Yes, Lady Funina!

"What do you mean by that?" Richard asked. "Do you want you to go to Winter, or do you not want you to go to Winter?"

“Well…that depends on you,” Lynette replied.

"Look at me?" Richard pointed to himself.

"Do you want me to stay in Fontainebleau, or do you want me to go to Winter?" Lynette asked.

She directly passed the question to Richard.

“Then we definitely hope you stay in Fontainebleau,” Richard answered without hesitation. He was never ambiguous about such matters.

That 'Winter Project' sounds too dangerous. He wouldn't let the cat shed blood for the Fools. If anyone has to bleed, it has to be him. No one else is allowed to do it.

“I understand.” Lindette nodded, relieved to hear Richard’s words.

Then... she turned and left, leaving a bewildered Richard sitting alone in the office.

Lynette didn't intend to tell Richard directly, "If you want me to stay, then just comply and don't resist."

That felt somewhat forced, which Lynette didn't like. She decided to try one last time. If it didn't work this time... then she would force it.

A forced melon may not be sweet, but it can at least quench your thirst, right?

Chapter 228 Funina: Am I putting my servant in a difficult position?

"What did you say to Lynette?" Richard asked Arecino, who was lying on the bed and slumped down beside him, completely exhausted.

Arecino yawned lazily, looking just like a lazy cat. She only showed this unguarded side to Richard. No one else could ever see Arecino like this, not even her family.

Or perhaps it's because family members are unacceptable, since family members can't be killed or beaten like outsiders; it's too troublesome to handle.

“What can I say? For a lazy kitten, only by whipping her from behind will she understand the importance of the opportunity.” Arecino casually pulled a blanket over her curvaceous body.

"However, the atmosphere in Mo Mang Palace is indeed quite good; Linette has almost been spoiled rotten."

“I think Lynette has grown a lot,” Richard said, disagreeing with Arecino’s assessment.

If she's truly ruined, then what about the other civil servants in the Mo Mang Palace? Their abilities are far inferior to Lynette's.

"Is that so?" Arecino said noncommittally. Her ability to be a tool had indeed improved considerably, but she was still too inexperienced when it came to emotions.

Of course, Arecino also knew that she didn't have much say in matters of the heart, since her main approach was to go all out and force herself on the other person.

But in terms of results, she was indeed much better than Lynette.

Alejandro is a results-oriented person; as for the process... aren't all processes pretty much the same? In the end, you still have to pull the ball into the hole.

If you really ask her to play a game of tug-of-war, she really can't handle it, especially when her opponent is Richard.

"What did she tell you?" Arecino asked.

"He didn't say anything, just asked me if I wanted her to stay in Fontainebleau." When Richard heard Lynette ask that question, he must have said without hesitation that he wanted her to stay in Fontainebleau. This was a matter of principle, and there was no room for hesitation.

"That's quite tactful," Arecino scoffed.

It seems that Lynette still harbors some illusions.

Of course, it's understandable to have such thoughts, since Lynette was simply unlucky in the previous times, and it wasn't her fault.

If it had been at a different time, and if it hadn't been such a coincidence, the person might have already succeeded.

But these are not reasons for failure. Arecino believes that no matter what caused the failure, it cannot be simply attributed to luck.

Even worse, one shouldn't be so stubborn as to fail twice in a row without trying a different approach, still insisting on fighting to the bitter end.

Even though she had personally demonstrated the correct way to use Richard once, Lynette still intended to use that inefficient method, which disappointed Arecino somewhat.

Richard noticed that the blackness was spreading again from Arecino's fingertips, and then he realized that he had been so focused on his own pleasure that he hadn't helped Arecino suppress the poison, which was really wrong of him.

Feeling guilty, he quickly mounted his horse and immediately shut the mouth that was still open.

"You... um~" Aregino didn't expect Richard to come so suddenly, and both her mouths were already completely blocked.

Half an hour later, thanks to Richard's tireless efforts, the dark pollution was finally suppressed back onto his fingernail.

Arecino was completely exhausted. Even with the cursed power within her, she was no match for Richard. In fact, the cursed power within her would have to be suppressed and purified by Richard as well.

But to be honest, although Arecino looks incredibly weak right now, she actually knows that her strength has been steadily increasing.

Richard's approach to dealing with the curse power within her was not one of simply killing it without burying it, suppressing both the good and the bad. Instead, he extracted its essence and discarded its dross.

They even proactively leave some of the best content if they don't have enough, showing a great willingness to help others.

Sometimes Richard even felt that it was a blessing for Alegino to have such a dedicated doctor like him.

Of course, the idea only stayed in Richard's mind and he didn't say it out loud. Otherwise, even if Arecino didn't have the strength, she would have had to squeeze out the strength to bite this guy.

When Richard woke up the next morning, Arecino was nowhere to be found.

Today was the day Arecino and Funina had agreed to meet. When Richard arrived at the Moman Palace, he saw Funina sitting nervously on the sofa in his office.

"Lady Funina?" Richard hadn't expected Funina to come to him so early in the morning.

Moreover, judging from the other person's complexion, it seemed like they hadn't slept well; there was a faint dark circle around their eyes, as if they were wearing smoky eye makeup.

Funina, sitting on the sofa, had her eyes closed, her little head bobbing up and down like a chick pecking at rice.

After Richard spoke, Funina seemed to be startled awake, immediately raising her head and her ahoge (cowlick) standing straight up, knocking her top hat to the ground.

Top hat: Are you being polite?

Fulina ignored her beloved little hat falling to the ground and quickly said to Richard when she saw him, "You've come."

What kind of talk is that? Richard found it somewhat amusing. Although he knew why Funina was behaving this way, he still couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed when he saw how 'fearful' Funina was of Arecino.

"Of course, it's almost time to start work." Richard is very punctual and dedicated; you almost never see him being late or leaving early.

Of course, he won't work overtime either.

Fu Ningna didn't care whether it was working hours or not, as long as Richard was there. She looked behind Richard and, finding no one there, continued, "Close the door and we'll talk."

"This...isn't that a bad idea?" Richard wanted to tease Funina and help her relax so she wouldn't be so tense.

Arecino isn't some monster; she was certainly terrifying when she was an enemy, but now she can be considered a ally, albeit somewhat.

“What’s wrong with it?” Funina didn’t understand what Richard was worried about.

"Won't this cause any gossip?"

Fu Ningna's pretty face darkened. You're worried about gossip? When you came to my office, closed the door, and did this and that to her, did you ever think about whether it would cause gossip?

"Li! Cha!" Funina gritted her little fangs, looking as if she wanted to bite a piece of flesh off the other person.

“Just kidding.” Richard saw Funina start grinding her teeth, raised his hands in surrender, and then turned to close the office door.

Fulina took a deep breath, thinking that she might have to face that woman later, so she tolerated Richard's 'teasing' for the time being.

But she remembered this grudge.

"Lady Funina, the door is closed. Please speak freely." Richard sat down in his office chair with an air of businesslike composure and addressed Funina.

"That guy arranged to meet today, right?" Funina asked.

"The guy you're talking about is..."

The veins on Funina's forehead became more prominent. "It's that Fool's Enforcer."

"Young Master? Didn't he go back to Zhidong to recuperate from his injuries?"

“It’s a servant!” Funina finally understood. If she didn’t make things clear today, Richard would keep teasing her.

Richard clearly knew that Funina's tolerance had its limits, and once those limits were exceeded, she would stay angry all day, the kind of person who wouldn't be appeased even by offering small cakes.

“Yes, and it will happen at 10 a.m. today, just one hour from now,” Richard said.

“You’ll come with me, right?” Funina looked at Richard, giving him the impression that she would cry if he didn’t come with her.

Richard only wanted to tease Funina; he didn't actually intend to make her cry.

Moreover, judging from how afraid Fryna is of Arecino, she probably wouldn't go no matter what, even if it meant breaking her promise, if he wasn't with her.

“Yes, Lady Funina,” Richard replied.

After receiving a positive reply, Funina breathed a long sigh of relief. Although her heart was still in suspense, it was at least half relieved.

“In that case, I’ll wait here for an hour.” Furnessa said, to prevent Richard from having an accident and missing his meeting with Arecino an hour later.

So for the next hour, she wouldn't let Richard out of her sight no matter what.

Richard blinked and asked, "Actually, you can go back to your office as usual. I'll let you know when it's time."

“No need, I’ll stay here and not go anywhere!” Funina picked up the hat that had fallen to the ground and gently patted off non-existent dust with her hand.

However, Funina did not put the hat on, but put it aside, and then got up to pour herself a cup of black tea.

"Would you like some tea?" Funina asked.

"Black tea, thank you." Richard nodded.

Funina served Richard a steaming cup of black tea and couldn't help but complain, "It feels like you're the minister and I'm just the secretary."

Richard glanced at Funina, thinking to himself, "You're only just realizing this now?"

However, Richard still said, "How could that be? Everyone in the entire Momang Palace knows that without Lady Funina's leadership, how could Fontaine be as prosperous as it is today?"

"You just love saying nice things." Although Funina said it with a hint of disdain, you could tell from her excited little eyes that she really appreciated Richard's words.

No wonder there are people who call him a tyrant. After all, if you're surrounded by sycophants like Richard, it's hard not to be tyrannical.

Feeling a little smug after being coaxed, Funina sat back on the sofa, and a wave of drowsiness washed over her. Richard was about to say a few more words of praise to Funina when he found that she was already sitting on the sofa, propping her cheek up with her hand and asleep.

This is really...

Richard shook his head and didn't bother to cover Funina with a blanket or anything like that. Funina was in a light sleep and would be woken up by the slightest noise.

Rather than waking her up, it's better to let her rest and recover like this.

Thinking this, Richard's movements as he picked up the documents became much gentler.

Forty minutes passed in a flash. Richard checked the time and realized that there were only about ten minutes left until the agreed time.

"Lady Funina, Lady Funina..." Richard whispered in Funina's ear.

However, Funina was sleeping very soundly. She had changed from sitting with her head propped up to sleeping to leaning against the sofa armrest. Even so, Funina's sleeping posture was still quite elegant and beautiful.

Yes, it was even more elegant than her usual sleeping posture in bed.

Seeing that the gentle waking method was not working, Richard thought for a moment and then said, "The little cake is going to be gone."

"Where are the cupcakes?" Funina turned on her phone in a second, and only after opening her eyes did she realize that she had fallen asleep in Richard's office.

Two blushes rose on her fair cheeks, and she coughed lightly twice before saying, "Ahem, it's about time, isn't it?"

Seeing this, Richard didn't expose her, and went along with her words, saying, "Yes, we can go to your office to wait for the Executors [Servants] of the Fools to have an audience."

After all, no matter how weak Fryna is, she is still the water goddess and prime minister of Fontaine. For Arecino to see Fryna is truly an audience. Even ten Frynas combined wouldn't be enough for Arecino to defeat with one hand.

Of course, ten Frynnas wouldn't be enough for Arecino to fight, but the man behind Frynnas is someone Arecino can't possibly defeat.

“Actually, you don’t need to be too nervous, nor do you need to be too… wary of that Fool’s Enforcer. In fact, it’s the Fool’s side that needs our help,” Richard said.

"I... of course I know, and who's nervous? I just... just stayed up too late reading novels last night and wasn't in a good mental state!" Fu Ningna was soft all over, except for her ridiculously stubborn mouth.

“Before we met, I had already exchanged views with the Fools, so today’s meeting just needs to follow the procedure. The servant won’t make any unreasonable demands. If you don’t like her, you can even make things a little difficult for her,” Richard said.

"Am I making things difficult for [the servant]?" Funina's expression was exactly like that of Benboerba when he heard the Hydra order him to eliminate Tang Sanzang and his disciples.

“Yes, you are free to do as you please,” Richard affirmed.

Funina immediately shook her head and rejected the suggestion. Of course, in order to save face, our Prime Minister said, "Let's forget it. After all, during the prophecy crisis, the Fools did provide Fontaine with a lot of supplies."

It must be said that among many countries, the people of Fontainebleau are quite humane. Compared to the anthropomorphic things that our colleagues in other regions do, the people of Fontainebleau can be said to be untainted by the mud.

Instead of taking advantage of the crisis, they donated relief supplies and dispatched a large number of people to carry out disaster relief.

It's fair to say that without the intervention of the Fools, the situation in Fontaine might have been even worse.

For this reason, Funina decided to be merciful and forgive her servant's previous offense.

Absolutely not because I'm afraid of the servants!

Chapter 229 was about a "servant" leaving, what does that have to do with me, Arecino?