Yes, Lady Funina!

Even if some cream gets stuck to the corners of her mouth, the girl can still lick it clean with her nimble little pink tongue.

Then she put down the fork and, 'casually,' picked up the Dudu gift that Klee had given her and started playing with it in front of Richard.

Richard glanced at the Duduko in Funina's hand and immediately understood what his Water God wanted to convey.

“Furina, speaking of the gift I promised you at Dragon Ridge, Abedo handed it to me before he left.”

"Oh? There's such a thing? I'd completely forgotten about it."

Although she had been thinking about it ever since she came down from Dragon Ridge Snow Mountain, Funina still acted as if she had just remembered, so that she would appear indifferent and avoid putting both of them in an awkward situation if Richard had actually forgotten.

Sometimes a young girl's little thoughts are really adorable.

Well... a girl who is nearly 500 years old can be considered a girl, but Richard himself feels that he can only be considered a young man.

"This is just a small gift, a token of our appreciation from Abedo. We hope you like it." Richard slowly took out a beautifully packaged box from his pocket.

The box was sealed later. Abeldo didn't have many tricks up his sleeve; he simply handed the finished product to Richard.

However, when it comes to gift-giving, it's not just about the value of the gift itself; the packaging is also very important. The quality of the packaging can reflect the thoughtfulness of the giver.

Judging from Funina's reaction, she definitely falls for this approach.

To Furness, Richard's words just now meant: "This is a gift I'm giving you; it contains my heartfelt sentiments."

What does it matter if it's a small gift or a large or small amount of money? It's irrelevant.

"Uh, thank you." Funina accepted the gift with a reserved yet eager expression.

"Can I open it now?" Funina asked.

“Of course.” Richard affirmed. Unlike the etiquette in Liyue, opening a gift in front of someone in Fontainebleau and expressing his liking for it is the greatest respect one can show to the giver.

As Funina carefully unwrapped the package, she planned to put it back together intact and keep it at home after taking out the gifts inside.

This should be considered a truly meaningful gift she received from a friend, and Funina cherished it very much.

While Funina was unpacking the package, Richard wasn't idle either, introducing it to Funina:

"The gem on it was specially borrowed from Abedo by a special weapon called the 'Sword of Decay,' which I used to extract the power of monsters and condense it. I then used this as the main material to forge a comprehensive Noble Phantasm that combines offense and defense."

As Richard finished speaking, Funina was just one step away from opening the box.

As Fulina listened to Richard's words, her expectations for the gift had already reached their peak. Finally, under her expectant gaze, she slowly opened the gift box.

In the center of the box is an exquisite ring, a design chosen after careful consideration of both portability and aesthetics, according to the designer, Abedo.

This ring is made primarily of gold, with the band designed as an intertwined vine pattern and forged from high-quality crystal, making it both beautiful and highly conductive.

This allows the magical crystal embedded in the center of the ring to transmit power outwards. This magical crystal, which is pure and flawless and shines like a sapphire, is the power crystal extracted from the Corrupted Sword.

In short, this is a ring that combines beauty and practicality. Even if it were placed in a Fontainebleau auction house, it would fetch an astonishing price. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it a work of art.

In short, Richard's gift pleased Funina greatly, and she was very satisfied with the beautiful present.

In particular, Richard's mention of self-defense capabilities perfectly addressed Funina's key needs.

Funina couldn't wait to take off the white glove on her left hand, put the ring on her ring finger, and carefully examined her hand while constantly turning it over and over. She also brought her hand in front of Richard, asking him to give his opinion.

Funina's small hands were beautiful; her skin was like a freshly peeled egg, white and smooth, without a single blemish. Her fingers were slender and long, each joint like a meticulously sculpted work of art, making one want to caress them closely.

Especially after she put on that ring, the luster of the ring's metal complemented the girl's fair and delicate fingers; just that one hand alone could captivate countless hand fetishists.

I can't imagine which lucky guy will hold these hands in the future.

“It’s simply a work of art,” Richard commented.

"It's not that exaggerated..." Funina blushed. Even someone as poised as her felt embarrassed by Richard's praise.

“I was talking about the ring,” Richard said with a smile.

Then he took a punch from Funina, but the punch was very light, almost like a tickle when it landed on Richard; its symbolic meaning outweighed its actual significance.

"By the way, how did you come up with the idea of ​​giving me this?" After admiring the ring on her hand, Funina couldn't help but ask.

“Because I believe you need to have the power to protect yourself,” Richard said truthfully.

“I am the water goddess, how could I not have the power to protect myself?” Funina retorted guiltily.

Richard laughed, looking at Funina meaningfully, and said, "So you really do?"

You can deceive others, but don't deceive yourself.

Fulina was somewhat hesitant to look Richard in the eye. She knew her own situation best; she knew whether she had the strength to protect herself.

"me……"

Just as Funina was stammering and unable to speak, Richard suddenly changed the subject.

"In fact, people often misunderstand gods, believing that gods should possess power that ordinary people cannot match."

“Isn’t that right?” Funina couldn’t help but ask.

“Of course not. Take Barbatos, the wind god we encountered this time, for example. Do you think he is powerful?” Richard said, looking at Funina.

“Uh…” Frynn was speechless. Clearly, she didn’t think Wendy was that strong. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have only played a supporting role in this dragon disaster and been criticized by the Fatui ladies as a stupid and weak god.

Regardless, Funina still felt that Wendy should at least be better than her.

"In fact, Barbatos was not as weak as we had seen before. Back then, K was a being who could use divine winds to disperse ice and snow and split mountains. How could such a powerful wind god be considered weak?"

"Then why does K look a bit..."

"fragile?"

"Yes, frail and weak, and like a drunken bard."

"That's because K used his divine power to maintain Mondstadt's climate, protecting the people of Mondstadt from the wind and snow from the highlands. You know, Mondstadt used to be an ice field," Richard explained.

So that's how it is... Funina rarely pays attention to the history of other countries, so she doesn't know anything about the experiences of the wind god Barbatos.

Not to mention Frynn, most Mondstadt citizens were unaware of this matter. The passage of time is enough to bury many things, and many things from the past can only be glimpsed today from some ancient books and documents.

“So I think the reason you look so weak, Funina, is probably because, like the wind god Barbatos, you disperse your divine power across the continent of Fontaine to maintain some kind of balance, right?” Richard smiled and offered Funina an excellent way out.

"Ah? Oh, right! That's right! That's exactly it. Oh dear, I didn't expect you to find out. Richard, you're quite the clever fellow."

She actually came up with such a reason for me; she truly deserves to be called the best executive secretary-general.

At first, Funina was a little confused, but then she gradually understood and finally readily admitted it. During this process, her facial expressions changed as smoothly as silk, showing the composure of a veteran artist.

“You flatter me, Lady Funina.” Richard nodded at the opportune moment and continued patching up Funina’s wounds, saying, “Then could you tell me where you’ve used all your divine power?”

“This…this…” Funina was speechless.

Richard pretended not to see it and continued, "I think it must be related to Fontaine's main energy source, 'Law-Tempered Mixed Energy,' right?"

“Right…?” Funina said, somewhat unsure herself.

“Right…? Could it be that I guessed wrong?” Richard frowned.

Seeing this, Funina quickly said, "You guessed right, but I can't say more. Don't ask any more questions. Just understand in your heart, just understand in your heart..."

With Richard's suggestion, Funina clearly understood what excuse she could use to cover up her shortcomings when someone questioned her abilities in the future.

“I see, then I won’t ask anymore.” Richard gave Furness a knowing look.

Furina could only chuckle awkwardly, but inwardly she wondered whether Richard truly believed it, or if he had seen through something and was deliberately covering for her.

Richard certainly belonged to the latter category; he had long known that Funina's weakness was not due to the dispersion of divine power.

Because she had no divine power at all. Even though the wind god Barbatos was so weak, there was still a considerable amount of wind elemental divine power within her body.

In contrast, Funina was just an ordinary human girl, and Richard couldn't sense any divine power or authority from her.

This situation clearly cannot be explained by simply dissipating divine power.

Wendy's previous acknowledgment of Furyn's identity as a water goddess led Richard to speculate further.

The inspiration for this hypothesis came from the strange events they had encountered in the Dragon Ridge Mountains...

Book 1: Chapter 66 Lady Funina's Newlywed Life

There are two water gods in Fontaine. One is in the Ming Dynasty, who is responsible for making the world aware of the existence of the water god.

Another is in the shadows, responsible for accumulating power to deal with the "prophecy" inscribed in the World Tree.

The two are complementary, seemingly two different people, but in essence they are one person, so Funina can also be considered a water goddess.

The above is the general situation that Richard deduced. Whether this is the case or not requires more information to corroborate it. However, Richard has a strange intuition that his deduction should be correct.

If I'm wrong, just pretend I didn't say anything.

After all, the last time he had this feeling was when he was certain that Funina was not the water goddess.

Sigh, that's how it is sometimes. The more certain you are about something, the more likely it is to turn around.

It has been a week since I returned from Mondstadt.

Furina sat in the Minister of State's office chair, constantly pinching and kneading the cheeks of the Dudu doll, while her own cheeks still retained a lingering blush.

The story begins on her way to work today. However, "on her way to work" actually refers to walking down from her residence on the top floor of the Mo Mang Palace, where she encountered Navelette and his secretary, Melusine Sedna.

It was supposed to be just a casual encounter, a simple greeting would have been enough, but Melusine Sedna noticed the ring on Funina's left ring finger.

Previously, Funina would usually wear gloves in both black and white, but now she was only wearing a black glove on her right hand, while her left hand was bare, replaced by a very beautiful ring.

So Melusine Sedna couldn't help but ask curiously:

"Lady Funina, you're wearing a ring?"

"Oh, this is a gift from Richard. Isn't it beautiful?"

“It really is beautiful,” Navelette agreed.

However, Melousin Sedna looked surprised and said, "Lady Furina, are you sure this ring was given to you by Lord Richard?"

“Of course, he gave it to me personally,” Funina affirmed.

But in Sedna's ears, it came out as 'He put it on me himself.'

In that case, the meaning would be quite different.

"Then I'd like to congratulate Lady Funina in advance."

Funina was taken aback, not understanding what the other person meant. Where did this joy come from?

Not only was Funina bewildered, but even Vilette looked at her secretary with some confusion.

"Why would you say that?" Navelette was always straightforward; she would ask questions she didn't understand.

"Lord Villette, you may not know this, but the Fontaine ring has a special meaning when worn on different fingers."

"For example, wearing a ring on the right index finger means the ring owner is single, while wearing it on the left index finger means the ring owner is unmarried..."

“For Lady Funina to wear the ring given by Mr. Richard on the ring finger of her left hand means that she has accepted Mr. Richard’s proposal and is already a newlywed couple. I suppose that when Lady Funina and Mr. Richard went on their mission to Mondstadt, it was partly for the sake of Mondstadt friendship, and partly for their honeymoon?” Sedna explained earnestly.

Completely oblivious to the fact that Funina's face was flushed red, even the tips of her ears were bright red.

After hearing Sedna's words, Villette looked enlightened and then solemnly congratulated Funina, saying, "In that case, congratulations are indeed due, Funina... Madam?"

Navelette looked at Funina, who had fled in panic without saying a word, and a look of confusion appeared on her face.

Did he say something wrong?

In response, the strategist Sedna comforted her, "No, Lady Vilette, Lady Funina is just a little shy. It seems she hasn't quite adjusted to the transition from girl to newlywed wife yet. She'll be fine in a while."

"I see. Thank you for clearing up my confusion, Sedna."

……

The above is the whole story of what happened. It was just a small incident that left Funina feeling uneasy after she escaped to the office.

She kept wondering if Richard knew about this, whether he was laughing at her behind her back, and even more so... whether he really had those kinds of feelings for her.

Otherwise, why didn't he remind himself?

Given Richard's knowledge, he should know the meaning of wearing a ring on the left ring finger, right?

No, perhaps he doesn't know that this is a relatively obscure piece of common knowledge, so it's normal that he doesn't know it.

If Sedna hadn't told me, I probably wouldn't have known about this either.

Just as Funina was lost in thought, there was a knock on the office door.

The knocking startled Funina. She hurriedly put down the Dudu doll she was holding, hid her left hand under the table, and coughed lightly with her right hand in front of her mouth, saying, "Come in."

The one who entered was Clarinde. Since taking over as Furynna's chief private secretary, this dueling agent has become more and more capable. Compared to before, she has become less sharp and seems easier to get along with.