“Miss Ling Yue, did you notice anything?”

Tanya put away the letter Ling Yue wrote . Ling Yue wrote a letter and asked Tanya to rush through the night to deliver it to her husband at Hilles city before she could even get in a meal . Tanya didn’t know what the letter was about, but Ling Yue was evidently treating it as an urgent matter . She was so rushed that she didn’t even have time to heat up the stamp and sealed it with her saliva, instead . She didn’t write anything on the envelope either . Tanya didn’t dare to read the contents .

“Yes, I’ve noticed lots of things, and I’m aware of the unrest in the city . I’m worried for my husband . He doesn’t know that there’s no longer anyone loyal to him in this palace; in other words, n.o.body in the palace has any respect for their King anymore . They touched my husband’s stuff and took one his items .

“What is it?”

“I’m not sure; it’s probably a seal . My husband has one on him, maybe two, but I’ve only seen it once . I saw it when he signed some doc.u.ments . At the time, he signed the doc.u.ments at that desk . He then placed the seal in his drawer, but it was missing when I checked yesterday . ”

“Is your memory that amazing?”

“It’s not that I have an impressive memory, but because there was a certain part of the drawer that wasn’t covered in dust . Technically, there was a thin layer . We foxes are very sensitive to our environment . We notice even subtle changes . The maids said that n.o.body touched the drawer, but something was missing . Further, that’s something a King uses to sign doc.u.ments . It’s worth the dignity of a King . My husband only uses the seal when he comes back to this so-called free city, a city of sin where morals and laws have been dumped . I’ve informed him that his seal was stolen in this letter . ”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” replied Tanya . “However, it is too dangerous for you to stay here by yourself . My other duty is to protect you . ”

“It’s been just one short year . Tanya, have you noticed something different? I remember that you wanted to kill me in the past, yet here you are now doing your utmost to protect me . Tanya, I really want to be friends with you, but it seemed impossible from the very beginning . ”

“I need to protect and respect you for you are His Majesty’s wife . Additionally, from my perspective, you are different to the anthropoids that I once met . If anthropoids could be together with you, I would not have suffered those misfortunes . ”

“All anthropoids are the same as me . Though there may be strange, bad and schemers among us, we can all converse . Those who attacked you are what we call beasts . ” Ling Yue laughed . She gently wagged her tail and then scrubbed Tanya’s head . With a smile, she commanded, “Hurry and go . My husband and your King’s rule rides on this . I’m certain it should be an important manner . I will remain here and find out where the seal is . ”

“You must be more careful, then . If something befalls you, I really will have no home to return to . ”

Tanya departed . Ling Yue then touched the face of Liu Yue, who was sleeping on the bed .

Ling Yue thought, “My daughter looks so cute and innocent . She’s now my only treasure . The place we’re currently at is far from safe, though . The people in this palace are probably not the people who were present when I came here last . The maids and guards have been switched . In essence, the people in the palace at this current time are no longer those who served Troy . I now know their secret, which means I could be exposed to danger at any given moment . The maids and guards could attack me at any moment as they don’t support me or serve me . They’re loyal to some organisation that I have yet to identify .

This city is the so-called free city . Behind the light on the surface and the freedom in the past has given birth to far too much darkness . I can’t see any freedom, beauty or liberation in this city . All I can see is a city of deceit, violence and manipulation from the shadows .

This city calls itself the free city; nevertheless, there is no supreme power maintaining it, which means somebody is manipulating the so-called freedom . This sort of freedom is nothing but endless torment and slavery to the majority . Everybody pursues freedom . But alas, freedom always belongs to power .

Only with absolute power is there absolute freedom . Freedom can only be achieved by submitting to power . That is the purpose of a system . The fates of the ordinary folks in a nation that’s split are all tragic, whereas Hilles City’s tramps are able to make it through life . Had it not been for the system Elizabeth implemented, how could humanity firmly advance? Had my husband not united the North, it would be desolate now . ”

When she looked at the North as it stood, Ling Yue didn’t doubt what she once did as being incorrect . Her husband may have killed lots of defenceless soldiers and beheaded an entire city’s anthropoids, but it was a necessary part of establis.h.i.+ng a system . It was a necessary step for her husband to control the North . Ling Yue knew it looked cruel . In saying that, only absolute power could provide absolute security and freedom . Ling Yue understood what sort of lives the anthropoids formerly led, which was why she was satisfied with Troy’s current approach .

Ling Yue had two choices: she could pretend to be oblivious to what happened and live out her days in peace, ignoring everything and taking responsibility for nothing . She, therefore, would remain safe until her husband returned if she chose . Nevertheless, that would give the thieves, who stole the seal, enough time to erase their involvement and settle the matter .

“They might have even returned the seal by the time my husband arrives . Since the city no longer belongs to Troy, they should have him in the palm of their hands by now . If I investigate the matter, though, my daughter might end up in danger . I’m not worried for myself, but Liu Yue still can’t transform into a fox . In addition, I can’t bring Liu Yue along with me when I investigate it . Who can I trust, then? Though these guards served by my husband’s side, could they oppose an entire city? Shall I prioritise my daughter or my husband?” brooded Ling Yue .

Liu Yue rolled over, thereby cutting off Ling Yue’s train of thought . Ling Yue looked at her daughter’s sleeping face and took in a deep breath .