The room, adorned in elaborate Baroque style, was draped in a golden veil as sunlight streamed through the glass windows, casting mottled patterns of light and shadow across the space.
Sista Anderson stood with her back to the windows, dressed in a snow-white gown that cascaded to the floor.
Just then, the door was flung open, shattering the room’s tranquility. Su Ling rushed in, breathless, her face a little flustered.
“Your Highness, I’m sorry, I’m late again—” Sista Anderson slowly turned around, her gaze sharp as if she could see through one’s very soul.
“You just started doing better a while ago, and now you’re getting distracted again,” she chided.
“Uh…” Su Ling was momentarily at a loss for words. She had indeed been a bit negligent in her duties lately. “I’m sorry… I just…”
“I know,” said Sista Anderson, “You’re too easy to read. I can tell what you’re thinking at a glance.” Was her expression really that obvious? She had always tried so hard to hide her feelings. Su Ling’s face grew even more awkward.
She bit her lip, then finally summoned her courage and said, “Your Highness, Phil… she’s gone missing. I’m a little worried about her.”
At these words, Sista Anderson fell silent for a moment. “This is indeed strange. There are so many guards patrolling the Royal Capital. How could Phil vanish without a trace? And after several days, there’s still no sign of her—alive or dead.”
A vague sense of unease welled up in Su Ling’s heart. The matter of the guards colluding with vagrants, which Phil had mentioned, wasn’t uncommon, but Sista Anderson seemed completely unaware of it. “Is there something else you want to say?” Sista Anderson keenly sensed her inner turmoil and tilted her head slightly, asking.
Should she tell her or not? If she kept silent, she might avoid some trouble for herself. But if it was related to Phil’s disappearance, wouldn’t she be hiding a crucial clue? Su Ling took a deep breath and finally made up her mind.
She looked up at Sista Anderson. “Your Highness, actually… that day when I went out shopping, I saw some unusual things in the Royal Capital. The city’s guards…”
“The guards?” So Su Ling recounted everything she had witnessed that day, from the vagrants robbing her of her coins to paying the guards a ‘protection fee.’ Sista Anderson’s expression shifted slightly.
“So… the security in the Royal Capital has really gotten this bad?” She pressed her lips together tightly, and after a moment, finally spoke.
“Su Ling, are you telling the truth? The Royal Guard Corps Captain reports to me regularly about the situation in Ansels’s cities, but I’ve never heard of any of this.”
So things were this complicated? Su Ling froze, suddenly regretting her impulsiveness. But what was said could not be taken back, so she could only continue the topic. “I haven’t lied to you.” She watched Sista Anderson nervously, waiting for her reaction.
But Sista Anderson simply stood there, her gaze deep and fixed ahead, as if searching for something in the distance.
“All right, I understand.” Her voice was utterly emotionless, making it impossible for Su Ling to tell whether she believed her or not. “As for Phil, I will continue to send people to search for her. However, you know that the Ritual is approaching, and there can’t be any mistakes in our work.”
At least she’s not angry. Su Ling saw that Sista Anderson had taken the initiative to change the subject and breathed a sigh of relief. She nodded lightly to show her agreement. “Yes, Your Highness, I understand. I’ll do my best.”
Hearing the words “Ritual,” Su Ling remembered something else that made her curious. She recalled that before she disappeared, Phil had mentioned that the food they bought was for the Ritual’s “Last Supper.”
What was so special about this “Last Supper”? But when she looked up at Sista Anderson’s cold and resolute expression, all her questions melted away into silence. They were merely master and servant.
Everything Su Ling did was to please Sista Anderson. If she made her unhappy, even her own life might not be guaranteed. She, Su Ling, and Sista Anderson—there was no equality between them.
All she needed to do was fulfill her tasks like a puppet, neither hearing what she shouldn’t nor doing what she shouldn’t. So, she let out a gentle sigh and buried her curiosity deep in her heart.