☀️ Arselia and Akonia

— Well, the answer is this: it wasn't us who could have prevented it, but he, Shen Shao, possibly could have. He claims so, although if you look at it closely, there was and is no reason to believe him. He gave us an ultimatum, and I honestly tried to negotiate with him, but they resolutely and firmly reached a dead end, not least because the interlocutor immediately positioned himself as our enemy. I wonder, what was the ultimatum? Well, he broke into my room in the middle of the night and said that he would, as a favor, solve our problem if Carneol betrayed Her Highness the Sovereign and switched to the side of Mindjin. Given the fortunate absence of the First Princess, the matter could even have been given official status: if a certain document were signed by Milady and me, that would be it.

— There was really no reason to believe him at his word. However, the proposal itself, — Alaria frowned, — to be honest, sounds very strange. Based on the wording of what Shen Shao said earlier, it seemed as if he was offering some kind of informal cooperation. But now you are talking about an official transfer under the control of his family. But our current contracts, as far as I know, do not obligate us to work for Carneol for years — we can easily leave and go our own way at the beginning of next month. And mine doesn't even imply mandatory participation in missions. Legally, you can hardly force a person to act against the interests of Welfern, while being a part of it. Unless he had some reason to force us to obey. Assuming that Shen Shao has a way to protect Kridear, this is possible. Because otherwise, — the inquisitor spreads her hands, — the sacred meaning of this elaborate scheme escapes me. It is unlikely that Mindjin has such a shortage of competent personnel or finances to find them that they desperately need our squad.

— On the one hand, considering everything: firstly, the guaranteed malice, and secondly, the very likely lie; I don't think I had any other choice. On the other hand, I still want to apologize for being noticeably lower and more down-to-earth than the image you have built around me. That I don't know everything and cannot provide an ideal future, and save those who I would like to save.

Alaria never placed Erefir on a pedestal of impeccability and infallibility, and therefore this, well, coquetry, to put it mildly, seemed very strange to her. And Klin would hardly benefit from such apologies. However, she kept her thoughts to herself.