Yes, Lady Funina!

After Clementine left, Peruvier unconsciously glanced to her right, and upon discovering that Richard was also looking at her, she subtly returned her gaze to the little spider.

"Aren't you leaving?" Peruvieri asked.

"Hmm? Am I bothering you by staying here?"

"No, but don't you get bored just watching spiders like that?"

"A little bit indeed."

"Then why don't you leave?" Peruvieri thought Richard was indeed a strange adult.

If you're bored, why stay here? Besides... you're all adults. [Mother] is so busy she's constantly on her feet, but Richard is so leisurely, he even has time to sit with her in the garden watching spiders.

"You want me to leave?" Richard countered.

“Whatever,” Peruvieri replied, not giving a direct answer.

Richard smiled at this and said, "Personally, I prefer large animals like foxes to spiders."

"Because of its strength, it has a wide hunting range?" Peruvieri asked.

Compared to spiders, foxes are indeed much stronger.

"No, don't you think foxes are cute?"

“Cute?” Peruvieri didn’t understand what was so good about being cute. When hunting, prey wouldn’t stop just because you’re cute.

"Yes, logically speaking, shouldn't you girls all like cute, furry animals?"

"Spiders are also hairy."

"Um..." Li realized that this fluffy thing couldn't be considered cute at all.

Seeing Richard choking, Peruvier turned back to the spider that had finished eating, her face expressionless. She tossed the remains of her prey aside and lay dormant in the shadows, waiting for the next prey to fall from the sky.

Unfortunately, the little spider probably won't get a second prey, because Peruvée only plans to feed it one insect today.

After closing the lid, Peruvieri stood up, took a few steps into the room, paused, turned to Richard, hesitated for a moment, and then asked, "Are you going back?"

This was the first time Peruvieri had asked someone if they wanted to go back to the house together before leaving, so she seemed a little nervous and held the spider culture box with a bit of force.

"Then go back."

Richard naturally responded positively to Peruvier's 'goodwill'.

Peruvieri relaxed her grip on the culture box slightly, her face remaining expressionless. After receiving Richard's response, she turned around and walked back into the room, but her steps were slow, as if she was waiting for the person behind her to catch up.

……

Richard has been staying at the Hearth House for almost a week now, and it's clear that the Hearth House seems to be having some trouble with his identity.

The Mo Mang Palace in Fontaine has recently been cracking down on crime, with a particularly strict focus on identity theft.

Not only did Richard fail to properly identify himself, but even the spies who had previously infiltrated the Hearth House were exposed.

It's estimated that Richard won't be able to get the identity he wants anytime soon.

It is precisely for this reason that Mother Kujavina has not appeared at the Hearth House these past few days, presumably to handle this matter personally.

Of course, it's also possible that she felt she had lost face in front of Richard because of this mistake, and therefore didn't want to see him again.

This is clearly her kingdom, yet as its queen, she now has to avoid an outsider, which makes Kujavina feel somewhat aggrieved.

Of course, neither Richard nor the children of the Hearth House knew about Kujavina's frustration.

For them, nothing is more enjoyable than a sunny afternoon.

As usual, Peruvieri was feeding the little spiders under the big tree in the yard, one of the few places in the yard that was shaded by the dense canopy.

Spiders prefer shade, and so does Peruvée.

"Don't you want to get some sun? It's good for your health," Richard said to Peruvier, who was crouching in the sunlight and in the shade.

“I don’t want to,” Peruvieri replied without looking up.

Richard shrugged. Although he had grown closer to Peruvier these days, he still couldn't get her to do anything else.

Even just basking in the sun.

In contrast to the progress on Peruvier's side, Richard and Clementine are getting along very well.

Richard found it hard to believe that a woman like Kujavina could give birth to such an obedient, cheerful, and kind child.

If it weren't for the strikingly similar beauty of the mother and daughter, Richard would have truly believed that this child was an orphan, just like the other children in the Hearth House.

However... it doesn't matter much to Clementine.

Despite being mother and daughter, Kujavina truly treated them equally, showing no favoritism towards Clementine because she was her biological daughter, but genuinely regarding her as a member of the Hearth House.

A...experiment.

"Do you remember when I promised to go fishing in the lake with Clementine?" Richard asked, changing his approach.

After casually tossing the small insect aside, Peruvieri glanced up at Richard, then at Clementine walking out of the house with a harpoon in the distance, and pursed her lips, saying, "I remember."

She didn't really want to go, but Clementine kept nagging her all day long.

Spiders don't eat fish.

"Shall we go then?" Richard asked.

Peruvieri didn't reply. Instead, she put the little spider and its prey into the culture box and then stood up.

"Pepe, Richard, let's go!"

From a distance, Clementine put her hands to her mouth, making a megaphone shape, and shouted loudly.

The loud shouts drew the attention of all the children from the surrounding fireplace houses, and Peruvieri was clearly annoyed by Clementine's 'ostentatious' behavior.

For someone as gloomy as her, Clementine standing in the sunlight was dazzling.

So she hid in Richard's shadow.

But in the shadows, the corners of Peruvieri's mouth turned up slightly, but quickly returned to their normal shape.

A smile doesn't suit her.

Clementine's fishing skills were less than impressive. Peruvier, on the other hand, simply dipped her hand into the water and caught a fish firmly in her grasp. No matter how much the fish struggled, it couldn't escape the large hand that was destined for it.

On the other hand, Clementine, holding a harpoon, stared intently at the water's surface, but had yet to catch anything.

Our reliable Mr. Richard, like Peruvian, also put his hand underwater without using any tools.

A barely perceptible purple light flashed, and Richard easily caught a fish.

Compared to the fish that kept thrashing about in Peruvieri's hands, the fish in Richard's hands seemed exceptionally 'obedient,' as if they had resigned themselves to their fate.

And there are many more fish like these on the shore.

"Hmm..." Clementine looked at the three of them and realized that she seemed to be the only one who had gained nothing, and she couldn't help but feel a little discouraged.

But Clementine quickly perked up again. When she saw Peruvieri catch yet another lively fish, she dropped her harpoon and ran to her side, splashing in the water as she called out, "Pepe, let me help you!"

After the tense and exciting fishing process, watching the six or seven plump fish jumping around on the shore, Clay wiped away imaginary sweat from her forehead.

She deserves half the credit for this!

Now it was time to savor the fruits of their labor. Richard set up a grill, lit the firewood with his fire elemental power, and then (scratch that) gutted the fish he had caught, sprinkled them with some salt and seasonings, and skewered them on tree branches to grill.

Following suit, Peruvier strung up the fish she had caught. Seeing Clementine frantically trying to 'subdue' the struggling fish, she calmly handed the strung fish to Clementine and then swiftly strung up the fish that Clementine was dealing with.

Everything seemed so beautiful, like a fairy tale.

Chapter 222 Peruvian (Part 2)

[The Servant] wandered aimlessly down the bustling commercial street. She had originally intended to find Richard to discuss the arrangements for the remaining children of the Hearth House, but she suddenly remembered that it was a weekday and Richard was still at work. Even if she went to him, he probably wouldn't have any free time.

Thinking of this, the servant was no longer in a hurry to find Richard, but instead prepared to find a place to sit down and quietly wait for him to get off work.

In fact, as the fourth executive officer of the Fools, [Servant] Arecino's workload is certainly no less than that of Richard, Fucarus, and Navelette.

But for some reason, Arecino didn't feel the urgency to work today. Perhaps she was being sentimental and thinking about the past, or perhaps she was feeling weary from working for so long.

In short, consider it a short vacation for yourself...

With that thought in mind, Arecino unconsciously turned into a coffee shop.

The weather today wasn't great, but it wasn't too bad either; it was overcast. Because it was a weekday, there weren't many people in the coffee shop.

After arriving at her familiar spot, Arecino picked up the menu and casually selected a black coffee and two small cakes adorned with two cherries.

The shop owner was a woman of similar age to Arecino, with a slender figure, a beautiful face, and gorgeous pink hair that resembled rose petals.

She always greets customers with a warm smile, which makes her look dazzling.

But unfortunately, it wasn't her after all.

"The usual?" The manager seemed to recognize Arecino and called out to her from behind the counter, where she was already seated.

Arecino put down the menu in her hand, looked at the coffee shop manager, nodded slightly and said, "Yes."

In this way, the menu becomes useless.

It's clear that this isn't Alejandro's first time at this coffee shop. She always orders the same coffee and snacks, and with such an outstanding appearance, it's hard to forget her.

Soon the dishes were served by the owner himself. Arecino nodded her thanks, but soon noticed that one of the two cakes she had ordered was tightly packed away.

Arecino looked at the manager with some surprise, not understanding why he would do such a thing.

“Miss Arecino always orders two small cakes when she comes to the store, but she only eats one each time, leaving the other untouched on her seat. I don’t know why she does that, but it’s not good to waste food…” the store manager said, holding up one finger.

Moreover, to avoid waste, Alejandro would always eat the leftover piece of cake, since she couldn't just resell the cake that had already been sold to other customers, could she?

Doing this once or twice is fine, but recently Arecino has been coming to the café much more often, and if this continues... she'll get fat!

"So, to avoid waste and to thank our loyal customers, I'll be offering free takeaway service from now on." The shop owner put her hands on her hips, looking like she was about to praise me, but then she glanced around and whispered to Arecino, "Don't tell anyone, okay? This is a secret between the two of us!"

Arecino chuckled, a slight smile playing on her lips, and said softly, "Thank you."

At the same time, the image in my mind overlapped with the scene in front of me.

……

"Don't tell anyone, okay? This is a secret between the two of us!" Clementine instructed Peruvieri.

Seeing her serious expression, Peruvieri could only nod helplessly in agreement, but she didn't understand the meaning behind her actions.

After all, she really couldn't understand why they had to hold a belated welcome ceremony for Richard. He had already been at the Hearth House for almost two weeks, so even if they were to hold one, it was still a bit too late.

And what kind of welcoming ceremony could the two of them possibly put on?

Seemingly sensing that Peruvieri wasn't in high spirits, Clementine gave a mysterious smile.

"Hmph, I've been preparing for this for a long time!" Clementine said proudly, raising her head.

She had had a similar idea a week ago and had been preparing for it ever since.

Clementine originally intended to tell Peruvier, but considering Peruvier's personality, she decided to do it herself and tell her when the plan was about to be launched.

There's a saying, isn't there? It's like forcing someone to have sex with you... wait, no, it's more like making it a fait accompli.

If I'm all prepared, surely Peipei won't leave with me?

They are best friends!

"So what have you prepared?" Peruvieri glanced behind Crevie, where there was a box covered with cloth.

"Hmph~" Clementine knew that Peruvieri had discovered the clues behind her back.

She raised her little head, then turned around and lifted the curtain covering the box.

"Qiang Qiang~"

As the curtain was lifted, a cardboard box came into Peruvier's view. Before Peruvier could ask any questions, Clementine came to the box and opened the seal on top of it.

Peruvieri leaned closer and saw the contents of the cardboard box. The contents were numerous and messy, but mostly food, including fruit, cookies, and small cakes served on a plate.

"How about it? This is all the money I've saved up over the years. Is it enough to throw a welcome party?" Clementine looked at me with a face full of praise, and seemed extremely excited.

She had been keeping this secret for several days, and she should have kept it a little longer, but she didn't expect Peruvieri to be so observant and see through her disguise in an instant.

In fact, Clementine was unaware that Peruvier had noticed her unusual behavior several days earlier, but she simply didn't say it outright. After all, Clementine practically had "I have a secret" written all over her face, making it hard for anyone not to notice.

“It’s enough, but are you sure these fruits will last until that day?” Peruvieri reached out and picked up an apple. The apple’s skin was already a little wrinkled, and it wasn’t as hard as when it was freshly picked; it was starting to soften.

"Huh?" Clementine was taken aback.