—Knock knock
And there was his last meeting of the day. Neuvillette set aside his remaining paperwork again and permitted his visitor to enter. The door slowly opened to reveal a young Liyuean woman who walked in, politely greeted him and introduced herself. "I am the Liyue Qixing's Yuheng, Keqing. It is an honour to make your acquaintance, Chief Justice."
"Likewise. Take a seat, Lady Keqing." Neuvillette gestured to the seats again. "I believe you are here for the Traveler's trial too?"
"That is correct," she nodded. "As you know, the Traveler has known in Liyue as a hero. His actions in keeping my nation safe have earned him that reputation."
Neuvillete already knew where she was going with this and opted to get straight to the point. "I understand the nations he's visited in his journey hold him in high regard. Even here in Fontaine, he was well-known before he even set foot. Even the Hydro Archon, Lady Focalors, heard of him and has kept good relations with him since he arrived." 'Mostly.'
"If that is the case, why was he arrested for such absurd crimes?" Keqing questioned while trying to retain her polite demeanour. "He has a reputation for getting into trouble but kidnapping an Archon is simply ridiculous."
While Keqing's patience was slowly waning, Neuvillette kept his neutral attitude without failure. "Ridiculous or not, he is without a doubt the culprit. We have also researched his background; is it not true he was once the prime suspect of Rex Lapis's assassination?"
"Well… that is correct," Keqing hesitantly admitted. "However, he has long since been cleared of any charges and given proper restitution for the false accusation."
"And should it turns out the Traveler is innocent, he will be compensated for this incident too," Neuvillette replied without missing a beat. "And if it is his safety you are worried about, Lady Keqing, I can tell you with full confidence that he is completely safe in both body and mind." 'He may complain, but Aether does not mind Focalor's complaints as much.' That was what he told him before. To save himself and everyone else in the nation from torture, Neuvillette was willing to sacrifice Aether.
"And what will happen to him should he be found guilty?" Keqing asked with a stone-cold face. "What is the punishment for this crime?"
"In a normal case, the proper punishment for offending a divine in this way is swift execution," Neuvillette calmly answered and saw Keqing's mask crack slightly. "However, this is far from a normal case. There are many factors complicating matters."
"Such as?" If those were what kept Aether from the gallows, she had a keen interest in them.
However, Neuvillette swiftly popped her bubble— "In-depth details such as those are confidential until the trial begins," he bluntly informed her.
His monotonous response made Keqing frown and narrow her eyes. "I see… in that case, do I have the right to partake in the trial as a character witness?"
"You do. While it is abundantly clear to me you know Aether beyond simply the Hero of Liyue, you can represent the people of your nation in court." Neuvillette would not be surprised if he had to say that two more times to an Inazuman and Sumeran. While the latter nation hasn't officially sent a representative, citizens of the former will soon arrive in Fontaine. If there was any benefit to such a high-profile case like this, his nation's economy was booming from all the tourists. "If that is all you wish to discuss, I believe our meeting should be at an end now."
Keqing stared at him for a few solid seconds before conceding. "I trust you will make the necessary arrangements."
"Yes." 'More paperwork for me…' This trial might end up more trouble than it's worth.
"Thank you for your time, sir Neuvillette," she respectfully bowed in gratitude before saying farewell and leaving.
'And that shall be all for tonight.' He could finally go home and get the precious few hours of rest before doing everything the next day.
After leaving the meeting, Keqing made a beeline back to her hotel. She couldn't shake off the feeling of being watched but ignored it for now. If she still felt that in the hotel, then it would be a problem— and one Yelan and Mr Ragnvindr could solve.
She passed by a notice board covered in flyers of advertisements and announcements alike. She would have just walked past it and continued, but something— or rather, someone —in front of the board caught her attention. When she went past the blonde woman dressed in expensive and beautiful clothes, she heard her muttering something important.
"Vous vous êtes vraiment mis dans le pétrin cette fois-ci, Aether."
Keqing recognised the Fontainian language but did not understand it that well. Luckily, the only word she did understand was the name. 'Aether?' While his name wasn't a secret, most simply knew him as the Traveler and rarely referred to him by name. For this woman to call him that suggested she knew him personally. "Pardon me, madame. May I ask you a question?" Keqing asked, successfully getting her attention.
"Hmm? Ah, a visitor to my fair city?" She smiled at Keqing. "How may I help you? Are you in need of directions?"
"No, no. I know which way to go," the Yuheng shook her head but felt appreciated the gesture nonetheless. "I could not help but overhear what you said. Are you perhaps familiar with the Traveler?"
"Oui, I've known him since he first arrived in Fontaine. It is a long story but I can say that he's a good person despite what was going around at the time," the woman cheerfully revealed. "Are you a fan of his? I've heard he's quite popular in the other nations too. If you'd like, I could get you an autograph; for a price, of course."
"Uh, no need." Even though her area of expertise was not in product-selling and the like, something like that would cost a lot of Mora… Uh, she meant she didn't need to pay for Aether's autograph; she already had copies of such from documents he signed in Liyue.
…Wait, no, that sounds worse.
"My name is Keqing, a friend of Aether from Liyue." Mentioning her position in Liyue's governing office need not be mentioned for now. "I was worried about the recent news and came here to support him."
"Oh, un ami du Voyageur ?" The woman spoke in her native language again before quickly correcting herself. "I apologise for that, I am more used to speaking to my fellow countrymen. A friend of his, you say?" She had a thoughtful look on her face as she tried recalling something. "Keqing… yes, I do believe he has mentioned you before?"
"Oh? What did he say?" Keqing asked a bit too quickly. Realising her eagerness, she cleared her throat in embarrassment while the woman giggled.
"He mentioned you in relation to our Chief Justice—" her embarrassment quickly turned sour at the man's mention. "Monsieur Neuvillette tends to be buried in work and Aether compared him to you in that aspect. I believe his exact words were 'Not a day goes by without her reading a whole book worth of documents for work.' He may have been overexaggerating," the woman giggled again.
Keqing was about to agree with her that it was simply an over-exaggeration… before remembering she read up on Fontaine's law and looked through some of Yelan's documents on the way here. Instead, she stirred the conversation towards something more useful. "Do you happen to know what exactly happened to Aether? I don't believe he committed what the Steambird claimed he did."
"Ah, I was just thinking about that. Unfortunately, I do not know the full story and do believe there's more to it."
"…But?" Keqing was anticipating a but there.
"But I would not be surprised if Lady Focalors is the one pushing for this trial if only to keep Aether in the nation."
"Uh… I beg your pardon?"
"Well, it is common knowledge that our Archon was… what is the correct term… Avoir le coup de foudre is the expression here. While we do worship her, Lady Focalors can be rather… hysterical and quick to act without thinking. She tends to rule by emotion most of the time."
Yes, Keqing has heard of her reputation before. In comparison to Rex Lapis, Focalors was not a great leader in her biased opinion.
"Aether, however, does not seem to mind that and from what I can tell, they are quite close."
"…How close?"
"Let's just say the local tabloids may not be inaccurate in their assessment," the woman answered with a small laugh, not noticing the swift change in Keqing's demeanour. "I would love to continue chatting but I'm afraid I have other business to attend to." She said what Keqing assumed was goodbye in Fontainian and sauntered off.
Keqing thought about the new information for a bit, trying to understand what she learned. The woman, who forgot to introduce herself, was not lying in any way as far as Keqing could tell. 'So Aether is close to the Hydro Archon…' To what extent was unclear, yet said Archon was the one who was pushing for this trial or so the woman believed. If she was simply the victim of the alleged crime, Keqing wouldn't have given it much thought— as the God of Justice, it was completely natural for her to want to cast judgement on Aether. But the woman specifically said it was to keep Aether here…
While she was lost in thought, the sound of footsteps came behind her before a man's voice spoke. "So you're a friend of his too."
"What are you doing?" Furina poked her head over Aether's shoulder as he hunched over the desk in his room. "A letter?"
"Hmm? Oh, yes. Don't worry, I won't say anything that'll go against the terms Neuvillette set up for me." There weren't many clauses in the first place and they were all logical— i.e. do not leave without express permission from Furina, must be accompanied at all times while out. In this case, he must not include any confidential details in any letter addressed to anyone whether they were involved with his trial or not.
"Who is it for?" Aether could feel Furina's gaze getting intense as she turned her attention towards him.
"Just a friend. Another guy, mind you," Aether added, knowing that'll calm Furina down. "He's in Sumeru at the moment and needs a word put in for him." Kazuha neglected to mention why he wanted to meet Nahida but Aether trusted him completely to not question his intentions.
"Well, finish it quickly. I wish to sleep," Furina huffed before walking towards and getting into bed.
With that minor interruption over with, Aether resumed drafting his letter silently. "…Why are you sleeping here tonight?"
"Because you refuse to carry me to my room."
"And that gives you permission to sleep here?"
"This is my guest room, my home, and my nation! I can sleep wherever I please!" Furina childishly retorted before pulling the blanket over herself. Aether's only reaction was the chuckle lightly at her before resuming writing again. He needed to wake up early the next morning anyway so better finish it quickly.
A/N: Okay, managed to eke out one last chapter before 4.0. And before any of you say, yes I do know Navia's name. Honestly, I'm liking the designs of all the Fontaine characters even though they're… you know… French. Speaking of French, inspired by some other fics set in Fontaine, decided to pepper in some French here and there. It won't be major stuff and you can just DeepL the stuff.
Also, shout out to donyie on AO3 for their recent AeFuri work. Seeing that email made my day.