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Curious.
The Fair Lady thought as she quietly observed the kind of scene that was about to unfold before her eyes and had her stop by the door frame.
The hearth in the common room of the Hotel Bouffes d'ete burned with vigor as the building's current owner sat on one of the armchairs beside the fire.
And there was an air of maturity about Arlecchino, with her elbow propped up on one of the armrests, her tailcoat draped over the other and her head rested against her knuckles.
And Rosalyne couldn't help a quiet sigh, as she noticed the ever deeper growing dark circles underneath the young Knave's currently closed eyes.
Arlecchino as a whole had grown taller yet in recent days – almost matching Rosalyne's own height.
What little child-like roundness had been left in the younger Harbinger's face had also disappeared to full adulthood.
A mixture of emotions washed over The Fair Lady as she continued to watch silently.
There was pride. In herself, of course.
As she looked at the tight white trousers that lightly flared out into black ruffles at the bottom, Arlecchino was clad in – all part of an ensemble La Signora herself had recently chosen for the Little Knave.
Though more willing to keep up with her appearances of her own these days - and without Signora's insistent 'nagging' about it – the young Knave was still willing to humor Rosalyne for the occasional shopping trip.
Albeit it ever sullenly so, but surely recognizing that The Fair Lady's taste was always impeccable after all.
Pride aside, there was also mild disappointment. In Arlecchino, of course.
Rosalyne wished the younger Harbinger would have at least tried to feign some interest in the book that was currently still resting on her lap, rather than fall asleep over it.
Teyvat's political landscape and any literature on it were, granted so, a rather dry topic to trudge through.
Both Arlecchino herself and Signora however, knew that familiarizing oneself with every possible rule, regulation and especially loophole was the most important majority of a diplomat's education after all.
Once again looking upon the dark circles underneath Arlecchino's eyes – visible even from afar – Rosalyne figured that she might cut the 'Father' of the House of the Hearth some slack here at the end of the day.
There was also amusement in The Fair Lady's heart.
Had she been anyone but a Fatui Harbinger those two children, hiding in the shadows of opposite sides in the room, would have been truly undetectable.
Yseut and Deianeira, if she recalled correctly.
Perhaps only a year or two younger than Arlecchino herself, these two were among those few left to have gone through a vast majority of Crucabena's trials.
It had only been thanks to the current Knave's interference that those of their generation were sparred being ultimately pitted against each other like the ones who came before them.
To those very few residents of the Hearth, the current Head of the House was now 'Lady Arlecchino' rather than 'Father' as they never once let an old name, now buried deep by its owner, slip from their lips. Their loyalty unwavering.
And as the two older children covertly stood guard over the resting young Knave, there was yet another child in the room.
This one much younger and much more open.
A little girl, one of Arlecchino's recent charges at the Hearth, stood most silently in front her 'Father'.
A bundle of cloth was pressed close to her chest and Rosalyne simply watched as the little girl tiptoed closer and closer to Arlecchino.
Slowly but resolutely and despite of how the occasional twitch of feline ears on her ash-blonde head of hair and a tail that was whipping back and forth spoke volumes of the little girl's nervousness.
And even though she would never admit so out loud, Rosalyne found the scene in front of her strangely endearing.
As she watched the child, first place the cloth on the floor and afterwards – with as much gentleness as her small hands could muster – take the book from The Knave's lap to slowly place it atop the coffee table.
Her small face scrunched up in concentration as to not accidentally flip a page away from where her 'Father' had presumably stopped reading.
It was only once she was sure that the book had been set down securely, that the little girl let out a quiet sigh of what seemed to be relief.
And it was with a slight raise of her brow that Rosalyne now quietly leaned against the door frame.
She had been convinced that Arlecchino would wake, if not because her ward's action, at least because of the small sound the little girl had made.
The Knave's constant vigilance aside, Rosalyne didn't take the younger Harbinger for a deep sleeper, if she was to indeed slept after all.
Then again Rosalyne also doubted that Arlecchino wouldn't have noticed her two secret guards slinking in the moment they had presumably done so.
Still, not only had Arlecchino yet to wake but The Fair Lady watched as she didn't even stir when her ward slowly unfolded the cloth – a blanket, Rosalyne now noticed – and stepped even closer as to clumsily try and drape it across "Father" as far as her small arms could reach.
Opting to at the end quietly pull a small stool to step on close and fully tuck the blanket up to Arlecchino's shoulders.
And Rosalyne could barely hold back a snort of laughter when the little girl, seemingly content with her work, at the end of it all, gently patted the young Knave on the head – as if in a comforting imitation of some sort.
It was also then that The Fair Lady finally noticed an ever so subtle twitch of Arlecchino's brow.
Ah.
So she had actually been awake the entire time and simply humoring the children.
Well.
Rosalyne thought with a small smile. Who was she to ruin such a delightful play?
So when she noticed that the little girl was about to turn and leave, La Signora swiftly hid away in one of the shadows herself.
Though stealth may admittedly not be one of her stronger points, she would like to think she could remain hidden enough in a corridor to go unnoticed by small child.
And while she would never admit so to her face or even aloud, The Fair Lady had watched the Little Knave slink away often enough to have picked up a few of Arlecchino's tricks of her own.
Though she suspected that it was mere courtesy on Arlecchino's part that Rosalyne, alone and at all, would even notice whenever the younger Harbinger would disappear halfway into any meetings.
Still, as she watched the small girl pass her by – a pleased little smile and a proud blush on her face – Rosalyne once again found herself cutting the young Knave some slack.
Who wouldn't rather leave and return early to a Home such as this?