After dinner, Julia shamelessly insisted on being given a room in the consulate, and her motives were anything but pure.
Tesvelan was desperate to refuse her.
“Julia, what are you up to? Don’t think I don’t know you’re after our Elven Queen Her Majesty. Just go back and stay in your luxurious villa in peace!”
“Hmph. Princess Tesvelan, as I recall, you’re not the highest-ranking person in this consulate, are you? Everything here depends on what Her Majesty the Queen says, doesn’t it, Liv?”
Yes, unfortunately, this consulate now obeyed Queen Livyat’s orders.
The maids would only listen to her commands.
Julia wheedled and pestered, coming up with all sorts of dubious reasons.
For example, the “Seat Without Substance” needed to convene meetings frequently, and gathering at the last minute was troublesome, and Liv needed a caring big sister to look after her daily life—after all, she’d only recently turned into a girl and still wasn’t used to many things.
“As Liv, whom I’ve acknowledged as my little sister, isn’t used to many things. Like putting on clothes, washing her hair, and certain necessary methods and measures for keeping her body clean—someone needs to teach her. I have to fulfill my duties as a big sister!”
No, isn’t that last reason clearly full of ulterior motives?!
Tesvelan was grinding her teeth to dust, while Julia, having gained Liv’s consent, grinned so widely her face nearly split.
Older girls really do have a special charm for little sisters!
Livyat, in fact, knew what they were thinking. She knew what they were up to.
But perhaps she really was a selfish bad girl; she couldn’t do without either of them, nor did she want to be apart from either of them.
At least for now, let things stay as they are.
If she lost the foundation both of them provided, she might end up like duckweed, not knowing where on this continent she would die.
Just like in her previous life, when she died in the sewers.
Shaking her head to chase away those dark thoughts, Livyat continued the “Seat Without Substance” meeting.
She had been thinking about a question she believed was critical for a long time.
And she felt Julia and Tess hadn’t paid enough attention to it.
She needed to voice her thoughts and see if this was the elephant in the room everyone was ignoring. Julia and Tess listened patiently.
“Maybe my perspective has always been too low. When I worked as a clerk, I earned 110 grosso a month. After paying rent, what was left was just enough to eat and dress warmly, with the occasional fried squid or fish soup. If I sent money back to my parents, that month I’d be eating bread, and that was it.”
“The neighbors on Twilight Street didn’t have jobs as respectable as mine. The wages for hard labor might not be lower, but someone like Aunt Susie could only scrape by collecting a little rent, doing laundry and cooking for tenants.”
“But they’re Landingsetters. Even if they aren’t educated, they still learn things from street theater and bards. After those hangings, didn’t they have anything to say about everything that’s happened this year?”
What Liv meant, in plain language, was that these people weren’t serfs or bankrupt slaves from some kingdom.
They were free folk, citizens of the Republic—would they really just watch you do whatever you pleased?
The council and the governor’s office weren’t that far from the lower residential district, and there weren’t castle-like defenses.
If the free citizens really revolted, built barricades, waved banners, how could the nobles possibly sleep at night?
This was something Liv, as a modern person in her past life, believed was self-evident.
But she knew, for Julia and Tess, it wouldn’t be so easy to explain.
Julia was the first to offer her view: “Civilian uprisings do happen fairly often. It’s nothing unusual. Generally, if a small group riots, you just need two battalions of guards to control the key intersections, send in cavalry to break up their first line of defense, and they’ll scatter.”
“Then you squeeze them back into their barricades or even into their apartments, and after that it’s just a matter of clearing each room one by one with pistols and daggers.”
Tesvelan stayed silent, because in her memory, Elven rebellions were exceedingly rare.
The eastern continent was vast and sparsely populated—even the capital didn’t have many residents.
And outside the city, low birth rates among elves meant anyone could easily obtain land, or hope to get some after a period of labor.
Hermits in marshes, mountains, and forests were intimately familiar with the woods around their cabins and could survive through foraging and hunting.
This, in turn, was the origin of humans’ tales of elves’ “natural affinity” magic.
So that’s how it is, Liv thought, already expecting such an answer.
It seemed Julia, her father, and even the Governor, were just like Mrs. Bower—the “respectable types.”
Even if they musters the guards or redeployed the navy, it was all done in the most “respectable” way.
Given that, the plan she had in mind would have to be executed by someone else if it was to really help Sister Julia.
A candidate was already forming in Livyat’s mind.
From every angle, she was perfectly suited.
Irina Veil, her old classmate, was now the only one she could reach who, in theory, could play this card for Julia and the others.
In terms of ideas, Liv trusted that Irina would always stand on her own side, perhaps even more radical—thanks to Professor Antonroni’s teachings.
Liv knew all about that.
But this step was just too dangerous; Liv wasn’t able to control the whole board. She wasn’t really playing chess at all, just pushing pawns and trading pieces.
Or, more vividly, she was playing her favorite mahjong from her past life—drawing tiles, discarding tiles, trying to build a big hand.
But don’t forget, she wasn’t the only one at the table.
What if the tile she discarded gave someone else the win?
So Liv decided to approach Irina a few more times and see if she really fit her expectations.
Anyway, Irina seemed eager to be her friend, didn’t she?
Hehe.
Then pay your friendship fee, Irina.
That’ll teach you to always bully me back at school, always making me do this and that.
Thinking this way, Liv felt a lot better inside.
Tess noticed that Liv was actually humming softly.
With a mischievous grin, she gave Liv’s cheek a sharp pinch, rippling across her skin like morning dew.
“Wah! Ouch, ouch, ouch! Tess, what are you doing!? Let go, let go, let go, wah!”
Julia boldly reached over to pinch her own cheeks as well, her smile growing even more doting.
Fine, fine, if that’s how you want to play, you nobles don’t follow me, I’ll just go to the Finance Office and find Irina.
Livyat got up, ready to go back to the queen’s suite to sleep.
Tesvelan watched her go, reluctant to see her leave, and only after a long while did she notice Julia staring at her with ill intent, her mouth twitching as if barely holding back laughter.
“So you don’t have the right to sleep with Liv either, Your Highness.”
“Julia, say one more word and I swear I’ll throw you out the window.”
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.