Yes, Lady Funina!

Richard chuckled at the sight and naturally took Funina's hand, which was adorned with a ring, saying, "Don't worry, Lady Funina, even if the prophecy does come true in the end, I won't leave you alone to weep on the throne. At least I will be by your side then."

"That's easy for you to say. Fontaine is gone, so where can you run to..." Funina muttered.

"Then I will become a ring and stay by your side."

Richard gently tapped the sapphire ring face, and then the ring flashed with a faint blue light, indicating that it was fully charged.

Funina blushed and withdrew her hand. Feeling the abundant elemental power contained in the ring, she couldn't help but mutter, "Remember to ask in advance next time you recharge. How can you just hold a girl's hand without permission... that's rude..."

And another thing! Why put it so nicely, making it sound like she's some kind of Richard, like she's become a ring to accompany you...

The more Funina thought about it, the more embarrassed she became. Her face turned as red as if it had been boiled, and her ears and neck also turned red, as if they had been painted with a layer of red.

I'm so embarrassed!

But to be fair, the shy Furness is indeed one of Fontaine's most spectacular sights.

“Next time for sure, Lady Funina,” Richard couldn’t help but laugh.

With a simple gesture and a few words, Richard had completely won over Funina, and all her little emotions had long been forgotten, without even her own awareness.

"In short, unless you meet the requirements I told you before, no matter how sweet your words are, I won't tell you anything!" Fu Ningna was as tough as a pretty heroine who was captured by villains and was being tortured but still refused to yield.

"Don't worry, I already have a clue about this matter. I hope Lady Funina will keep her promise when the time comes."

Funina:? ? ?

Furness stood there, stunned, staring at Richard in disbelief. "No way? You have a way with this too?"

"What are you planning to do?" Funina couldn't help but ask.

"Lady Funina will find out then. I think Lady Funina won't break her promise, will she?" Richard kept his mouth shut and wouldn't reveal anything to her until it was fulfilled.

“Of course! If you can do it!” Funina retorted stubbornly.

But she was filled with apprehension; could he really have a solution?

What should I do? If the other person successfully convinces me that they won't reveal anything, then... should I tell them—about my secret?

Fu Ningna's face was full of struggle. Richard hadn't even succeeded yet, and she was already thinking about his plans after he succeeded.

In a way, this also represents her absolute trust in Richard, something she may not even have realized herself.

Volume 1: Chapter 75 Alice: Secretary? Hello, secretary!

Just as Zhu Yingting was busy dealing with the bombing of the Fontaine Academy of Sciences, a long-dormant organization quietly emerged.

"Has 'Less' beverage resurfaced?" Richard asked, raising an eyebrow as he put down his work after hearing Lynette's words.

"Yes, the intelligence personnel of the House of Hearths have noticed that 'Les' has been seen in Fontaine, White Song Town and the temporary camp of the Fontaine Academy of Sciences recently."

"And by using the slogan of 'relieving grief and relaxing the mind,' this drink has become quite popular among the families of the victims."

"'Relieve sadness, relax the mind'? I think it's more like numbing the nerves!" Richard sneered. Because of the 'Les' sample, he already knew what the drink's effects were.

“The other side is very cunning, and the Fools haven’t been able to catch them off guard.” Lynette also despises these opportunists.

Unfortunately, neither the Fools nor the Rose Society could find any useful information.

"Is there an inside man?" Richard speculated.

"I don't know, but I can't rule out that possibility." Lynette also felt that both the Fools and the Rose Society had been infiltrated by the other side.

Otherwise, there's no reason why they would always miss their target every time they tried to take action.

“This organization has been operating in Fontainebleau for a long time. They must have planted spies in the Fools, the Rose Society, and even the Special Patrol.” Richard thought for a moment and then said, “First, send people to seal off the ‘Les’ on the market and inform the families of the victims about the dangers of this beverage.”

Richard was also hesitant about whether he should spread the word about the dangers of 'Less'. The advantage would be that it would make the people of Fontainebleau aware of and warn against this drink, but the disadvantage would be that once more people knew about it, there would always be some who would not listen to advice and want to try it.

The more Mo Mang Palace forbids something, the more they want to try it, their main goal being rebellion.

He weighs about 100 pounds, with over 90 pounds of it being rebellious bones.

That's not the most crucial point. The most crucial point is that this beverage is extremely profitable. Once it becomes public, more people might be drawn into selling 'Less' for profit. In addition, all of Zhu Yingting's energy is currently focused on the Fengdan Academy of Sciences, making it difficult to have the manpower to take care of this area.

Richard thought about it and decided to abandon his plan to make the beverage 'Lass' public, as Fontaine was going through a turbulent time.

With the doomsday prophecy approaching, coupled with the recent explosion at the Fontaine Academy of Sciences, he was well aware that the atmosphere throughout Fontaine was extremely tense. This was the perfect breeding ground for 'Les', and even knowing the dangers, some people would still try it and become addicted to it.

It is estimated that the mastermind behind this chose to 're-emerge' at this time precisely because they saw this.

Speaking of which, Richard sent a sample bottle of 'Less' to his aunt Alice a long time ago, but he still hasn't received a reply.

This made Richard suspect that something might have happened during the delivery of the package, which was why Alice hadn't received it.

"Have you received any letters recently?" Richard couldn't help but ask his chief steward, Lady Lynette.

“Yes, I’ve received many invitations from ladies to their parties lately, but I figured you wouldn’t have time, so I politely declined them all. However, I did manage to get a few good ones; would you like to take a look?” Lynette said.

“No need, Lynette, please refuse them for me as well,” Richard said immediately.

It wasn't that he was acting from the heart, but rather because he had encountered too many similar situations. At first, he would reply to those ladies earnestly, but later he found that doing so was not only useless, but also seemed to give them some misconceptions that shouldn't exist.

He had never encountered this situation with either Inazuma or Tofu, and it was really hard for him to handle. Fortunately, Lynette later became his secretary and shielded him from all of this.

"Thank you so much for all this, Lynette." Richard sincerely thanked his lovely catgirl secretary.

"You're welcome, it's what I should do," Lynette replied expressionlessly. It was just eliminating some unstable factors, nothing to brag about.

That's what they say, but based on the amplitude of Lynette's tail wagging, Richard concluded that she was actually quite happy.

After all these years together, Richard can now easily deduce the state and mood of this reserved and proud little cat by observing his various actions and expressions.

Once you understand a cat's habits, you'll find that they're actually quite easy to understand. — Richard

"Why did you suddenly think of asking these questions?" Lynette asked curiously.

“I sent a letter home to Alice before, along with a sample of ‘Les’, to ask if she knew anything about it, but so much time has passed and I still haven’t received a reply…” Richard replied, somewhat puzzled.

Lynette knew about this because she was the one who helped send out the letters back then.

"Should I go to the post office again?" Lynette asked.

"Please." Richard clasped his hands together.

However, just as Richard was making his request, they heard a strange noise coming from outside the window.

"Bang bang bang."

The sound seemed to be something poking at the glass window of his office, and Richard and Lynette looked in the direction of the sound.

"That's... a letter with wings?" Lynette found it hard to understand. Whose letter looks like that?

“I think you probably won’t need to go to the post office, Lynette,” Richard said, rubbing his forehead.

Lynette understood; if nothing unexpected happened, it was most likely a letter sent to Richard by his aunt, Alice.

How should I put it? It's a bit strange, as if Lady Funina has taken to the judge's seat.

"Bang, bang, bang..." The knocking on the letter outside the window became more and more rapid, as if someone was in a hurry.

"Should we let it in? The letter looks like it's about to cry." Lynette found it hard to believe that she would one day see such a range of emotions in a letter.

Ms. Alice's methods are truly amazing... no wonder she's Richard's aunt.

Richard reluctantly pushed open the window, and then the letter, as if it hadn't been held back, slapped right onto Richard's face.

Then, just like a real bird, it fluttered its wings in a panic and flew away from Richard's face.

However, the flapping of its wings caused Richard a second injury.

"Haha, sorry, sorry, it's been a while since I've controlled the 'Message Bird', I'm a bit rusty." A female voice came from the message.

"The letter is speaking!" Linette felt that the strange things she had seen today were getting more and more numerous. If she told her brother about what happened today, he would probably have a lot of new magic inspiration, right?

"Auntie, you did this on purpose, didn't you?" Richard said helplessly.

"How could that be! Is that all I am to you, your little aunt? It's so heartbreaking." Alice's voice was plaintive and melodious, but it always gave off a deliberately affected and pretentious feeling.

Indeed, that was the case. Richard was already used to Alice's antics, and he even learned the rhetoric he used to deal with Funina from her.

perfectly worked.

“It seems you received my letter,” Richard said.

"Well, the drink you sent wasn't very good." Alice controlled the 'messenger bird' to land on Richard's table, and then its wings turned into starlight and disappeared into the air with a bang.

"Drink? Wait, that's not for you to drink!" Richard's expression changed.

"Haha, you're still so easily amused, Richard. Compared to the little god, you haven't improved at all!"

Just by listening to the voice, Richard could already imagine the beautiful woman behind it bursting into laughter.

"You got humiliated by the Divine Child?" Richard keenly noticed the flaw in his words.

"Huh? Cough, how could that be? Although the Divine Child is no longer the little girl whose emotions I could easily manipulate, she's still a little bit lacking compared to me... just a little bit." Alice's voice was flustered for a moment, then she hurriedly said as if trying to make up for something.

“It seems to be true.” Richard said knowingly.

"Let's not talk about that. I did receive the diluted fetal water you sent, and I even tried a little... It's just so-so. Fengda is still better," Alice commented.

"Fetal water?" Richard extracted the key words.

"Yes, fetal water. I didn't expect you to come into contact with this so soon. Damn it, I lost the bet again," Ms. Alice sighed.

"A bet? With Nico?" Richard raised an eyebrow.

"Indeed, the [Prophet] lives up to his name!"

"What is Fetal Water?" Richard didn't care about the internal affairs of the Witch's Guild; he went straight to asking the question that concerned him most at the moment.

"The Primal Seawater, as its name suggests, is a special kind of seawater. In the distant past, there was a special sea on this planet. The water quality of this sea was different from the sea in Teyvat today. Most of the life on Teyvat was born from that sea, meaning it nurtured many life forms on this planet." Alice didn't play the riddle-maker and told Richard this information directly.

“It’s a very fitting name,” Lynette couldn’t help but nod in agreement.

"Huh? There are other people here too. The voice sounds like a young girl... Richard, why don't you introduce her to your aunt?" Alice pressed, her attention instantly diverted as if she had discovered something new.

It evokes the feeling of a young mother discovering her son is trying to steal someone else's sweetheart.

"Hello, Ms. Alice, my name is Lynette, and I am Mr. Richard's secretary." Lynette felt a bit nervous, like she was meeting the parents, when Alice mentioned her, but she still answered calmly.

"Secretary? Secretary...Hi Secretary, nice to meet you, Lynette." Alice greeted Lynette, then seemed to move away from the microphone, only a few soft murmurs could be heard: "Are all young people these days so good at having fun?"

Richard was close enough that the sound couldn't escape his ears, while Lynette, who was not far away, twitched her cat ears, which obviously also couldn't escape the cat's ears.

Richard's face darkened, and he coughed heavily.

Alice on the other end of the message seemed to realize that her words had been overheard, and quickly changed the subject, saying, "Um... have you eaten?"

“It’s afternoon here, so it’s still working hours. It’s different from your time. You should talk more about the original fetal seawater,” Richard replied.

"But that's all I know about the Primal Fetal Water. Oh, right, Richard, remember to keep your Fontainebleau girl... cough, and your friends in Fontainebleau away from the Primal Fetal Water. For people from the other six countries, the Primal Fetal Water is no different from ordinary seawater, but for the people of Fontainebleau, it is deadly. If they come into contact with too high a concentration of the Primal Fetal Water, a terrible thing will happen."

"Humans dissolve in water?" Richard thought of the leader of that treasure-hunting gang from back then.

"That's right, it seems you've already experienced something like this. How was it? Were you scared?"

"It's alright." Richard didn't seem to feel anything, at most he was a little surprised.

Of course, it's also possible that because the person being dissolved is someone you don't know, you don't feel much connection to them.

"Are you alright? I thought you would come running to me crying and shouting. What a pity, a son grows up and is no longer under his mother's control."

“Who would do that! And the saying ‘a grown son is no longer under his mother’s control’ is not appropriate here, is it?” Richard’s forehead creased with a few black lines, and then he saw Lynette looking at him.

Wait, you didn't actually believe her nonsense, did you?

Lynette naturally didn't believe it, but she found Richard's behavior amusing, so she pretended to be suspicious and looked at him to see his reaction.

Unfortunately, Richard didn't have any interesting reaction, which disappointed Lynette.

"And what about Lynette? What kind of person is Richard in your heart?" Alice suddenly turned the topic to Lynette.

“Serious, reliable…” Lynette seemed to remember something else, reached out and touched her ear, then added, “Very gentle, but she always wants to touch my ears and tail.”

“Really? Then I’m relieved. Miss Lynette, I’m entrusting Richard to your care.” Alice said to Lynette in the tone of a father-in-law handing his daughter over to his son-in-law.

“Yes, I will.” Lynette replied earnestly, as if she had received some important mission.

"Are you... serious?" Richard looked at Lynette and Alice, who were both very serious, and suddenly had a grumbling he couldn't help but vent.

“Linette, can I speak with Richard alone for a moment? You know he’s shy, and if we talk about any secrets he doesn’t want anyone to know right now, he’ll probably hold a grudge against me afterwards.”

“Okay.” Upon hearing this, Lynette got up and left the office temporarily. Before leaving, she glanced at Richard, who was like an emotionless puppet, expressionless and motionless. He neither argued nor tried to persuade Lynette to stay, as if he had tacitly agreed.

When Lynette saw his expression, she understood that he wasn't admitting it, but rather giving in a helpless compromise after realizing that arguing was pointless.

Richard did indeed have something to say to Alice alone, so he went along with it and let Alice use this lame excuse to send Lynette away.