And so, Furina could only watch helplessly as Richard, Lynette, and Clorinde quickly finished off the little cakes and leisurely sipped their red tea.
Unable to resist, Furina lifted her cup with both hands and took a sip, yet there was no taste at all. Of course: her cup held nothing but plain water.
But as she watched the others gently blow on the steam rising from their cups, the rich aroma of the tea reached her nose. Just from her memory of the flavor, she could imagine how delicious it must be, especially paired with that silky, smooth cream cake…
Furina didn't even dare imagine how heavenly it must taste!
Because she kept staring, today's teatime ended surprisingly quickly. Lynette was the first to finish her cup, then glanced at Richard. Unlike usual, she didn't stay behind to clean up the tea set, but instead immediately returned to her post.
Clorinde, seeing this, followed suit; she casually found the excuse of "checking the notice board downstairs" and left as well, swiftly retreating from the battlefield.
Very soon, only Richard and Furina remained in the room. Richard, as calm as ever, showed no sign of being affected. He continued eating at his usual pace, savoring the luxurious cake and fragrant tea.
Furina, realizing Lynette and Clorinde had left her alone with Richard, suddenly began scheming.
"Um… Richard."
"Yes, Lady Furina?" Richard asked, feigning ignorance.
"How's the cake today…?" Her gaze fell on the half-eaten slice in Richard's hand, her eyes constantly hinting at her true intent.
"It's excellent. The fluffy sponge and rich cream blend perfectly, smooth, delicate, sweet but not cloying. Paired with tea, it's a timeless combination I never tire of. In fact, since there's an extra portion today, once I finish this one, I'll go for a little more." Richard popped the last bite from his plate into his mouth, then calmly reached for another slice from the tea cart.
In reality, teatime at the Palais Mermonia was always served in fixed amounts; there was no such thing as an "extra." The one Richard picked up was originally meant for Furina.
But since Lady Furina had noble ambitions, determined to set an example by practicing the frugality she preached, her portion naturally went unclaimed.
And in the name of "avoiding waste," Secretary Richard had no choice but to suffer and take on the hardship of finishing it himself.
Furina watched in dismay as Richard took her little cake from the cart and even refilled his cup with fresh tea.
Richard noticed her staring and also saw that her water cup was nearly empty. With a smile, he said, "Lady Furina, would you like me to pour you some more?"
"Really?!" Furina's eyes lit up, her small hands clasped to her chest in excitement. Even if she couldn't have cake, a cup of tea would be heavenly.
At least her mouth would have some flavor!
"Of course, it's no trouble at all." Richard set down the black tea pot, then casually picked up the water jug instead, and refilled her cup with plain water.
Furina: (ΩДΩ)!!
'So it wasn't tea, it was still just water?!'
"Please enjoy, Lady Furina." Richard placed the refilled cup before her with the courtesy of a professional waiter.
"Tha-thanks a… ghost!" Furina finally broke. With no one else around in the office, she didn't need to maintain her Archon persona anymore.
She glared at Richard, her apricot eyes wide, trying to look fierce. But because her face was too delicate and beautiful, her anger only came across as… adorably cute.
"Hm? What's wrong, Lady Furina? Why the sudden anger? Did I do something unsatisfactory?"
"Are you really clueless, or are you pretending not to understand?!"
"Understand, not understand, what does Lady Furina mean? If you don't tell me, how can I understand whether the 'understand' you mean is the same 'understand' I think I understand?" Richard rattled off like a tongue-twister.
'If I could just say it, Iwould have already said it!' Furina's face turned red. She was certain Richard understood perfectly; he always did.
Even when she said nothing, he somehow guessed her meaning. Sometimes she even suspected he knew her better than she knew herself.
Seeing she was at her limit, Richard stopped teasing her.
With a deliberately troubled look, he glanced at the tempting cake before him. "Still… as delicious as this cake is, eating too much of even the best food gets tiring. Even with red tea, it's hard to balance. And too many sweets in the afternoon ruins your appetite for dinner."
"But if I don't eat it, it'll go to waste. And wasting food is no good. Such a dilemma…"
The moment Furina heard that, her eyes brightened. She hadn't had dessert at all today; this was her chance to help! After all, preventing waste was a form of thrift, too.
"Yes, wasting food is terrible."
"Exactly. So I suppose I should just finish it. Eating a bit extra once in a while is fine, and in doing so, I'll be upholding your noble principle of 'frugality.'" Richard raised his fork, aiming it at her little cake.
"Wait!" Furina panicked as his fork hovered closer, her heart about to burst. 'This wasn't how it was supposed to go!'
Normally, after she said "waste is bad," wasn't he supposed to graciously let her have it? Why wasn't he following the script?!
"What is it now, Lady Furina?" Richard asked with innocent eyes, as if he truly had no idea why she stopped him.
She knew he was doing it on purpose, but she was helpless. After struggling, she finally came up with a flimsy excuse: "I-I also want to… practice frugality."
The subtext: 'I want to eat the cake too.'
Richard nodded toward her cup of plain water. "Aren't you already practicing it?"
"I…" Furina was speechless.
Richard's fork lingered above the cake, deliberately hesitating as if searching for the perfect angle to cut.
Watching the fork hover dangerously close to her precious cake, Furina couldn't take it anymore.
"Fine, fine! I admit it! I just want the cake! You all got to eat, but I didn't, that's not fair!" Furina finally broke down, confessing her greed.
After all, the cake was hers to begin with, only taken away because Richard had trapped her with clever words in front of Lynette and Clorinde. She couldn't contradict herself then.
But now it was just her and Richard. No need to keep up appearances. He already knew all her deepest secrets anyway; there was nothing to hide from him.
"But didn't you say…"
"That's for later! It's still just a proposal; it hasn't been enforced yet! Why should that rob me of my cake now?!"
At this point, Furina's mindset could only be described as: 'If I let myself flop, suddenly the world feels wide and free.'
"Even so, according to your idea, won't afternoon tea eventually be reduced, or even abolished?"
"We'll talk about the future later!" Right now, her eyes saw only the cake.
Richard lowered his fork toward it again. Furina blurted: "Yes, I had that thought, but right now I'm still discussing it with you…"
"Let's negotiate, just put down that fork! Everything is negotiable!"
The atmosphere really did feel like a hostage standoff.
'Lady Furina, you don't want your little cake to be eaten, do you?'
Richard twirled his "weapon" menacingly, while Furina stared at the hostage in his grasp. A delicate balance filled the office.
"So, what you truly mean is: you believe the Ministry of Administration, and the Palais Mermonia as a whole, are too extravagant. Office supplies, recreational facilities, private staff, typewriters… Those are the areas you really want to reform, aren't they?"
"Yes… exactly! That's what I meant!" Truthfully, Furina hadn't thought that far. She just wanted to save money. The only reason she started with teatime was because it was the thing she was most familiar with.
As for typewriters and such… she'd never used them.
When she signed documents, it was always just pen and paper, with her official seal.
"But there's another problem," Richard added.
"I knew it…" Furina groaned.
"If you cut these benefits while the higher-ups continue to enjoy theirs, without sharing them with the lower ranks, resentment will erupt, just like you resenting not having cake now."
Throughout history, one of the greatest causes of conflict has always been this: 'They have, I don't.' Unequal distribution of resources.
For Furina's reforms, this was unavoidable.
"You make it sound like I'm just greedy for cake!" she said, cheeks flushed. "Besides, I haven't even cut benefits for the lower staff."
"That's even worse. If the upper ranks, who worked harder to climb up, are told their privileges must be reduced to match those beneath them, would you feel good about it?" Richard pressed.
He didn't say aloud that the upper echelons held far greater resources, wealth, and connections, their influence and potential backlash would be far more dangerous than that of the common clerks. Not even the Hydro Archon could ignore this.
In the end, even if Furina "won," the cost she paid would far outweigh the benefits.
"But if there's a leader who can set an example, wouldn't that lessen the backlash?" Furina wasn't stupid; she understood what he meant.
Richard raised his knife and fork, pointing meaningfully at the cake.
"And do you think you can be that example, Miss "I Love Cake" Furina?"
Ugh… remembering her behavior just moments ago, Furina had no confidence at all to say, I can do it.
"But I wasn't just cutting benefits for the upper levels. I included the lower ones too, fair and equal."
"Which means you've offended both sides at once." Richard countered.
Most policies aimed to appease one group while suppressing another. But Furina's approach? Equality in suffering, everyone gets hit.
If she weren't the Hydro Archon, any ordinary administrator who tried this would have been fired the next day, if not sooner.
'That's not how "fairness" works, my naive Lady Furina.'
"So it's impossible, no matter what?" Furina finally realized the truth, looking troubled. Why was saving money so hard?
"Not impossible. But it requires the right methods. Before that, though… may I ask you a question?" Richard's tone shifted.
He already knew there was a deeper reason behind her sudden push for austerity.
Furina's answer was simple: "Because I want to buy the Jade Chamber."
Richard: "?"
"Buy… the Jade Chamber? Why?" He never would have guessed. The entire "thrift campaign" was so she could save Mora to purchase the Jade Chamber?!
"Think about it. Every year, the Palais Mermonia pays the Institute a huge budget for research into countermeasures for the rising-sea crisis."
"The Institute produced many plans, the most promising being Edwin's recent aerial city project."
"The result, as you know: no city in the sky. Instead, two-thirds of the Academy went up in flames."
"Meanwhile, Liyue already has a successful case. So I thought: rather than throwing money into the Institute to waste, why not just buy the Jade Chamber outright?"
"Even if not the chamber itself, at least purchase the technology and build one ourselves. Isn't that a better idea?"
Her reasoning wasn't without merit. Of course, the initiative lay with Liyue, and Fontaine would be in a passive position in negotiations.
But with the flood crisis looming ever closer, nothing else mattered.
If this could save lives, even just reduce casualties, then any price was worth paying.
.....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
[email protected]/DaoistJinzu