Genshin Impact: Watch me turn the tables and kill my servants at the start!

When Navelette pushed open the side door of the reception room, he was still holding a draft agreement he had just received from a servant. He hadn't intended to come and see it himself, but the servant reported that the Water God had already signed an agreement renewing the Fools' sphere of influence within Fontaine, a signing that was unprecedented in speed. Navelette, driven by a professional intuition, felt that something was amiss.

As it turned out, Villette's intuition was always very accurate.

Navelette stood at the entrance to the side hall, looking down at the agreement spread out on the table. Her gaze swept from the first clause to the last, and her brows furrowed more and more as she read.

The parchment, supposedly "personally signed by the Water God," was covered with more than a dozen clauses, each exuding an air of self-righteous arrogance that said, "I'm just taking advantage of your misfortune."

Fontaine is granted priority passage to the port city of Winter, the number of Fools stationed in Fontaine has doubled but jurisdiction belongs to Winter, and there is even a strange clause that states "the Water God is obligated to send an envoy to the Winter Palace to offer written congratulations on the birthday of the Winter Queen every year".

When Navelette finished reading the last sentence, he remained silent for three seconds. His deep blue, vertical pupils slowly lifted from the parchment and landed on Funina, who was sitting in the high-backed chair next to him.

Fu Ningna was pretending to drink a cup of tea that had gone cold, her eyes slightly red, but a forced smile was on her lips.

Villette's voice was calm, but beneath that calm lay a suppressed, simmering undercurrent. "Lady Frinina, how could you agree to... such terms?"

Funina put down her teacup, her smile slightly stiff: "Vilette, there's nothing I can do..."

"What do you mean by 'no way'?"

Navelette held up the scroll of parchment and shook it, the paper rustling. "Article Fifteen states, 'The Water God shall not, for any reason, refuse the twelfth seat of the Fools' application for a buffet at any time within the grounds of Fontainebleau.' Do you find this reasonable?"

Furnessa shrank back, her voice weak: "Naviette, you don't know..."

"I don't know what?"

"You have no idea how complicated things are!"

Funina stood up from her chair, lowered her voice as if she were revealing some incredible secret, "With Tenri's son standing right across from me, how could I dare say no!"

Navilette's brow furrowed even more deeply. He glanced towards the side hall entrance—it was empty; Fanes had already left with Arecino and the others, but the echoes of that name still reverberated in the air.

"Tenri's...son?"

"Yes! That's the little brat! His name is Fanes! The exact same name as Tenri!"

Fu Ningna gestured with her hands, her voice unconsciously rising a little, "He said Tianli is his mother! He inherited his name from her! Who would dare not believe such a thing? What if it's true? What if his mother really is behind him? What if I dare to refuse this agreement, and tomorrow Tianli is standing at my bedside watching me?"

Navelette fell silent.

Looking down at the lengthy, overbearing terms in his hand, then up at the Water God before him, whose eyes were still red, a complex mix of emotions welled up within him. This sky… is doomed sooner or later.

The divine order of Sky Island has actually allowed its own child—if what the child said is true—to swindle and deceive people outside, using that name to frighten the gods. What's even more outrageous is that this trick actually works.

Navelette took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. He reopened the parchment and turned the pages one by one, this time reading more carefully than before. After reading all the terms, his brow, though not completely relaxed, did soften somewhat.

Objectively speaking, although these clauses are blatantly domineering, none of them involve any real core interests.

The right of way for commercial use is a sham; the number of outposts has doubled, but jurisdiction remains in the hands of the Fools themselves; and the clauses about writing congratulatory letters every year are nothing but childish and ridiculous clauses.

The most outrageous thing is probably the "12th seat available anytime at the Palace of Fontainebleau buffet," but at most that just means the kitchen will prepare an extra children's meal.

Navilette folded the parchment and tucked it into her sleeve, letting out a long sigh. At least... at least the water god wasn't made a handmaiden.

When Vilette first saw it, even more terrifying possibilities popped into her mind, such as absurd clauses like "the water god must perform a dance before the Winter Queen's palace every winter." Compared to those, this agreement actually seemed... not so unacceptable.

Navelette looked at Funina with a hint of helplessness in her voice, "Next time, at least let me take a look before you sign."

Funina nodded repeatedly, "I know, I know! I'll definitely do it next time!"

Funina readily agreed, but in her heart she was already planning, "I absolutely must not let Navelette know next time."

Meanwhile, in the hall of the House of Fireplaces, the warm fireplace burned brightly. Faus sat on a small stool in front of the fireplace, his legs dangling in mid-air, sipping a cup of hot milk.

Rosalyn sat on the sofa opposite him, one leg elegantly crossed over the other, her icy blue eyes staring at him for a while before finally asking the question she had been holding back all the way.

"Tell me honestly, how exactly did you get the Water God to agree to those terms? I could tell from the expression on Vilette's face before she came in that it was definitely not a proper agreement."

Fanes placed the milk glass on his lap, grinned at Rosaline, revealing a row of small white teeth: "You think I got this name for nothing?"

Rosalyn raised an eyebrow: "What do you mean?"

"It's like a fox borrowing the tiger's power."

Fanes swung his leg, a hint of smugness in his voice, "I told her that Tianli is my mother, and that I inherited my name from her. She believed me, and then she agreed to everything."

Rosalind's expression went from "Are you kidding me?" to "What are you talking about?", then from "What are you talking about?" to "Wait, you actually did it?" She opened her mouth, and after a long pause, found her voice: "...She believed it?"

"I believed you. You even clung to my leg and cried." Fanes picked up his milk and took a sip, his tone as calm as if he were just saying the weather was nice today.

Rosalyn leaned back on the sofa, momentarily at a loss for words. Looking at the six-year-old boy in front of the fireplace, dangling his short legs and leisurely sipping milk, she suddenly realized that the most dangerous weapon in the entire Fools might not be the Doctor's slice or the Captain's sword, but rather the name on the little boy's head.

"What if it gets exposed later?" Rosalyn asked.

Fanes finished the last sip of milk, licked the foam off his lips, and looked up at Rosalyn, his eyes filled with a cunning that didn't belong to a six-year-old.

"So what if she gets caught? What can she do to me then? I'm just a six-year-old kid, what can she do to me? At most, she'll scold me a couple of times, it's not like I'll lose a piece of my flesh, is it?"

Rosalind stared at him for a long time, then finally laughed and shook her head.

The firelight flickered in the fireplace, casting long, long shadows of the two men. In the corner, Yakoda had somehow slipped in and crouched at Fanes' feet, looking up at them as they chatted, her eyes sparkling as if she were processing what she had just heard.

Fanes placed the empty cup on the low table and stretched. The sleeve of his coat slipped down, revealing a section of his fair wrist. He shrank his neck and yawned.

"We should be setting off for Jade Valley tomorrow. Sister Rosalyn, remember to write to me after you get to Mondstadt."

Rosalind reached out and ruffled his hair: "I know. Be careful when you get to Liyue. Morax won't be as easy to fool as Frynn."

Fanes thought about the rock god who had lived for over six thousand years, and he was indeed a little apprehensive. But when he looked at the coat he was wearing embroidered with the emblem of the Fools, and then at the little girl with starry eyes squatting at his feet, he finally patted his chest and struck a confident pose.

"Don't worry. If the name doesn't work, there are other ways. I may not be good at much else, but I'm incredibly lucky."

The fire in the fireplace crackled, sending a few sparks flying onto the stone slab before quickly going out. Farnes, huddled on the low stool, yawned again, silently planning his route to Liyue tomorrow, how to start the conversation with Morax, and how to escape if the Thousand Rock Army discovered his Fatui identity.

As Fanes pondered these thoughts, he leaned against the fireplace and fell asleep.

Yakoda squatted down beside him and stared at his sleeping face for a while, then whispered to Rosalin, "Sister Rosalin, my boss looks so tiny when he's asleep."

Rosalyn looked down at the figure curled up in a small ball inside the coat.

"He's already small. And you're not much bigger than him!"