In Furina's eyes, her Assistant Administrator zoning out twice in just five minutes meant one thing:
He was truly exhausted, so much so that he was losing focus even with his God standing right in front of him.
But Furina couldn't do anything to a subordinate who diligently worked for her; the only thing she could do was firmly insist he join her for afternoon tea.
While an afternoon tea wasn't a true rest, it was at least better than having almost no rest at all.
Hearing Furina's voice, Yuto finally reacted. He instinctively looked at the somewhat pouting girl in front of him, a helpless smile appearing on his face.
"Alright, alright... I get it. I'll be there for afternoon tea..."
Furina glanced at Yuto, who knew he was in the wrong, let out a soft hmph, and then left Yuto's office.
Watching the gradually receding figure of the young girl, Yuto gently shook his head, then sighed.
"Sigh... What kind of situation is this, really..."
Four hundred years of interaction had long blurred the boundaries of the relationship between Yuto and Furina.
Even if Yuto didn't know that Furina was playing Focalors... their mode of interaction would have evolved into its current state due to the passage of time.
Thinking of this, Yuto couldn't help but sigh.
"I wonder if this is a good thing or a bad thing..."
...
It was almost afternoon when Furina came to Yuto's office. After quickly handling the remaining tasks in his hands, Yuto left his office.
And just as he stepped out of the door, a light screen popped up in front of his eyes again.
[Sudden Quest · Furina and the Assistant Administrator's Leisure Moment]
[Reward: Delayed Popularity x?]
[Current status prevents prediction of the specific value of delayed popularity; the exact amount will be settled after this EP is publicly released]
Yuto stopped in his tracks, looking at the light screen that had suddenly appeared before him.
"What... is this? EP?"
Yuto felt some dead memories starting to attack him again.
As a young person's first hourly chime, Mihoyo often released a pure music video when a character was about to be released.
And these videos were named starting with EP.
For example, Linney and Lynette's EP "Night of Faint Shadows and Soft Silence" and Neuvillette's EP "Rain-Washed Breath of All Things."
"I guess the afternoon tea scene with Furina this time will be the main content of the EP released before Furina enters the pool..."
Yuto roughly imagined what was about to happen and nodded involuntarily.
"The scene should be quite beautiful..."
Thinking of this, Yuto gently nodded, seemingly looking forward to what the effect of the EP's release would be.
"As for the relationship with Furina... let's talk about that later."
"After all, there are too many things to consider right now. After the main story ends... we'll see what choices this girl, who is playing God, will make."
"Never mind... I'll go to the appointment first..."
However, just as Yuto was about to go to Furina's room... a purple figure emerged from the corner of the corridor.
"Hmm? Mr. Yuto? At this time...?"
Clorinde looked at Yuto, who was not far from her, with some confusion, and suddenly had a rather absurd feeling.
Although she knew that Yuto was busy in the kitchen every night, still...
Shouldn't he be working at this hour?
Or had something happened somewhere in Fontaine?
Thinking of this, Clorinde's expression became a little off, so she quickly walked up to Yuto and asked:
"Mr. Yuto, has... something happened?"
Yuto was momentarily stunned, looking at Clorinde, who had suddenly appeared and was saying something inexplicable.
What?
Who got into trouble? Me or Fontaine?
If either of those had happened, I should know, right?
After a short silence, looking at the serious-faced Clorinde in front of him, Yuto sighed slightly, then said:
"Nothing's wrong, Clorinde. It's just that the recent 'The Prophecy' matters have made my paperwork messy, so I just came out to get some air."
Yuto was telling the truth, but not the complete truth.
But that didn't matter; after all... these things were traceable.
Four hundred years as an Assistant Administrator had taught Yuto how to control his emotions and facial expressions.
Of course, this was something essential for Palais Mermonia's external spokespersons to train.
Looking at the somewhat tired Yuto in front of her, Clorinde nodded in agreement, then said:
"Get some rest. I'll be going now."
After saying this, Clorinde walked down the stairs of Palais Mermonia.
It wasn't until her figure completely disappeared from Yuto's sight that he unhurriedly moved his steps to Furina's room.
Yuto reached out and gently knocked on Furina's door.
Knock knock—
"Furina, may I come in?"
Almost as soon as Yuto spoke, Furina's door was opened by a seahorse seemingly made of water element.
"Ah~ Is it Madam Haiweima? Is today Salon Solitaire's special afternoon tea time?"
Yuto smiled as he gently teased the elegant seahorse in front of him.
However, before the seahorse could make any display, it instantly transformed into a puddle of water element and vanished before Yuto.
"No, it's... an afternoon tea specially prepared for you."
"After all these years... you've worked hard! Even in the musicals and dramas, your role has been too much!"
"So... as your God, and as your superior, I'm rewarding you with some time to have afternoon tea with me. How about it? Are you overwhelmed with gratitude?"
Furina had appeared behind the door at some point, looking at Yuto with a charming smile.
Yuto was first stunned at the sight, and couldn't help but inwardly grumble: "Such... dangerous words..."
After all, when Focalors said to Neuvillette, "I hope you enjoy your role for the past five hundred years," she...
He didn't want that flag to be planted behind Furina.
Thinking of this, Yuto couldn't help but shiver, then said with a smile:
"Of course, my esteemed God. After all... your schedule is full every day, and it's truly an honor to be received by you during your rest time..."
Before Yuto could finish, Furina reached out and covered his mouth.
"Alright, alright! Stop saying such embarrassing things!"
Furina symbolically stomped her little leather shoes, a faint blush still lingering on her fair face, then unhesitatingly stepped out of the room and pushed Yuto inside.
——————
7.11 Addition: I want to provide a necessary explanation for the Salon Solitaire setting. In the 4.0 preview, the existence of these three little creatures was mentioned. Whether it's managing Furina's own assets or helping her register guests who come to see her, the members of Salon Solitaire are responsible for it.
However, their very existence is composed of water element elemental power, so my personal definition of the three little creatures' existence is: Pure spirits who, in the Primordial Sea, became aware of the emotions revealed in Furina's tears.
The logical chain is: Furina became overloaded after enduring this mental pressure for a period, so she cried → her crying caused emotions to flow into Lucine Fountain → the pure spirits who detected these emotions chose to appear and help Furina.