"It hurts so much... I can't bear it..."
"How much longer..."
In the empty room, she clutched her chest and sobbed.
She was not a strong person. Over these five hundred years, the mental torment had made her want to give up countless times.
"But if I give up, everyone in Fontaine will..."
"No, you can't be so selfish, Furina!"
"One day. Just hold on for one more day. Maybe the ending you want will come tomorrow!"
One day, then another...
She had spent five hundred years caught in this endless inner struggle.
She had wanted to find someone to confide in, too, but she could not.
Because she could not let anyone know she was pretending to be the Hydro Archon, even confiding in someone was impossible.
She could only swallow all her anguish and grief herself, living each day unable to truly live or even die, unable to speak of her suffering or see a future.
"I wish I had someone to confide in. Even just one person..."
She sat beside her bed, crying without end.
At all other times, she had to work hard to play the part of a powerful god.
Only when she shut herself in her room each day, during that brief stretch before bed, could she go back to being that timid girl and freely complain and cry.
Sadly, even that little bit of time was a luxury.
She glanced at the time.
"Ah... it's already so late. I need to sleep, or I won't be at my best tomorrow, and I might give myself away."
She hastily wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and hurried to bed.
Court of Fontaine
Today was Neuvillette's day off.
The Chief Justice of Fontaine walked through the streets of the Court of