Seraphina sat in her room, several hours having passed since she had eavesdropped on Ansel and Saville's conversation.
The maturing girl cleverly pretended to exercise for a couple of hours before discussing vacation matters with Ansel and finally returning to her room, appearing completely oblivious.
Facing the blank sheet of paper on her desk, the young girl pondered.
Although she couldn't understand most of what Ansel said, she grasped the key content she desired.
[If the Count of Stoneheart wants to continue exploiting, let him do it. I don't care.]
What did this imply? It indicated that the man blatantly disregarded the commoners of the Red Frost territory! He only sought to elevate his reputation through various underhanded means... though she didn't know the purpose.
However, this was irrelevant; the opportunity to expose Hydral's wickedness had arrived!
"That Count of Stoneheart, who wants to implement policies oppressing the commoners... must be up to no good," the girl muttered, scribbling on the paper.
"While Hydral appears to do things beneficial to the commoners on the surface, he doesn't care whether his policies are implemented or not."
She circled a, well, sea urchin-like "stone" and then circled a twisted "snake."
"So..." Seraphina's eyes brightened, "as long as everyone knows these two things, Hydral's reputation will be ruined! That guy, who is so concerned about his image and reputation, will surely implement the policies immediately to remedy the situation! Two birds with one stone!"
"Ah, I'm a genius!"
The young wolf cheered excitedly, then quickly lowered her voice, glancing around cautiously as her excitement faded.
"...No, it doesn't seem that simple," Seraphina scratched her head.
"They've all been fooled by Hydral, and even Marlina doesn't believe me. No one will listen to me... I need evidence, yes, evidence."
She swiftly drew a, a... peculiar polygonal object on the paper.
"That crystal, yes, the image crystal... the thing Hydral used when dealing with that what what baron. If I can get that and secretly record Hydral's words..."
Seraphina paused, circling the "image crystal" and connecting it to the "snake" before suddenly frowning and erasing the line.
"No no no, that won't work... Hydral is too cunning, and the old butler appears and disappears mysteriously. It's too easy to be discovered."
So, Seraphina could only focus on the "stone."
"... The Count of Stoneheart," the girl rubbed her chin, "his manor's defense is so poor that even a garbage assassin could get in. Wouldn't it be easy for me to sneak in?"
She searched her memory for the manor's layout and recalled Ansel's words —[He's a wise man who knows what to do.]
"Does that mean... the Count of Stoneheart might have guessed Hydral's intentions? In that case, there might be more evidence or something at his place!"
Miss Young Wolf stood up, pacing excitedly around the room, feeling immensely proud of her extraordinary insight and intelligence.
Ha, they wanted to cooperate? Dream on!
"In that case, considering the timing... I can't just leave the image crystal there for four or five days. I need to determine when I can capture the crucial evidence..."
The girl's worries resurfaced, her shoulders drooping and her expression troubled. "But how am I supposed to know that —"
"Seri~"
Marlina entered the room, "Lord Hydral just sent me a basket of fruit. You... Seri? What are you doing?"
The gentle older sister looked curiously at her younger sister, who was sprawled across the small round table, wondering what she was up to.
"I... I'm stretching my body."
Seraphina laughed awkwardly, stretching her limbs and rolling off the table, crumpling her abstract plan and stuffing it into her pocket.
Marlina looked her up and down for a moment, not saying much, and placed the fruit on the table, softly saying, "You just finished exercising not long ago, have some fruit first."
To avoid arousing her sister's suspicion, Seraphina obediently sat down and grabbed a piece of fruit, munching on it while her eyes darted around sneakily.
Marlina, however, seemed lost in thought, not noticing Seraphina's odd behavior.
"Marli, MarliMarli!"
Seraphina reached out and shook her sister's shoulder forcefully, "What are you daydreaming about?"
"... Nothing, I was just thinking that Lord Hydral must be very busy lately, and I don't seem to be able to help him."
Marlina sighed, "Lord Hydral's edicts are about to be implemented, but when I was studying earlier, he told me... many nobles, either openly or secretly, will not obey his orders."
Upon hearing this, Seraphina's face immediately soured, thinking that the hypocritical man was deceiving people again, and couldn't help but blurt out, "What's he worried about? He casually killed the Count of Red Frost, and those nobles are scared to death of him. If Hydral really wants to do something, what difficulties could there be?"
"Seri, politics is not that simple... problems cannot be solved solely through killing and violence," Marlina said helplessly, looking at Seraphina with fruit juice and pulp all over her mouth, and wiped her mouth with a handkerchief.
"Lord Hydral can deter many nobles, but if the nobles who have already formed factions unite, he cannot execute anyone at will. If everyone dies, who will manage the territory?"
— Of course, this was just common sense. In reality, any slightly intelligent noble would be terrified of Hydral, and if Ansel were determined to forcefully implement his edicts, he could indeed succeed.
This was the "absolute" Ansel spoke of.
As for Marlina... she clearly didn't understand Ansel's true nature as well as Seraphina did. The conclusion she had just reached was not something Ansel had told her, but rather something she had deduced based on her current knowledge and perspective.
At this point, Marlina sighed again, "The Count of Stoneheart was obviously very close to Lord Hydral... why did he suddenly become the biggest opposition? Lord Hydral said that the Count of Stoneheart will gather many nobles tomorrow to discuss the edicts, as the deadline for implementation is approaching. I don't know what Lord Hydral plans to do—"
"MARLI!" Seraphina shouted, interrupting her sister and startling her.
"What, what's wrong?"
"What did you just say?!" The girl stood up, leaning on the table, "What is the Count of Stoneheart going to do tomorrow?"
"He will... gather nobles to discuss policies... what's wrong?" Seeing Seraphina's excited appearance, Marlina, who knew her very well, suddenly had a very bad feeling.
What was Seri... planning to do?
"Oh... oh! I see, um, ahem, it's nothing, just a bit curious."
Realizing that her reaction was indeed a bit excessive, Seraphina laughed and, unable to find a suitable reason on the spot, made one up.
She grabbed a piece of fruit from the basket and prepared to run out.
"Seri!"
Marlina called out to her sternly, her expression extremely serious, "What are you planning to do?"
"Go out and exercise!"
Using this excuse that Marlina could not find fault with, Seraphina excitedly dashed out.
Now, she just needed to solve one thing.
Miss Young Wolf clenched her fists secretly.
Get that damned image crystal!