I Can't Do Anything

Furina put down her teacup, leaned forward, and suppressed Xingsu's earlier overstepping of bounds, striving to maintain ladylike manners. "Mr. Xingsu... although your idea is indeed very good, regardless of whether this method can record the entire Fontaine, is there any way to truly resolve the prophecy?"

Xingsu tapped the table lightly with her fingertips. "Well... you'll have to ask the water god Focalors about that."

Furina paused slightly, instinctively straightening her back to maintain a divine posture, and feigned composure as she spoke, "Hmm? You're asking me? I do indeed have a plan to save Fontaine, but it's a matter of utmost importance and cannot be revealed to anyone."

Xingsu shook her head. "No, La Signora. Furina, I wasn't talking about you."

These words struck like a thunderbolt, instantly shattering the facade she had maintained. Furina's tone suddenly rose, tinged with a mixture of panic and anger at having her secret exposed. "What... what do you mean by that! Don't you believe me, the water god Focalors?"

Seeing Furina's angry expression, Xingsu inexplicably thought of his own child who was furious after his lie was exposed.

Xingsu simply smiled slightly and calmly said, "What I want to ask is, the Focalors you saw in front of the mirror five hundred years ago, the Focalors you played the water god for five hundred years."

A secret hidden for five hundred years was laid bare in broad daylight without any prior warning.

Furina's body stiffened slightly; the composed and lively expression on her face just moments before had vanished completely. Her back was ramrod straight, and she instinctively tried to project divine authority to mask the surging panic within her. Her voice trembled uncontrollably, and her tone rose slightly:

"You, you, you... what nonsense are you spouting! Aren't you afraid I'll punish you?!"

"Miss Furina, your guilty conscience is impossible to hide. And if I were truly talking nonsense, why are you so panicked, even so eager to punish me?"

Furina froze, her carefully constructed composure shattered, her fingers gripping the hem of her magnificent dress tightly, her breathing becoming rapid.

She wanted to argue back, to rebuke sharply, but all the words stuck in her throat, and she couldn't utter a single complete explanation.

She could neither admit to this shocking secret nor deny the other party's accurate exposure. Her forceful threats seemed weak, while backing down would be tantamount to admitting everything.

Oh no, now my one-track mind has become blocked at both ends.

The words of explanation stuck in his throat, and the threats seemed ridiculously weak.

Furina lowered her shoulders, all the panic and forced toughness in her eyes vanished.

Her eyes were slightly lowered, her voice soft, tinged with a hoarseness of utter resignation, completely devoid of the water goddess's arrogance.

"... How did you know that?"

"Memory doesn't lie."

Xingsu spoke calmly and frankly, explaining the whole story.

Furina stared at him blankly for a moment, then suddenly understood everything. "So that's how it is... When you were demonstrating that magic trick, you had already glimpsed my memories."

Seeing her dejected appearance, Xingsu did not press further. Instead, he softened his stance slightly, using a retreat as a strategy, and said with a hint of calm compromise, "I'm sorry. If you feel offended, you are welcome to condemn me."

Faced with his initiative to back down, Furina merely tugged at the corners of her lips, revealing a bitter and weary smile.

"Ha, what's the use now?"

Conviction, punishment, accountability... it's all meaningless now.

She slumped into her chair, her gorgeous gown still elegant, but she had lost all the radiance and glamour of a goddess, leaving only exhaustion and bewilderment.

Seeing her dejected expression, Xingsu gently comforted her, "Don't be so discouraged. Heavenly Principles can't control me. As long as I don't tell anyone your secret, everything will be fine."

Furina raised her dim eyes, full of doubt, and asked, "... What do you mean by ' Heavenly Principles's laws can't govern you'?"

"Well, my identity... is rather special, and it's difficult to explain to you in a short time. But in short, I'm not Teyvat." Xingsu lightly tapped the memory box on the table with his fingertip. "My ability to control memories is inherently different from ordinary people. But I can assure you, I have no ill intentions. I also want to resolve the prophecy crisis in Fontaine; at least in this matter, our goals are aligned."

A glimmer of hope rekindled Kamisato Furina's eyes. Her fingertips gripped the hem of her skirt, but wariness and hesitation remained in her gaze. After a moment of silence, she asked cautiously, "Why should I believe you?"

"Emotionally speaking, Fontaine is like my second home; my lover and most of the things I care about are in Fontaine. Logically speaking, you didn't have a choice, did you?"

"..." Furina fell silent.

Her fingertips unconsciously traced the cold rim of the glass as she weighed the pros and cons in her mind.

Xingsu's special abilities might indeed help Fontaine resolve its crisis. Rather than remaining trapped in the cage of acting alone, it's better to try anything, even if it seems hopeless, and use the other party's power to find another way out for Fontaine.

After a long silence, she slowly raised her head.

"I understand," she said softly. "I'm willing to believe you. So, what are your plans next?"

"I want to see Focalors. Do you know where she is?"

Upon hearing this, the glimmer of light that had just ignited in Furina's eyes instantly dimmed. She gently shook her head, her voice filled with endless helplessness and sorrow.

"I'm sorry, I don't know where she is either."

She raised her hand to gather the hem of her skirt, condensing 500 years of loneliness and helplessness into her words: "Since the moment she entrusted me to play the role of the water goddess, I have never seen her again. Even though for the past few hundred years, while I have been doing my best to play the role of a high and mighty god, I have been secretly looking for a way to save Fontaine and trying to find another way to resolve Fontaine's crisis."

But I tried every possible way to suppress the rising sea level and break the prophetic deadlock, but no matter what I did, I couldn't find a way to lower the water level or reverse the crisis.

Five hundred years have passed, and she has never shown her face again.

Her clenched fingers trembled slightly, her eyes quickly reddened, and all her feigned strength shattered. "I've wanted to find her countless times. I want to ask her face to face, how long am I going to keep playing this endless charade? What exactly is the way she claims can save Fontaine? How does she intend to end this doomed prophecy?"

But the answer is always empty.

There was no response, no guidance, no one told her where the road ahead lay, no one told her whether perseverance would be worthwhile.

"I can't do anything."

Her voice trembled slightly, and tears finally streamed down her face, splashing onto her elegant gown and leaving faint damp marks. "I can't find a way to stop the rising tide, I can't protect my people, I can only stand on this high platform day after day, putting on a show, pretending to be omnipotent."

Countless agonizing nights, countless moments on the verge of collapse, Furina had no one to rely on.

Perhaps it was because Xingsu pierced through that layer of pretense and also through the protective shell that Furina had built up, that she finally found someone she could confide in. The mental defenses that had been taut for five hundred years completely collapsed at this moment.

The grievances she once dared not, could not, and had nowhere to confide in, have finally found someone to whom she can pour them out. She no longer needs to pretend to be carefree, no longer needs to feign superiority, and no longer needs to swallow all her despair alone.

"I have no choice, I really have no choice..."

The Damselette's suppressed sobs echoed softly in the quiet tea room, gentle yet broken.

"I could only keep lying to myself, telling myself to wait a little longer, to hold on a little longer. Someday she'll come out, someday everything will be alright..."

Warm tears streamed down her face, landing on the back of her hands and the hem of her skirt. She lowered her head slightly, her shoulders trembling uncontrollably.

"I'm so... tired."

Her voice was thin and hoarse, filled with heavy sobs. At this moment, she was no longer the high and mighty water goddess; she was just a girl struggling to hold on, on the verge of collapse.

"..."

This is really... a difficult task to make Chlothar grow taller.