"Under the Assistant Administrator's governance, Fontaine flourished, and the existence of The Prophecy was almost forgotten by the people of Fontaine."
"But they did not forget; instead, they worked even harder to handle all of this, because they knew that some things would eventually come to pass, it was only a matter of time."
As the ancient and indifferent voice gradually faded, the lights on the stage brightened once more.
The two large spotlights also focused on Furina at this moment.
At this moment, she was sitting in the reception room, quietly listening to Polo, who was made up to look old, deliver the crucial lines.
"Lady Furina! To be able to converse with you so closely feels like a dream..."
"I heard that the first person in our family to have the honor of being received by you was Mr. Salrais, about twenty generations ago."
"Hahaha... Excellent, what a distinguished family. Receiving such devout followers as yourself, or the descendants of devout followers, is truly my greatest pleasure."
Furina's tone and inflection had changed considerably compared to the beginning of the performance.
Her tone became more natural, and her voice grew increasingly... arrogant. The previous sense of incongruity had vanished without a trace under the erosion of years.
While this could be seen as growth, growth always comes with a price.
And the price Furina paid for 'growth' was...
"You flatter me, Lady Furina."
"Uh... Lady Furina?"
"Hmm? What is it, my loyal subject?"
"Are you... are you crying?"
The 'right to be sad' and the 'right to cry'.
Of course, and her true'self'.
Hearing the words of the subject before her, Furina hastily wiped the corners of her eyes, a sensation of dampness passing through her thin silk gloves, which momentarily flustered her.
But after so many years, she was no longer the 'Furina' who occasionally showed a hint of timidity.
Instead, she had learned how to flexibly handle everything and flexibly maintain her persona in front of her subjects as 'Focalors, the Hydro Archon'.
"Ah... Eh? Hahaha, what's going on, I didn't even notice."
Furina forced a relaxed laugh; only those who spent every day with her could see the strain in her smile.
She made no attempt to hide the tears in her eyes, letting them stream down her face, then said with a feigned look of distress:
"Oh, I guess my water element is too abundant. There's nothing I can do, who made me the Archon who controls water element, hahaha..."
"No wonder, no wonder... So it's a manifestation of your Archon's power, I'm truly honored to witness this!"
...
After endless meetings, Furina sat on her small bed, her eyes teary, and whispered with a choked voice:
"So long... so lonely... how much longer..."
"It's been several centuries, hasn't it? Perhaps this play will continue for several more centuries…"
"This isn't me at all, but I can no longer remember what I was like before…"
"The Prophecy, The Prophecy… When will you finally arrive? When will there be signs of your eruption?"
"If the accumulated energy isn't enough to break the cage of destiny, then these past few centuries will have been meaningless."
"So I can only wait, wait for that opportunity…"
"But I never thought this process would be so painful…"
"Have I reached my limit? No, I must have reached my limit a long, long time ago. Today, I can't even feel myself crying."
"I want to talk to someone, even if it's just one person… But wouldn't that make all my efforts for naught?"
Just then, a gentle knock sounded in Lady Furina's ears—no, more accurately, in the ears of all the audience members in the Opera House.
"Lady Furina, I have something regarding The Prophecy to report to you."
Lord Yuto's usual gentle and calm voice echoed through the quiet Opera House.
Hearing Lord Yuto's words, Lady Furina subconsciously glanced at the mirror on her bedside table, then began to cover up the tear stains on her face as much as possible.
For Lady Furina, whose emotions had just collapsed due to The Prophecy… at this moment, she couldn't care less about anything else.
She only wanted to know more about The Prophecy, only wanted to resolve The Prophecy as quickly as possible.
If she wasn't uncertain, if the failure to resist The Prophecy wouldn't drag all of Fontaine down with her… she would never have waited until now.
Thinking of this, Lady Furina cleared her throat slightly and then spoke:
"Related to The Prophecy? Hahaha, as expected of my Assistant Administrator, you're already investigating matters related to the Archon's domain so quickly?"
"Come in, let me hear… With your wisdom, how far have you understood?"
Lady Furina said as she skillfully opened the door and sat down at her small round table.
Her legs were slightly crossed, one hand resting on her chin, and a look of amused interest appeared on her face, as if she was anticipating his answer.
But…
For Yuto, who spent day and night with her, the tear stains at the corners of her eyes were simply too obvious.
Looking at the pair of unique eyes that showed a hint of curiosity, Yuto imperceptibly shifted his gaze slightly.
He could see the sorrow and pain deep within Lady Furina's eyes.
As if remembering something, Yuto placed a stack of documents on Lady Furina's table, then softly said:
"Lady Furina, these documents are all about the rising sea levels in Fontaine, The Prophecy, and a series of other related information. They are also the source of my investigations."
"Since you wish to know how far I've understood… I'll keep it brief."
"Are you accumulating so much 'Indemnitium' in the room beneath the Oratrice Mecanique D'analyse Cardinale because you want to shatter something?"
"And this thing is closely related to your own power, but also strongly linked to The Prophecy. Does that mean…"
"You want to use this power, derived from the Gnosis and jointly created by the residents of Fontaine, to completely neutralize the 'divine power' within the Gnosis?"
"And 'divine power' means 'curse,' and 'curse' brings about 'The Prophecy.' Am I… correct?"
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