Yes, Lady Funina!

"I just asked him how it felt to have the mask he'd worn for over a decade removed, and he replied: 'I feel much more relaxed.'" Richard's lies came out of his mouth without hesitation.

"Fine, don't tell me then!" Funina huffed, crossed her arms, and turned her head away, refusing to look at this despicable guy again.

Even when answering a question, you have to slip in your own agenda!

“Alright, Lady Furina, I just told Vashe that if he cooperates well, I might be able to let him see Vinier one more time.”

Upon hearing this, Funina's ahoge (cowlick) stood up instantly. She immediately turned her head to look at Richard, her almond-shaped eyes wide open.

"You can actually do something like this?"

Furina couldn't believe that Richard had actually managed to get Vasher to see his lover who had been dead for over a decade.

“Some clever tricks. Lu Jingquan is the confluence of all the waters in Fontainebleau, where countless memories and emotions are deposited, including Vinier. Although she has been dissolved in the water, in a sense, she has also melted her emotions, memories, and personality into the water,” Richard said.

"All I need to do is enhance Vashe's ability to perceive water elements and connect his senses with the Dew Spring. Then he will naturally be able to see what he wants to see. In fact, he can do this himself, since the Primordial Seawater has the effect of enhancing the perception of water elemental power."

After thinking for a moment, Funina asked, "So, in fact, all you had to do that day was take Vasher past the Lu Jingquan fountain, and he could have seen Vinier on his own?"

“Yes, but how can we catch those pests then?” Richard smiled. Besides, it wouldn’t be a good thing for Vacher to see Vinier.

"By the way, how did you know all this?" Having lived in Fontaine for so long, this was the first time Fu Ningna had heard that Lu Jingquan had such magical effects.

After all, Funina thought the rumors about Lujingquan being the confluence of all the waters in Fontainebleau and having many magical effects were just a way to promote the tourist attraction, but she didn't expect it to be true.

“Because when I first came to Fontainebleau, I stood in front of the Dew Spring and felt its magic,” Richard said.

"Oh? What did you see in Lujing Spring back then?" Funina asked curiously.

"There are many, happy ones, unhappy ones... it's hard to say, but the one that left the deepest impression on me was a woman's voice."

"A female voice?"

"Yes, the voice sounds like a woman's, and the tone sounds very desperate and painful."

"?" A big question mark appeared on Fu Ningna's forehead. No, why is it that this desperate sound left the deepest impression on you?

“I was in a very bad state at the time. I felt like the sky was fake, the earth was fake, the whole world was fake, and everyone was in a state of deception and being deceived. I was in despair, in pain… In short, in that state, I could easily empathize with that voice.” Richard’s eyes showed a look of reminiscence as he spoke.

“Pain? Despair? You?” Funina couldn’t connect these words with Richard in front of her at all, because in her mind, he had always been a very powerful being, both externally and internally.

Could someone as powerful as Richard really experience despair?

"Surprised?"

“A little, because you look so good right now that I can’t associate you with words like ‘despair’ or ‘pain’.”

“I already said it was in the past. More than a hundred years have passed since I first came to Fontaine.”

A hundred years can indeed change many things; in such a long time, the people of Fontainebleau have gone through several generations.

Melusin hasn't changed, after all, Melusin is also an immortal species.

“Over a hundred years, that sounds like a long time, but I always feel like nothing has changed, neither me nor Fontaine.” Furnessa sighed and then asked, “So what exactly did that woman’s voice you heard say back then?”

Richard had finally heard Funina say those words. He looked directly into Funina's heterochromatic eyes, mimicking her voice from before, and said in a plaintive and melancholic tone, "So long...so lonely...how much longer..."

After hearing this, Funina froze on the spot. Why did this sentence sound so familiar?

"Lady Funina? Lady Funina? What's wrong?" Richard called out several times before Funina came to her senses.

His face was stiff, his eyes avoided looking at Richard, and his words were filled with panic as he said, "Ah, it sounds like nothing special. You're too empathetic."

"Maybe so, but now that I think about it, that voice sounds so familiar, like I've heard it somewhere before..." Richard then looked at Funina and said, "Lady Funina, do you have any clues?"

"No! What clues could I possibly have? I... I've never heard that voice before, I don't know."

Fu Ningna was like someone caught cheating on a snack in class; she was clearly panicking, but she was still stubbornly refusing to admit it.

“Indeed, you have a point. How about I take you for a walk around Lujing Spring? Perhaps that voice is still preserved,” Richard suggested.

"No, you can go yourself. Anyway, I'm not going! Alright, I have official business to attend to. You can leave now!" Funina lowered her head and pretended to start processing the documents on the table.

Just then, Clarinde, who had just returned from outside, saw the scene before her and asked with some confusion, "Lady Frinina, weren't all those documents processed? What are you still looking at?"

Funina:......

When Clarinde saw that Frynn was silent with her head down, her slender, white fingers gripping the pen tightly as if it were a sharp sword rather than a pen, she noticed something else.

Realizing something was wrong, Claudia immediately asked Richard, who was standing beside her, "Did I say something wrong again?"

“I don’t know, Miss Clarin,” Richard said again. “Perhaps Lady Frinna felt that there were places in these documents that needed to be revised?”

"Huh? These are all just scraps of paper, what could possibly need to be modified?" Clarin said without thinking, but then instinctively covered her mouth, her beautiful eyes fixed on Richard without blinking.

Richard finally understood the meaning behind her eyes; it must be 'help'?

He thought about it and finally decided to change the subject for Claurind.

"Clorind, how did your conversation with Navia go?"

As expected, Furina, who was originally burdened with numerous negative buffs such as 'anger', 'embarrassment', and 'panic', was also drawn to the attention and stopped caring about Clarinde's unintentional mistake.

Claurind thought for a moment and said, "The misunderstanding has been cleared up, and I have fulfilled Mr. Carles' request. In the future, we should become good friends?"

"Oh, by the way, Navia also told me that she is very grateful for your and Lady Funina's help. If possible, she would like to invite you two to a simple meal. She asked me to ask when you would be available." Clarinde paused, then added as if she remembered Funina's love for sweets.

“Navia’s macarons are delicious; in my opinion, they even surpass the macarons at the Grand de Boer Hotel.”

"What do you think?" Funina didn't give a direct answer, but instead asked Richard.

“Of course, it’s up to Lady Funina.” Richard didn’t care where they ate; it didn’t matter where they ate, and besides, he had indeed helped Navia avenge her father’s death.

Let alone a meal, it wouldn't be excessive to eat something else.

There's a saying that goes something like this: "I have no way to repay such a great kindness, so I will repay it with my own body."

Of course, even though Navia is indeed beautiful, Richard wouldn't take the initiative to do anything.

Currently, the only person who can truly motivate him is Funina, Yae no Miko and the Shadow Combine also count as one, as for Lynette, he doesn't need to take the initiative at all.

"Listen to me now. Why haven't I seen you listen to me like this before?" Funina couldn't help but complain.

I told you not to ask anymore, but Richard just wouldn't listen, insisting on getting to the bottom of it.

Although he had guessed most of it, the veil wouldn't be lifted until Funina admitted it herself.

This is burying one's head in the sand.

“I was thinking that after we finish eating, we can go to Lujingquan to digest our food,” Richard brought up the old topic again.

"Who would go?"

——————

"Shall we go see Lujing Spring after dinner?" Richard suggested to the ladies present after they had finished their meal.

“I’m fine,” Navia replied.

“Same as above.” Lynette sipped her after-dinner tea.

"I..." Clorinde was about to say something when she noticed Richard's gaze had already swept past her and landed directly on Funina. She silently swallowed back what she wanted to say, which was taken as an admission.

In my mind, I was wondering if this counted as workplace bullying, and I didn't know which department to complain to.

Seeing that everyone was looking at her and the atmosphere had become so tense, it would be inappropriate for Fulina to refuse. So she glared at Richard resentfully and said, "I...I have no problem either."

"Won't you feel pressured?" Richard asked with a smile.

Looking at that handsome face, Funina felt a surge of anger and said, word by word, "I won't force you."

“In that case, please wait for me to bring Vashj.” Richard wiped his lips with a handkerchief, then stood up and said.

"Vasher? Why did you call him here?" Navia asked, puzzled. Why would she call that notorious villain for no reason?

“I had promised him before that if he cooperated, I would allow him to see Vinier one last time.”

"Is it really necessary to grant the request of a heinous criminal like Vasher?" Clarin asked, glancing at Navia, whose mood had suddenly turned somber.

She wasn't actually saying that herself, but rather asking on behalf of Navia. After all, fulfilling Vashe's wish would, in a sense, be an invisible harm to Navia, which would inevitably cause her resentment.

In fact, Clarinde has a high EQ, but it's not usually obvious.

When Navia heard Clorind's question, she clearly knew that Clorind was asking it on her behalf, and she was very touched. While she was touched, she also did not want Richard to break his promise.

It's just letting Vacher see Vinier one last time. Now that the outcome is decided, it's not a big deal.

“Don’t worry about my opinion, it’s over, it’s okay, it’s okay,” Navia said.

Seeing this, Funina couldn't help but chime in, "Couldn't we have chosen a different time? Why did it have to be this time?"

Richard gave Navia a meaningful look and said in a cryptic tone, "Actually, I think it would be better if Navia were here."

Despite the severity of the crime committed by Vacher, for Fontaine, a country that, despite the existence of the death penalty, has never had one, he was only sentenced to life imprisonment.

But for Vasher, who was already over fifty and had committed numerous evils, this was far too lenient.

Richard felt the same way, which is why he made that promise and specifically arranged for Navia to be present.

Lynette then added at the opportune moment, "Richard has been preparing for this for a long time and has successfully persuaded Lord Villette..."

Knowing Richard well, Lynette believed that Richard's actions must have a deeper meaning. After all, Richard was not the kind of guy who would be lenient towards criminals, nor did he advocate that all crimes must be punished according to the law.

If that were the case, the noble family that attempted to harm Lynette back then wouldn't have been wiped out.

“Since it’s Mr. Richard’s arrangement, I trust him,” Navia said.

Volume 1: Chapter 85 The Voice of Lu Jingquan

The group arrived at Lujingquan, where Richard, along with two staff members from Mero Petersburg, escorted Vasher to Lujingquan.

When Navia met Vashe, she almost didn't recognize him.

Simply put, the disheveled, gray-haired, and aged man before her, who looked as if all his energy had been drained, was someone Navia simply couldn't connect with the sprightly old man she had seen in the courtroom.

When Navia looked at Vashe, Vashe didn't even glance at Navia, staring straight at Richard.

“As agreed, I will let you see Vinier one last time,” Richard said to Vasher.

"Yes, yes, Lord Richard, what should I do?" A hint of excitement flashed in Vasher's cloudy eyes, and his numb face showed expression. This was the first time he had made a facial movement since he was imprisoned.

Before this, whether he was confessing to the people involved in the case or working in Mero Petersburg and being bullied and insulted by the criminals in prison, he never showed any expression. It was as if these were all trivial matters to him. The only thing that kept him going was Richard's promise to let him see Vinnie again.

"Drink it." Richard took out a clear glass bottle and said this to Vashj.

Vasher took the bottle with trembling hands, opened the cap, and drank all the liquid inside without daring to spill a drop.

"This is... primordial fetal water?"

Vasher was very familiar with this taste; he could identify the liquid's composition almost instantly upon tasting it.

"The Primal Fetal Seawater can enhance your perception of the water element. As the place where all the waters of Fontainebleau converge, Lu Jingquan contains a large number of memories and emotions, and Vinier, after being dissolved by the Primal Fetal Seawater, is naturally among them."

"..." Vasher never expected that he would be so close to his lover, Vinier. Ironically, he had passed by Lujingquan countless times but had never stopped there for a single moment.

The reason is that Lu Jingquan is one of the most famous scenic spots in Fontainebleau, and every year a long number of young couples, lovers, and newlyweds come here to receive the blessings of Lu Jingquan, but Vashe cannot stand these.

After all, whenever he saw these couples, he would inevitably be reminded of the time he spent with Vinier in the past. Those sweet memories had become a torment for him, who had lost his lover forever.

In other words, he was the least likely person in all of Fontainebleau to come to Lu Jingquan, but ironically, it was only here that he could meet his deceased lover.

“You can give it a try,” Richard said, and then fell silent.

Vasher took a deep breath, walked to the edge of the Lujing Spring, looked at the crystal-clear water, and closed his eyes.

Then I heard faint sounds, which grew louder and louder as time went on.

“Vashe…”

Upon hearing the voice, Vasher's face lit up with surprise, and he hurriedly shouted, "Veneer! It's me! I'm Vasher, Venere!"

“Washe…washe…”

“I’m here, I’m here… Where are you, Vinier? I’m coming to find you…” Vasher stepped forward, almost falling into the spring, but was fortunately caught in time by the staff from the Mello Petersburg who were beside him.

Then I saw Vasher close his eyes, like a soulless shell, standing by the spring. Apart from the rise and fall of his chest proving that his life was not in danger, there was no other movement.

“It seems his consciousness has connected with Lu Jingquan. Would Lady Funina like to go along and take a look?” Richard asked Funina beside him.

Although she was also very curious about whether Vasher would actually meet Vinier, she instinctively wanted to refuse when she heard Richard say that.

Because she knew that Richard was definitely up to no good!

“Navia, come along too.” Richard didn’t wait for Funina’s reply and looked at Navia beside her.

“…Me?” Navia pointed to herself, a hint of surprise on her delicate face.

However, Navia was indeed quite curious about Vasher's lover, Vinier, and she wanted to see how Vinier would face Vasher after learning about his crimes.