Under Richard's introduction, Furina finally sorted out the relationship between Shenhe and him, so they were merely a savior and the one saved?
She had thought it was something else...
'Wait.'
'Wasn't that even worse?!'
Furina had studied Liyue's culture and history. She knew there was an old saying there:
"A young lady has no way to repay the grace of saving her life, except by offering herself in marriage."
'Could this Miss Shenhe be thinking the same way?!'
'But the problem wasn't what Shenhe thought; it was what Richard thought.'
'If Shenhe really wanted to "repay" him like that, would Richard agree?'
Furina glanced at the beautiful, curvaceous Shenhe. Honestly speaking, in terms of looks alone, few men could refuse a beauty like her.
If he agreed, would Richard go to Liyue? Or would Shenhe come stay in Fontaine?
Probably the latter, after all, Richard's entire career was in Fontaine. He even promised to help her with the prophecy crisis. They had a signed contract, after all.
But if Richard really ended up with Shenhe…
What would she do?
Just imagining Richard leaving with another woman, maybe even going far away where she'd never see him again, made Furina's heart ache. She felt a sour tightness in her chest, and her mood plummeted. Even the little tuft of hair on her head drooped.
The enemies hadn't even started fighting yet, but Furina was already emotionally in chaos.
"Furina? Lady Furina?"
Richard's voice snapped her out of her daydreams. Thinking he was about to announce his resignation to follow Shenhe to Liyue, she blurted out:
"I disagree!"
"?" Richard gave her a puzzled look. "Disagree with… what exactly?"
"I…" Furina suddenly realized everything had only been in her imagination. None of that had actually happened; she had just overreacted.
Trying to cover for herself, she quickly said,
"I mean, I disagree with… uh… not confirming everyone's meal preferences in advance. That would be terribly rude of me."
It was a terrible excuse, but thankfully, everyone present except the socially unaware Shenhe was tactful enough not to expose her distraction.
As for Shenhe, from the moment she entered the room, her attention had been entirely fixed on Richard. Whether Furina spaced out or not had nothing to do with her.
The crane did not care.
"There are no particular restrictions," Ningguang smiled. "As the saying goes, the guest follows the host's lead. Lady Furina, please arrange as you see fit."
"Anything's fine," Cloud Retainer added. In truth, she was curious about Fontaine cuisine, though she wouldn't say it aloud.
"What about Miss Shenhe?" Furina asked, noticing Shenhe still gazing at Richard. She hurried to interrupt, "Is there anything you prefer to eat? I can inform the kitchen to prepare it."
'Stop looking at him already.'
'Even if you keep staring like that, I still won't let him go.'
…Why did she suddenly feel like the jealous secondary villainess in a romance drama?
"Me?" Shenhe thought for a moment, then calmly listed,
"Qingxin, glaze lilies, violetgrass, those are what I usually eat."
"…" Furina froze. Even though she'd never been to Liyue, she recognized those names, they were medicinal herbs.
'So Shenhe was… a vegetarian?'
Furina eyed Shenhe's shapely figure, as developed as Clorinde's, and thought in disbelief:
'You expect me to believe that body came from eating vegetables?!'
'So she eats grass, but produces milk?'
Seeing Furina go silent, Shenhe assumed her usual foods weren't available in Fontaine and kindly said,
"If not, anything is fine. I'm not picky."
After a pause, she added, glancing at Richard,
"Whatever Richard eats, I'll eat too."
'Oh, come on!' Furina almost lost composure again. She glared "fiercely" at Richard, though with her delicate face, it looked more adorably pouty than intimidating.
Like a tiny puppy trying to look fierce because another dog was sniffing its bone, turning to its owner with a soft growl.
Richard noticed Furina's mock glare and said mildly,
"Lady Furina, you should already know what I like to eat."
Of course she did. They had lunch and afternoon tea together almost every workday. She'd even ordered food for him herself several times when he was too busy.
Sure, it wasn't logical that a Secretary General was busier than a Minister, but that wasn't the point!
And if Shenhe listened to Richard, while Richard listened to her… didn't that technically make her the top of the chain?
Victory!
The thought made Furina's mood instantly brighten. She looked at Shenhe smugly and happily instructed the staff to add a few of Richard's favorite dishes to the menu.
Normally, the meals served in the Palais Mermonia were fixed in advance, formal menus meant for foreign dignitaries. You couldn't just "add a few dishes." This wasn't a restaurant, after all.
But when the one giving orders was the Hydro Archon, the rules didn't apply. Unless it broke Fontaine's laws or caused a disaster, her word was literally divine law.
Adding a few dishes? Hardly an issue. The attendants promptly relayed her orders to the kitchen.
Ningguang, however, had been watching everything quietly. With her insight, Furina's little emotional storm was completely transparent.
This Hydro Archon truly was as adorable as the rumors said.
By now, Ningguang was fairly certain, Furina harbored special feelings for Richard.
Feelings that were, well… similar to her own.
Both of them wanted to make the gentleman their Mr.
After a bit of casual conversation, Furina, despite the emotional crisis over her "rival", didn't forget her real purpose for this visit.
"Lady Ningguang," Furina began, "I've heard the Jade Chamber can float high above Liyue Harbor. Is that true?"
"It's true," Ningguang nodded. "Though after the recent disaster, the Chamber has yet to be rebuilt. Once it's restored, I'll gladly invite you for a visit."
"That would be wonderful," Furina said, then added curiously, "But I'm really curious, how does such a massive structure stay aloft? Of course, if it's inconvenient to answer, I understand."
"There's nothing inconvenient," Ningguang replied smoothly. "The Jade Chamber floats thanks to a special Liyue stone called Floating Stone. It has natural levitation properties. The structure is built upon these stones, and adepti arts help stabilize it. That's the secret."
She wasn't hiding anything; such information could be found easily, and Furina's expression suggested she already knew.
The challenge wasn't in how it floated, but in having the resources, enough Floating Stones, and the immortal techniques to control them.
Floating Stone wasn't exported; it was essentially monopolized by Ningguang herself. What little escaped her grasp was in the hands of minor merchants. And she didn't sell it for profit, but used it all to expand the Jade Chamber.
After all, who else would be rich and crazy enough to build a floating palace?
As the saying goes, "Wonders ruin nations."
But Ningguang could afford it.
Then Furina asked,
"Lady Ningguang, do you think Fontaine, using the strength of the entire nation, could build a floating city large enough to house all its people, within three years?"
"...What?"
Even Ningguang, calm as she was, froze.
A floating city big enough for all of Fontaine, in three years?
Even she, ambitious as she was, had never dreamed of building something on that scale so quickly.
Sure, Fontaine's resources surpassed her own business empire. But such a project wasn't about strength alone; there were countless practical issues: supply of Floating Stone, sustaining life in the sky, public willingness, logistics…
Three years? Even thirty might not be enough. One failure, and the consequences could be catastrophic.
"Lady Furina… you're not joking, are you?" Ningguang asked, seeing Furina's expression, dead serious.
"I'm not," Furina said firmly. "I just want your honest opinion."
"Well then…" Ningguang sighed. "Forgive my bluntness, but your plan sounds… overly fanciful."
Furina blinked.
'Overly fanciful?' She half-expected Ningguang to say "bold and visionary."
Curse Richard for making her allergic to the word 'bold'.
Anyway, it was clear Ningguang meant unrealistic.
"Even setting aside whether the people of Fontaine would agree to such a move, building such a city from scratch in just three years is beyond even divine capability," Ningguang said.
"The material supply alone would kill the project."
Floating Stone wasn't banned from export, but supply was extremely limited. Even Liyue barely met its own needs.
Take the Jade Chamber, she'd started planning it over a decade ago, and even now, it was only the size of a large village.
To build something for an entire nation in three years? It was nothing short of a dream.
"I see… so it's really impossible, then?" Furina sighed. She'd expected this. Richard had already warned her it was unlikely.
"If Fontaine's anti-gravity technology were stable, there might still be a chance," Ningguang said thoughtfully.
Of course, Furina knew that it wasn't stable. That's why she came seeking alternatives.
"Once, it had promise," she said softly, "but now…"
Everyone understood the unspoken part, the Fontaine Research Institute explosion.
The blast had wiped out not just two-thirds of the Institute's facilities, but also its top researchers. That loss of human talent was the true tragedy.
Buildings could be rebuilt. People couldn't.
At this point, Fontaine's scientific community was on the verge of collapse.
"You have my condolences for that incident," Ningguang said politely. She wasn't about to offer free aid; she wasn't that charitable.
If anything, she was already thinking about recruiting Fontaine's surviving talents for Liyue.
…And maybe, if Furina offered Richard as part of the deal, she'd consider "helping."
Not that Furina knew that, and even if she did, she'd never hand Richard over. Not out of love over duty, but simply because she couldn't control him anyway.
And honestly, she kind of enjoyed being the one who got toyed with.
"I heard from Richard that the adeptus Cloud Retainer is skilled in mechanisms and levitation techniques," Furina said, turning to her. "I'd like to hear your opinion."
Cloud Retainer froze, 'Him again? This man kept volunteering me for things!'
But one look at Furina's bright, hopeful eyes, and her refusal died in her throat.
"Ahem. Even if you ask me, Lady Hydro Archon, I am unfamiliar with your so-called 'anti-gravity technology.' I can offer little advice."
Furina was prepared for that. She immediately produced a stack of documents.
"These are summaries of Fontaine's research on anti-gravity systems. I'd be honored if you could review them."
Cloud Retainer blinked. These weren't public files; even the summaries were classified. Yet Furina just… handed them over.
Such trust was astonishing, though she realized quickly, it wasn't her Furina trusted. It was Richard.
If Richard said she could be trusted, then Furina believed it.
And that, ironically, made Cloud Retainer glare at him again. 'You sly mortal…'
She was, of course, tempted, as an engineer at heart, she wanted to study Fontaine's approach. Unlike Liyue's Floating Stone, their system used pure energy to counteract gravity, much like comparing a gas car and an electric one: different principles, same goal.
But accepting the documents meant taking on a heavy responsibility, and she wasn't the type to shirk duties once accepted.
Richard must have known that, that's why he baited her with this.
Finally, he said, "I think this cultural exchange could be an opportunity for deeper cooperation. Perhaps Liyue and Fontaine could form a joint research organization, tackling shared technical challenges together."
Ningguang raised an eyebrow.
"And how would the results be divided? Why should Liyue agree to such cooperation?"
A fair question, she wasn't about to give anything for free, no matter how much she liked him.
"Results would be shared according to contribution," Richard said calmly. "As for why, because Fontaine has technologies that Liyue needs."
Indeed, industrially, Liyue lagged behind Fontaine. The latter already had autonomous robots, while Liyue was still forging by hand.
Machines didn't tire. Efficiency was higher. And after the recent disasters, Liyue needed such advancements.
So really, it was a tech exchange, Fontaine's knowledge for Liyue's resources. Mutual benefit, win–win.
Ningguang didn't reply immediately. But the fact that she didn't reject it outright meant it was halfway done already.
Of course, such a major partnership couldn't be decided by her alone; she'd need to discuss it with the other Qixing.
For now, cultural exchanges came first.
And inevitably, the topic soon drifted back to a certain someone.
Now it was Cloud Retainer's turn to "playfully" steer the conversation.
"I heard from Ningguang that half of her Jade Chamber belongs to you, Richard. Is that true?"
.....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
[email protected]/DaoistJinzu