“Hey, Hey! I want to go out and play!” Nori had already started getting restless, kicking her legs on the chair. “Sister, come play with me!”
“All right, all right,” Moria stood up and reached out her hand. Nori happily jumped down from the chair, grabbing Moria’s hand, and the two of them walked hand in hand toward the outside of the Conference Hall.
“Are you sure you don’t want to hold the birthday party inside the palace?”
“Nori doesn’t like so many people. Nori just wants Sister Moria to be with me…”
Their figures gradually faded into the distance, and their voices grew softer and softer.
Inside the hall, only Sista and King Steyat remained, facing each other silently.
“Well then, Father King, I will take my leave first…” Sista tidied her long robe, stood up, and was about to walk out the door.
“Wait.”
Steyat called out hoarsely, stopping her.
Sista turned around, the dim light outlining the contours of her hair.
“Does Father King have something else to say?”
“Do you really think this is acceptable?” Steyat’s face once again displayed that hesitant, worried expression just like when he had come to the study late at night to find Sista.
This king was certainly lacking in ability, but his sense of responsibility was sufficient, and he was nothing if not a thorough pessimist.
His position within the court was gradually weakening, and the unrest among the lower-class humans had turned into a storm.
This had caused his temples to visibly gray, and his gaze had grown increasingly blurred.
Sista’s mood was complicated and troubled.
“I’ve already said, if Moria thinks this is acceptable, then that’s how it will be handled.”
“But this kind of thing isn’t happening for the first time,” Steyat finally revealed a slightly more serious expression. “Humans are beginning to refuse the rule of the Blood Clan.”
“Even if something really happens, Moria will handle these matters,” Sista replied lightly. “You don’t need to worry about this.”
No matter how much the king asked, Sista would say no more. Right now, it was just temporary interests keeping them united. Sista always knew King Steyat would never truly belong to their side.
In the world of the Blood Clan, compared to bloodlines, interests were the most lasting and stable ties. She and this middle-aged man standing before her had walked on different paths from the start. One day, the two would inevitably part ways.
Hearing Sista’s words, Steyat nodded thoughtfully. He steadied himself by gripping the edge of the long table and slowly stood up, adjusting the golden crown that glittered atop his head.
“Let it be so,” he said weakly. “May the Goddess bless the Blood Clan to remain forever noble.”
He took heavy steps, his figure slightly stooped. His footsteps echoed through the Conference Hall as his aging form disappeared beyond the door.
Sista stood silently in place, a bitter smile tugging at the corner of her lips.
Outside, the sky began to drizzle.
“Forever noble… how is that possible.”
When the hall was left with only herself, Sista muttered softly.
Su Ling recalled the day she had smelled that scent on Sista, the fragrance was different from the usual slightly sweet floral scent, carrying a faint bitterness.
Blooming at the edge of the underworld, the petals were like silk threads light and slender, with a vivid crimson or pure white like snow. The flower bloomed for a season, its leaves falling over a year, always carrying a sense of melancholy beauty.
If the flower was blood red, it would somewhat resemble her.
The way she looked so unguarded while asleep that day if they spent more time together, maybe Su Ling could understand more of her true self.
Though she always emphasized her status as a member of the Blood Clan, in her heart she longed for equal relationships. It was truly hard to figure her out.
In the kitchen, heat and steam mingled into a haze. Busy figures darted about, and a few servants gathered chatting. As Su Ling approached, the vague words gradually became clearer, like streams converging into a river, washing over her ears.
“Hey… have you heard? Something big seems to have happened near the Holy White River!” A sharp-voiced male servant said excitedly. “This news hasn’t spread yet I overheard it from some of the gate guards.”
“Shh… lower your voice, don’t let the steward hear,” a female servant whispered, her eyes flickering with unease. “I heard too. Last week it was just small pamphlets, but recently some people have risen up, saying they want to resist those heavy taxes they can’t make ends meet.”
“Really?” Another female servant’s voice carried shock and curiosity. “That’s bold. How could the nobles just let that slide?”
“Exactly. And the Blood Clan treats us so well, what reason would they have to rebel?”
Su Ling’s heart tightened. She leaned lightly against the doorframe, her gaze piercing through the noise as if it could see beyond the high walls of the mansion, toward those lands about to be engulfed in conflict. Her feelings were a tangled mix.
Sure enough, it was about time.
Although she hadn’t read the latter parts of the novel carefully, judging by the current situation and Sista’s antagonistic identity, she could roughly guess the kingdom’s future upheavals.
She looked at the servants in front of her. Although their words were full of respect and loyalty toward the Blood Clan, after all, they were humans raised and mentally conditioned in Anxing Academy from childhood.
The cage of Blood Clan ideological control could not cover the entire kingdom; those even lower-class humans must have long harbored much resentment.
The sparks of anger would inevitably spread, igniting this land.
“When that time comes, what am I supposed to do?”
Su Ling squinted at the window, where a bright Round Moon hung in the dark sky, looking somewhat lonely.
She had once imagined, like the protagonists in those online web novels, receiving a golden finger system, using extraordinary wisdom and courage to rise step by step, and finally reaching the peak of another world.
But in the end, a fantasy was still just a fantasy.
Everything before her eyes might seem like a romantic novel to others, but to her, it was a very real reality.
Su Ling was an ordinary girl, a maid inside the castle. She had no golden finger intelligence nor any genius abilities. All she could do was strive to live each day well, always remaining vigilant toward everything around her.
“Hey, hey, hey! Girls, boys! Didn’t I already say? The kitchen isn’t your Conference Hall. If you don’t want to lose your heads, eat properly and stop gossiping!”
Amane came in holding a broom, swatting at the men and women in the kitchen like shooing flies. Everyone hurriedly dispersed those who needed to eat ate, those who needed to work went to work.