He was forgetting something important, something very important… But what?

"Aether~ Aether~!"

"No need to shout, I'm right here," he sighed in exasperation while patting her head; Furina had been using his lap as a pillow and was relatively quiet until then. "What is it?'

"...I'm bored," she pouted.

"No. No, we're not doing this again," Aether rolled his eyes at her complaint. "The last time you said that, I got arrested." Not that they'd be allowed to leave the Palais by themselves after last time. That felt like such a long time ago but it had only been nearly a week…

Furina just pouted and whined that he was a terrible boyfriend again; Aether knew she wasn't being serious but that still necessitated a flick to the head— "Ow! See?! You're just proving my point!" He rolled his eyes with a small laugh before returning to his book while Furina continued trying to get his attention.

"Fontaine has changed since the last time we were here, hasn't it?" Ei hummed as she, Zhongli and his short companion made their way to the hotel she was looking for, led by Xiao who happened to be staying there too.

Zhongli agreed with the sentiment— "But that's how time is, isn't it?" he added. "Liyue Harbor is unrecognisable from how it was five centuries ago as well. Isn't it the same for Inazuma too?"

That was certainly true— her nation was nearly unrecognisable the first time she exited her domain. Fortunately, she had someone willing to give her a tour of her own city back then. She was fortunate that she ran into an old face who just so happened to have a guide with him. "So what did bring you here, Zhongli? If it's not for Aether, what reason do you have to visit Fontaine?"

"My job as a consultant tends to have me doing odd errands here and there," Zhongli answered with a distant tone in his voice. "Simply put, the young director I am working for asked me to help expand her business. Unfortunately, that led me to being temporarily held overnight at the Palais but that's neither here nor there."

"You were what?!" The young boy leading them stopped in his tracks and spun around. His shock and anger were visible on his face at the obvious slight against the god in disguise but Zhongli was quick to calm him down— telling him all was settled and they could forget all about it.

"That reminds me, a mutual acquaintance of ours is in Fontaine as well. He has unfortunately also run afoul with the authorities and is currently being detained."

'A mutual acquaintance?' Ei wondered. In all likelihood, he was referring to another member of the Seven. After realising that, it was obvious who it was by process of elimination— "What name does he go by now?"

"Venti; I've had the pleasure of reacquainting with him over the last few years. He's still quite the poet we remember from years past… as well as still the drunkard…" Zhongli sighed. "It's not surprising that he got arrested considering his usual antics."

Ei let out a soft chuckle upon hearing that. "From what I am hearing, I should watch my step while I'm here," she said. While she could use her Archon status as a shield, the fact two of her fellows got arrested was a pattern she did not like (even though they couldn't use that same card). In any case, they soon arrived at their destination.

"Here we are, Lady Ei," Xiao bowed again, much to her chagrin. She was supposed to be undercover— granted, nearly nobody knows her real name but she'd rather there be little chance of her being discovered. For now though, they could resume talking in the lobby while she waited for the Kamisato heiress. While she did not mind catching up with Zhongli, she was starting to feel hungry and was not sure if the hotel had a candy bar…

With a short bow to his small audience of children, Lyney finished his street show for the morning. The smiles and cheers were always great to hear and gave the magician a warm feeling inside. With that, he readied to get lunch but first— "How may I help you today, Miss Yelan?" He had noticed her watching earlier and already had an idea of what she wanted to talk about.

"That was an impressive show, Mister Lyney," Yelan clapped as she approached him. "Are you free now? There are a few things I wish to discuss with you."

"Of course, I was just about to get something to eat. Why don't you join me? There's a cafe nearby I'm fond of." He offered which Yelan took him up on. The two soon made their way to said cafe and quickly got down to business after ordering. "Now then, before we begin, have you looked into what I told you yesterday?"

Yelan nodded curtly at the question. "Indeed I have, and I understand why you told me that. I must admit however, I was not expecting the Hydro Archon to be enamoured with Aether."

"As were we," Lyney hummed, recalling when he learned of the reasoning for Furina sending her spies to follow Aether. "Like I said, the political landscape of Fontaine has shifted slightly now that Aether and Lady Furina are involved. I know there are many that have taken issue with our fair Archon falling for a foreigner who no one is even sure where his origin is. Your little plan to "rescue" him is with good intentions but you'll find that Furina would use all her resources to protect Aether."

"That's how things are now, is it?" Yelan muttered to herself but Lyney wasn't finished yet.

"And in the event that you do manage to get him out of the city, I fear Lady Furina will stop at nothing to take him back. Whatever negotiations you plan on making would surely fail too."

Lyney's words clearly had some effect on Yelan, who was now deep in thought. After some time, she finally spoke up— "I appreciate your advice and will take it into consideration. I'll have to speak to some of my associates first before taking our next step."

'That's right, her associates…' Navia was supposed to help on that front. At the very least, they could try narrowing down who could be in Fontaine as part of this conspiracy. "I see. What else do you wish to talk about?"

At that question, Yelan took out and placed a newspaper on the table. Lyney quickly recognised it as the latest issue of the Steambird; he recalled Charlotte mentioning that there was something special in today's print— a special interview with Aether and Furina. "Ah, the Steambird. May I?"

"Go ahead. I believe there's something in Aether's answers that would catch your interest," nodded Yelan.

Lyney took the paper and quickly scanned through the pages. He read the interview and had to suppress a laugh at Aether's answer about his house arrest being punishment enough; in any case, he focused on what Yelan mentioned. "Hmm… You think someone is setting Aether up?" the magician questioned her. He also had his suspicions about it but didn't give it much thought. In all likelihood, it was a series of misunderstandings that led to this; besides, as he said himself, nothing bad would happen to Aether if Furina had something to say about it. No one would be brave enough to suffer the wrath of a goddess should they be discovered… except Father.

Either way, Yelan replied, "It seems to me that Aether believes that to be the case. Frankly, I want to look into this before making any further plans. To that end, I would like to make a request."

"You want me to look into who could possibly be setting Aether up?" Lyney asked to which Yelan nodded.

"As well as where Aether might be being held," she added.

"That's quite the request; that nugget of information would be the closest guarded secret in the Palais." Lyney's lips tipped into a smirk. Of course, he knew that was precisely where Aether was staying for the last week. "But I think we can discuss the matter of payment another time. For now, I'll see what I can do for you, Miss Yelan."

"Thank you for your assistance," the lady smiled in response. Soon after, their food arrived and the two ate in relative silence.

After some time of quiet reading, Aether decided to break the silence. "What are you reading now?" He asked, looking up from his own to check on Furina.

"Le Chant du Jeune Barde," the Archon answered with an energetic nod. "It's an old one but one of my favourites; it's the story of a young bard trying to make his way through the world while facing hardships and heartbreak after tragedies. Once you get a better grasp on the language, I suggest you give this a read."

"I'll keep it in mind then." Aether couldn't help but smile at Furina's enthusiasm. He could tell it was completely genuine and was happy she was happy. However, the summary she gave him was reminding him of something… 'Wait… bard… bard…' "VENTI!"

A/N: Welp, writer's block is a bitch. This chapter took way way longer than I meant to. In any case, I finally managed to get enough words out to write something resembling a chapter! We get some Zhongli and Ei dialogue, Yelan and Lyney, and of course, some Aerina cause I need another shot of it directly into my veins.

Oh yeah, and Aether finally remembers Venti was in town. That'll be for next chapter.

Anyway, I was talking about rolls last time so for an update, I managed to get Raiden Shogun after nearly 80 rolls but after that, my luck was down the drain. Got my first Dehya before finally getting Xianyun a couple days ago. Yay!(?) In any case, I wish you all luck in your future rolls too!

As always, thank you for reading, leave a comment, and see you all next time! (Hopefully not another month…)