บท 85: Oil, Water, and Something Else [4]
"Here... Don't cry, alright?" Gently wiping off her tears from her face, Isaac softly smiled. "You look much better when you're not crying."
"Are you implying that... I don't look good when I am crying?" Furina replied as she allowed Isaac to wipe her tears away while looking at him with piercing eyes.
Currently, the two of them were sitting beneath a shade, hidden from the eyes of Navia and Neuvillette.
The two of them sat down on the land beneath the shade of the weeping willow tree above, slightly shielding them from the rain.
"I didn't say that," At her question, Isaac smirked. "I just prefer you smile more. That's all."
"Is that so..."
Looking directly at Isaac, Furina's mind wandered as she quietly observed him gently wiping her face.
Isaac, who noticed her silently staring at him, tilted his head and curiously questioned her, "Is something on my face?"
"Nothing... But I'm curious..." She mumbled, still locking in with Isaac. "You have a beautiful shade of eyes... Yet they look... Lifeless. Why is that?"
Upon hearing her question, Isaac paused for a moment before chuckling lightly. He then took his hand off her and answered her question, "I could ask the same to you. Why are your eyes heterochromatic? And why do they hold such an allure?"
"Touché..." Furina tilted her head back to the boulder behind them with a sigh. She then pointed at his face, "I'm guessing it's a secret that you aren't ready to divulge yet?"
"Something like that, yes." He shrugged his shoulders before also resting his back on the boulder behind them.
Under the light rain pouring down from the skies of Fontaine, Isaac and Furina shared a moment of silence as they both watched the rain fall and assimilate to the ground.
The smell of the Earth, coupled with the rain, produced a petrichor smell that brought an unnatural sense of warmth to the two.
Isaac and Furina sat side by side, just quietly witnessing the passage of time go by.
"Should we go back now?" Opening his mouth, Isaac spoke with an unhurried voice. "Monsieur Neuvillette must have a lot on his plate, right? I bet he's a busy person."
"Don't worry. He applied for absence today in the court, so we don't have to worry about taking much of his time." Furina smirked smugly as she recalled the procedures they went through just so Neuvillette could go out.
"Oh my... To think he'd take a day off just to accompany you..." Hearing this, Isaac also smirked slightly. "This must have been an important occasion."
"Now that I think about it, why are you guys here?" Suddenly realizing this, Isaac voiced out his curiosity.
"That's what I wanted to ask you," She said as she turned her head and looked at Isaac with a piercing gaze. "Why were you and Navia even here? Did you find clues about the painting?"
"Well, it went something like this..." Isaac then proceeded to explain what Navia told him, and what led to their current situation.
As Furina listened, her face became more and more flushed as she figured out the overall situation.
"...and now we're here." Isaac finished explaining. He then looked at Furina beside him. "Do you get it now?"
"I get it. I overreacted." Furina replied with a faint sigh as she tilted her head forward. "Still, your flowery words earlier... Hmph."
Witnessing the way she acts, Isaac observed her for a moment before smirking. He then leaned closer to her and teased her, "Why? Jealous?"
"Y-you!" Seeing Isaac try and tease her with an obvious bait, Furina pushed him away. "You're such a fool!"
She paused for a moment before tucking her legs together with her arms and hiding her face. She then finally mumbled a sentence under her breath as she hid her face. "Of course I was..."
"We already... already did that thing..." Still hiding herself, Furina continued speaking. "...I'd obviously feel this way!"
"Those moments we shared together... mean a lot to me, you know..."
Hearing this, Isaac became silent for a moment before forming a soft smile. He then gently tapped her head with his finger. "I get it..."
Furina felt Isaac's tap and lifted her head, looking back at him. She saw his gentle expression, and, for the first time ever, saw something different.
His usual lifeless deep amber eyes, which always gave her a sense of uneasiness, now had a tinge of vibrant warm color. It was as if she was watching a sunset by the sea as she looked into his hazy eyes.
"Don't worry," he spoke, with his usual gentle tone, reassuring her of any worry. "Leaving you would be the last thing on my mind."
Isaac could never fully know Furina's heart nor her true essence. Nonetheless, his deep admiration for her actions as well as her sacrifice for the nation was something he could never replace.
He knew how much she cried, and how much she had hoped for her cruel reality to stop and have a moment of respite. The endless theatrics and the show that never ends had utterly and depressingly crushed her mental fortitude many times.
Yet she was but an actor that must continue to act the fool to fool others, and as such could only smile at the cruelty of fate.
"Furina, you might find this absurd but..." He said as he slowly reached out his hand and held her's. "I just feel like... You deserve a peaceful life."
"From one actor to another, I know how tiring it is to keep wearing our masks..." As he intertwined their fingers together, Isaac looked at her directly and tilted his head to the side. "But that doesn't mean we can't put our masks down once in a while."
Hearing Isaac's words, Furina looked at him silence for a few moments. She contemplated deeply in her mind about his words, and what they possibly meant.
After a while, a soft but brittle smile appeared on her face as she spoke. "Putting down your mask... I can't do that."
"The nation must have a proper Archon to rule over them... And I must be that proper Archon." She added as she looked at her hand intertwined with Isaac. "As for why..."
"You don't need to tell me." Isaac quickly cut her off. He then took his gaze off her and looked at the horizon. "You must have a reason for doing that. Like me, you too have a reason for wearing that mask."
Isaac then slowly stood up, with Furina watching him, he inhaled and exhaled deeply.
He then turned around and faced Furina who was huddled and extended his arm as he invited her.
"To us, the fools."
Furina, who watched Isaac, fell silent. Watching his hand, various thoughts flooded her mind.
'Does he know about my true purpose?'
'But mirror-me hasn't said anything about the plan failing, so he must not have known about the plan...'
'What is his secret?'
'Is he really related or perhaps the Clown?'
'A peaceful life...'
In a short span of moments, many topics rose in her mind. Questions regarding Isaac were the most prominent— curiosity, suspicion, and intrigue were the three most evident.
Her eyes softened as she continued to ponder these thoughts in her mental space where she sat on a throne of lies.
'The fact... that the plan is still ongoing despite me being this close to someone means...' As she entertained this thought, she lifted her gaze and looked at Isaac. 'Not to mention that he knew about my act...'
That familiar, curly brown hair, his warm amber eyes, and his usual amiable expression was all she saw.
'Are you... finally my savior?'
Five hundred years. It was a long and arduous journey of keeping her burden to herself, not daring to get close to anyone in fear of failing her other self's grand plan.
For hundreds of years, she never got close to anyone romantically because she feared any mistake.
But now... Looking at Isaac, who she got close to without risking the failure of their plan, Furina sensed something she was most familiar with.
Tears.
Without her knowing, a stream of tears ran down her face as she looked at Isaac's hand.
"Huh?" Realizing this, Furina tried wiping her tears away, yet they still continued to run down. "This... Sorry, I just..."
"It's alright." Isaac's words of comfort reached her ears. He then bent down on one knee and wiped her tears off again. "See? From one actor to another..."
"We can put down our masks for a while."
"...Hic." Hearing Isaac's words, Furina didn't hold it in anymore and immediately jumped up to him and hugged him as tightly as possible. It was as if a dam broke and a flood of emotions drowned her senses, leading her to appropriate it.
- Tud!
"...there, there... It's alright." Isaac, who fell to the ground, didn't scold her. He instead only gently patted her back as she clung onto him tightly while silently sobbing. "It's alright. Just let it all out..."
- Sniffle...
- Sob...
"Hic... uwa..." Soft and quiet sobbing only emanated from Furina who buried herself in Isaac's chest, muffling her cry with his shirt.
"Sometimes, we just need to slow down and take a break..." Sitting down on the soil once more, Isaac gently whispered to her as he let her use his shirt for a while. "And that's perfectly normal for everyone... Including you."
And just like that, the two spent another silence under the weeping willow tree, disregarding Navia and Neuvillette who were still waiting for them to come back.
Isaac didn't care for this right now, however, and only provided comforting words for Furina who was sobbing on his shirt.
As for Furina, who finally found an outlet to pour out her hundreds of years' worth of frustration, continued to quietly cry. Something she didn't know was possible was right in front of her, and she wasn't willing to let it,or rather, him go.
This too was a form of serenity— freedom from shackles.
---
"Are you fine now?" Standing up, Isaac once again wiped Furina's face for her.
"Y-yes..." Furina, whose eyes were faintly red from crying, looked at Isaac who was gently cleaning her with his handkerchief. "I'm sorry for this unsightly behavior... That wasn't befitting of me..."
"Don't worry about it," Isaac shook his head before smirking. He then made a joke, "If it fancies you, I can even give you this shirt so it can truly become your handkerchief, haha."
"...alright. I'll be expecting it..." She nodded her head as she spoke softly while looking up at him. "...I don't want to bother you so..."
"You can give it unwashed..."
"Huh?" However, contrary to his expectations, Furina boldly accepted his words. "...are you sure?"
"Yes." She reaffirmed as she nodded her head in confirmation. She then continued and tried to play it out normally. "I'll be grateful for the gift."
'Is she thinking of...' Thinking of something impure, Isaac shook his head as he felt his face heat up. 'No, now's not the time to think about that. Lock in, Isaac.'
"Shall we go back now?" After cleaning her face, Isaac suggested to Furina once more. "I think it would become too suspicious if we still haven't come back."
"Alright," Hearing his suggestion, Furina nodded her head. She then looked at him and gently knocked on his chest. "But no words of anything that happened... Alright?"
"Also the shirt."
"Sure, sure." He nodded his head. He then gestured with his body, "Ladies first? I'll be right behind you."
"So gentlemanly all of a sudden? Hehe, fine." Not finding anything strange with Isaac's words, Furina softly smiled as she agreed and walked in front of him.
Unbeknownst to her, however, Isaac intentionally walked behind to do something.
Looking at the painting right above the boulder, Isaac's mind raced as a thought popped up in his mind.
He then took out something from the system storage and splashed it on the corner of the painting before putting it back.
After doing this, Isaac caught up to Furina as if nothing happened.
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