Yes, Lady Funina!

"I didn't write it. I'm already so busy cleaning up the mess you left behind, I don't have time to write a light novel." Yae Miko was trying out CPU shadows.

"But haven't you been spending all your time with me lately?" Ying looked confused. "I haven't seen you doing any official business."

Yae no Miko's expression froze for a moment, then he coughed and said, "Although I've been with you a lot lately, I've handled quite a few things, you just haven't seen it."

"Is that so? Thank you for your hard work," Ying said earnestly.

On the contrary, Yae no Miko was a little embarrassed by Kage's earnest thanks. It was like she didn't become the CPU, but instead gained a lot of goodwill from Kage.

Even the anger she felt at having stolen Richard's first kiss without her knowledge lessened considerably.

Everyone says that Yae no Miko is the best user of Lei's movies, but how could Ying not understand her best friend whom she has known for so long?

Sincerity is always a must-win.

------

"This is the Heart of Thor? I didn't expect you to actually bring it."

Inside the Winter Embassy of Inazuma, the Executor of the Fools, "Lady," stood with her arms crossed, staring in astonishment at the chess piece-shaped Heart of God in the hand of the man before her.

This surprise stemmed partly from Richard truly keeping his promise, and partly from the fact that the other party had actually managed to obtain the Heart of God.

It is well known that the Fools went to great lengths for this Heart of God. They not only spent a lot of money to bribe the Inazuma leadership to implement the national isolation order and the Eye Hunt order, but also spent a huge amount of money to establish the Evil Eye Factory in Inazuma.

This was done to support the Coral Palace resistance against the Shogunate army, and even to launch a counterattack against the Shogunate army, ultimately forcing the Raiden General to take action, and then seize the Heart of God.

Before the plan could be implemented and the Evil Eye Factory was even completed and put into use, Richard had already taken care of everything. He not only got General Thunder to rescind the lockdown order and the Eye Hunt order, but he also got his hands on the Heart of Thunder.

That efficiency is enough to confuse anyone.

It's no wonder that the Politician's reputation among the Fatui was once comparable to that of the Clown. Just based on the latter's efficiency in collecting the Heart of God, he was practically unmatched among the Fatui.

That's incredibly efficient.

“I will naturally keep my promises; I’m a man of my word.” Richard toyed with the Heart of God in his hand. “However, Ms. Rosalyn, you should admit that the information you provided before wasn’t enough to exchange for this Heart of God, right?”

"So you're trying to get something in return from me? Tell me, and as long as it's not too outrageous, I'm willing to agree," the woman said.

After all, Richard's request was reasonable. With that little bit of information, it would be difficult to exchange for even the Eye of God, let alone the Heart of God. Of course, the more important point is that she couldn't beat Richard.

"I don't have many requests, just two. The first is that you need to guide [Young Master] to Fontaine."

“You were also an executive officer before, so you should know that the connection between executive officers is not close, and there is no strict superior-subordinate relationship. Although [Young Master] is the eleventh seat, even I can't make decisions for him, let alone that my relationship with him is not good.”

“That’s your problem, Ms. Rosalyn.” Richard’s expression remained unchanged. If he couldn’t even handle such a simple matter, he might as well just use the Heart of God to address the [Young Master].

The heart of God is with me; sign in at Fontainebleau for seven days and receive a free gift.

I guarantee I'll fish Nadattalia out of the water.

"And what's the other requirement?"

"Well, then you'll need to go back to Zhidong..."

------

At night, a full moon hangs in the sky above Fontainebleau, its light like a huge piece of silk, casting a soft and mysterious silver glow.

The Vasari Gallery in Fontainebleau is a favorite spot for Fontaines to take a nighttime stroll. However, because it was getting late, there were not many tourists around the Vasari Gallery. Only the huge mechanical fountain in the center of the square was working continuously under the drive of the kinetic energy.

On such a quiet and beautiful night, a delicate and lovely girl, like an elf, broke the silence. She was dressed in an elegant dress and wore a top hat. Her steps were as light as a ballerina. At this moment, the girl was chasing a black and white cow cat.

"Hey little thing, come here, I have some delicious cat biscuits here~" Funina held a special pet biscuit she had prepared for cats in her hand, bent down and waved it at the black and white cat in the distance that looked wary and curious.

It seems the aroma of the special pet biscuits temporarily suppressed the kitten's wariness of the stranger, Funina, and it didn't run away like it would with other foolish people who wanted to usurp the cat god's authority.

When Funina saw the black and white cat, she stopped in her tracks. A smug smile appeared on her exquisite, porcelain-like face. Having learned from her previous failed attempt to catch a cat in the park, Funina had this time bought extra expensive cat food from the pet store.

There's definitely a reason why it's expensive. The materials and craftsmanship are so exquisite that even pampered house cats would be confused, let alone wild cats with little experience in the wild.

Come, put down your guard, abandon your pride, and expose your belly to the great water god!

You'll be petted into a cat poop by me!

With the idea that you can't catch a wolf without risking your cub, Funina threw a cat biscuit on the ground. Then, the previously hesitant kitten suddenly exerted force with its hind legs, like a black and white lightning bolt, and snatched the biscuit with lightning speed. Then, it made a 180° turn and drifted away, leaving Funina with only its unrestrained back view.

Foolish humans, today I, the little kitten, will teach you a lesson!

I want the food, but you can't touch me! No way!

Eating your food ≠ letting you touch me

"Hey! You little brat! Stop right there!" Funina was getting impatient and was about to stand up and chase after him, intending to force herself on him.

However, a shadow enveloped Funina, and before Funina could react, the ring on her hand emitted a brilliant light, transforming into a pale blue transparent shield that enveloped Funina's entire body.

"Oh!"

The black claws, wreathed in flames, ripped through the darkness of the night, mercilessly striking the azure transparent dome and creating a shallow ripple. The immense impact then sent Funina, who was inside the dome, flying away.

The transparent shield enveloped Funina like a ball, bouncing a few times on the ground. After all the force was dissipated, the azure shield seemed to lose its support and turned into ordinary water, soaking Funina completely.

Initially stunned by the sudden turn of events, Funina was instantly brought back to her senses by the icy water. She looked down at the now-dulled sapphire ring, then looked up at the mysterious assassin whose face was hidden by a cloak and veil, who was slowly walking towards her.

"Who are you? What are you going to do... Don't kill me, please..." Funina's voice trembled and she cried, terrified.

At that moment, she was so frightened that her hands and feet went weak, and she couldn't even stand up, let alone run away.

The ring Richard left her had also lost its power in a single blow from the enemy. Now, Funina was truly a fish on a chopping board, with no ability to resist. She could only watch helplessly as the assassin in the black and red robes approached her step by step.

The high heels struck the ground with a crisp sound, which sounded particularly jarring on the quiet street. Each sound seemed to pound on Funina's heart, and the oppressive atmosphere made Funina almost unable to breathe.

In a daze, Funina seemed to see bright red blood spreading from the soles of her feet toward her, and the blood turned into countless struggling hands reaching for her.

Looking at Funina, who was trembling like a leaf and had no ability to fight back, [Servant] Arecino fell into deep thought.

Just as I suspected before I made my move, the heart of the god is not with the water god…

'Moreover, she doesn't seem like a god... I couldn't sense any divine aura from her; on the contrary, that guy's aura was quite strong.'

As Arecino thought of this, her murderous aura grew stronger, while Funina trembled more and more violently, and her magnificent hat fell to the cold ground without her noticing.

'The fear in her eyes was genuine; perhaps she really wasn't the bait. But in any case, attacking her was pointless. And if anything really happened to her, that guy wouldn't let it go.'

'He might have left some hidden tricks on the water god; that ring was probably just a decoy...'

In short, let's stop the probing here.

Thinking of this, Arecino's imposing aura gradually subsided. She took one last look at Furina, who was sitting on the ground, her face pale and her whole body trembling, her hands tightly clutching her.

Arecino easily turned and left the scene. After some time, the black and white kitten that had run away with the cat biscuit returned and looked at the two-legged creature sitting alone in the same spot, exuding an aura of fear.

After hesitating for a moment, the black and white kitten approached Funina, placed the half-eaten cat biscuit in its mouth in front of Funina, and then gently pushed it towards Funina with its white glove.

So what if they stole your prey? Is it really necessary to be so scared?

I'll return it to you.

Seeing that Funina still didn't move and seemed uninterested in the prey she had returned, the cow cat's aura of fear and dread remained undiminished.

The little wildcat, who had seen a lot, looked puzzled in its bright eyes. Did this two-legged creature in front of it not want any prey?

Although I ate half of it, I still left half.

"Meow~" (If you don't eat it, I'm going to eat it!)

Fulina seemed to be awakened by the cat's meow, and saw half a cat biscuit on the ground, as well as the black and white cat that had returned.

After confirming that she was out of danger, Funinna shakily stood up from the ground, awkwardly picked up her fallen hat, and without even brushing the dust off her trousers, she made her way back to Momang Palace, leaning against the wall.

The cow-patterned cat stared at Funina, who left without looking back, its little head filled with great confusion.

Doesn't this two-legged creature need prey anymore?

That night, Funina cried quietly in her bedroom and couldn't sleep all night. She wrapped her trembling body tightly in the blanket and clutched the ring on her left hand with her right.

As dawn broke and faint light streamed through the window into the bedroom, a hoarse, tearful female voice came from under the covers: "Richard, when are you coming back..."

Chapter 149 Returning to Fontaine, Insomnia-stricken Funina

"Didn't you say you'd leave on the weekend? Why are you leaving tomorrow?" Yae no Miko asked, puzzled. She had originally planned to invite Richard and Lynette to go shopping together before Richard left.

Before she could even speak, Richard told her that the plans had changed and the return to Fontainebleau would be brought forward.

The flight, originally scheduled for the weekend, was moved to this afternoon.

The itinerary was changed so hastily, is something wrong in Fontainebleau?

"I've been away on business for several weeks now..."

"Something happened in Fontaine?"

"No."

"Then why are you in such a hurry to go back?"

"The fact that nothing happened is the biggest thing." Richard sensed that the ring he had given to Funina had been triggered, and except for the last safety mechanism which was not activated, it had almost exhausted all the elemental power stored in the ring.

It's important to know that the ring Richard gave to Frynn wasn't some ordinary cheap knock-off. It was handcrafted by Abedo, the Primal One and a genius alchemist from Mondstadt, and combined with special power extracted from the Corruption Sword. For ordinary monsters or Eye of God holders to break through the ring's protection was nothing short of a pipe dream.

Even if you wanted to wear down the stored elemental power, it would take at least ten days to half a month.

In Richard's perception, the ring's power was almost completely depleted in an instant. In Fontainebleau, besides Navelette of the Mo Mang Palace, probably only the one from the House of Hearths possessed such power.

Even Clarinde, Fontaine's strongest dueling agent, couldn't achieve this level of power.

“Arechino… what is she trying to do?” Richard frowned, not understanding why the other party would attack Funina out of the blue.

They sensed something unusual and decided to test the water goddess Funina.

Or perhaps he saw that he was in Fontainebleau and that this was a rare opportunity, so he decided to test Funina on a whim?

Regardless of the servant's motives for attacking Funina, this test should have made her aware of the suspicious nature of Funina's identity.

Richard knew that his attempts to conceal things from Funina were futile; they couldn't fool someone like the servant Arecino, who had access to the Winter Queen's authority.

As the executors of the Fools, they are perhaps the mortals in the world who are closest to God. Due to their need to collect the Heart of God, they are extremely sensitive to the 'aura of God'.

The top three seats of the Fatui even possess power comparable to that of gods, while Arecino, the fourth seat's "servant," although not possessing power comparable to that of gods, is equally unfathomable in strength.

More importantly, although Alegino appears to be well-spoken and elegant, Richard has seen her obsessive and crazy side.

Few people have seen her other side, and even fewer have seen it and survived. So Richard was somewhat surprised, yet found it quite reasonable, that Arecino would personally take action and test Frynn through an attack.

To be honest, every single one of those who can become an executive officer of the Fools is abnormal.

Fortunately, after realizing this, Richard made a sacred separation from the organization.

What do these fools and politicians have to do with me, Richard?

Just as Richard was pondering the servant's motives for attacking Funina, Yae no Miko suddenly asked, "Once things are settled in Fontaine, will you return to Inazuma?"

"……decide as things go."

If he were still himself back then, Richard felt he should have gone back to Inazuma... and stayed for a while.

Settling down is out of the question. At most, I'll stay in Inazuma for a while, and then spend some time in Mondstadt, Liyue, and Fontaineble, trying to spread the benefits evenly.

After all, there are four seasons in a year, and Richard felt that there was nothing wrong with him living in four different countries for a period of time.

“People who say this usually mean they are rejecting us,” Yae no Miko said.

Richard had no choice but to promise, "I will come again, but I will not settle down here."

"So that means staying for a while?" Yae no Miko understood Richard's meaning.

Come to think of it, this guy has been having affairs all these years, it's impossible that he would give up forests in other countries just for Inazuma's two cherry blossom trees.

Sigh, she was the one who arrived first, so why did it end up like this?

Ying was the same way back then; she gave him her first kiss, so why didn't she take it a step further and win him over?

With the body of a demon god, surely he can squeeze every last drop out of Richard?

As Yae no Miko thought this, her gaze involuntarily fell on the figure not far away, who was sharing the three-colored dumplings with Linette.

Does this guy really have no sense of crisis at all? He's actually eating tricolor dumplings with his love rival, and the worst part is that she didn't even come over to ask if he wanted some too.

So, love really does fade away?

Seemingly noticing Yae no Miko's resentful gaze, Kage's eyes met Yae no Miko's. After hesitating for a moment, Kage reluctantly handed the sweet that had turned into a two-colored dumpling towards Yae no Miko.

Thank you, I don't eat it.

How come I never noticed before that Ying also has a bit of a foodie side?