The Supreme Archbishop of Fontaine

Furina was in a state of panic.

Last night, she had a dream—whether it was a good dream or a nightmare, she couldn't say, but it left her feeling uneasy. When she woke up this morning, her bed was wet.

Am I... in love?

It seemed normal, after all, she was just an ordinary girl—though this was the first time in five hundred years.

And the object of her affection was that cold-hearted jerk?

She actually dreamed about him?

How could this be? How could this be? How could this be?

Could it be... that I secretly like him?

Furina was utterly confused. After washing her sheets, she took the private passage downstairs and entered the Palais Mermonia through the main gate, intending to accompany him to the Opera Epiclese to watch today's trial and figure out her feelings.

—But instead, she fled in panic.

The moment she saw his face, the dream from last night came flooding back, and Furina couldn't maintain her composure.

Cut her some slack. She had been a virgin for five hundred years, under constant pressure every day, with no time to think about anything else. The endless acting had drained all her energy—this was the first time she had experienced something like this, even in a dream!!

The idea of a young girl's first love? Furina had never had that phase. From the moment she could remember, she had never had a single day where she could relax and think about such things.

So she couldn't stay calm, truly couldn't.

Forget it, she would just avoid him for a while.

Once her emotions settled, she would figure out her feelings.

"Lady Furina, there's a trial today. You seem a bit unwell. Perhaps you shouldn't attend?"

Hearing Clorinde's words, Furina snapped out of her thoughts and quickly composed herself.

"No, I'm fine, Clorinde. Thank you for your concern."

Furina smiled and said:

"I was just teasing Ye by running away, to see if he would show any other expression. Don't worry about it."

"I see."

Clorinde nodded in understanding.

"So, did you see any surprised expression on Ye's face?"

"Unfortunately, Lady Furina, His Excellency the Supreme Archbishop's expression remained unchanged. His aura was as intimidating as ever."

"Is that so? I'll have to think of another way then." Furina touched her chin with a look of interest, laughing exaggeratedly and playfully. "Haha, besides that expressionless face, does my Supreme Archbishop have any other expressions? Even I, as a god, am very curious about this!"

With that, Furina led the way to the elevator, preparing to take the aquabus to the Opera Epiclese.

The courtroom was the opera house, and the opera house was the courtroom. Treating trials as performances was Fontaine's unique characteristic.

This was a feature influenced by Furina, the Hydro Archon.

She loved trials, loved drama, loved performances—so the people said.

The evidence was that she never missed a single trial.

Ah, of course, she couldn't miss them.

Even on days like today, when she was so flustered, she absolutely could not miss the trial.

Because, even after five hundred years, Furina never knew if today's trial might be... the final one.

What if it was?

As long as there was that possibility, she had to be there.

In an instant, her mindset shifted. It was as if the blushing, heart-pounding, and panic from earlier had all been an act. In the blink of an eye, Furina returned to the Hydro Archon persona that Clorinde and the guards were familiar with.

—The persona of a god who, though exaggerated in speech and action, was close to the people, beloved by many in Fontaine to the point of being seen as a mascot or a celebrity. Yet, she also instilled a sense of security and pride in all Fontaine citizens, fearless of any god, even daring to judge other gods. In the hearts of the people of Fontaine, she was the omnipotent Hydro Archon, the God of Justice, Focalors.

In Fontaine, people adored the Hydro Archon Furina. Even if she did nothing all day, even if Fontaine had the Supreme Archbishop Ye and the Chief Justice Neuvillette, two respected rulers, even if people believed that Fontaine would function perfectly fine without Furina, even if they saw her as a dispensable mascot—her existence was by no means truly dispensable.

The Chief Justice was powerful, but he could not replace Furina as the backbone of Fontaine.

The Supreme Archbishop made people feel secure, but he could never make them feel as secure as Furina.

Because she was a god.

The omnipotent god in the hearts of the people of Fontaine, who would surely protect all her people.

The people of Fontaine trusted Furina so deeply.

They firmly believed in Furina's strength, never doubting that if there was a crime—even if it involved a god from another nation—Furina would surely judge them.

No one had ever questioned this, for it was a truth deeply ingrained in the hearts of all Fontaine citizens from birth.

It was also... the divine image that Furina had been performing for five hundred years.

Her personality was so exaggerated that she could even declare that she would judge gods from other nations—but so what?

The people of Fontaine looked proudly at other nations. Besides their Lady Furina, which other god dared to make such a statement?

The fact that Lady Furina could make such a bold claim surely meant she had the strength to back it up. Who could deny that?

Day after day of repeated performances, over and over again, she etched the image of the god the people of Fontaine most desired into their hearts, filling them with a sense of security, pride, and honor—Furina had successfully accomplished this.

Though no one knew how much she had sacrificed behind the scenes, though she was on the verge of collapse, though she was nearing a mental breakdown—at least, before she completely broke down, she could continue to perform.

This omnipotent god, who would surely protect all her people in the prophecy, could still... continue to play her role.

At least... for now.

Ah, come to think of it, last night's dream was quite stress-relieving.

Furina suddenly thought, somewhat inexplicably.

If she could relieve stress like this every now and then, it might... not be so bad?