After concluding their discussion on expanding the Melusines' employment opportunities, Daelan returned to his office to tackle the day's paperwork.
As the saying goes, Mermonia Palace doesn't keep idle hands. There's the famous tale of "Clorinde, the brick that gets moved wherever needed," and then there's Neuvillette, who's either in court or on his way to court.
Oh, and Neuvillette's other job? Supporting and aiding the Melusines.
As for Daelan… he's busy handling everything except trials.
This includes, but isn't limited to, foreign negotiations, public speaking, processing international trade orders, and more.
To put it bluntly, Daelan's current role is akin to the grand chamberlain in the palace dramas of his past life. In Fontaine, if it's a matter of any importance, it's bound to involve him.
This is exactly why his office, though spacious, feels so cramped.
Daelan glanced at the desk piled high with documents, wanting to organize but not knowing where to start. A thousand words melted into a single sigh.
"Better get to work… I still need to make an extra little cake for Furina's afternoon tea…"
Picking up the quill pen by his desk, Daelan began reviewing documents with ease.
Joking aside, he'd been doing this job for over four hundred years—nearly five hundred. Did anyone really think he didn't know how to handle it?
…
As time ticked by, the stack of documents beside Daelan dwindled. During this time, a Melusine from the Maison Gardiennage came by to take some of the paperwork.
About three or four hours later, as noon approached, Daelan finally set down his quill, stretched lazily, and leaned back in his chair to ponder life.
"Thank goodness Fontaine's laws are well-established. If it were as freewheeling as Mondstadt… I'd have died from overwork long ago, immortal body or not."
After a brief rest, Daelan stood up slowly and headed to the kitchen, moving unhurriedly to prepare his "apology" to his dear Archon.
He knew full well that Furina didn't actually care about whether her laws were rejected or not. She just used it as an excuse to wheedle an extra little cake out of him.
Of course, he could easily brush off her request with excuses like being swamped with work or unable to spare the time.
But knowing the inhuman responsibility borne by this seemingly cheerful, sometimes flighty girl… Daelan couldn't bring himself to say such things.
What's a little cake? A couple of hours baking? It's not like Daelan didn't know how to do it.
Though he dearly wanted to comfort Furina with words, doing so might risk unraveling everything Focalors had worked for.
More importantly… it would trivialize the centuries of loneliness and pain Furina had endured.
That wasn't something he wanted to see.
So, for now, all he could do was arrange her life and handle her governmental duties, giving this busy superstar more time to herself.
That's what Daelan had been doing for over four hundred years.
As he thought this, Daelan shed his ornate formal attire, donned a simple apron, and began preparing the flavor Furina had loved for nearly five hundred years.
While Daelan focused on baking the little cakes, Furina's head suddenly peeked into the kitchen from outside.
Her beautiful heterochromatic eyes, deep blue and light blue, fixed unwaveringly on the busy figure in the kitchen, her heart filled with complex emotions.
She knew exactly what she was doing, and she knew Daelan was indulging her.
If that god named Focalors looked at her through the mirror again and asked what kept her going for so long…
She'd answer without hesitation with two words.
One was "responsibility." The other was "kindness."
The responsibility came from Focalors, but the kindness… that came from Daelan.
For over four hundred years, he'd never once resisted her sometimes unreasonable demands, not even a little.
Each time, he'd agree with a cheerful smile and quickly deliver the results.
And when she asked why he did it… he'd always smile and say, "This is what Focalors, the Hydro Archon, and Fontaine's household name, Lady Furina, deserves."
That simple sentence had held Furina captive for over four hundred years.
Even now, he still stood in front of her, shielding her from the things she wasn't good at.
Paperwork, foreign negotiations—whatever it was, as long as Daelan was there, Furina would never be troubled by things she disliked.
At this thought, Furina suddenly felt her cheeks grow warm.
Her past with Daelan reminded her of those operas tied to the word "love."
He was like the ever-loyal male lead, and she… the female lead.
Furina reached up, gently rubbing her increasingly warm cheeks, then tiptoed away from the kitchen.
"When that future where I sit alone on the divine throne, weeping, finally ends… I'll be able to show him the real me, won't I?"
Furina thought to herself.
…
Daelan had no idea that a certain blue glutton had snuck a peek at him while he was baking. All he knew was that the girl burdened with fate needed a little cake as comfort.
Ding—
As the oven chimed in the kitchen, Daelan skillfully grabbed a pair of cooking mitts, took out the cake base, and began the final touches.
Four hundred years had not only honed his mind and administrative skills but also refined his already exceptional cooking talents from his past world.
After carefully decorating with cream and cherries, Daelan clapped his hands in satisfaction, picked up the tray, and left the kitchen, heading straight for Furina's room with practiced ease.
The kitchen was only a few steps from Furina's room, and besides… it was lunchtime. No one from any official Fontaine institution would enter Mermonia Palace at this hour.
Daelan was certain of this for one simple reason.
In his past life, as a corporate drone tormented by overtime, the first thing he did upon becoming Fontaine's advisor was…
Pass a law banning overtime.
Overtime without extra pay? You'd lose pay instead. Collective orders were the only exception.
And for Fontaine's private companies, no employee could exceed one hundred hours of overtime per month. Violators? Pay cuts for individuals and increased taxes for companies.
At first, some employees didn't take the law seriously. But when the first penalty case emerged, they realized something.
This law… was serious.