The child flexed his ten fingers, showing them off. "See? It's fine now."
Coppelia breathed a sigh of relief, her tone filled with sincere apology:
"I have to apologize to you all. Those were magic props, after all, imbued with a bit of magical power. I should have collected them after the performance. I was too careless and didn't handle it properly, and you almost got hurt. I'm just glad you're okay."
One child asked expectantly, "Big Sister, can you do another magic trick?"
Coppelia shook her head and found a reasonable excuse:
"Magical energy needs time to recover, you know."
Hearing this, the children, though a little disappointed, nodded obediently.
Coppelia looked at them and made a promise:
"The gems I was supposed to give you have disappeared, so I'll make it up to you. I'll go somewhere else later and find some real gems for you, ones that won't vanish for hundreds or thousands of years."
She noticed the boy who knew the bard Kuris was also there, so she walked over to him and said, "When the time comes, I'll entrust Mr. Kuris with distributing the gifts to you. Can you give him a heads-up for me?"
"Okay!" the boy agreed readily.
The children cheered at this promise.
"We promised our parents we wouldn't be gone too long. We have to go now!" After saying this, the children ran off together.
Coppelia watched them go, then turned to resume her conversation with Himmel.
She inwardly sighed at herself: I still can't create real rocks. I don't have the kind of power Rex Lapis does, so I'd better not try to act as cool as that old man.
Himmel spoke first. "'Magic'? From your conversation, it sounds a lot like stage tricks."
"Er... more or less."
Columbina, who had been quiet, asked softly, "Where are you going to find gems?"
Himmel spoke again, his tone colored by practical considerations. "If you're talking about gems, I'm afraid you'd only find them in the treasuries of nobles."
He glanced at Coppelia's disguised commoner attire, his eyes filled with curiosity, as if wondering how she could possibly manage it.
Coppelia didn't answer directly. Instead, she raised her hand and pointed to the massive storm wall that cut off the sky from the earth:
"I'll go look outside. Out there, the things that last for hundreds or thousands of years aren't just gems, but also the blue sky, flying birds..."
Blue sky, flying birds...
To him, these words were abstract concepts from ancient poems, ethereal images from stories.
He even suspected that Coppelia had read too many legends and developed unrealistic fantasies.
"Outside the storm wall," Himmel couldn't help but retort, his voice colored by ingrained beliefs, "isn't there only raging snow and howling north winds? How could there possibly be..."
"There is!" she affirmed, cutting off Himmel's doubt. "They've always existed. It's just that this cage Decarabian built is too strong, too seamless. It has sealed everything away, so you just can't see it."
Himmel's face still wore an expression of utter disbelief.
Coppelia said no more. She gestured to Columbina, and the three of them moved a little closer, huddling together.
Coppelia held out her palm. A gentle stream of air gathered above it, quickly forming a small, stable, and transparent cyan orb of wind.
The orb of wind rotated slowly, emitting a soft breeze that caressed their faces.
The wind was gentle and cool, completely different from the violent, cutting gales the Lone King used to "soothe" his people. It felt comforting.
Coppelia then closed her hand, and the orb of wind silently dissipated. The three of them stepped back.
This time, Himmel was utterly shocked.
If he hadn't seen and felt it for himself, he would never have believed that within Mondstadt City, someone other than the Lone King of the Tower could control the power of wind—and such... gentle wind at that.
His first instinct was to blurt out, "Is this a trick?" but his intuition, and the very real sensation of the breeze on his skin, told him it was absolutely not a trick. Absolutely not!
There really was another kind of wind, one completely different from the gales, a power that did not belong to Decarabian!
"You..." Himmel looked at Coppelia and Columbina, his voice catching in astonishment.
"We need to talk somewhere else," Coppelia said, glancing around at the crowd that had not yet fully dispersed.
Himmel, however, took half a step back, a hint of wariness in his eyes. "Wait, can't we just talk here?"
Coppelia froze for a moment, then understood. Himmel was still just a boy, after all. She had only known him for a few minutes and was already trying to lead him to a secluded spot; it was natural for him to feel unsafe.
She didn't insist. Instead, she leaned in again and quickly lifted a corner of the drab, gray robe she wore as a disguise, revealing the exquisite dress underneath.
Himmel, who had seen his share of noble attire, could tell at a glance that the dress was not from Mondstadt.
"We're from the outside," she said quickly in a low voice, then pulled the robe back down, resuming her disguise.
Himmel's eyes widened slightly as he processed this information.
He was silent for a few seconds before replying in an equally quiet voice, "Sorry... can you give me a moment? After all, what just happened was... too incredible."
He needed time to process the successive shocks—the broken lyre, the strange breeze, and these two people from outside the storm wall.
Coppelia nodded and waited quietly.
After a moment, Himmel seemed to have collected his thoughts. He looked up, his eyes shining with a hopeful light. "You said you're going outside... You will come back, right? I'd like to ask you..."
He paused, then lowered his voice timidly. "Never mind, I don't have anything to give you in return..."
"What do you want?" Coppelia asked gently. "Tell me, and I'll find it for you. You don't need to give anything in return, trust me."
Himmel took a deep breath, mustering his courage. "Could you bring me... a feather from a flying bird? And... some pictures, pictures of the sky and birds. I want to see what it looks like when birds soar."
"Okay!" Coppelia agreed without hesitation. "How should I get them to you?"
Himmel quietly told her an address.
"I've got it." Coppelia repeated it to confirm, then looked at him with a slightly apologetic tone. "However, it might take a very long time for me to return. I'm sorry to make you wait."
"Thank you..." Himmel's voice was choked with emotion.
Seeing the gentle smile on Coppelia's face, he suddenly felt his eyes grow hot and quickly looked down.
"Goodbye," Coppelia said softly.
"Goodbye," Himmel whispered back, then turned, clutching his cracked lyre, and hurried away.
Coppelia watched him leave.
His figure quickly disappeared down the gray street, his steps incredibly light, as if he had been filled with some nameless strength.
___
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