"Alright, let us move on to the next item on the agenda—the event schedule and content," Furina said to everyone present.
"Does anyone have any thoughts?"
"Lady Furina." An official below raised his hand.
"Please, speak." Furina pointed to him, signaling the official to proceed.
"I believe that the old traditions of the Fontinalia Festival must not be abandoned. The activity of wearing special costumes, holding golden cups, and begging for water should still be held as usual."
After listening to him, Furina pondered for a moment, then suddenly thought of something, her eyes instantly lighting up.
After carefully considering how to phrase her words, Furina said.
"Ahem, what you say makes a lot of sense; the traditional culture of Fontaine must not be lost. However, this year is the first Fontinalia Festival since I, the God, Focalors, took office and since the beginning of the new era of Fontaine. Upholding the principles of creative transformation and innovative development of traditional culture, this activity should be changed. I have decided..."
Everyone held their breath, waiting to see what Furina would say.
Rina: Why do I have a premonition that she is about to pull something big...
"Change the original request for water to a request for desserts—small cakes take priority!"
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Everyone was silent for three seconds.
Rina: Truly an idea only Furina could come up with.
The officials below looked at each other, and after some hesitation, the leader finally spoke up.
"Lady Furina, er... I agree with your point of view!"
In the end, he chose to yield.
"Yes, yes, Lady Furina is right!"
"Lady Furina's idea to change the request for water to a request for desserts is a manifestation of not forgetting one's roots and adhering to the integrity and innovation of Fontaine's traditional culture."
Seeing that the leader had said so, the people below naturally chose to yield as well.
In fact, if they thought about it a little more, they would realize that although Furina's proposal sounded a bit explosive at first, it was actually quite creative and feasible.
These officials later understood this truth and Furina's proposal was thus passed.
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Following that, everyone proposed carrying out various performances in The Court of Fontaine, with the authorities arranging all kinds of unique and exciting programs over the course of a week.
At the same time, the Fontaine authorities and the Fontaine Drama Association would jointly hold a drama competition, open to all troupes. The competition would be divided into two categories—one where the organizers would designate a play to see which troupe performs it best; the other would be an original drama competition.
Each troupe was only allowed to participate in one competition. The two winning troupes would engage in a final showdown, and the ultimate champion troupe would receive the honorary title of the Furina award.
After discussion, the Furina award would serve as the trophy for the champion of the special competition project within the Fontinalia Festival, which has a special entertainment theme.
Since the Fontinalia Festival is held once a year and competitions with an entertainment theme are even rarer, and considering it is a competition open to all of Fontaine where only the champion can receive it.
The champion of this drama competition will receive the Furina award and who knows how long it will be before the film champion of the Fontinalia Festival will also receive this trophy.
The name Furina award was actually suggested to Furina by Rina.
At first, Furina thought her name was not quite worthy of this award.
'You will be the most outstanding actor in the history of Fontaine and even the actor with the longest performance time in the history of Fontaine. If you are not worthy of it, then I think this award should not be established at all.'
Rina retorted to Furina's words without mercy.
"O-okay, I will go propose it and see."
What Furina did not expect was that as soon as she proposed this idea, she received everyone's support and there was not a hint of flattery in it.
"Lady Furina is indeed suitable to be the name of this trophy."
"Agreed."
"Support."
They had all read the report from the Steambird Press and were deeply moved by Furina's story; using Furina's name on the trophy was just right.
After these few activities, the meeting was almost over and everyone prepared to leave.
At the end of the meeting, Furina suddenly thought of something else.
"Wait." A single sentence from Furina held everyone back from going home.
The people below asked in confusion. "Lady Furina, what is the matter?"
"Gray River! Gray River has returned to Fontaine, we should consider them."
That's right, Gray River is also a part of Fontaine and they must not be forgotten.
Come to think of it, most of the common people in Gray River haven't celebrated the Fontinalia Festival for many years. Back then, it was difficult enough for them to survive; who would be thinking about holidays?
Everyone suddenly realized this; indeed, saying Gray River returned to Fontaine could not just be a superficial gesture.
After some discussion, it was finally decided that Fontaine officials would be sent to Gray River to promote the Fontinalia Festival and then branch venues would be arranged in Gray River with all kinds of activities the same as in The Court of Fontaine.
At the same time, Furina would visit the homes of Gray River residents during the festival to comfort the local people.
The first meeting of the Fontinalia Festival preparatory group thus successfully concluded and the results of the meeting were soon released through the newspaper.
"This Year's Fontinalia Festival Theme Confirmed! Drama to be the Main Tone!"
"This Year's Fontinalia Festival Will Have These Differences from Previous Years..."
"Shocking! The Champion of This Year's Fontinalia Festival Drama Competition Will Receive Lady Furina's..."
Once the news was released, it instantly caused heated discussions in society.
However, the biggest buzz about this matter was in Gray River.
"So, they really didn't forget us..." This was the statement of an ordinary, impoverished resident of Gray River.
They had originally thought that opening the road to The Court of Fontaine and supporting them with supplies was already the limit, but they hadn't expected that they would also think of Gray River when it came to the festival.
"Fontinalia Festival... such a nostalgic and distant festival..." an elderly person from Gray River sighed with great emotion.
"Wow, has it been that long?" Louis, who had just finished helping the residents, picked up a newspaper and took a look; he looked somewhat surprised.
[T/L: He's from the Gray River Arc if you remember.]
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As the information spread, the preparatory group was also vigorously pushing forward with the work. After determining the general direction of the activities, Furina did not participate much in the detailed decisions, only occasionally offering some suggestions, supervising the staff's work, and the like.
On the streets, decorations for the Fontinalia Festival with a distinct Fontaine flavor were also gradually being installed.
Furina was now free and she was strolling along the main street.
It was a weekday afternoon, and there were not many people on the street; the few wandering passersby also left quickly after greeting Furina.
"Other Me, look at how beautiful the street is!" Furina looked at these decorations and was deeply attracted. After listening to Rina's explanation, she also understood the meaning behind these ornaments.
'Hmph! These things are just passable.' Rina also somewhat acknowledged the effort the staff put into the decorations, but she was stubborn and not very willing to admit it.
Soon, the day of the opening of the Fontinalia Festival arrived.