Chapter Text
“Monsieur Neuvillette, a letter for you from the Duke of Meropide.”
Glancing down, Neuvillette sees Sedene skipping over to him as he enters Palais Mermonia’s doors.
The morning sun is yet to peek over the horizon and Fontaine is still mostly asleep save for the Meka patrolling the streets, but Neuvillette is always one to arrive before everyone is awake. His desk is almost always overflowing with documents, reports, and cases, so the earlier he gets a start, the better he will sleep at night.
“Thank you, Sedene,” he smiles at her in gratitude as she hands him the letter.
Unlike humans, Melusines don’t need as much sleep and are usually active for a longer period of time, so Sedene is usually at Palais Mermonia for two to three days before going home for a rest. It’s no surprise that she’s available to receive the letter.
“The seal is different from usual,” she quips with a tilt of her head. “Maybe it’s not his usual report?”
That somehow caught Neuvillette’s attention, and he checks the aforementioned envelope to make sure. True enough, the seal is not Meropide’s usual three-headed beast insignia, but instead that of a teacup, one that sends a wave of amusement throughout his being.
Chuckling, Neuvillette simply tucks the envelope in his breast pocket. “Perhaps, I’ll go through this and see what he has to say.”
With a nod to Sedene, Neuvillete strides into his office and pulls out the envelope once the doors are closed. It’s rare for him to receive Wriothesley’s personal letter, so it won’t do good for the whole world to see it, asleep or not.
With a flick of his finger, Neuvillette pops the letter open to see what the Duke has to say, only to be surprised by the content.
To Monsieur Neuvillette;
I hope this letter finds you well, it won’t do you or anyone any good if you suddenly collapsed due to exhaustion. Trials are important, but your health has to come first no matter what. Who else are we to trust the Oratrice with if not you?
That aside, I’m here to personally invite you to a wedding, here in the Fortress of Meropide in a month’s time. It’s unconventional and never heard of perhaps, but a couple of the inmates here are far too attached to the place to be wedded in the overworld. They’ve put their trust on me, much to my honor, to get the ceremony going. You bet I’m going to give them the best wedding the Fortress has ever seen.
Set your concerns aside, Monsieur, because I intend to invite everyone. And if the inmates have a problem with you, then they’ll have a problem with me. RSVP me soon.
Duke Wriothesley, Administrator of the Fortress of Meropide.
All Neuvillette can do is blink his confusion away, because he did not expect to be invited to a wedding in the heart of Meropide itself, and by the Duke no less.
While it’s true that he has reservations when it comes to visiting the Fortress, mainly because the inmates may or may not resent him for putting them there, but he also can’t leave Palais Mermonia all that long least the onslaught of reports bring his table to the ground. There’s also Lady Furina to consider…
The more he thought about it, the more his confusion grew. On one hand; he was once told to mingle with the humans to understand them better, on the other hand; his responsibility as Fontaine’s Iudex and the animosity the inmates may feel towards him is making him question whether he should go or not. It’s not everyday he gets an invite to a wedding, so this will be a great opportunity for him to further understand human customs.
And yet…
Sighing, Neuvillette folds the letter and tucked it back in the envelope. He’s not sure how he’s going to reply just yet, especially when his head and his heart are at war with each other.
“I wouldn’t know what to do or say regardless,” he mutters rather dejectedly as he takes his usual seat behind his desk.
As usual, the reports and trial documents are stacked high on his desk, and he once again sighs at the sheer volume of it all. Perhaps he should adopt the humans’ way of getting a break; acquiring an illness. He had seen how some of his Gestionnaire would jump into the water just to catch a fever and have an excuse not to come in for a few days, but he’s not exactly one to catch any form of illness to begin with.
Of course, the team leaders are usually quick to either catch or reprimand whoever was foolish enough to try such a method. Neuvillette himself always finds it rather curious and has been itching to ask his Gestionnaires about it.
Shame that majority of them clam up upon seeing him.
A knocking on his door snaps him out of his thoughts and he wonders who it could be, it’s still far too early after all.
“Monsieur Neuvillette,” Sedene’s voice carries through the heavy set of doors. “It’s the Traveler and Miss Paimon, they’ve come bringing you breakfast if that’s alright with you?”
Once again, Neuvillette finds himself blinking out of his confusion.
“Please, come on in,” he replies before he can think any further. To have the young outlander in one spot is rare enough, at least according to the people of Fontaine and the Melusines. So perhaps this might be a good opportunity to ask them a few questions regarding Wriothesley’s invitation.
“Sorry to bother you without notice, Iudex,” they said with an apologetic dip of their head, even Paimon is wringing her fingers together with nervous energy.
Neuvillette simply smiles at them, and beckons them to the sofa. “Not at all, please have a seat and make yourselves comfortable.”
“We were talking to Muirne at the back when we saw you walked in,” Paimon starts as the Traveler brought out a bag seemingly from thin air, their hand plunging deep despite the bag’s somewhat small size. “We thought it was way, WAY too early for you to start working so Traveler here wanted to make you some breakfast before you start the day… If you’re okay with that?”
Ever since Paimon was made aware of his true identity, he notices she’s a little more careful with her words and action.
How curious.
“You have my thanks for that, Traveler, but there is no need for you to go through such trouble,” he says. “It would be improper of me to have you, a guest of Fontaine, cook me a meal.”
As a response, the Traveler merely laughs at his words, fueling his confusion further. Is today a day to confuse him? Why does he suddenly feel like a fish, or dragon as Paimon once eloquently put it, out of water?
“It’s no trouble, really Monsieur Neuvillette. We adventurers never adhere to time after all,” the blonde replies easily as they pull out what seems to be a plate of sandwich, though it’s a sandwich that Neuvillette has never seen before. “This is an Inazuman delicacy, katsu sandwich, which should serve us well on this fine morning.”
Neuvillette eyes the sandwich and is intrigued with how juicy the filling looks like. He’s never tried an Inazuman dish before, and the one that the Traveler made looks deliciously scrumptious with no hint of dryness anywhere, perhaps he might enjoy it.
“Allow me to serve you Fontaine’s freshest cup of water then, as my thanks for this lovely dish,” the Iudex quickly intervenes before the Traveler pulls out anything else from their bag.
Both the Traveler and Paimon turn to each other for a short moment before nodding enthusiastically at him.
“Paimon doesn’t really mind what we drink or eat, as long as there’s food!” the little fairy quips happily, her eyes never leaving the rather large plate of katsu sandwiches that the Traveler puts down.
Amused, Neuvillette can hear the Traveler mumble under their breath. “Spoken like a true glutton…”
Leaving the two to their devices, Neuvillette went over to a cabinet that stores his wine glasses together with a bottle of Fontaine’s fresh water. The Melusine who was in charge of handling his order for the wine glasses had been curious as to why he wanted them despite not drinking any alcohol, but they eventually shrugged it off and trotted away.
“That Tone-Deaf-Bard doesn’t even have the Mora to treat us to a meal, why did you even give him the idea?”
“That’s the whole point, Paimon. It’s because he doesn’t have the Mora that he can’t treat us, especially you who I know will eat anything and everything that’s on the menu.”
“You-! And then you just went and left Paimon with that drunkard while you go and have your private fun with Xiao at Wangshu Inn, thanks a lot by the way!”
Now that’s a curious little knowledge. The Traveler who goes from nation to nation, unrestricted as the wind itself, actually has someone they’re close with that’s not Paimon? Though it’s not surprising for someone such as they to make friends wherever they go, but to be close to a particular friend is…intriguing.
Neuvillette returns with a tray of three glasses of fresh water just as the young blonde swats at their snickering fairy friend, cheeks as red as the ripest tomatoes.
“Pardon me for eavesdropping on your conversation, but I am not aware that someone as free as you would have a person you’re close with,” Neuvillette states out as he hands each of them their cup. “I would’ve thought that you’re someone who befriends all yet close to none.”
Paimon snorts with a roll of her eyes as she takes a sip of her drink.
“Yeah, this one here makes friends with everyone, but there’s a certain Yaksha from Liyue that you can tell they have a soft spot for to the point where everyone kind of noticed it.”
“Paimon!” the Traveler hisses venomously, the red on their cheeks deepening.
Ignoring their companion, Paimon bulldozes through. “And the thing is, that Yaksha, Xiao, also probably have a soft spot for them too! Even if Paimon is part of the package with Traveler, he won’t answer no matter how loud Paimon called for him! But Traveler here just needs to whisper his name and whoosh! He appeared before you can even blink.”
At this point, Neuvillette feels a twinge of sympathy for the Traveler who looks like they’re just about ready to jump out of his office window and never look back.
“I’ve heard that the Yakshas the Geo Archon deployed are corrupted with karmic debt,” the Iudex starts with a frown as he reaches for one of the katsu sandwiches. “It’s a surprise to me that your friend has no problem mingling with humanity.”
At that, the Traveler seems to deflate and nibble on their meal as though a weight had suddenly dropped on their shoulders.
“No, he’s very aware of his karmic debt,” the blonde starts in a small voice.
“It’s why he tries very hard not to be with humans longer than necessary, even those wielding Visions. My constitution is different, so I’m not one to be affected easily, but he still tries to keep a distance between us and to only see him as a weapon.”
“He doesn’t get the memo that Traveler will never do that though.” Paimon interrupts with a mouthful of sandwiches much to Neuvillette's chagrin.
The Traveler however, doesn’t seem to mind her lack of manners and simply shrugs.
“Like Paimon said, I’ve never seen him as a weapon, nor will I in the future. But he’s slowly coming around, joining me to Liyue Harbor and just be there by my side to know people for my sake, even if he doesn’t talk much.”
Neuvillette hums at the thought.
Though he isn’t riddled with karmic debt like the two’s Yaksha friend, their unfamiliarity in a human society isn’t all that dissimilar. Neuvillette may have served Fontaine for a good 400 years, but judicial duties are vastly different compared to social mingling, especially in a human society whose mentality and discipline changes basically every hundred years.
Perhaps this is the sign he needed to accept Wriothesley’s invitation after all? Wriothesley did mention that he’s no longer an outsider to Fontaine, maybe it’s time he sees that.