Chapter Text
You didn’t exactly know why your hands were slightly shaking. It could be the caffeine from the coffee you’d had this morning, it could be the somewhat chilly March weather; it was most likely nervousness. Ever since you had been elected Mayor of Petrichor you had taken the duties of your job with pride. You were well aware that the job would consist of many diplomatic visits, but the weight of it all was slightly overwhelming. Having only graduated from the Akadeymia 2 years ago, you were the youngest mayor on record.
So, standing in front of the mahogany door of the Chief Justice of Fontaine, you were on a slight edge. Reading your watch, your meeting was to begin in 30 seconds, so you swallowed your nerves, bit your lip and inhaled deeply before knocking 3 times on the door.
You heard a deep monotone voice command ‘Come in please’.
Turning the knob, the door opened and your feet propelled you into his office. It was gorgeous and grand; huge oak-crafted bookcases, strikingly large china vases overflowing with fresh flowers, and a large, blue handmade rug sprawled across the centre. At the back of the room, basking in the warm afternoon sunlight was his desk. It was simple but intimidating, neat yet hostile, and it smelt of dew. Overall, the room was decorated in a welcoming manner, but it radiated an aura of judgement, which you found fitting considering whose office it was. Sitting at the desk, reading from a stack of papers was the Iudex himself.
You took a second to analyse what he looked like in person. His sharp jawline, his serpent-like eyes, his exceptionally neat dress and the pure aura he emitted even from across the room. He looked up at you blankly, his gaze confusing. You couldn’t tell if he was judging you or was simply acknowledging your presence in the room. The silence between you two was harsh and awkward so you broke it.
‘Good afternoon monsieur, I’m y/n, the mayor of Petrichor, uhm-’ you paused for a moment, feeling exposed being in his direct view.
Although this was a scheduled meeting he would have been well aware of, you felt like you were imposing on him; it was offputting.
‘Our meeting is today?’ you cracked an anxious smile.
In response, he nodded and proclaimed ‘Yes, of course, please have a seat’. He then gestured to the chair that was placed opposite his. You scurried forward and once you arrived at the foot of the desk you stuck out your hand stiffly as a means to formally greet him.
‘It’s a pleasure to meet you monsieur.’ He rose from his seat and shook your hand, his grip firm but not harsh.
“Likewise’ He stated before sitting back down and momentarily reorganising his papers before placing them to one side so that his focus was on you.
Your cheeks lit up with a flush of nervousness. This was real, you had essentially no experience in diplomacy whatsoever and it was just your luck that your first taste of it would be with the man who was famous throughout Teyvat for being the judge of gods. He seemed to take notice of your reddening cheeks and slightly raised an eyebrow, in response you played an awkward smile yet again and cleared your throat before swallowing your fears, and professionalism took centre stage.
‘I hope you received the letter I sent before this meeting. It uhh, detailed the events in chronological order and I included with it reports of shipping logs from the last 6 months.’ you deeply swallowed and searched his face for a hint of approval.
‘Yes, I did receive your letter. However, the shipping logs were irrelevant for you to send. Due to Petrichor being a territory of greater Fontaine, the court has copies of all these documents and so it was unnecessary for you to provide another…’
Your stomach turned in on itself in embarrassment. you wanted to get up from your seat and run out of the office to hide in a corner, but instead, you remained put and attempted to push past your oversight. Yet, it was disheartening to realise that this was now the chief’s impression of you; incompetence.
‘Nevertheless, the issue you’ve presented was one I was not aware of, so I must thank you, alongside the citizens of Petrichor for bringing this to my attention.’
Your ears lit up at this, the idea that to him, you weren’t utterly useless was somewhat empowering.
‘Great. So, whilst we have been almost doubling our exports over the last 5 years, we are constantly receiving late payments, alongside delayed imports from Bayda Harbour and Yilong Wharf. This is causing us a lot of economic stress, alongside personal issues from citizen to citizen.’ You fiddled with your thumbs under the table, wanting to maintain a professional front but you were incredibly intimidated by him.
‘I see. And have you attempted to contact anyone at Romaritime Harbour? Or Lumidouce harbour?’ He rested his chin on his hand, small strands of white hair falling, veiling his face.
‘Yes, on multiple occasions. Both officials there told us they have no control over what happens in Liyue or Sumeru, so they could not offer any assistance. So, they referred me to you.’
Neuvillette was a peculiar one to unpack, you couldn’t for the life of you look him in the eyes, nor could you figure out what he could be thinking about. You understood why your predecessor was relieved that the burden of a meeting with him would instead fall on you. It wasn’t anything to do with his character, for you understood why he needed to uphold his blank demeanour and critical attitude, for he was a judge. But, he was almost a little scary.
‘Ah, right.’ He rubbed his chin in thought.
‘Well, there is a large trial taking place at the court that may span the next two to three weeks. But…’ he opened his diary and flicked through the pages delicately, ‘I could arrange a diplomatic visit to both Sumeru and Liyue officials directly past that point. It seems like the most logical way to solve this issue. Would you be available for this?’
You didn’t think and just answered, almost immediately.
‘Yes, I am. And I would say your judgment is correct, a diplomatic meeting in person would resolve the issue best’
He let out a small smile, though you couldn’t tell what he was smiling at. Archons, he was so hard to decipher.
‘Splendid, I shall have my assistant provide the details later down the line, you must excuse me but they may not be immediately delivered, for I’m quite tied up in business at the court.’ He stretched his hand, pulling out the documents he was reading before and scanning over them again.
‘No, of course, I understand how busy it must be, but, thank you Monsieur. My people will be delighted once I tell them’ You smiled at him, non-awkwardly this time, and he returned the favour.
You then left the room almost as quickly as you had arrived. It was only after you had left that you realised just how quick the meeting had been. The Iudex must have years upon years of experience dealing with issues like this, so you never expected it to drag, but checking your watch again you noted the entire interaction had lasted about 2 and a half minutes. The man was true to the point and just that.
On the aquabus back to Romaratime Harbour you kept contemplating the meeting. You wondered how he had perceived you, what he thought of you. Did he think you were underqualified for your responsibilities? Just a young girl who got lucky at the polls? You fiddled with your hands in a slight anxiety. It was true that you somewhat idolised the Iudex, having fond memories of seeing trials at the court during your childhood. It was those trials that had you originally invested in law, which then resulted in you studying political science at the academia and winning the election that provided you with this job. Therefore you could argue to yourself that Neuvillette was a sort of muse to you. An aspirational figure that you couldn’t quite fully articulate with words, but you wanted to be exactly like. He was by definition the perfect judge. Blunt, plain and clear - the qualities of a magnificent Iudex. You knew you could only ever aspire to that level of justice, and professionalism, for it was within your pure nature as a human to be awkward and nervous, naïve and intimidated. How Neuvillette had managed to bypass these human qualities was just as confusing to you as anything else about him. You almost dreaded the idea of going on a diplomatic trip with him, yet a spark inside you was curious. Curious about his nature, with a longing to dissect him and figure out how his clockwork ticked.
But for now, you had things to think about, like the upcoming Petrichor music festival. So you archived the thoughts and opened up an issue of the Steambird, losing yourself in the headlines.
But in the back of your mind, the thoughts were relaying.
Why is he the way he is?
How is he the way he is?
What was his impression of me?
Why did I send those shipping logs?
It was exhausting, thinking. You couldn’t quite pinpoint why you cared so much about what he might think of you, or why you were so intimidated to sit opposite him. It could be an intense case of imposter syndrome, you thought; but couldn’t explain why that would be the case. So, you instead collapsed into a nap and began the wait for your trip.
The next few weeks were intensively busy for you. The Petrichor music festival was the most important event of the year. It attributed to around 60% of money made from tourism, and so was a vital aspect of the island's economy. Those from all over Fontaine alongside some from Sumeru and even Inazuma visited for a taste of the music and culture. Occurring every year, there were immense expectations placed on you to deliver. It took every hour out of your day to plan and arrange the entire thing. Due to the shipping issues, it was partially stressful, but you tried your hardest to keep everything running smoothly, so as to satisfy all of the citizens. When the storm of planning mellowed down, you appreciated the work you had done.
The small town was marvellously decorated in bright spring colours, with gorgeous daffodils and pansies, tulips and hyacinths propelling spams of colour onto the grass. The townhouses were adorned with posters and tapestries of Petrichorican history. The centre fountain glimmers with various windchimes, a glaring centrepiece. Your heart swelled with pride and you couldn’t help but feel a bit giddy. The streets were bustling with a symphony of different instruments playing renditions of olde Fotaine melodies and children ran through the streets, throwing coloured ribbons into the air.
As Mayor, it was customary for you to make a speech at the height of the event, with the usual kind words to visitors and designated thanks to everyone who had helped organise the event. Walking up to your podium, the volume of the crowd tore a string of nervousness in your body, but you deeply swallowed and gripped the podium; with cue cards in place, you took a deep breath before ushering the chatters of the audience to stop with your hand.
‘It’s with my highest pleasure as Mayor of Petrichor to thank everyone for the sheer attendance of this year's music festival. First and foremost I must thank our amazing inventor Xavier for curating the instruments this year, where are you, please come up!’. You scanned the crowd for his face, your breath hitching and stomach dropping when, in the off-centre of a swarm of attendees, was Neuvillette.
He was not looking at you but, was instead too looking for Xavier. He was dressed in his normal attire, the same as when you had your meeting together but in his outbreast pocket there was a small flower, woven from the ribbon thrown about by the children. Suddenly, your cheeks had turned bright crimson and you could feel the heat creeping up on your body. Why were you so embarrassed at the presence of him? In such an informal setting it should be completely casual to see him, for everyone had days off work. You noted that in the past he had never attended the festival but, upon noticing how long you had been silent, and that Xavier was approaching the podium, you snapped out of your trance and clapped alongside the audience (and Neuvillette) for the inventor.
You finished up your speech and received a round of applause from everyone. It had taken a will of stone to not make eye contact with the Iudex throughout, but it had been done and you hoped that no one had noticed the hitch in your words whenever you could make out him looking at you in the corner of your eye. However, upon stepping down from the podium you were met by a blockade of blue coat. Tilting your head upwards, the dreaded eye contact with Neuvillette was realised, his eyes piercing and sharp; but, where a blank expression had been plastered on in his office, his mouth was slightly curved into a smile.
‘Ah, y/n, I must commend you for this year's festival, it has certainly turned out marvellous, which I must assume is due to your splendid leadership’, he commented.
‘N-neuvilllette, errrr thank you-’ you stuttered. You brushed yourself off quickly before sticking your arms to your side as if Neuvillette was a commander and you were a recruit. ‘I wasn’t expecting someone of your… status to be here, but I’m glad you find the festival endearing, we did put many sleepless nights into the planning’. You finished with awkward laughter.
‘My status?’ He integrated, intimidating as ever.
‘Well, you know, with how busy you must be at the court and..’ You trailed off internally noting that you were edging towards offending the Iudex, resolving to seal the sentence with another awkward, breathy giggle.
To your surprise, he followed with a small chuckle, ‘Don’t worry, yes I understand. I simply had this weekend off my duties and saw it fit to spend some time outside the court and, where better than here, especially considering I haven’t been to a Petrichor music festival in… let's see’ He rested his hand on his chin ‘60 years’.
You took a mental note of the seemingly large time but dismissed it quickly due to your alertness.
‘Ah’ He said, ‘I also wanted to deliver you the plans for the diplomatic visit in person, considering I am present now so, here you go’ He passed her a sealed document with a stamp punched onto the paper that read:
SUMERU AND LIYUE DIPLOMATIC TRIP ARRANGEMENTS; REGARDING PETRICHOR SHIPMENTS - ARRANGEMENTS
The papers were held together with sting and a wax seal, engraved with the court's emblem. It felt like a generational heirloom had been bestowed upon you so you clutched it tight and stuck out your hand towards Neuvillette
'Merci, Monsieur, I shall mull over these as soon as possible’
He nodded, ‘Indeed, I shall meet you at Romaritime harbour in two days then’
You tensed at the confirmation of the date, being so soon you would have to work twice as hard to leave the town in a fair condition before embarking on a trip, especially piled along with festival cleanup
‘Yes, of course, I shall meet you then.’ An awkward pause ‘Enjoy the festival monsieur’
He gave a nod of approval and strode away towards the musical performances. You still had the documents clutched in your hands and a hard lump in your throat. He was a nice man. Nobel and kind. You wanted him to respect you and it was truly a step towards that goal. A sense of relief washed over you, knowing that he had directly commended your efforts to your face was a real pat on the back to validate weeks of hard work. Yet he was still an incredibly confusing person. You just couldn’t figure him out.
In a selfish divergence from your duties as Mayor you concluded to yourself that by the end of your diplomatic trip, you would understand Neuvillette. Understand who he was and how he worked and, most importantly, what he truly thought of you.