The thought of this question immediately made Furina feel uneasy.
The more Yuto believed in her identity as the Water God and treated her with more kindness and meticulous care, the more uneasy and fearful she became.
Although this sudden line of thought was somewhat like a question a insecure girl would ask, but...
There was a basis for this question.
She knew very well that she was not the Water God.
The better Yuto treated her, the more she would look forward to her daily life with Yuto after The Prophecy ended.
But there was a very important question here... she didn't know whether Yuto was good to 'Furina' or to 'Water God Furina'.
If it was the former, then everyone would be happy, but if it was the latter... that would be too tragic.
The reason she thought of this question was ultimately because Yuto's way of speaking to her had changed recently.
In the past, he wouldn't say 'God' all the time, but would very naturally say 'Furina' or 'Lady Furina'.
Furina had to admit... she panicked.
She was afraid that Yuto was actually good to the 'Water God', not to 'Furina'.
She was afraid that Yuto would completely leave her after she completed her mission and lost her Water God identity.
She was afraid that Yuto would collapse because he couldn't accept that the God he had served for nearly five hundred years was a fake.
She was afraid that Yuto would be hurt because of her.
Because he was too good to her.
Furina was not only afraid of losing him, but also afraid that she would hurt him.
But... she was helpless about all of this.
The only thing she could do was to play her role well.
Silently wait for The Prophecy to end, wait for her responsibility to be lifted from her shoulders, and only then could she tell Yuto everything.
—Because she had a responsibility she had to bear, and things she had to do.
Thinking of this, Furina suddenly felt that the cake in front of her was tasteless, and the fragrant black tea had no aroma at all.
At this moment, her sense of taste was completely out of order, completely replaced by the bitter taste of uneasiness.
She tremblingly stretched out her spoon, gently scooped a bite of the small cake she usually longed for, and put it into her mouth, wanting to comfort the bitterness in her heart with sweets, just like in the earliest days.
But this time... the 'trick' that had always worked failed completely.
The cake's texture was still soft and pleasant, but Furina couldn't taste any flavor that matched her memory.
At this moment, the bitterness in her heart had overshadowed the sweetness of the cream.
But she didn't stop her movements because of this; instead, she sped up her spoon-feeding of the small cake, as if trying to make that sweetness appear in this way.
As the small cake in front of her gradually decreased, the bitterness in her heart increased instead of decreasing.
A mist that had begun to diffuse when she started eating the cake finally solidified at this moment, turning into a line of clear tears that slowly fell down the girl's cheeks.
Only now did she realize that Yuto's weight in her heart was far heavier than she had imagined.
The thought of Yuto's gentle smile and that almost unfair promise made Furina feel that the cake in her mouth was difficult to swallow.
She picked up the teacup next to her, gulped down the black tea in it, swallowed the remaining cake with difficulty, and tasted the bitterness of the tea leaves.
After doing all this, Furina looked out the window through the colored glass, her eyes blank.
"What... should I do?"
She whispered to herself in her heart.
...
Looking at Sedna pushing the cart away, a smile appeared on Yuto's face.
In a sense, he was not only the Vice President of the Melusine Protection Association, but also a very good leader.
Whether it was in terms of working hours, salary, or employee benefits... he was indeed a very good boss and leader.
Just as Yuto was having some other thoughts about his own attributes, his heartbeat suddenly quickened abnormally.
This inexplicable palpitation might be considered normal for ordinary people, but...
Yuto was not an ordinary person, and it was absolutely abnormal for such a somewhat mystical phenomenon as palpitation to happen to him.
He frowned slightly, looking thoughtfully in the direction of the Palais Mermonia's reception room on the second floor, a worried look flashing in his eyes.
The only person who could make Yuto's heart palpitate was Furina.
"Could it be that something happened to Furina? But Arlecchino has already left, hasn't she? Why do I have this inexplicable feeling?"
Yuto thought this as he quickened his steps back to the reception room.
As time passed little by little, Yuto had long begun to plan for his and Furina's future life.
—Like Furina, Yuto was also looking forward to the time he would live with Furina after The Prophecy ended.
However, he didn't know that the change in address he made to stabilize Furina's mindset and to make her firmly continue her performance... had become a blade that tortured her.
If he knew this... he would definitely hug Furina without hesitation, comforting her while telling her his true feelings.
But unfortunately, there are not so many 'what ifs' in this world, and Yuto did not have the ability to foresee, unable to predict these in advance.
Even if he had these abilities, for the sake of the big picture, he could only express all this in a more subtle way.
...
When he returned to the reception room, he saw Furina sitting quietly in her seat, silently drinking black tea.
As if sensing Yuto's arrival, Furina tilted her head slightly and said softly:
"Hmm? Yuto is back? Have all those snacks been dealt with?"
Furina asked in a rather "relaxed" tone.
Hearing this, Yuto blinked slightly; although he felt that Furina was a little strange, he couldn't quite put his finger on what was strange.
Looking at Furina, whose expression was as usual and even seemed to carry a hint of enjoyment, Yuto finally kept that doubt in his heart and nodded instead.
"Yes, they're dealt with. I gave them to the Shadowy Court members who are on duty; they work hard patrolling every day, so it's a staff benefit."
"That's good."
Furina responded simply, then lowered her head to drink the black tea in her cup, falling into silence and thought.
Yuto was the same; after sitting opposite Furina, he drank tea while observing what was wrong with Furina.
However, before Yuto could figure out what was wrong, Furina seemed to have made up her mind about something and asked softly:
"Yuto... I want to ask you, what would you do if someone you always cherished lied to you?"
Hearing this, Yuto was first taken aback, then frowned and began to ponder what was behind this question.
He knew very well that due to the limitations of The Prophecy and responsibility, Furina often couldn't directly state her needs.
—She could only express her state in a more roundabout way.
Yuto, who already had the script and had accompanied Furina for nearly five hundred years, quickly understood the true meaning behind this seemingly unrelated riddle from Furina.
"What would you do if I told you I wasn't the Water God?"
This was Furina's real question.
"No wonder I had palpitations... So she's afraid that I'm actually good to 'God', and not to 'Furina'..."
"Sigh... Dancing alone in the darkness, without an ounce of security, and unable to express normal emotions, this is truly..."
After figuring this out, Yuto closed his eyes slightly, understanding in his heart.
Soon, he began to ponder how to subtly tell her what his "goal" truly was.
After a brief thought, Yuto slightly raised his head, looked at the girl who was resting her chin on her hand and staring at him, and softly said:
"Long-lived beings are very strict in their selection of companions, and of people or things they cherish."
"They have endured the baptism of time and understand how precious it is to have someone to accompany them through this long journey."
"Therefore... once they choose someone or something they cherish, they will not easily let go."
"Although I don't know if I count as a long-lived being, the baptism of these five hundred years has given me the same values as them."
"Identity, status, way of speaking, and so on are not important to me, because what I care about is the person, not anything else."
"As for deception... unless it's something that violates principles, unless after being discovered, they still want to say something to evade responsibility, the rest is not that important."
-------------------------------
I've already uploaded 40 chapters of this story on Patreon!
If you enjoy it, come check out the latest chapters in advance.
Here's the link:
[patreon.com/Greyhounds]
Thank you so much for your support!!
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"