Chapter Text
Piebald hair. Heterochromatic eyes with a remarkable pattern.
It's different from others…
The girl touched her hair, stroking it softly. she swung her legs with an unpredictable expression while sitting on the sofa.
She was concerned about her appearance, like other typical girls.
Either Hanna’s or Babel’s fingers are not like mine.
Even Her fingers were all coated with dark hue, the shade extending halfway across her hands. If her mother had not painted her nails blue, they might have matched the dark hue of her fingers.
It was not that she didn't realize it, but people always came up with strange reasons like
" She’s a daughter of the previous Hydro Archon. Maybe there were some special reasons behind it. "
" Isn’t it just a makeup for a stage performance? "
" Those black fingers seem familiar... right, Lynette? "
The previous Hydro Archon, Focalors, was the mother of this little girl.
But Monsieur Neuvillette and Miss Clorinde preferred to call her mother 'Furina' rather than 'Focalors'.
When the girl still didn't know the ways of the world, she asked her mother again and again why she had dark fingers like this. The mother of the child made a serious face for a second then just smiled and answered
" It's because... Annette, you are my beloved daughter! "
The mother said, holding her daughter's hands with confidence.
Yeah.. being her beloved daughter...
But when she grew up a little more, she knew that it was nonsense! Why was that even a reason anyway for having these peculiar hands??
For the reason why Annette came back to question this topic again, it was because she had heard the toy seller on the main street saying, "Kids will be like their parents in some ways."
What if... I have dark fingers like my father? The girl thought to herself.
...
But I don't have a father.
The little girl always accompanied her mother around. Sometimes Miss Navia would take her by the hand to go baking some pastries at her place, or even went outside with Miss Clorinde, especially when her mom was not at home.
Sometimes brother Lyney and sister Lynette visited her at the house when her mother was busy. And brother Freminet enjoyed teaching her diving techniques.
My mom said that what they did was called being kind . Mm... So everybody is kind to me then.
Mom was usually away to direct a stage, or went outside to buy some stuff and I usually went with her. It's just... I don't want to eat only macaroni for my entire week, you know...
But when I went out with mom holding my hand, I always saw other kids with their two hands held by their mom and dad.
Mom said " I‘ll take you to meet your father when you're older, alright, my dear? "
Why don’t other kids that are the same age as me have their one hand empty like me? Can't I just meet my father right now? Like other kids?
And my mom only just brought up a pack of macaroni
Then I hit her hand...
"Lynette, are you sure we don't need to tell the father about this?" asked Lyney
"About what?"
"About Annette"
"The father's intelligence network is much better than we think. If she has already heard the news about Miss Furina having a child and she still hasn’t returned, isn't it clear by now?"
Lynette spoke out much longer than she normally did.
It's not that Lynette didn't notice when her father and Lady Furina were together. She would never have believed it if she hadn't seen it with her eyes, but her father did seem to be more relaxed around Lady Furina. Has that person ever let her guard down like this before?
But eventually, that still was not love , right?
"Father must‘ve known about this by now. The previous Hydro Archon having a child is not just a bagatelle."
Lynette took a sip of her tea, looking at her sibling who was about to say the next sentence.
"That's what I’m curious about. Father’s never come back to see it by herself. There’s not even a single letter asking about this."
"Lyney, Father has gone for a long-term mission several years ago to a place that few of our people are around. She only responds to essential letters. and..."
"And?"
Lyney tilted his head in query.
"Even though it's not as comfortable as the palais, Annette already has a kind mother and a warm place to live. Lyney, do you really sure that you want Annette to be involved with The House of Hearth ?"
"..."
"Despite giving too much love, too little, or even some awkwardness, they’re still living happily together right now, aren't they?"
Lynette smiled a little. There was no way to stop thinking about her little sister. At first, she did not want to get close to Annette that much, but she just couldn't help it.
Even looking at her from Snezhnaya, I can tell Annette is the father's child. Of course, she is my little sister.
No.
It's our little sister.
But there was one thing Lyney, Lynette, or even Freminet that was just coming back to the town didn’t know
It was their father's return.
Go back ten years
Love is a thing that has never existed in my life.
If it ever has existed, all of it may be for my children.
Even growing up to any age or being consanguine or not, I always see them as my family.
Because this is The House of Hearth.
But
The news of that one particular family really gets on my nerves.
‘The previous Hydro Archon already has a child' After the end of a young Fatui soldier's report, there was not any sound coming to their ears for a long pause.
The soldier looked down at the floor for a while now. He wondered when would The Knave let him go? Or she had already said it but it's just his fault that he didn't hear her?
"...you can go now."
"Yes, ma’am."
That woman already has a family, doesn't she?... Do I really need to know who she married? Our relationship is just a casual relationship anyway.
It’s like playing with a doll
Even though I‘ve never actually played with any real dolls in my life.
Irritated. Displeased.
Sad
...
Me? With Lady Furina? No. With Furina? Ah, I get it now
She’s finally found her happiness.
500 years have passed and she finally could be happy as an ordinary woman.
Deep down, there is only " Good on you " filling in The Knave's mind
before she disappeared on her long-term mission in a foreign land.
I hope to see her smile when I get back.
Otherwise
I might have something to do with the father of that child
This is late now, and mom still hasn’t come back from checking the equipment on the stage... But she said she won't take long.
She told me she’d watch me practice acting! Miss Clorinde even taught me how to handle a sword today, it's just a wooden sword though.
The sound of the little girl's stamping on the floor was likely to resemble the sound of a stomping rabbit.
Knock knock knock.
...
3 times
...Knock
4 times. Did mom forget the key?... Hmp I‘ill be mad at mom after she finishes reading me a bedtime story then. Start tomorrow morning!
The girl and her mother do have a secret code for entering their own home. It was just Annette's funny idea at first. because her mom always liked to knock on the door in a weird rhythm.
First, knocking three times. Pausing for a moment then knocking one more time. Annette would instinctively know that it was her mother behind the door without looking into a peephole.
The little girl swiftly moved to the door, but when she opened it, that was not her mother.
It was…
… a scary lady she had never seen before.