Night on the Mountain
At night, on the top of a mountain by the campfire.
Leo sat by the fire, carefully grilling meat, while Furina sat quietly at his side, occasionally chatting with him.
"Lady Furina, is it really alright for you to leave the Palais Mermonia so casually?" Leo suddenly realized the weight of the question as he turned the skewers over the fire.
After all, the core of Fontaine's judiciary and governance still centered around Furina, the Hydro Archon herself.
Furina, chewing delicately on a piece of barbecue, paused for a moment. Without raising her eyes, she answered directly:
"It's no problem at all. If the people cannot manage even a single day without the Hydro Archon, then they are unqualified! Besides, with Neuvillette there, everything will be fine."
Leo nodded. What Furina said did make sense—at least to him.
Perhaps the earlier part of her reasoning was a bit boastful, but the moment she mentioned Neuvillette, he fully agreed.
After all, in his memory, Furina's daily routine was not exactly one of high responsibility. He would wake her in the morning, share breakfast, accompany her to the Opera Epiclese for trials or public appearances, and then she would lock herself in the library, refusing entry to anyone. Occasionally, he played with her in the afternoon, and in the evenings, she liked feeding pigeons, dogs, and cats in the plazas.
Only now did Leo realize—when he was not there, Furina had been doing all these things alone. How lonely that must have been.
So he continued grilling the meat, and their conversation drifted from the south to the north, from the north back to the south.
Leo recounted stories of his travels across Teyvat: stealing bird eggs with his master; seeing the "Black Rock King" of Liyue—who ended up wanted by the Millelith; stowing away on a great ship bound for Inazuma, only to be chased by the Shogunate's guards…
He told of singing on freezing winter streets just to earn enough mora for dinner. Sometimes, if lucky, a passerby would find their songs and tales interesting enough to treat them to a hearty meal. But most of the time, they earned nothing.
Yet whenever things grew desperate, his master would always manage to give him something good.
"Eh? You have such a high salary now—have you been sending some of it to your master?" Furina tilted her head with curiosity. "After all… don't be mad, but from your story, your master sounds rather like a beggar."
Leo hesitated, then smiled awkwardly.
"It's alright, Lady Furina. Master sometimes even says that we live like beggars. A few years ago, I got angry and asked him why he was so powerful but did nothing with it. Master only told me I'd understand later. Of course I send him part of my wages now, but I'm always worried he'll just spend it all on wine."
"Drinking?" Furina raised a brow, intrigued. "Does your master drink that much? I remember you buy large amounts of good wine each month and send it off… don't tell me all of that is for him?"
Leo nodded vigorously.
"Yes, yes! Master loves wine. He can drink an absurd amount. Once, at a banquet in Mondstadt, he single-handedly outdrank the entire Knights of Favonius."
"The Knights of Favonius?" Furina blinked. She recalled that such an incident had indeed circulated even through Fontaine's underground rumor networks. To think—his master had managed to drink every Knight under the table. Just how much alcohol could the man handle?
As they chatted on, Furina found herself lingering on many of Leo's stories, her mood growing lighter, even happy.
Eventually, the two of them lay back on the grass, gazing at the starry sky. They hummed a tune together. Leo's accent made his singing rough, but there was genuine joy in it nonetheless.
Gradually, his voice grew lower and lower until it faded into silence. After a long while, Furina sat up.
She turned her gaze to the little guard beside her. Propping her chin on her palm, she studied him carefully—very carefully.
Then, with the gentlest touch, Furina stroked Leo's cheek. A tremor ran through her heart.
She remembered the first time they met two years ago, when Leo applied to serve under Neuvillette as a guard—and challenged Clorinde, the renowned Champion Duelist.
At that time, Leo was only a little over one and a half meters tall, yet he had the audacity to challenge Clorinde, the strongest duelist in Fontaine. Many had called him insane.
She had gone to watch purely for amusement.
But the outcome had been different than expected. Leo fought Clorinde for a long while before finally losing to a single clean strike.
She still remembered his indignant expression as he shouted:
"Just wait! In two years you won't be my opponent anymore!"
Furina had found him adorable back then. So, after speaking with Neuvillette, she schemed to bring Leo into her service—not as a mere guard, but as her personal attendant, her so-called "nanny."
Two years passed quickly. And in those two years, Furina had been happier than she had in the past five hundred.
Leo was simple, earnest, cute, and funny. She couldn't help teasing him.
What's more, he was genuinely good at taking care of others.
He had also grown at a shocking pace—twenty centimeters taller in just two years. She hadn't understood it at first, but after hearing his stories of wandering with his master and suffering malnutrition, it made sense. Now that he lived in the Palais Mermonia, he ate the best meals Fontaine had to offer, and with his already high salary, he no longer wanted for anything.
Furina rubbed her own face back and forth, remembering the two kisses they had shared. Her cheeks burned. That strange, trembling feeling—she could hardly make sense of it.
This boy was becoming taller and more handsome, yet his heart remained as sweetly naïve as ever.
It was just a pity that fate did not walk in straight lines.
With that thought, Furina lay back down, closing her eyes. Memories swirled endlessly in her mind until sleep claimed her, soft snores marking her slumber.
Leo, however, stirred. He had been only lightly asleep. How could one sleep soundly in the wilderness of the mountains?
He had woken the moment Furina sat up, and when her hand touched his face, his heart nearly leapt from his chest.
Master! She touched me!
He dared not move, dared not respond, simply lay still, his mind uneasy.
At last, he pulled out his pocket watch, its polished surface catching the moonlight—and inside, a photo of Furina. He gazed at it with a tenderness he should not have allowed himself.
"What are you looking at?"
Startled, Leo nearly dropped the watch.
"I—uh—looking at you! No, no, Lady Furina, I mean… the stars!"
Furina, now sitting up, leaned over and rubbed his face with both hands, not gently at all.
"You're not sleeping, and instead spying on me? Have you forgotten the laws of Fontaine?"
Leo grimaced, his voice dropping low.
"Lady Furina… you told me that in private, we don't have to care about the law."
"When did I say that?"
"The day before yesterday."
Furina paused, recalling carefully—and realized she had indeed said it. A faint flush touched her cheeks. But she was the Hydro Archon—she could not allow herself to be flustered by something so small.
"Hmph! I say I didn't say it, so I didn't! You've been peeping at the divine person of Fontaine, harboring impure thoughts. I'll have you accused when we return to the Palais Mermonia!"
She turned away, folding her arms, her posture radiating exaggerated indignation.
Leo stared blankly. Huh? What just happened? Can anyone explain this to me?
"Lady Furina, I…"
He tried to explain, again and again, until his throat grew dry. By the time dawn began painting the horizon, he was still stumbling over his words.
At last, Furina rolled her eyes dramatically.
"Hmph! Very well. I'll forgive you this once."
Leo froze.
"…Eh?"