Fontaine Special Preview Program
(Feel free to pair this chapter with background music.)
Someone took up a blade to slaughter her past, forging her lifelong shackles with her own hands!
Someone died in the wind and snow for love, scattering every memory of the life he had left!
The cruelest fate-those who loved each other ultimately became this life's greatest regret and unanswered question!
When the cold edge of a sword sliced through the old dreams of the House of the Hearth,
She!
To break free of fate and escape the darkness, she ended "Mother," Crucabena, with her own hands,
The moment blood stained the beliefs of her youth, the whole world thought she had nothing left but cold-hearted scheming, with neither love nor longing!
But no one knew-
Amid the blood filling the sky, the only person who stood before her, taking all sin and death in her stead,
Was Xingsu, whose heart and eyes held nothing but her!
(For all the pain that clings to love~)
He!
Fell at her feet, dying in the very second when she was at her most wretched, her most heartless.
With a spectacular demise, he protected the last tenderness she had left,
And carved a fatal wound into the rest of Arlecchino's life, one that would never heal!
(For all the wounds that cling to hate~)
From then on, she donned armor and took up arms, taking charge of the House of the Hearth,
Becoming the cold, merciless Knave of the Fatui, commanding countless orphans and wielding immense power,
Revered by thousands, feared by thousands,
Yet she could never find that boy who had favored her so tenderly again.
(I can no longer tell love from hate~)
Fate's cruelest trick had only just begun!
He had yet to return from the underworld; their old bond had yet to end,
Was it heaven's mercy, or the ultimate torment-
Reborn through fire, he was stripped entirely of everything from his past in the House of the Hearth!
(Will it↗ be↘ like this↗)
He forgot their days and nights side by side, forgot their embraces in life and death,
Forgot his past with her, forgot that farewell in which he had given his life for love,
Even forgot the beloved he had once risked everything to protect!
(Blood and tears slide down together~)
The world changed, and they met again.
He was an unfamiliar traveler,
His gaze upon her was clean, clear, utterly undisturbed.
And she was the master of the House of the Hearth, wielding power,
Looking at the lover before her who no longer recognized her at all,
Carrying a heart full of guilt, a lifetime of remorse,
Not daring to speak of love, reveal her pain, or mention her longing!
(My heart shatters and wea~thers~~~)
Was this reunion salvation? Or another trial of love?
Was this a bond reborn? Or fate striking again?
(Yet my trembling hands cannot stop~)
She had severed the sins of her past with her own hands, but could not sever the longing in her bones;
He had emptied himself of every memory of love and hate, but could not escape the bond he was destined for.
The most absurd love, the most heartbreaking reunion!
The rest of your life that you owe me, the past that I forgot,
How would this fated, agonizing romance that left everyone unable to move on finally end?
(Cannot~ forgive~)
Every evening in prime time, tune in to Hafu Theater.
One thought turns to embers, one thought forgets the years,
Meeting again in this life, all that remains is:
For you, our first meeting; for me, the rest of my life.
"Cut!"
"Boss, boss, can a promo shot like this really trick people into coming to read our novel?"
"Does anyone really still like watching this kind of melodramatic TV drama?"
"Hiss... then shall we try another version?"
I was reborn.
In my previous life, I died in the final dueling arena.
To protect Peruere, that young girl driven to desperation by fate, I blocked the fatal slash that "Mother," Crucabena, brought down.
Scarlet blood soaked the pure white dress. I watched that girl's pupils tremble as she gripped her longsword, watched the windblown snow fill my vision, and the last thing I heard was her uncontrollably trembling breath.
I traded my life for her escape from that cage.
But the price was my complete demise, the obliteration of my entire past, along with every bond, every day and night, every tenderness I had shared with her in the House of the Hearth.
She stepped through blood into a new life, took hold of power, and became the lofty Fatui Harbinger, "The Knave," keeping watch over the empty House of the Hearth, bearing a lifetime of guilt no one knew about.
As for me, my soul returned to the Ley Lines, scattering all my old memories.
What a shame that Xingsu's old memories were scattered.
Me, I put my old memories in...
"Cut!"
"Get the hell out! We don't take ads here!"
"Oh, oh, okay, boss. I'll change it right away."
In this life-
My eyes snapped open.
There was no biting wind and snow, no cold blade, none of the oppressive, suffocating atmosphere of the House of the Hearth.
At my nose was the fresh, damp scent of Sumeru's rainforest vegetation; at my ears, the soft rustle of wind through branches and leaves; before my eyes, the light and shadows of the House of Daena's rows upon rows of books.
I was reborn in Sumeru.
I was merely an ordinary librarian at Sumeru's House of Daena, the gentle, refined scholar Xingsu, devoted to his studies in the eyes of others.
Yet deep within my heart alone, a lingering ache from a sealed remnant soul faintly stirred.
Clearly, I had no memories at all, yet when I raised my eyes toward the distant horizon, toward Fontaine, my heart suddenly tightened.
In my previous life, I went to my death for her, protecting her boundless future.
In this life, I was reborn without my memories, finding myself a stranger in the mortal world.
Fate's most vicious cycle was probably this-
With all the world's power, half a lifetime of remorse, and her memories intact, she kept watch over the lingering shadow of someone from her past.
Knowing nothing, unburdened by anything, with a blank past, I lived anew in the mortal world.
When we met again in this life, she knew me to the bone, while I saw her as someone I had just met.
All the guilt, all the sacrifices of life, all the deep affection in the wind and snow-she alone remained to guard them, with no one to share them.
"Cut!"
"Boss, boss, what's wrong?"
"Isn't this laying it on a bit thick?"
"Should we try another version?"
Look closely. The man before you is called Xiaoshuai.
And this woman holding a sharp blade, her gaze icy, is called Xiaomei.
Xiaoshuai had lost all his memories...
"Cut! This is laying it on even thicker than the last version."
"Boss, boss, I'll try another version."
The ice and snow melted, all things revived, and spring arrived. Once again, it was the season to head to Fontaine in search of Arlecchino.
Xingsu left the Sumeru herd, following the scent of hormones across the desert as he headed alone toward Fontaine...
"Cut! Listen to yourself! Does that sound remotely acceptable?"
"Boss, I'll change it again."
"When wind and snow cease, old dreams rest,
Year after year, may I reunite with you."
"May all regrets be left in the past, and all tenderness lie ahead.
May life's everyday warmth comfort every heart, with peace year after year and prosperity in all things!"
"Dear viewers, happy New Year!"
"Let's all make! Dump! Lings!"
"Cut! How the fuck did we end up making dumplings?!"
"Boss, I'll change it."
"Hiss, how about we just use the first version after all?"