audience too far. She could feel when Lumine's answer restored balance. Occasionally, she leaned over and whispered something simple that turned out to matter: when a witness sounded rehearsed, when Lyney's reaction felt more shocked than defensive, when Lynette's eyes moved toward a specific part of the stage during a question.
Paimon did her part too, though loudly. She remembered what the audience had heard during the trick: a strange sound, an odd timing pause, the moment Lynette's expression changed. Her delivery lacked legal polish, but it had sincerity, and sometimes sincerity struck places polish could not.
Greg, meanwhile, became my silent court supervisor. Every time my mouth opened, his tail pressed against my jaw. Every time Furina sparkled too brightly and my support instincts threatened to defect, his claws tightened. Every time Neuvillette glanced our way, Greg straightened like an official consultant.
I hated that he was probably the most respected member of our side.
Eventually, Furina's first wave of momentum slowed. She was still dangerous, still brilliant in her theatrical way, but the trial was no longer sliding completely in her favor. Lumine had restored the central question. Lyney was suspicious, yes. Lyney had hidden things, yes. Lyney had connections that made half the courtroom whisper, definitely yes, and some of that was unfortunately my fault.
But suspicious was not the same as guilty.
Not yet.
Lyney seemed to breathe for the first time in several minutes. Lynette's shoulders lowered by the smallest degree.
He turned his head toward me during a brief pause, smile weak but genuine. "Shigeru."
I looked at him. "Yes, my innocent but suspicious magic boy?"
His smile twitched with the pain of a man who had survived friendship by force. "Please never defend me aloud again."
I placed a hand over my heart and nodded solemnly. "Understood. I shall support you silently."
For the first time since the trial began, several people around us relaxed.
Then I pulled out another note and titled it:
Reasons Lyney Is Suspicious But Probably Not Criminally Suspicious
Lynette read it from the side.
"That is still damaging," she said.
I looked at the note, then at Lyney, then at Furina's sparkling prosecutor smile. Maybe spoken defense was not my calling.
Unfortunately, written defense was also looking legally dangerous.
_______
End of Chapter 190
Quests Completed:
Officially entered Fontaine courtroom mode with Neuvillette presiding and Furina sparkling dangerously.
Allowed Furina to open the prosecution with enough theatrical force to make suspicion look fashionable.
Watched Lumine begin an actual competent defense while Shigeru attempted to look like a responsible adult.
Confirmed that Greg disagrees with Shigeru's claims of responsibility.
Allowed Paimon to make one useful point about suspicious people, then accidentally remind everyone Shigeru looks arrestable every week.
Attempted to defend Lyney by listing every reason he looks guilty, suspicious, secretive, and professionally magical.
Accidentally gave Furina enough ammunition to believe the defense was secretly supporting her.
Cheered for Furina mid-trial with "Furifuri, you can do it!" despite sitting with the defense.
Revealed Lyney's Fatui connection in the worst possible legal format.
Explained that Arlecchino is called Father because she was such a Mommy that normal titles were not enough.
Declared Father Mommier than Signora and admitted possible future Daddy-calling intentions in open court.
Requested protection from divine cuteness manipulation after Furina used Shigeru's own words against Lyney.
Watched Neuvillette deny the request with the full exhaustion of Fontaine's legal system.
Allowed Lumine to regain control by separating suspicious secrets from proof of the specific crime.
Unlocked silent note-passing mode after Shigeru's mouth committed legal arson.
Rewards:
+1 Furina Prosecutor Cuteness Advantage
+1 Lumine Emergency Damage Control
+1 Paimon Courtroom Scream
+1 Nilou Secondhand Embarrassment
+1 Greg Guilty Tail Flick
+1 Lyney Legal Damage
+1 Lynette Silent Despair
+1 Neuvillette Procedural Exhaustion
+1 Shigeru Mouth Crime
+1 Defense Team Trust Issues
New Passive Unlocked: Defense Attorney for the Prosecution.
New Debuff Acquired: Mouth Acted Independently.
New Skill Variant: Illegal Context Dump — Fatui Edition.
New Support Mode: Silent Notes, Still Dangerous.
New Courtroom Hazard: Furifuri Sparkle Momentum.
Warning Added: Shigeru May Accidentally Convict Allies While Complimenting Women.
Next Quest: Recover the Defense Before Furina Weaponizes Cuteness Again.