Snezhnaya.
Zapolyarny Palace.
The tall, majestic palace stood quietly amidst the boundless snowfields, looking sacred and inviolable.
Deep within this palace, the atmosphere at this moment appeared exceptionally heavy.
“♪ ♪ ♪ ～”
Columbina was lying across a cold coffin, singing a mourning tune.
Below the grand hall, a group of Harbingers wearing unified, exquisite uniforms gathered together.
“We gather here today to commemorate our good companion.
Her sacrifice is worth a full half-day of suspended work and mourning for the entire Snezhnaya.” The Rooster slowly spoke, breaking the silent atmosphere first.
“Only half a day…” The Regrator crossed his fingers, wearing noticeably expensive rings on them.
His eyes beneath the spectacle frames narrowed into slits, his handsome face still carrying an elusive smile.
“They say the Northland Bank circulates blood, tears, and wails, but Mr.
Mayor, your values are even more twisted than mine as a banker.”
Seeing that the two were about to argue, The Knave Arlecchino stepped forward and said, “Rosalyne has fallen on a strange land…”
“For wealthy merchants and politicians like you who lack empathy and only know how to make excuses and cower in Snezhnaya, you probably can’t imagine it.”
“In that case, shut your mouths properly.”
“Otherwise the children will cry.”
She had a good relationship with Rosalyne.
Facing the bickering between The Rooster and the Regrator, her voice carried a hint of bone-chilling coldness.
“Hey!
Even I feel this is not a place worth [fighting].”
Clearly it was Rosalyne’s funeral, but the atmosphere inside the room gradually grew tense, and Childe hurriedly spoke to persuade them.
“Ridiculous and absurd!”
The Marionette Sandrone sat atop the large robot Pulonia, casting a disdainful gaze at the bickering of several people.
“Although her methods stained her honor, Lohefalter’s sacrifice is still regrettable.
Her departure will not stop us from moving forward.
Speaking of which, Dottore, where are Scaramouche and Inazuma’s Gnosis?”
As the First Harbinger, the Captain expressed his stance, ending this meaningless fight, and turned his gaze toward Dottore, who was fiddling with test tubes.
…
“Mmm…
Huh?” Accompanied by a lazy murmur, consciousness returned like a tide.
“So noisy!”
Columbina’s voice was not concealed in the slightest, clearly spreading to every corner of the grand hall.
Suddenly, the original bickering sounds in the grand hall paused completely, turning in unison toward Columbina, who had previously been humming songs while lying on the coffin.
When gazes sharp like unsheathed blades gathered on that lazy, graceful figure, Columbina dizzily recognized the current situation.
[Good grief, aren’t these the Fatui Harbingers?
They’re actually having a team-building session here, and it seems I just got in their way?]
When watched by the gazes from below, she felt as if her throat was being choked by an invisible hand, and all her thoughts had nowhere to hide—especially when Dottore looked at her, she always had an uncomfortable feeling in her heart.
Columbina briefly scanned the Harbingers inside the grand hall, discovering that except for girl, Signora, and Balladeer, everyone else was actually fully present.
Is some important event being held here?
Columbina’s puzzled gaze met with everyone below.
For a moment, the room grew somewhat silent and oppressive.
“Columbina, do you have any questions?” The Captain spoke up first, easing the atmosphere a bit.
“Columbina?” Columbina pointed at herself, her eyes beneath the blindfold carrying a trace of just-woken confusion, “Who?
Me?”
The moment the voice left her mouth, she realized something was amiss.
[Wait, when did my voice become so pleasant to listen to?]
She subconsciously wanted to stand up.
Right at this moment, a chilly sensation came from below.
A trace of an ominous premonition suddenly flooded her heart.
Columbina lowered her head in disbelief and took a look at herself.
First coming into view was a pure and flawless white dress, and several strands of soft, black long hair with red highlights draped down to her chest.
Looking further down was an almost non-existent plain and that slender waist as if it would snap at a single bend.
And those long, plump white legs were kneeling on the ground at this moment, her entire body resembling a newly awakened little lazy cat.
[Wait, what I’m wearing is…
a skirt?]
She gently pinched her own small, soft, and moist cheeks—very soft, very tender, a smooth face unique to girl.
[Goddess, this isn’t right, is it?
How did I turn into girl Columbina?!]
[What on earth is going on here?!]
And just when she was about to be overwhelmed and breathless by the oppressive gazes of everyone, The Knave Arlecchino stepped forward, swept a cold glance at the crowd, and smoothed things over for Columbina by saying,
“Don’t scare her.”
“Columbina, are you alright?
Is Rosalyne’s sacrifice too big of a blow to you?”
[This is Rosalyne’s funeral?
No wonder I couldn’t find Signora, she’s actually lying in the coffin board in front of me.]
[In other words, this is the place from A Winter Night’s Lazzo PV?]
Columbina’s gaze turned to Arlecchino, nodding slightly in accordance with her words.
“Mhm…
Rosalyne’s sacrifice is an inestimable loss for us in Snezhnaya, yet you people are fighting internally here—it would chill her heart.”
Her voice was ethereal and pleasant, resembling a little dove singing, piercing straight into people’s souls.
[I didn’t expect to arrive at such an important occasion right after transmigrating.
They shouldn’t be able to tell that Columbina has been swapped out, right?]
Columbina’s gaze beneath her blindfold quietly swept across these Harbingers, only letting out a silent sigh of relief when the trace of vigilance in their eyes turned back to cold rationality.
[Gulp…
So hungry.]
Although with the help of The Knave, Columbina initially resolved the suspicions from her colleagues.
But the physical condition of this girl body didn’t seem to be feeling too good.
At this moment, two clusters of scarlet light seemed to light up in the darkness.
Tap, tap, tap.
The heavy footsteps were like stepping on the heart of every single Harbinger.
“Columbina…” Seeing that Columbina was still daydreaming, Arlecchino hurriedly reached out a hand, a trace of concern in her voice.
“Stand straight, Pierro is coming.”
[It seems the hunger has eased somewhat…]
Columbina dazedly grasped the hand she extended, which didn’t seem as cold as imagined.
[Pierro, the Director of the Fatui?]
Columbina abruptly stood up, disregarding the chilly sensation under her skirt, and hurriedly stood in her own designated position.
“The night’s lazzo should come to an end.”
As the voice fell, Pierro Pierro’s face beneath his mask was revealed in the darkness.
That was a majestic, slightly aged face.
The left eye, uncovered by the mask, swept a profound and sharp glance across the Harbingers lined up on both sides of Signora’s coffin.
Finally, it paused for a moment at Columbina’s place, but returned to calmness once again.
“At this moment, you have no audience.”
“All noble sacrifices shall be engraved upon the solid ice, enduring alongside the nation.”
“Under the command of the noble Tsaritsa.”
“We shall seize the authority of the gods…”