In the breakroom, Richard sat across from Clorinde.
Clearly, Clorinde felt uncomfortable being stared at by Richard. Her shapely legs, wrapped in black stockings, pressed tightly together, rubbing slightly. The soft flesh of her thighs squished against each other, faintly changing shape.
"Just now…"
"What was up with Furina?"
The two of them spoke at almost the same time, but what they wanted to say was completely different.
Clorinde had wanted to explain that she was only fulfilling her duty earlier, and hadn't meant to make things hard for him.
But Richard didn't care about what happened just now. He understood Clorinde's position. Compared to that, he was more concerned with what was wrong with Furina, why she had been acting so strange.
After all, Furina's state affected the normal functioning of Ministry, and by extension, his own work as Executive Secretary General.
If Furina suddenly got it into her head to actually work hard, then he would be the one suffering for it.
Clorinde shook her head obediently, showing she also had no idea what was going on with Furina today.
"Come to think of it," she said honestly, "when I came in this morning, I saw Lady Furina greet Monsieur Neuvillette and Sedene. I don't know what they said, but suddenly her face turned red and she rushed back into her office… then you showed up."
So long as it didn't involve confidentiality rules, Clorinde would tell Richard everything she knew. She had been in the workplace long enough to know the saying: a superior one rank above can crush you flat.
Even though Clorinde was Furina's chief private secretary, Richard had direct influence over her job evaluation, something even Furina couldn't do.
In simple terms: Furina was her nominal boss, but Richard was her real boss.
And the worst part was, she couldn't afford to offend either of them. This private secretary job was really too difficult.
She thought back, regretting why on earth she had agreed to take this role when Richard first asked.
'Sigh. I must have been too young back then.'
"Did Furina mention anything about a ring to you?" Richard asked.
"A ring? Oh, when she came back she showed me her hand. It was a beautiful ring. She said it was from you, right?" Clorinde thought carefully before replying.
"Yes." Richard nodded, but didn't explain why.
He couldn't exactly say it was because Furina was too weak, with no self-defense ability, so he'd asked Albedo to forge her a defensive weapon in the form of a ring.
The fewer people who knew about Furina's true strength, the better. Judging from the hidden schemes of Focalors, it wasn't wise to expose Furina in the open to draw out whoever lurked in the shadows.
After all, in some sense, Richard and Furina were on the same side, both working to resolve Fontaine's apocalyptic crisis.
According to the Prophet's hint, only by resolving that crisis could he become truly complete.
What he lacked wasn't some sort of authority, but other components that made up his current body.
"You think the reason she didn't want to see you just now was because of the ring?" Clorinde asked, recalling how Furina had shown off her ring the moment she got it.
"But I thought she really liked it. You didn't give her a fake, did you, and she found out?"
That possibility couldn't be ruled out in her mind, the gem on Furina's ring was too flawless, so perfect that it almost looked fake.
"That was custom-made." Richard's forehead twitched with a few black lines.
Clorinde shrugged. "Then I don't know. Why don't you ask Monsieur Neuvillette? Or Sedene?"
"Excellent idea, Clorinde. I'll leave it to you." Richard found her suggestion very constructive, so he assigned her the "honor" of carrying it out.
Clorinde fell silent, her usually cool face looking even more unapproachable with her helpless expression.
Richard ignored it. Anyone who knew her well knew this slightly plump "ice queen" was actually easy to get along with.
Spend enough time with her, and you'd realize she only looked cold, inside, she was as simple as a little white rabbit.
Richard smiled, watching the "little rabbit" leave the breakroom. After finishing his tea in one gulp, he returned to his office.
Inside, Lynette was making tea. Hearing him enter, she asked without looking up: "Would you like some black tea?"
"No, I just had some." Richard waved his hand.
Lynette froze. Though she said nothing, her furry cat ears twitched sharply, and her tail flicked twice in annoyance.
Seeing this, Richard quickly held up a finger: "On second thought… I'll have a cup."
Without replying, Lynette placed a steaming cup of tea before him, staring with her bright eyes.
"Wait until it cools."
"Fine, fine." Richard surrendered, carefully blowing on the tea before taking a sip.
"Well?" Lynette asked.
"Delicious."
"Too plain."
"You mean the tea? You're being too hard on yourself. I think it's perfect, something I could drink every day without getting tired of."
Lynette suspected he was playing dumb, but had no proof.
Seeing her sulking cutely, Richard nearly laughed.
"I was just chatting with Clorinde in the breakroom, about Furina."
"Did Lady Furina make another bold decision?" Lynette asked.
"Not yet."
"Then maybe… she's actually going to start working hard?"
Richard recalled Furina slumped over her desk, spacing out. Didn't look like diligence at all.
"No."
"…Then she's planning to overthrow the Palais Mermonia?!" Lynette's eyes widened in alarm.
"No. She was just daydreaming."
Lynette tilted her head adorably.
"Isn't that a good thing?"
"Is it?"
"Isn't it?"
For both Richard and Lynette, nothing was better than "Furina doing nothing." Well, except for "Furina handing all her work to them."
"Could it be because of the ring?" Lynette guessed.
"How did you know? That's what I thought too, she kept fiddling with the ring I gave her while she spaced out." Richard was impressed, Lynette could be a fortune teller.
"Then she must have realized." Lynette murmured.
"Realized? Realized what?" Richard was confused. The ring's power crystal had been purified by the Festering Desire, it was pure, harmless energy. Could there still be some unknown side effect?"
"Like… making someone obsessively stare at it?"
"Lord Richard, I always thought you were a seasoned womanizer, a scoundrel. But now, it seems I was wrong. Sorry for the misunderstanding." Lynette sighed.
"???" Richard's head filled with question marks.
"Do you know what it means when a man gives a woman a ring?" Lynette asked.
"…That she now has a ring from a man?" Richard guessed.
"When two people marry in Fontaine, what do they do?"
"Pray at the Fountain of Lucine?" Richard offered. True enough, many newlyweds passed by the fountain to offer prayers.
"That's after the wedding. At the ceremony itself, the couple exchange wedding rings."
Lynette slipped off her lace gloves, revealing flawless hands. Pointing at her left ring finger, she explained:
"The exchanged rings are usually worn here, on the left ring finger, as a declaration to the world: 'I am married.'"
Richard got it now. Still, he protested: "But I only gave Furina a ring. We didn't exchange anything."
Lynette pouted. She knew that, but if they had exchanged rings, she wouldn't be so calm right now.
"In your mind, yes. But to outsiders? The way Furina's been flaunting it, she looks exactly like a newlywed showing off her ring. Especially since she always emphasizes, 'Richard gave it to me.'"
At this, Lynette's breathing grew heavy, her chest practically swelling two sizes from frustration.
Richard watched her chest rise and fall without much change and finally understood the cause of Furina's unusual behavior today.
"Thank you, Lynette."
"If not for you, I'd still be in the dark."
Compared to that clueless Clorinde, his catgirl secretary was much more reliable.
Meanwhile, Clorinde was with Sedene, getting "educated."
"Clorinde, now do you understand the different meanings of wearing rings on different fingers?" Sedene asked like a patient teacher.
Clorinde nodded calmly. "Yes. I'll be careful not to wear rings anymore."
Sedene: …
"Well, that's not really necessary. By the way, I wanted to ask about Lady Furina."
"About Lady Furina?"
"Yes, how's her relationship with Monsiuer Richard? Any marital discord? If there is, as her secretary, you should mediate… but not too much, or people might misunderstand…" Sedene rambled on about post-marriage emotional issues, sounding like a marriage counselor.
Clorinde's head was spinning.
"Oh, right, Clorinde, do you have anyone you fancy? Hm? …Clorinde?"
But Clorinde had already slipped away.
Sedene didn't mind. She simply sighed at the fascinating complexity of human emotions. Pity she wasn't human herself, unable to experience "love" firsthand, only grasping at its sweetness through books.
Still, even so, she could faintly taste its honey-like sweetness.
"Hopefully, Miss Clorinde finds her other half soon~"
Clorinde, armed with loads of "intelligence," returned to Richard's office. Just as she raised her hand to knock, the door opened on its own.
"Clorinde, perfect timing"
"Lord Richard, I know the reason"
They both spoke at once. Behind Richard, Lynette deadpanned:
"What perfect coordination."
The scene shifted: the three of them, Richard, Lynette, and Clorinde, sat around a desk, sharing their findings.
"Lord Richard, do you know the ten ways to wear a ring?" Clorinde began with a thunderous opener.
"I do. People have ten fingers, after all. I also know how many combinations two rings can make." Richard joked.
"Forty-five." Lynette answered instantly.
"Good math, Lynette," Richard praised, before adding, "but don't do it again."
"One ring is headache enough. Two would be chaos." Clorinde rubbed her temples.
She imagined: left-hand middle finger means "in love," right-hand index finger means "single, seeking love."
What nonsense!
"I get what you mean," Richard said. "In fact, I just learned from Lynette how much significance one little ring carries."
"So… you and Lady Furina really…" Clorinde hesitated, then pressed her fists together, thumbs pointing inward, mimicking a couple exchanging rings.
Lynette's fury spiked.
If not for ladylike manners, she would have scolded Clorinde on the spot: 'all your nutrition went to your chest, not your brain!'
Richard smiled kindly.
"What do you think, Clorinde?"
"…I think we should discuss how to clarify this matter." She lowered her head, sensing danger.
"There's nothing to clarify," Lynette countered, sipping tea. "If you publicly deny it, people will only believe it more. Better to let Lady Furina just be a bit more mindful."
"I see… government denial often convinces people it's true," Clorinde replied.
Then she noticed both Richard and Lynette staring daggers at her. Shrinking into her seat, she asked hesitantly:
"…Am I wrong?"