Fortune was smiling on Neuvillette today as he managed to go through his workload for the day quickly. Most of them were just some paperwork he needed to look through again and by lunchtime, there were only some inconsequential documents he needed to sign left. When it was time to take a break from reading those papers for a second time, the Chief Justice of Fontaine requested his helper Melusine to bring in his usual.
'At last, a moment of peace…' he thought to himself as he stared out the window with a wineglass of water imported from Inazuma in hand. The weather today was calm and beautiful; it was a shame he was stuck indoors. 'Perhaps I could take a walk later…' It was rare for him to have such free time.
—knock knock
"Monsieur Neuvillette, you have a visitor."
…Damn it. That was probably the Sumeruan diplomat; he had been expecting the Nation of Wisdom to send someone like the other three. "Send them in." Best get it over with…
Neuvillette returned to his desk and waited for his visitor to enter. When they did though, it caught him completely by surprise. "Good afternoon, Monsieur Neuvillette! How have you been?"
"Sigewinne, good afternoon to you as well. What an unexpected surprise," Neuvillette greeted the Melusine. "I didn't know you left the Fortress today."
Sigewinne let out a small giggle and smiled. "Actually, I came to the city yesterday evening. I stayed at the village last night and thought to see you before returning to the Fortress. His Grace also asked me to run an errand for him while I'm here on the surface."
He was curious as to what the errand was but Neuvillette knew better than to ask about it; that was Wriothesley's business. In any case, they talked for some time even past his break. He had no issues with it as it was rare for Sigewinne to leave the underwater prison. However, she mentioned something that got his attention. As they were talking about the sights in the city, Sigewinne mentioned the twins. That in of itself wasn't odd, especially since she was familiar with them but she then said she was grateful Wriothesley asked her to meet up with them cause she got the chance to see them perform.
That raised the question, why did he send Sigewinne to meet with Lyney and Lynette? It was certainly odd but Neuvillette didn't ask her directly. While it was none of his business, he did worry why Sigewinne was associating with known Fatui— even if the twins (and Freminet) were good Fatui. Instead, he just listened to her talk about the magic tricks they showed her last night while she was visiting them.
'…Last night?' It could have just been a coincidence but Neuvillette recalled Clorinde splitting up from them to meet with Lyney's family for dinner. The Champion Duelist was surely in the building by now so he might need to find her later…
For now, the Iudex continued entertaining the Melusine nurse until it was time for her to leave.
"She sure is taking her time, isn't she?"
Hearing Kaeya say something, Ayaka looked up from her current reading material. "I beg your pardon? Did you say something, Mister Alberich?"
"It's been nearly an hour since she went on her walk, I wonder what she's up to," Kaeya hummed.
"I don't doubt that if there's any trouble, Miss Keqing could take care of herself. And… I'm sure she has a lot on her mind," Ayaka defended the missing Yuheng. She could understand why Keqing was taking her time; she was still reeling from what she learned yesterday herself.
Kaeya seemed to take her advice and dropped the topic… only to turn to Cyno and ask, "So General, if I may be so bold, why did the Dendro Archon send you and your partner to Fontaine? Not to question the God of Wisdom's decision-making abilities but I would've thought she'd send someone less conspicuous."
The General Mahamatra took the remark on his appearance well, letting out a small laugh. "To be frank, I thought the same thing but I trust Lesser Lord Kusanali's judgment. Even if my partner would rather do things on his own, it's still an honour to be trusted with this mission. Knowing her, I wouldn't be surprised if she expected us to be working separately."
"What is your partner doing, if I could ask?" Ayaka asked. She knew Cyno came to Fontaine with someone as part of their cover story and nothing else. Cyno though sighed in exasperation and said he wished he knew too.
They then resumed their investigation and, soon enough, Keqing returned who looked to be in a better mood than earlier. She apologised for being gone so long and told them she lost track of time after running into someone she knew on her walk. "Did you make any progress?" Keqing asked, back in her working persona as she sat back down.
"Nothing yet. There are not many suitable for our needs," Kaeya answered in a low voice while shaking his head. "However, if you're willing to wait, we do have the bard as an option,"
"You're talking about that boy who got arrested earlier?" Ayaka assumed the bard was a boy.
Kaeya nodded and explained who he was. "That was Venti. He's well-known back home and is a regular in Diluc's tavern. Assuming Jean does not pull strings to have him brought back to Mondstadt, he'd be willing to help Aether in the worst-case scenario."
"I thought the worst-case scenario was Aether getting executed?" Cyno bluntly said. "Then again, if he is in a relationship with the Hydro Archon, she would not let that happen."
"The God of Justice not letting justice be carried out, quite ironic." Kaeya's wry laugh was expectedly met with unamused glares from the others, but he only laughed that off too. "Not that I believe he'd get the death sentence. It's just a myth after all."
"What is a myth?" Everyone snapped up to see Neuvillette approaching their table with a small child, the latter of whom overheard them. "Ah, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to listen in on your conversation." While the girl looked innocent and apologetic, Neuvillette stared at them with an unreadable expression.
Kaeya, as usual, was able to keep a smile and cheerfully answer. "A pleasure to see you again, Monsieur Neuvillette. We were discussing the death penalty here in Fontaine. And who might this young lass be? Your daughter?"
The girl giggled at Kaeya's joke and introduced herself. "My name is Sigewinne, a Melusine. I just happen to look more human than the rest of my kind."
"Sigewinne here works in the Fortress of Meropide and rarely comes to the surface. I was going to escort her back when you four whispering got my attention." His eyes were mainly on Cyno though as he had not met him yet. "Who might you be?"
"It's an honour to meet you, Chief Justice Neuvillette. I am Cyno of the Sumeru Akademiya's Matra," Cyno respectfully introduced himself while neglecting to mention the important detail that he was the Matra's leader. "I am here to assist a researcher with his work but plans have changed. Aether is an old friend of mine and I thought I should help him however I can while I'm in Fontaine."
"Just like everyone else then." Neuvillette hummed but was still clearly suspicious of them. They needed a distraction and luckily for the group, Ayaka already had something important she wanted to ask.
"Monsieur Neuvillette, if I may ask, do you have any news on the meeting regarding the trial's outcome?" She asked.
The Iudex stayed silent for a few seconds before answering, "…I have not yet gotten the chance to speak to Lady Furina in private about this. Since it concerns her and her beloved, she will need to be there too."
"I see…" Ayaka quietly accepted the answer. She tried to hide her emotions and thought she was successful. However, one person was evidently not fooled by her act.
"Monsieur Neuvillette, let's not disturb any further. I need to get back to Fortress," Sigewinne whined as she tugged on Neuvillette's clothes. The man sighed in exasperation but had a hint of a smile on his face at her rather childish act. "Goodbye, everyone! I'd say I hope to meet you again but that would mean all of you need to get arrested and what are the chances of that?"
…For some reason, the innocent smile on Sigewinne's adorable face sent shivers down everyone sans Neuvillette's spine.
After the two left, a chorus of relieved sighs escaped the group. "I think it's better we leave before he returns. It's time for lunch too," Cyno suggested which was met by nods by the other.
She was lost; Ei was willing to admit that to herself. It has been a long time since she last visited Fontaine— during the time of the previous Hydro Archon with her sister when Makoto was the Electro Archon. The Court of Fontaine's roads were different than they were all those centuries ago. Currently, she was looking for the hotel the young Kamisato heiress was staying at; Yae had told her everything she needed while also procuring her disguise. It was slightly worrying that fox already had these sorts of clothes in her size but that was for another day; Ei's current priority was looking for Aether.
It wasn't that surprising that the Traveller had somehow gotten into trouble with Fontaine's authorities but to hear that Aether had kidnapped the new (well, newish) Hydro Archon? Something as big as that was something Ei thought required her attention. She did not believe that Aether was responsible for what was reported and even if he was, there must have been a good reason for it. To that end, she decided to go to Fontaine; if one was to go against one of the Seven, what better to have on their side than another of the Seven?
When she told Yae of her plans, her familiar told her that she should hide her identity in the meantime— at least until she gets the chance to speak to Focalors. As always, she had left the Raiden Shogun in charge while she was gone and it was better and safer (not that she couldn't protect herself) that nobody knew the Electro Archon was visiting Fontaine. It wasn't a perfect disguise, of course; Ei knew from the beginning someone could see through it and sure enough, the first person she literally bumped into when leaving the station sussed her real identity out. There was no other reason for that young man in the enormous hat to follow her.
Ei didn't pay him much mind. If he tried anything, she was more than capable of fighting him herself. She also got a feeling of familiarity from him too but she couldn't figure out from where. For now, she shrugged it off and resumed going on her way until she ran into another familiar face— one she had not seen in a long, long time…
"Oh? What are the chances of meeting like this? I almost didn't recognise you." Ei turned around to see the tall man in pristine beige clothes and amber eyes. He was accompanied by a short boy that Ei could tell wasn't a regular mortal but her main focus was on the believed-to-be deceased Morax. What was the name he went by nowadays? She recalled it ended with "li" but she could not remember. Fortunately for her, Morax was kind enough to remind her. "It's been some time since we last met, has it? If you forgot my name, it is Zhongli and this is my young assistant, Xiao."
"It's an honour to be in your presence, your Excellency," the boy quietly said as he bowed slightly in respect.
"Please, there's no need to be so formal with me," she replied with a kind smile. She turned to Zhongli and asked if he was in Fontaine for the same reason as her.
"Truthfully, no but I've decided to stay until the Traveller's trial," he answered. "Shall we find somewhere more private to talk? I believe we have a lot to catch up on."
A/N: And done! I wanted to take a small break from writing but enough time's now passed and here's the first chapter of 2024! Not much actually happened but Neuvillette is beginning to realise something's going on, and Ei bumps into Zhongli— wonder how that conversation is going to go.
Speaking of Ei, 60 rolls in and I've only gotten C1 Sara, one Chevreuse and a shit ton of Bennetts. Wouldn't be so bad if I didn't already have him at C6… In any case, good luck to everyone rolling on the new banners! I sure need it with my own.
Also, I've gotten a few people to beta-read this fic and I'd like to thank them for doing so! Hopefully this fic's plot stays more consistant cause we're already 22 chapters in and the trial's still a long way's away. As always, thank you for reading, leave a comment or two, and see you all next time!