Yes, Lady Funina!

Moreover, the conditions offered by the other party are quite generous, and they are not just verbal promises, but can all be written into the contract, which shows their sincerity.

Fontaine naturally had no reason to refuse such a win-win cooperation request.

It must be said that the "handsome man diplomacy" was indeed effective. It should be noted that the relationship between Inazuma and Fontaine was not bad, but it was definitely not good either.

It's just an ordinary relationship, at most some business dealings, but otherwise everyone's basically doing their own thing.

However, ever since Richard settled in Fontaine, the relationship between the two sides has visibly improved.

Even the gods of Inazuma openly visit Fontaine, which is tantamount to telling other countries that the friendship between Fontaine and Inazuma is not just a superficial one, but a genuine one.

Soon, Funina signed a series of cooperation agreements. There were still some details left, which were left for the city hall's subordinate departments to communicate with the other party.

Whether it's Funina or Ying, they are only responsible for grasping the general direction, and the specific details can be basically ignored.

“In addition to requesting cooperation, Inazuma also hopes that you can visit them,” Richard said.

"Going to Inazuma as a guest?" Funina hesitated after hearing this. Wouldn't that mean she was going to someone else's territory?

They're already this 'arrogant' on their own turf; if they were to return to their own territory, wouldn't that be...?

Richard noticed Funina's hesitation. He thought for a moment and said, "Of course, if you don't want to go, you can send a representative. However, given that the other party is visiting Fontaine as a deity, whether out of courtesy or diplomatic relations, we should respond with the same level of respect."

"So, you mean either I or Fukaros should go?" Furina understood Richard's meaning.

Claude felt that Richard would have the same effect, or even better, but she didn't say it, or even deliberately ignored it.

Both Clarinde and Frynn were worried that Richard's efforts would be wasted—like throwing meat buns to a dog, with no chance of return.

Chapter 199 Tea Party, Fucarus in Action

The question of whether or not to go to Inazuma did not trouble Fukaros. In her view, it was a normal interaction, and the so-called relationship was built up through these back-and-forth exchanges.

As long as Shadow and Yae no Miko aren't stupid, they definitely won't do anything to them; on the contrary, they'll treat them well.

After all, Richard is on our side now. As for Inazuma, to put it bluntly, she's just an 'ex-wife' who wants to get back together. Our Fontaine is the current one!

“Didn’t Furina mention wanting to travel to Inazuma before? Now’s the chance. Let’s go together after we’ve finished dealing with our current matters.” Fukaros made the decision quickly.

Meanwhile, Lynette quietly noted down Fukaros's decision in her schedule.

"Linette, why aren't you saying anything? You seem a little distracted. Is something wrong?"

Fukaros had actually wanted to ask this for a while. When she came over this morning, she saw that Lynette was not in a good mental state, and she wondered if it was just her imagination, but it seemed like Lynette was avoiding her.

What Fukaros didn't know was that Linette wasn't avoiding Fukaros, but rather Furina, because Fukaros looked exactly like Furina, which easily reminded Linette of the scene where she was caught last night.

So much so that now, whenever she sees Funina's face, she can't help but get PTSD.

These symptoms probably won't get better in less than two or three days.

"No, I just... just didn't sleep well." Lynette twitched her cat ears and turned to make herself a cup of black tea to perk herself up.

"Give me a cup too, extra sugar, please."

Like Funina, Fukalos is also a sweet tooth, the kind of person who can't live without sugar. No matter what she drinks, she has to add some sugar to it.

"Speaking of which, this exchange activity went exceptionally smoothly, and it seems that there were no major incidents," Fukalos said while sipping her tea.

The congressional body that Fukaros was in charge of was arguably the least busy of the three departments, since she was only responsible for legislation, financial approvals, and some oversight functions.

However, legislation cannot be enacted indefinitely; it is generally amended only once a year. Therefore, Fukalos's main job is to conduct financial approvals. For example, the funds for the recent exchange activities need to be approved by the Fontaine National Parliament before the funds can be deposited into the account. Furthermore, the use of these funds will be subject to oversight by the Parliament.

In short, Fukalos's job in this exchange between the two countries was simply to manage the money. The rest, such as organizing the event, maintaining order, and handling various other troublesome matters, were basically handled by the city hall and the court.

That's why Fukaros and Lynette were able to leisurely drink tea in the office.

"A disturbance?" Lynette asked, puzzled.

"For example, a battleground, several women vying for one man, open and covert struggles, and in the end, they might even come to blows, pulling my hair, tearing your clothes, and so on." Fukaros said, gesturing in the air as if she were actually pulling someone's hair.

Lynette was speechless. Everyone here was a person of status and position. Among them, the lowest official rank was at least the Prime Minister's secretary. How could they possibly act like shrewish women and throw a tantrum?

They're not barbarians who would seize a man by force. And if it really came down to force to determine Richard's ownership, who could possibly beat the God of Thunder?

“That’s impossible, isn’t it?” Lynette said.

"Even if it's not that exaggerated, there should at least be some kind of action, right? But right now, it seems that both Inazuma's side and our side are just watching and waiting?"

'No, you're the only one observing from our side,' Lynette replied in her mind.

However, just as Fukaros said, there seemed to be no movement from Inazuma's side. The Thunder God was one thing, but the fox's lack of action was something Lynette hadn't expected.

Whether it's still in the planning stages or has already been done, but they just don't know it, like Clarinde.

"Since they're not moving, let me go first!"

Fukaros's words interrupted Lynette's thoughts, and she couldn't help but look at her boss, a hint of confusion flashing in her eyes.

You go first, what do you want to do?

“Of course it’s a date. I was busy debugging the proclamation machine before and didn’t have much free time. Now that I finally have some free time, and with an ‘external enemy’ at hand, it’s only natural that I have to take the initiative,” Fukaros said matter-of-factly.

Can you really find love just by waiting?

"Speaking of which, Lynette, haven't you been asking Richard out lately? I saw you leave work in a hurry yesterday."

At first I thought you were going to see Richard, but when I got home I heard from Funina that she had gone to the exchange meeting with Richard after get off work.

"You shouldn't be here, right? Then what were you doing in such a hurry yesterday?" Fukalos asked casually.

After asking the question, Fukalos did not receive an answer. When she looked at Lynette, she noticed that there were fine beads of sweat on the other's forehead.

So you're already drenched in sweat? Could it be...?

Fukalos was surprised, but instantly became interested, a mischievous glint flashing in his eyes.

Seemingly noticing Fukaros's gaze, Lynette calmly forced herself to say, "It's just some family matters."

"Family matters related to Richard?" Fukalos teased.

“Lady Fucarus, please do not make unfounded speculations,” Lynette replied with a straight face.

“Tell me, aren’t we good friends? Good friends should be able to talk about anything, right?” Fukaros winked at Lynette. This quirky personality was completely opposite to the pure and dignified demeanor she had shown when they first met.

Perhaps the Fukaros before us is her true self, and her previous performance was just an act for outsiders.

Even good friends have secrets.

"There was no rebuttal, so it must be related to Richard, right?"

"!!!"

Lynette pursed her lips, thinking that Fukalos was much more difficult to deal with than Funina. Although she had returned to Moman Palace with Funina after being caught by her yesterday, she hadn't done much else besides handing over Clorinde. She hadn't mentioned what happened at Richard's house at all.

Of course, Funina, who went home with Richard, had no right to criticize Lynette.

But things are different now. Fukaros is determined to get to the bottom of things, and given how Linette has spent time with Fukaros these past few days, she feels that if she were to tell him, he would definitely laugh at her for two and a half years.

"Regarding financial approvals..."

"Hey, gossiping, huh? Hmph... I'm using my supreme power as Speaker to order my Permanent Secretary, Ms. Lynette, to put work aside for now and let's talk about what really happened last night!"

“It’s personal privacy, no comment,” Lynette replied curtly.

“Linette, you probably don’t know my personality. The more you refuse, the more curious I become…”

“Last Wednesday at 3:47 PM, there were some strange noises coming from your office, Speaker. Do you have any clues?”

"Wh...I'm sorry, I got too carried away."

Fukaros clasped her hands together and surrendered decisively. A blush crept onto her face. After hearing Lynette announce the precise timestamp, she lost all hope.

She has no time to care about Lynette's gossip anymore; she's practically the gossip herself now.

Damn it, shouldn't Lynette have been in a meeting with the other secretaries at that time?

Seeing that Fukaros had given up, Lynette secretly breathed a sigh of relief; she had guessed correctly.

She was indeed in a meeting at the time, and she couldn't be sure whether Fukaros was actually being intimate with Richard during that period.

The reason Lynette gave such a precise time was actually to enhance credibility and make Fukaros mistakenly believe that she really knew something.

In reality, she knew nothing; she was merely making a reasonable deduction based on Fukaros's schedule and the most likely timeframe Richard might visit her.

Lynette admitted that there was an element of gambling involved, but fortunately... she won the gamble.

With Lynette holding leverage over him, Fucaros could no longer press the matter.

At the time, Fukaros thought that Lynette wasn't there, and Richard just happened to be there. Plus, they hadn't kissed for several days, and there was the office buff, so she bravely went for it.

However, going first doesn't necessarily guarantee a win. Fukalos suffered a crushing defeat. Under Richard's special technique, even though her mouth and tongue were busy, she couldn't help but make some noises in her throat.

She can't remember the details of the incident now, only vaguely recalling that she seemed to have made quite a noise, and if Lynette had happened to be standing at the door at the time, it wouldn't have been impossible for her to have been heard.

“Well, I won’t pry into what happened last night, but could you at least tell me how things are going between you two?” Fukaros said.

If even this basic curiosity isn't satisfied, then she might actually have a serious falling out with Lynette.

“No progress,” Lynette said expressionlessly.

Not only did they make no progress, but they also ended up making a fool of themselves in front of Funina.

This can no longer be called a failure; it's a complete rout!

We lost miserably, sisters.

"No progress?" Fukalos was taken aback. How could that be?

Even a beautiful girl like Lynette took the initiative, yet they still didn't succeed?

Fukaros could clearly sense that Lynette wasn't lying; in other words, she had indeed taken some action, and judging from her reluctance to talk about it, the sacrifices seemed quite significant.

Even so, they still haven't achieved anything... Did Richard get a sex change?

As Richard's 'soulmate,' it's safe to say that no one in the world understands him better than she does.

He appears serious on the surface, but is actually a very lewd and bad guy!

Commonly known as "secretly passionate".

Logically speaking, it's impossible for the other party to let go of a beautiful girl like Lynette, who even makes her, a girl herself, swoon, not to mention that Lynette also has many other advantages such as cat ears, secretary, and girl-next-door charm.

"Because of some unforeseen circumstances," Lynette said, then stopped talking.

"Unexpected?"

That makes much more sense. As for the accident, is there even a need to say more?

With his intelligence, Fucarus quickly deduced the general idea: either he was caught in the act, or his plan failed.

Considering the somewhat strange look Lynette gave her today, the latter possibility was basically ruled out. The former being caught was obviously not herself who was maintaining the proclamation machine at that time, but rather Funina, who looked exactly like her.

The rest of the story is clear: Lynette wanted to give Richard a big surprise at his house, but Richard unexpectedly gave her a surprise in return—he brought Furness home with him.

At the time, Lynette might have been wearing special clothes and said some very embarrassing things to Richard, which was then witnessed by Frynn.

Ouch... That's terrible. I really want to watch and laugh at it.

When Lynette saw Fukalos smack her lips, she knew that the other party had probably guessed it all, but she didn't care. As long as she didn't admit it herself, guesses were just guesses.

Moreover, Lynette knew that this matter could not be kept from Fukaros at all. If the other party was really curious, he could just ask Funina.

Even if Funina refuses to speak, with Fúcaros's skills, there are plenty of ways to extract information from her.

After all, even he himself couldn't defend against Fukaros one-on-one, let alone Fryna.

“If you want to ask Richard out, tomorrow after get off work would be a good opportunity,” Lynette said.

She needs to take a break and heal her emotional wounds, so she probably won't be able to participate in the upcoming battles.

In that case, it would be better to let Fucarus test the waters. If he succeeds, he can get the other party's 'gratitude', and if he fails, he can get the other party's 'handle' and make him keep quiet about what happened yesterday.

No matter what, she won't lose; it's like making a huge profit with no investment.

"You have exclusive information?" Fukalos's eyes lit up.

“I have arranged to have an evening tea party with Furnessa and Claurind tomorrow. Richard should be free during that time if he doesn’t have any other plans,” Lynette said.

"tea party?"

"Yes, a tea party, would you like to come?"

"No, this is a rare opportunity. Let's go another time when we have the chance."

Fucarus flatly refused the invitation to the tea party, completely unaware that the tea party Lynette mentioned might be slightly different from what Fucarus imagined.