Chapter 931 — Reminder
Blade of Dawn · Page 2 of 4
"'Raising' does not bring a human to full maturity. Where experience is concerned, the individual must draw the lessons and grasp them alone," Dailan said bluntly. "You had not received adequate training either before you became emperor, and yet the facts prove you far surpass those carefully 'manufactured' heirs."
Luo Yan fell silent a moment, then shook his head with a smile. "Only you dare say such things outright."
"It is the answer that best accords with the facts and best serves the interests of the realm," Dailan replied, in a tone soft yet with little emotional fluctuation. "That is precisely why I do not understand the choices made back then by Prince Malik and by Dukes Fabro and Colmanroni."
"Because humans are not machines. We are always full of variables; to keep humans forever rational is itself a vain hope," Luo Yan said with a slight shake of his head. Then he suddenly fixed his gaze on the black-haired maid beside him, his expression turning rather grave. "You will still serve the next sovereign of Typhon, will you not?"
"So long as I am still able to provide service," Dailan said meticulously. "It is the contract set down after the ancestors of the Augustus family took me in and provided the necessary repairs."
"I trust that contract. In this respect you are far more reliable than humans," Luo Yan said with a faint smile, then waved a hand. "Let us set this aside. Tell me the rumors going around the city lately—is there anything worth noting?"
"There is nothing noteworthy among the common folk, but since two days ago some unusual reports have come out of the Mages' Association," the black-haired maid said. "The mages say that something has gone wrong when they pray to the Goddess of Magic—their prayers receive no response, as though the Goddess of Magic's last sliver of attention upon the mortal world has vanished as well."
"The Goddess of Magic?" Luo Yan could not help frowning. "Now even the Goddess of Magic is having problems…"
Then he glanced at Dailan. "And what is Lady Windsor Mabel doing?"
"She is gathering the mages' reports and organizing people to run tests—since the mages have never formed a religious body, it is hard to determine who should investigate the anomaly concerning the Goddess of Magic, so in the end she will likely come to you to report the situation."
Luo Yan's expression was grim and grave, and he had already sunk into thought when Dailan's voice trailed off. It was at that moment that yet another new presence stepped into the royal garden.
Dailan looked toward the direction the life-signature had come from, and moments later a senior attendant in a dark blue tunic appeared at the end of the cobblestone path.
"Your Majesty," the senior attendant bowed to Luo Yan Augustus, "a 'dedicated-line dispatch' from the Cecil Empire, bearing the royal seal."
"Dedicated-line dispatch?" Luo Yan's expression turned serious at once. "Bring me the letter."
The dedicated-line dispatch was a new thing that had emerged only after Matilda completed her diplomatic mission to Cecil and the two nations established closer diplomatic ties, built upon modern communications technology. Unlike the old "state letters," which required long transmission and complicated diplomatic formalities to pass between the rulers of two nations—sometimes such "delivery" could take as long as several months—the dedicated-line dispatch was a "letter" transmitted swiftly by means of the Cecil Empire's arcane-net communications and the Typhon Empire's relay tower network.