Furina, Please Let Me Steal Your Heart!

If there's one unwritten taboo between a defense attorney and their accused client, it's undoubtedly—mistrust.

The defense attorney must trust their client, acting in their best interests at all times.

Similarly, the accused must trust their defense attorney, withholding nothing.

If either party fails to meet this standard, the entire trial becomes a torment.

Furina exclaimed in surprise, "This is a violation of the taboo! The defense attorney and the accused haven't achieved complete trust! But what do you mean by 'true relationship'? Are they actually sisters or something?"

"No, not sisters, but lovers."

The chamber fell silent.

Furina brought a hand to her forehead, as if her brain had reached its capacity limit. "Wait, lovers? But she's female, right? And Mary Bestina is also female, doesn't that mean..."

Her face reddened.

"Huh?! Women... women... huh? Is that for real?"

The audience below was equally stunned.

"What... what kind of twist is this?"

"A murder of passion?"

"Is there something wrong with that, Lady Furina?"

Caught off guard by the sudden question from the audience, Furina cleared her throat despite the lingering blush on her cheeks.

"My subjects, Fontaine is a tolerant nation," she began. "Our laws do not prohibit such relationships!"

Although I certainly don't have any inclination in that direction! she thought to herself.

She quickly pressed on: "How did you know they were lovers?"

"I object!"

The stand-in defense attorney was about to lose his mind. He had to put a stop to this. "The accused hasn't revealed the whole truth to me. I need to re-examine the complaint. I demand a recess! We must adjourn!"

Lady Furina discontentedly smacked her hand on the armrest. "What is this? We've barely begun!"

How could there be an ad break right as the show starts? This is absurd. It's absolutely terrible. They've just whetted our appetite and cut off the story—how excessive!

She had to protest.

Bang! Bang! Neuvillette rapped his stick.

"Silence. The request is reasonable. Court adjourned for thirty minutes."

"Thirty minutes is far too long," Furina insisted. "Reduce it to ten seconds!"

Neuvillette rapped his stick harder. "Court adjourned!"

-

The noisy trial had adjourned, and Luna and Navia found themselves in the opera house's dressing room backstage.

"I didn't expect us to recess so soon," Navia said, her hands on her hips, sounding exasperated.

Luna leaned against the wall and softly replied, "According to Fontaine law, this situation does indeed warrant a recess. We need to communicate with our defense once more."

Otherwise, it'd be pure bullying, she thought to herself.

Navia sat on a chair, her body leaning forward, swaying the chair back and forth as she searched for something to say, "Judith is guilty of murder, but her defense still has to prove she's 'innocent' according to their standards. I've witnessed many such trials, but can you really call this justice?"

"Of course we can," Luna said, approaching Navia and gently rocking the chair with her hand on its back.

Navia looked up, her azure eyes blinking as she fixed her gaze intently on Luna's crimson irises.

"How do you figure?"

"Victory is justice—if the opposing side legally and properly defeats us, then victory and innocence belong to them.

"It's because our strength isn't enough to grant the dead their innocence."

In life's great arena, those who lack the mettle for battle invariably taste defeat—a fact as immutable as the setting sun.

Navia's gaze drifted. "...Indeed."

Strength was paramount.

Without sufficient power, she could not hope to exonerate her father.

"...I still don't know if I possess the capability," Navia confessed softly. "But I've prepared myself thoroughly, ready to prove whether my father truly is innocent."

It had been three years, a seemingly endless quest that yielded not a single breakthrough.

"Yet now, you're capable of giving a voice to the dead," came Luna's stern rebuke, her gaze fixed unwaveringly on Navia.

Slowly, Navia's eyes returned to Luna, and she chuckled softly.

"You're right! And now, I've got our very own detective lady as my partner. How should I put this? I feel safer with you by my side than if I had an arsenal of a hundred guns!"

"I'd still take those hundred guns any day," Luna replied with a grin.

Partner... It sounded so promising, yet when she donned her mask and became the Phantom Thief, that word would inevitably transform into "enemy."

Ah, the ironies of life—how they never cease to unravel in the most unexpected tapestries.

As Luna pondered these thoughts, she caught a glimpse from the corner of her eye—a meddling hand approaching her face and delicately grasping her golden strands.

"What are you doing?" Luna inquired.

Navia snapped back to reality. "Hm? Oh...Um... I suddenly noticed that both you and I have blonde hair."

"Many people in this world have blonde hair."

Take, for example, a certain traveler with blonde hair who has yet to arrive in Fontaine, she mused silently.

"However, you don't seem quite like a native of Fontaine," Navia observed. "Were you not born here?"

"No, my father is from Liyue, and my mother is from Mondstadt... at least, that's what 'father' told me."

That's all I know. Nothing else.

The name "Luna" itself had been written on a card found in the basket when she was just an infant.

No surname, only a given name.

"Wow, a mixed-race beauty! With such stunning looks, your parents must have been incredibly handsome too!"

Luna, not intending to elaborate further, offered a slight smile. "Thank you."

She released her hold, causing Navia to hastily regain her footing, narrowly avoiding a face-first tumble onto the floor.

Just as Navia was about to let out a mild complaint, she noticed Luna sitting on the table, gazing out the window with a thoughtful expression.

Luna had exuded confidence, flamboyance, and elegance since their first meeting, but now she appeared uncharacteristically calm and gentle.

Naviya pondered this shift while leaving her chair to join Luna on the table with a "hey ho."

"Want to grab some tasty treats after we win? My treat."

"But no bubbly halfway through the case, okay?"

Naviya scanned the area.

"...Bubbly? What bubbly are you talking about?"

Meanwhile, on the other side of the courtroom,

the stand-in defense attorney gulped down water before exhaling deeply. He then spoke earnestly, "Could you please share all the truths with me before the trial begins? Professional defense attorneys maintain absolute confidentiality."

Judith remained silent.

"Please, trust me on this! Otherwise, we can't hope to win this trial or prove your innocence."

"...And if I'm not innocent?"

The lawyer leaned forward, his voice serious. "Even then, proving that you are 'not guilty' is our duty. At the very least, we'll fight for the maximum possible sentence reduction."

Judith nodded slowly. "I understand now... I did it..."

As she spoke, tears began to flow.

"I'm sorry, Mary..."

"...Although it must be painful, please tell us the whole truth."

Time slipped away like water through cupped hands.

Half an hour later, the trial resumed.