Happy birthday?

The person in the mirror: "To stop the prophecy from coming true, you may have to spend a very long time. Until you bring the prophecy to an end, you won't grow old!"

"But I promise you, everything will end in a grand, theatrical trial..."

Furina's eyes sparkled, her voice brimming with excitement. "A trial? I can't wait..."

At that moment, the scene changed to the second act of Furina's performance.

She was standing onstage, delivering her inaugural address.

With everyone's eyes on her, Furina was incredibly nervous, but remembering the task her reflection had entrusted to her, she forced herself to calm down.

"Ahem... uh, ladies and gentlemen, welcome."

"I'm sure you've all heard that I've succeeded the Hydro Archon. That's right, I am Furina de Fontaine, your new Hydro Archon..."

After finishing her speech, Furina even offered a rather sincere, polite closing. Once she was done, she breathed a sigh of relief and thought to herself, That should have fooled them, right?

But the audience seemed dissatisfied, and their discussions kept reaching her ears.

"So this is the new Hydro Archon? She doesn't seem all that impressive."

"A god actually needs to ask for our opinions..."

"She's far too humble. I think she's just a puppet..."

Furina's face paled slightly, and she couldn't help worrying. Was the plan going to fall apart at the very first step?

Furina kept reassuring herself inwardly. Don't panic, don't panic. Furina, think carefully. What kind of god do people actually want...?

Forceful, someone whose word is absolute. That's what I should be playing!

With an answer in mind, Furina raised her head again. The panic and uncertainty had completely vanished from her face, and she laughed heartily instead. "My people, you are quite impressive. Only then are you worthy of my rule."

"You have passed my test. That performance was merely my gift to you for our first meeting. Now, the official speech begins."

At these words, the people began whispering among themselves again.

"Now that's how a god should act!"

"It's a little exaggerated, but at least it's better than that timid image from before..."

"What do you know? Of course you can't understand a god's ways..."

Hearing those words, Furina understood. So this was what the audience wanted to see?

Then, standing onstage, she once again launched into an impassioned speech.

"...I, Focalors, god of water, can judge even the gods of this world!"

Clap, clap, clap!

After a few seconds, thunderous applause rang out from the people of Fontaine...

[Ningguang: I see. Everything Furina did was simply to play the role of a god well!]

[Amber: That must feel awful. For hundreds of years, she could only ever be someone else, unable to express even the slightest bit of what she truly thought.]

[Ganyu: She probably even had to stay on guard while sleeping!]

[Hu Tao: Hiding what's in your heart isn't that hard, but playing another person well is far too difficult!]

[Qiqi: Hate, high temperatures, death... and fake smiles.]

Just as everyone was about to keep watching, the screen suddenly flickered.

Furina's image on the screen suddenly flickered into another scene, only to switch back an instant later, with Furina still standing there just fine.

No one managed to make out the scene. They only saw a few large words... birthday...

All of this happened because Su Chen had just swiped the screen. He really hadn't expected to run into a video assassin.

He had watched a short video for over an hour without reaching the end, only to accidentally swipe the screen and move on to the next video.

Normally, Su Chen would have let it go if he missed something, but when it came to Fufu, he would accept it even if a video assassin ambushed him.

But the next video was actually about another god, Nahida's promotional video-"Happy birthday!"

[Paimon: What happened to the picture just now? Did you see it?]

[Lumine: No idea!]

[Hu Tao: Right, why did it suddenly flicker? Consultant Zhongli, do you know what happened?]

[Zhongli: Perhaps someone is controlling this screen from behind the scenes!]

[Ganyu: I think I just saw something about a birthday. I wasn't seeing things, was I?]

[Keqing: No, I saw it too!]

[Arataki Itto: A birthday? Whose birthday? Maybe it's mine. But either way, it'll definitely be lively. Great! After watching so much sad stuff, I really need to soak up some happiness!]

[Kuki Shinobu: Boss isn't wrong about that.]

[Nahida: I also... really want to...]

The video was now playing normally.

Furina stood in an office, listening to a report from a member of the guard. She waved a hand dismissively, indicating that she wasn't interested in any of this and that what they had done was still far from what she had hoped for.

The scene changed again.

A woman sat opposite Furina, visibly excited, thanking Furina over and over for granting her an audience.

Furina maintained her haughty demeanor and humblebragged, "Sometimes, being too charming isn't a good thing!"

"All right, Deotila, how has your son's illness been lately?"

Deotila said in delighted surprise, "You actually remember me, and you even know about my son..."

Investigator: "Lady Furina, here is the recent hydrological report. The parameters in the section you particularly emphasized... aren't looking very good."

Furina looked as though she had expected this all along. "I know, I know. You've already done quite well for humans!"

But the investigator suddenly changed the subject. "Uh... the research institute is also trying to find a way to resolve the prophecy!"

Furina said excitedly, "Really?"

Then, as though realizing something, she added, "After all, this has already reached a level beyond your comprehension, but it's still worthy of praise!"

Furina sat on the edge of her bed. Only at times like this could she get some proper rest. Although she was very tired, the joy of events getting [on track] temporarily washed away his exhaustion.

Then Furina shook her head and told herself inwardly, Go to sleep. There are other things to take care of tomorrow!