The reporter ended up not going that far away; Xiao followed her from above as Charlotte retraced her steps and went back towards the cafe they (well, she and Yelan) ate at earlier that day. However, Charlotte continued past that place which, unless she lived in that direction, gave Xiao a good idea of what her final destination was. Sure enough, they eventually reached the home of one Lyney… whatever his last name was. The magician was outside entertaining some kids with his magic tricks and had just finished his show when Charlotte arrived.

They started chatting and it took Xiao stealthy jumping down and hiding behind nearby crates to overhear what they were saying.

"—ctly did you call me here? Lynette mentioned an interview," the reporter asked him with both curiosity and mild annoyance in her voice. "I expect to be compensated for this, you know? I have a lot of work to do right now."

"I'll be sure to make up for taking you away from your tiresome work," chuckled Lyney. "Lynette's making the last few preparations inside while I'm here to greet all of you like the dashing gentleman I am. Why don't you wait inside, Charlotte? We'll get started once everyone is here."

"Who else is coming?"

"You'll find out soon enough, my intrepid reporter."

"Alright, but if there's nothing sweet, I'm walking back out."

Xiao heard the sound of a door opening, undoubtedly Charlotte entering Lyney's residence. He poked his head out for a moment and saw Lyney still waiting outside on the walkway. He fortunately wasn't looking in his direction so there was little chance the magician knew he was there. Xiao contemplated moving on and finding an open window but thought it would be more worthwhile to continue waiting for the other guests.

His waiting soon paid off as a few minutes later, Lyney greeted somebody. "Bonjour Navia and Paimon too. I'm surprised to see Melus and Silver are not with you."

"Bonne soirée, Lyney.I asked them to take care of some remaining things in my place," a woman's voice replied.

Then the high-pitched squeak of Paimon asked. "Has anyone else arrived yet?"

"Charlotte's already inside. Why don't you two join her? And I'm sure Lynette would appreciate you bringing your special macaroons for everyone, Navia."

The woman laughed with Lyney before saying something in Fontainian. She then went inside too. 'Navia… where have I heard that name?' Xiao thought to himself and tried to recall where he might have heard Navia from. It was most likely said in passing by Yelan and following that logic, he eventually remembered. Navia was the young president of the Spina… something and helped Aether with Lyney's trial among other things. And then, of course, Paimon was here too. 'Why are they here too?'

Xiao resumed waiting with the unaware Lyney, who was humming to himself while (from the sounds of things) playing with his cards. After about ten minutes, Lyney spoke up again. "Welcome back, Freminet. Oh, and mademoiselle Sigewinne! It's a pleasure to see you again. I take it you're here in the Duke's place?"

"Yup!" A child-like voice replied. "He regrets not being her himself but I'll be sure to tell him everything!"

Lyney chuckled again before telling them to wait inside. "We should have one more on their way."

Unlike Navia, Xiao has never heard the name Sigewinne. However, judging from the other visitors, she and whoever this Duke was had ties to Aether. With that in mind, Xiao waited with anticipation for the last guest and, after another fifteen minutes give or take, they arrived. "Bonne soirée, Clorinde. Glad to see you actually came; I was beginning to think you wouldn't show up. I wouldn't blame you, of course. I know how busy you normally are. How is our lady Furina?"

"She's safe at the Palais for the night."

"That's good to hear. Now, why don't we go inside? Everyone must be getting antsy to start this little club of mine."

'Not only them…' And he doubted it was just a simple club. After hearing them enter the household, Xiao got out of his hiding spot and started looking for a way in…

Lyney led Clorinde to the meeting room where everyone was already waiting around the round table, partaking in treats and chattering about. Well, it was only their three guests doing so; Lynette and Freminet as usual were their quiet selves and occupying themselves with sweets and Pers respectively.

"I swear you two," Lyney tut-tutted with a shake of his head. He clapped his hands and addressed everyone. "Alright, everyone! I hope the refreshments are to your liking. Navia, thank you again for providing us with your speciality. We can now begin discussing why I called you all here. Has the Duke told you the reason I asked for him to come, Sigewinne?"

"He did. His Grace passed me the letter you wrote for him," the Melusine nodded.

"Lynette also told Paimon the gist of things but I still have a lot of questions. What exactly is going on?"

"Then let's start from the beginning, shall we?" Lyney detailed his initial meeting with the strange woman and boy from earlier that day and her own invitation into her plot to help Aether out of his predicament. "Naturally, I mostly accepted. But unfortunately, I can't let them have Aether quite yet, not when Fontaine is facing such a looming threat. And that is why I gathered you all tonight. And of course, also because I'd rather not see a vengeful Lady Furina; I fear the lives and safety of everyone if she does something… unorthodox against the other nations if Aether gets "rescued" from his imprisonment."

"I'm in."

"Already?!" Paimon shouted at Clorinde's immediate response.

"I'm in too," Navia said with a determined face. "I don't know who these people scheming to take Aether are but I do know one thing— he and Lady Furina are happy together and I'll be damned if I let anyone get in the middle of my hard work."

"Your hard work?"

"I'll accept the fact you did some of the legwork, Clorinde, but he wouldn't have been there that night if not for me!"

Charlotte then chimed in with a question of her own. "So what illegal thing did you have Aether do to get him and Lady Furina together? He mentioned you by name when discussing how he and her got together."

"…I shall refrain from making a comment about that. And don't you dare say anything either, Paimon, or no more treats."

"Oh come on!"

While Lyney did love the lively discussion, they were getting side-tracked. "And what about you, Sigewinne? In your opinion, would the Duke help us with this matter?"

The prison nurse hummed in thought for a few seconds before answering. "Out of respect towards the Hydro Archon, I think Wriothesley would help stop any fiends that try to hurt her. I don't see any problems with helping you even if it's under the table."

"Oh, don't worry. I won't ask any of you to do anything illegal, unlike Navia—" "Hey!" "—or something you'd be uncomfortable with. In fact, I hope by the end of this, nobody gets locked away. Like us, these people hoping to help Aether are doing so from a place of loyalty. I could easily see myself doing something similar if the positions were reversed."

"In that case, I'll join your secret group too," Charlotte affirmed with a nod. Then came the questions— "But what exactly do you have in mind, Lyney? What are we doing to stop this other group? How much do you know about this group?"

"At the moment, I know there are at least three working to free Aether. The woman mentioned she had another companion from Liyue that came with her," Lyney answered. "She also told me they're planning on using legal means to get Aether out of Fontainian custody and would only resort to more dubious methods should things not go so well. I suspect they'd go to Monsieur Neuvillette first and negotiate with him; I wouldn't be surprised if they hadn't already." At that, Lyney noticed Clorinde's expression changed slightly. "Is something the matter, Clorinde?"

"Maybe…" she muttered before more loudly telling the others of what happened earlier.

"Two Mondstadters and an Inazuman? That could be something…" It could just be a coincidence but Lyney would have to confirm that tomorrow.

"Lady Furina talked with them on the way back here from the opera house but I don't believe they learned anything useful from her." Lyney didn't need to ask to know why. Lady Furina most likely spent the ride praising herself and/or talking about her relationship with Aether. However, she could still have slipped up and mentioned something tangible the other group could work with. He asked her if she was sure and after a moment of thought— "Lady Furina did tell the Inazuman envoy Aether was at the Palais. But detained foreigners are kept there anyway so they might not realise anything odd."

"Then he is staying on the upper floors with Lady Furina?" Navia asked. "I've had my suspicions but nobody at the Palais would answer me when I inquired or tried to visit."

"Yup! Well, Aether wouldn't confirm it but he didn't deny it when I asked," Charlotte confirmed. Navia then asked if she had spoken with him recently, prompting the reporter to nod. "He, Lady Furina, and Clorinde here came by the office earlier for an interview with yours truly. The former two only, of course, and all the info I got will be published tomorrow morning… assuming I finish my article in time." She let out a lengthy sigh as her head and shoulder drooped. "Oh, that reminds me, when Lyney says strange woman and boy, are they the same ones I ran into earlier, Lynette?"

"Yes, that was them. Why do you think I changed language?" Lynette replied before taking another sip of her tea.

Paimon interjected into the discussion again with a burning question in her mind. "Lyney, what is the name of the woman who came here? If she is someone close to Aether, Paimon should know who she is."

"I believe her and her companion's name— the boy —was Yelan and Xiao."

"…WHAT?!" The floating companion screamed before snapping towards Clorinde. "What were the names of the three at the opera?!"

"Alberich, Ragvindr, Kamisato." In complete contrast, Clorinde remained completely calm and collected as she listed off the last names of Furina's "guests".

"Oh… Paimon's already getting a headache." Lyney had the sneaking suspicion things were going to get a tad bit more complicated than he initially assumed.

The trip back to the Palais was uneventful as always; Furina discussed some topics— mainly Aether's heroic deeds in Mondstadt and occasionally Inazuma —with those three (well, two) visitors until they arrived in the Court of Fontaine. After that, they said farewell and went their separate ways. She even told Clorinde that since she was with Neuvillette, she could clock out early and head straight to Lyney's house for that dinner with his family.

Once they did reach the Palais, she said goodbye to her loyal and hardworking Iudex before going up for the evening. "Aether? I'm home!" She loudly announced the second she got out of the elevator. When she got no response nor could see him in the lounge, she glanced at one of her guards and asked, "Abel, where's my dear Traveller?" The Garde told her he was currently in his room which meant that was her first and only stop before heading to her study.

She still had her manners, of course, and politely knocked on his door. After calling out his name a couple of times and hearing nothing, she gently opened the door to confirm her suspicions. Sure enough, passed out at the desk with a few short stacks of sealed letters was Aether, no doubt having been exhausted by writing that many to most if not all of his friends. She tiptoed closer to check up on him and bent over to see his face. 'How cute…' Furina couldn't help but giggle at his sleeping face and near-mute snoring. However, not wanting to disturb him any further, she decided to leave and come back later.

After making that brief detour, Furina headed for her study to resume her tiresome research. After opening the window to let in the night air, she settled down and dug into her materials. As with most nights, she combed through old texts she has procured over the centuries. At this point, she was rereading the same old books over and over again through the night in hopes of figuring out something she hadn't before but…

'Maybe this one will have some answers…' she sighed as she set aside the ancient book. She picked out another book she hadn't checked in some time, sat down against the bookshelf, and started reading. Going through the pages drudged up distant and faint memories but she continued reading regardless.

—knock knock

"Come in," Furina replied monotonously without even looking up from her book. When the door creaked open and she heard soft footsteps coming towards her, she already knew who it was. "I thought you'd just head to bed without me," she commented as Aether sat down next to her.

"I had the feeling you'd get tired of working all alone." Furina felt him rest his head against hers. She leaned towards him in response with a satisfied hum escaping her. It was a feeling that she had grown accustomed to and enjoyed when she could. Inside the privacy of her home without the prying eyes of anyone, she didn't need to play herself up as much as she usually did. 'What did I do to deserve you?'

"So how was your day? Anything happened after you dropped me off?" Furina pouted at the question and launched into her grumblings.

"The court trials were a bore to sit through as usual. There was no big twist today…" she sighed before remembering the one standout— well, threw standouts. "Oh, there is something that I know you're interested in."

"And that is?"

"Let's just say you can expect Neuvillette scheduling an important visit for us in the near future." Her teasing made Aether sigh too but he didn't raise another question about that; he simply accepted Furina being vague and playful as usual. "But aside from that, today is just another day in my long… long reign as Fontaine's beloved Archon."

"Then let's just go to bed for the night. You must be feeling exhausted after today."

Aether got up and offered his hand to her. Furina, however, only had a single thought in her mind— 'I'm always exhausted…' Today was just slightly bit more exciting than usual but that was a double-edged sword. As much as she liked things shaking up once in a while, it wasn't to her liking as she wished it'd be. At the very least, she could see Aether smiling at seeing his friends again and that put a smile on Furina's face. "…Carry me. I'm too tired to stand up."

"…No."

"Hey, wait! You're a terrible boyfriend!" Furina cried as Aether retracted his offering hand and walked away, leaving her to dry.

Tap tap

"…"

Tap tap

"…"

Tap tap tap

'Alright, what is that?' The ceaseless tapping from the window had stirred Aether awake from a comfortable sleep. From her still calm breathing, he was sure Furina was still asleep. Then again, it'd be more of a surprise if she wasn't as it took a lot to wake her up. Slowly getting out of bed (and his arm out from underneath Furina), Aether quietly made his way to the window and pulled open the blinds— "Yahoo! About time you show up! How've you been doing, Ae—" —only to close them again upon seeing the floating Venti outside.

Nope, nope, nope, he was not dealing with this after midnight.

Tap tap tap tap. Tap tap tap tap.

…Damn you, Venti.

A/N: And done. After weeks of buildup, (most of) the Fontaine crew have gathered and will be counter-planning against Yelan's group, who we'll be picking up on next chapter. Also here is the first real Archon in the form of Venti dropping by to annoy Aether and, soon, Furina. Gotta wait for the next chapter for that too.

So all in all, Xiao, Paimon, and Lyney already know things will soon get awkward, some more insight into Furina's thoughts, and Aether is just tired. See you all next time!