☀️ Arselia and Akonia

"I see, things are more complicated than they seem. Thank you for the clarification."

-- You're welcome.

-- Don't joke like that, or you might think you're pushing me to commit a crime in order to get a casus belli, even though you have immunity in this case, or you keep an antidote in your pocket. Don't worry, we don't have anything like that in our headquarters, you're not in danger. Etiquette dictates that I should greet guests properly.

"The forge has lead, but it takes too long to work. Or is that a good thing? No one will be able to connect the poisoning to us; maybe the senator's son just drank water from old pipes out of ignorance, right?"

- Freedom in such a vulgar form is overrated. Do you think I'm here by my own choice? This woman simply fulfilled her duty to her monarch, that's all. There's nothing to be sad about in this story.

-- I'm sorry, but... That's exactly what I think, that it's by your own choice. Maybe this assignment isn't the best option of all the places you could be, but if you didn't enjoy the very principle of reconnaissance, you wouldn't be doing it. You simply wouldn't be as good at it as you are now, Sir Shen, and therefore no one would give you such an assignment.

-- However, I don't see the point in deconstructing all of this, since you yourself said a minute ago that you enjoyed playing hide-and-seek...

-- I respect fulfilling one's duty to the monarch, and that's one of the reasons I love this queen, but I still disagree that "freedom is overrated." Quite the contrary, people often underestimate freedom. Royal chambers are considered a sign of success, but tell me, if they become a comfortable prison, what do they really give you? Does wealth have value in itself, or in the opportunities it opens up for a person?

-- In my opinion, it doesn't. On the contrary, it's better to be poor than to live in a casemate made of pillows, because in the second case, you only have one small, albeit pleasant, place at your disposal... But if you have nothing, the whole world is your home, the generous Anush will welcome you in Margel, Mindin, or any other province of the vast Empire, anything can open up to your gaze, and no one will demand an account of your actions... Only the fences of human houses will be forbidden to you, but is that so bad? They make up a tiny part of the total area and a tiny fraction of all the wonders of the planet.

-- The more vectors of action a person has, the better it is for that person. Of course, sometimes some of these vectors are replaced with something better; a vast valley can be replaced by a narrow path through a mountain pass leading to happiness. But this should be a very careful, targeted substitution, and with the internal consent of the person himself, otherwise the whole meaning is lost. Therefore, your position is understandable to me, but I adhere to a different one.

How about it, is it okay?

-- I don't understand your language, but... Indeed, you have a way with words. Well, thank you for the pleasant conversation.

"It somewhat compensates for your intrusion."