Afternoon Tea Invitation at the Palais Mermonia

The carved wooden doors of the Palais Mermonia's reception hall were slammed open as Furina made her grand entrance in twenty-centimeter gilded platform boots, the Blubberbeast plushies on the heels swaying with each step. She wore a cake-shaped hat adorned with sugar pearls and a judge's robe tailored three sizes too small, its hem stitched with glowing "Blind Box Collector" badges—upon closer inspection, they were made of expired macarons. 

"According to Article 520 of the Dessert Appreciation Association's regulations!" She thumped her jeweled scepter on the gilded tea table, knocking over Charlotte's hidden camera behind a vase. "We shall conduct a comprehensive review of the blue-roofed shop's new products... ahem..." Her wig slipped, revealing a pink cake-shaped hairpin, its cream cherry plopping into the black tea. 

Kazuha stifled a laugh, handing back the wig: "Your outfit—is it from the 'Third-Rate Villain Set' in the 'Drama Fanatic Blind Box'?" 

The gilded table was piled high with macaron towers as Furina's "inspection" took unexpected turns: 

**Round One:** 

"Why are limited-edition blind boxes only exchangeable for seashells?" The Hydro Archon stabbed a strawberry puff, deliberately smearing cream on the inspection documents. 

"Because the Melusines love them." Kazuha pressed a remote, and a mechanical hand swiftly replaced the soiled papers. 

**Round Two:** 

"Then can I pay with 'Archon-Special Cakes'?" Furina pushed forward an extravagantly decorated ten-tier cake, its top layer inscribed with "Sweetest in the World." 

"Your last cake sent three customers to the hospital." Kazuha displayed the medical bills. "One still twitches at the sight of cream." 

**Round Three:** 

"This is divine discrimination!" Furina's scepter stealthily hooked toward the safe, only to be met by Clorinde's holographic glare: "Reach again, and I'll chop it off." 

As Furina attempted to pick the lock with a hidden cake fork, the Palais AI activated: "Unauthorized intrusion detected! Identity: Dessert Thief, Level 3!" Mechanical arms lifted her for scanning, her cream puff brooch squirting filling and triggering a secondary alarm. 

The palace echoed with *The Weight Loss March* as mechanical jellyfish flooded the halls, holding signs broadcasting her misdeeds: 

**"2 AM: Raided fridge for tiramisu (ate three servings while crying)."** 

**"10 AM: Pretended to inspect while freeloading macarons."** 

**"Now: Attempted lock-picking with hairpin (skill rating: 0/10)."** 

"Slander! This is AI fabrication!" Furina struggled, her pearls hitting the alarm and activating Blubberbeast-shaped fire extinguishers that sprayed rainbow frosting, turning her into a "dessert terracotta warrior." 

"Free comedy show, I hear?" Wriothesley leaned against the doorframe, his warden badge adorned with a "Dessert Accomplice" sticker. He tossed a "Prison Special Blind Box," which released a mechanical octopus that emptied the dessert cabinet, its tentacles politely wiping Furina's mouth. 

"Traitor!" Furina glared daggers at the warden, only to be sprayed with sugar-free foam. Wriothesley waved a newly acquired "Warden's Dessert Voucher": "Thanks for the performance. Meropide's comedy archive is now complete." 

Neuvillette entered, his judge's robe dusted with cookie crumbs from Furina's sleeve: "I suggest addressing the chocolate sauce on your collar first." Behind him stood Clorinde, arms crossed, holding an "Evidence Collection Box" filled with contraband confiscated from the Hydro Archon: 

Macaron earrings (with hidden cameras). 

Cream puff grenades (explode into sugar dust). 

Lollipop sword hidden in socks (melted and stuck to toes). 

To end the farce, Neuvillette proposed a "settlement": 

Furina would clean the Palais dessert cabinet for three days (with a "No-Sweets Bracelet" that played *Burn My Calories* near desserts). 

Kazuha would compensate for the macarons eaten by mechanical jellyfish (billed under the "Archon Special Tax"). 

Clorinde gained lifetime access to the "Anti-Archon Theft Safe" (with Furina's fingerprints deleted). 

The next morning, Furina, wearing cat-ear cleaning gear and wielding a scolding smart mop, battled mechanical jellyfish in the palace halls. Every time she glanced at the dessert cabinet, the bracelet played Clorinde's recording: "Control your mouth, move your legs!" Charlotte's camera peeked through the window: "Morning Special—*'Archon Reemployment: From Hydro Archon to Janitor!'*" 

At moonrise, Kazuha arrived with the repaired "True Archon Limited Blind Box." "For your hard work—" he drawled, "a 'Dignity Restoration Set.'" 

As Furina opened the box, holographic fireworks lit the palace dome: **"Congratulations to Her Majesty for Completing the Century's Greatest Cleaning Feat!"** Blubberbeasts across the city danced, spelling "Furina's Weight Loss Countdown: 888 Days Left!" on the Fountain of Lucine. Neuvillette sighed on the balcony: "Add this 'gift' to the court's renovation expenses." 

Under the moonlight, Furina sneaked into the blue-roofed shop with a "Revenge Alliance Blind Box." The dessert robots inside ransacked the shelves, writing in cream: "Sweet Tooth Forever!" They drew sausage lips on Kazuha's sleeping face, dressed mechanical otters in strawberry underwear, and engraved a challenge on the safe: **"Next time, if I fail, I lose!"** 

The next morning, Lumine surveyed the wreckage, noting on the duty log: "88th Archon-level disaster. Suggest insuring against 'Furina Specials.'" Across the street, Furina proudly displayed her cream-smeared loot in a bakery window—the "True Limited Blind Box" glinted in the dawn, its base faintly inscribed: **"To Be Continued..."** 

A week later, *The Steambird* launched a special column: *"Archons Dominated by Blind Boxes,"* featuring Furina's cream-covered face on the front page. The blue-roofed shop's sales soared, with the new "Archon Cleaning Set" including a smart mop that scolded users. Wriothesley looped Furina's cleaning videos at Meropide, inmates vowing: "We'll reform, not follow her example." 

Meanwhile, the star of the show sulked in the Palais attic, glaring at a pile of "Healthy Veggie Blind Boxes." Suddenly, one box clicked open—a mechanical Blubberbeast in a judge's hat popped out, holding a sign: **"One snack, 100,000 mora fine!"** 

"Even you betray me?!" Furina's scream startled a flock of pigeons, their feathers spelling a word in the sky: 

**"Laugh."**