Yes, Lady Funina!

Richard is almost transformed into someone else's shape now, and he's still thinking about your broken tricolor dumpling! You should be more careful!

'They really have no sense of crisis at all!' Yae no Miko thought to herself.

Seeing that Yae no Miko had no intention of eating his two dumplings, Ying quickly ate the remaining two dumplings in two bites.

After swallowing the soft and chewy pastry, Ying came to Yae no Miko and Richard's side.

"I heard from Lynette that Fontaine's desserts are no worse than Inazuma's traditional sweets. After the general is able to stand on his own for a while, may I visit Fontaine?"

“Of course, you’re welcome anytime,” Richard said.

After listening, Ying nodded slightly and asked, "After this is over, I will also invite you and Lady Fukaros, the water goddess, to visit Inazuma."

"Our Lord Narukami will certainly welcome you with open arms and have a long talk with you by candlelight, spending the night together," Yae no Miko added at the opportune moment.

Kage wasn't annoyed by Yae no Miko's words, but smiled and said, "Yes, just like Miko did before, I also want to try what it's like to sleep together."

"She told you all of this?!" Yae Shinko looked at Lynette, who was in the distance meeting with embassy staff, in surprise.

When Lynette noticed Yae no Miko's gaze, she went to meet it without the slightest fear, revealing a smile that Yae no Miko found quite 'provocative'.

Richard added, "If you don't want people to know, don't do it in the first place."

“Not only that, Lynette also told me about some of Richard’s health problems.”

Richard's expression froze, revealing the same look of surprise as Yae no Miko, and even their words were the same.

"She told you all of this?!"

Why does Lynette tell everyone everything? We agreed to keep it a secret.

Richard actually knew why Lynette told Ray the movie about this. One reason was that she was worried that Shadow wouldn't let Richard go, and another was to show Yae no Miko and Shadow her 'status' in Richard's heart.

It was a small demonstration, showing that her intelligence network should not be underestimated.

Of course, these things would have to be told to Yae no Miko and the others sooner or later anyway, so it didn't matter if Linette told Kage in advance. After all, if Kage knew, it usually meant that Yae no Miko knew as well, which saved Richard from having to tell her again.

Richard eventually left, taking Lynette with him on the official ship returning to Fontaine, ending his nearly month-and-a-half-long visit to his wife ahead of schedule.

------

Inside the office of the Minister of State at the Mo Mang Palace.

With two large dark circles under her eyes, Fu Ningna sat at her desk, her head bobbing down like a chick pecking at rice, just like a student in class.

Her behavior was observed by her private secretary, Clorind, which greatly worried the seemingly cold but actually warm-hearted secretary.

Funina has been in this state for two days, and compared to yesterday, Funina's dark circles are much worse today.

This can't be explained by simply not getting enough rest; it's that he didn't get any rest at all.

Over the past two days, Clarinde had advised Funina to take a short break in the office, and Funina accepted the suggestion.

However, if Clorind, who lives under the same roof, makes even the slightest noise, Furynna will wake up. And if Clorind leaves the office, leaving Furynna alone, Furynna will also have difficulty falling asleep due to fear.

Even when she falls asleep, she sleeps very lightly. Even the sound of someone passing by outside the door can wake her up, so it doesn't help her rest at all.

Clarinde knew that Frynn was in a state of extreme insecurity, in which she would become extremely sensitive, and any slight movement would be amplified a thousand times by her senses.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they were seeing snakes in their cups and paranoid about everything.

Clarind was unaware of what had happened to Frynn recently. Even when asked, Frynn would only say that she had been reading horror novels and that the novels were so captivating that she had difficulty falling asleep.

Clarinde couldn't believe such a clumsy lie.

Even the scariest novels or movies couldn't possibly terrify Funina like this.

Unless it's something truly terrifying that Funina has recently encountered, a level of fear so intense that even within the Momang Palace, she feels utterly unsafe.

However, since Frynn didn't say anything, Clarinde had no way to use Void Search to find out the reason why Frynn was in this state.

"Lady Furlina, shall I make you a calming soup? I recently had someone buy it from Bubulu in Liyue. It's very effective at calming the nerves and helping you sleep." Clarinde took out a small packet of medicine from her storage cabinet.

To make frying and boiling easier, a matching steaming vessel is also included.

Without waiting for Funina's reply, Clarinde went to the tea room to brew a calming soup.

Of course, there was a reason why Clarind didn't wait for Frynn's reply: due to lack of sleep, Frynn's reaction time was several beats slower than usual.

These past few days, when Clarinde spoke to Frynn, it was as if the other party had a high latency; it would often take a long time to respond to a single question, and she would frequently give irrelevant and illogical answers.

The calming soup was brewed quickly. Knowing that Funina had a low tolerance for bitterness, Claude added several pieces of brown sugar to the tea. Although it still had a medicinal taste, at least it tasted sweet.

"Lady Funina, it's time for your soup."

"Hmm? Good morning, Clarinde." Furnessa stopped pecking at the rice like a chick, raised her eyebrows, and revealed dark circles under her sleepy eyes, making her look ethereal.

"Lady Frinina," Claurind said helplessly. "It's already afternoon."

"Huh? It's already afternoon? But why don't I remember the morning?" Funina rubbed her eyes and forced herself to ask.

“According to Head Nurse Higewen, lack of sleep can easily lead to many problems such as poor concentration, weakened immunity, and memory decline.” Clarinde looked at Furnessa’s ethereal appearance.

She couldn't help but sigh and said, "Lady Funina, how long has it been since you slept?"

"Uh... I was just sleeping, wasn't I?"

"Do you remember what I said about the dangers of sleep deprivation?"

"Harm? What harm? Did you just say something?" Fryna asked blankly. "Oh, right, I remember now, you said you bought a friend from Liyue."

"Lady Funina, I'm not a human trafficker." Clorinde was speechless. Holding the bowl in one hand and the spoon in the other, she gently blew on the tea to cool it down, and then, as if coaxing a child, she let out an "ah" and fed the tea to Funina.

"Hmm... what a strange smell." Furnessa frowned. "Clorind, is today's tea spoiled?"

"This is a calming soup, Lady Funina. After drinking it, you'll be fine after a good night's sleep."

Finally, under Clorinde's mother's careful care, baby Funina managed to finish the entire bowl of calming soup.

However, although I did drink the calming soup, the effect... wasn't as good as I had imagined.

Of course, it wasn't completely ineffective. At least the delay in speaking was reduced significantly, the logic became much clearer, and normal conversations and work signatures were no problem at all.

Accelerators are a type of device.

“Lady Frinna, I need to go out and hand over some matters. You should rest well in your office. If you really can’t, you can apply for leave yourself and go back to your room to sleep,” Clorind said.

Anyway, Funina's house is on the top floor of the Moman Palace, and you can get there quickly by taking the elevator.

"Okay, go ahead, I'm not a child anymore." Funina yawned, her eyelids drooping, then she quickly woke up again.

Claude felt that the calming soup wasn't as effective as Navia had described. Perhaps the gods' constitutions were different from ordinary people's, requiring a higher dosage?

But no matter what, let's finish what we're doing first. Richard should be back soon; we'll ask him what he thinks when he gets back.

If all else fails, then physical methods to help you sleep will be the only option.

Chapter 150: Funina's Slippers (5K)

After quickly assigning most of the work at the city hall, Clarinde immediately returned to Frynn's office, as Frynn's current condition was truly worrying.

"Fu..."

"Shhh."

As soon as Clarin entered the room, she saw Richard with his index finger to his lips, while on the sofa where he was, Funina had already fallen asleep with her head on Richard's lap.

"Asleep?" Clorind slowed down her movements, even her walking became unconsciously softer and slower, and her high heels didn't make a sound when they stepped on the ground.

Could it be that the calming soup she gave Funina was actually very effective, but it just took time for the medicine to take effect?

Claude thought that shouldn't be the case. She felt that Richard's medicine was obviously more effective and immediate for Funina than the calming soup.

After confirming that Funina was in a deep sleep and that speaking softly wouldn't wake her, Clarinde asked, "Do you need me to get you a pillow and a blanket?"

After all, it's not a good idea to just let Funina sleep on the sofa like that; it would be troublesome if she caught a cold.

"This is troublesome." Richard nodded.

Soon, Clorind brought a blanket and a pillow. She draped the blanket over Funina, then handed the pillow to Richard. She gently supported Funina's head with her hand, while Richard pulled his thigh out and stuffed the pillow Clorind had given him into his pocket.

Freed from his pain, Richard rubbed his thigh and stood up. Clarinde, who was standing next to him, asked, "Are your legs numb? Do you need me to rub them for you?"

Richard felt that the map of the Yan Kingdom by Clarinde was too short and shook his head in refusal.

Clarinde wasn't too disappointed; if she could get a good deal, she'd make a huge profit, and if she couldn't, she wouldn't lose anything.

"Judging from Funina's appearance, it seems like she hasn't slept in a long time." Richard noticed the thick dark circles under Funina's eyes, making it look like she hadn't slept for three days and three nights.

“Yes, although I don’t know what happened, but… Furlina’s mental state has indeed been somewhat poor recently.” Clorind nodded.

"Has something happened?" Richard asked.

“I don’t know. It seems like Furnessa suddenly became like this, probably about two days ago.” Claudia said, glancing at Richard. “When did you get back?”

"I just arrived." Richard didn't mention that as soon as he walked in, Funina's eyes were filled with tears, and she hugged him and cried nonstop, then cried herself to sleep.

After all, our Lady Funina is quite concerned about her image. She might not care about face in front of Richard, but she still needs to maintain the image of the Water Goddess in front of Clarin and the others.

Has Lady Funina fallen asleep so soon after we arrived?

Clarinde's gaze towards Richard was no longer that of a tranquilizer, but rather that of a sleeping pill.

If Claude didn't know Richard's character, she would have thought that Richard might have drugged Frynn.

"So you know something about how Funina ended up like this, right?" Claude asked. She knew Richard was supposed to be back on the weekend, but he was back so early, which meant he knew about Funina's situation.

"I suppose so," Richard didn't deny it, "but I don't know much. I can guess some things, but I have no evidence."

Richard didn't let Lynette ask her 'father,' even though he and Arecino had nothing going on. But having Lynette act as a go-between would feel like arguing parents using their child to pass on messages to each other.

He planned to go and ask the other party in person what they were trying to do. Funina was just drinking tea and slacking off at the Mo Mang Palace. She was even so well-behaved that she didn't take the initiative to participate in politics or cause trouble. Why would they attack her?

Aren't the local fools a bit too rude?

"Is it troublesome?" Clarinde thought that keeping Frynn silent and not telling anyone except Richard must be quite a problem.

"I suppose so, but at least they had some sense of propriety," Richard said.

After all, given Arecino's abilities, if she really wanted to attack Frynn, a mere protective ring certainly wouldn't be enough to stop her. Although Richard had left more than just the protective ring as a backup plan for Frynn, she would inevitably suffer some damage along the way.

Aside from being somewhat frightened, Furina was not injured at all, not even with a scratch. Clearly, this was not because Arecino couldn't do it, but because the other party deliberately held back.

But an attack is an attack, and Richard is determined to get justice for Funina no matter what. If he doesn't take some action, given that woman's style, there will definitely be another test, only it might take a different form.

Richard's task was simply to stop this pointless probing. Everything in Fontaine was already under his control; he didn't need her [servant] to cause trouble.

"If you need my help, just let me know," Clorinde said earnestly. After all, Funina was not only her boss, but also her friend, and possibly her sister in the future. It was only right and proper for her to lend a hand if needed.

"Then you'll have to work harder tomorrow. Just pretend I didn't come back and continue to finish my work for me."

Claurind: ?

When you were away on a business trip, I took over your work, which can be considered a normal work transfer.

Now that you're back from your business trip, is it appropriate for me to still do your work? Isn't this bullying? Isn't this workplace bullying?

“Don’t worry, there won’t be that much work. After all, Lynette is back, so she can handle her part of the work herself,” Richard said.

"Oh, that's good." Clorind said subconsciously, but she quickly realized that this was something she should have done herself in the first place.

Shivering with cold, in that instant, Clarinde finally understood the feelings of those working people who were ruthlessly exploited by capitalists.

Richard is no civil servant; he's clearly a capitalist who's manipulating not money, assets, or goods, but her, official duties, and power.

"Is there anything else?" Richard asked, looking at Clarinde, who was standing there dumbfounded, looking angry but unable to speak.

"N-nothing's wrong now." Clarinde hated her own weakness.

"Well, it's getting late, it's time to get off work. I can keep an eye on Funina, you should go home and get some rest," Richard said.

There is no tradition of overtime work among civil servants in Fontainebleau.

"Then... I'm leaving?" Clarinde tentatively took a step.

“Wait, there’s a souvenir for you on the table.” Richard called out to Clarinde, pointing to the table next to her.

Clarinde had actually noticed the long, narrow package a while ago; the packaging had a very Inazuma style, and it felt like a gift.

However, Clorind did not ask about it, because if it wasn't a gift for her, she would inevitably feel awkward about being too self-satisfied and sentimental.

But could this long, narrow package be an umbrella? Inazuma does have a tradition of turning umbrellas into works of art.

"The masterpiece of the 'Tenmoku-ryu' school, one of the five traditions of Inazuma Raiden—the Tenmoku Shadow Blade." Richard didn't let Claude open it for him to see, but instead simply told Claude the name of the gift.

"Who gives weapons as gifts?" Clarind couldn't help but complain.