In the end, La Folia only said she'd contact them tomorrow before leaving with a grave expression, leaving the space to Lacus and Luo Shu.
"How unusual... to see her emotions written so plainly on her face."
Gazing at the now-closed door, Lacus murmured with some surprise.
Luo Shu simply shrugged:
"Considering she left with just that expression, La Folia's actually quite good at controlling her emotions. After all, I just threatened her like that..."
He glanced towards the door before continuing:
"Honestly, I thought she might lose her temper. Didn't expect her to hold it in."
"She's not the type to let emotions override reason."
Lacus shook her head, giving Luo Shu a meaningful look as she cautioned:
"Don't underestimate her inner strength."
"For La Folia, your threat isn't what truly concerns her. What she really cares about is whether other royal family members might threaten the direct line's control over the kingdom."
"Even if she refuses to trade the Class for Soul Summoning Art, as long as we persist in obtaining it and approach other royals, eventually some power-hungry family member will agree to exchange the art for power."
"At that point, control of the situation would slip from her hands - even the queen's."
"So, no matter how harsh the conditions, unless completely unacceptable, La Folia will agree to our terms. The only question is how long it takes."
Here, Lacus smiled wryly:
"I was originally planning to adopt a transactional stance with other members of the Aldegia Royal Family to make La Folia concede, but I never expected you'd choose this approach instead."
Hearing this, Luo Shu merely smiled, showing no intention of apologising for complicating matters as he replied cheerfully:
"I understand your point. But aren't you two friends?"
"Things getting too ugly between friends isn't ideal."
"Moreover, applying relentless pressure would only make sense if La Folia weren't a Familia candidate."
"Given that La Folia does possess the qualifications, forcing too many concessions from her doesn't seem wise to me. After all, we'll need to work together in the future."
"So rather than your approach, I preferred giving La Folia a suggestion – to voluntarily bind the Aldegia Kingdom to our cause."
Lacus chuckled softly at this: "Is that why you just proposed that the Hidden Management Department faces no restrictions on disseminating Classes, with only notification obligations as a condition?"
"You're suggesting that if she wants more royal family members to gain Class abilities, they should join the Hidden Management Department?"
"Exactly." Luo Shu nodded frankly. "That condition does carry that implication. And by my estimate, La Folia should have realised this already."
Seeing Luo Shu's candour, Lacus appeared genuinely surprised:
"Are the Aldegia Royal Family's Spirit Medium constitutions particularly suited to becoming Familia?"
"If there were only one or two Familia Candidates, it wouldn't justify this approach, would it?"
Luo Shu frowned slightly, his expression turning hesitant:
"Not all of them are ideally suited, but at the very least, La Folia's two younger sisters and one aunt likely have high compatibility probabilities."
"Including the confirmed case of La Folia herself, that means the Aldegia Royal Family could potentially provide four Familia members."
"Given those numbers, I chose to make that earlier proposal."
Pausing to organise his thoughts, Luo Shu continued seriously:
"Though whether this succeeds still requires time to verify."
"As crown princess and future heir, La Folia wouldn't immediately adopt Class abilities originating from us – powers whose foundations we control."
"Meanwhile, the other two princesses, being non-primary heirs, would be politically ineligible to avoid speculation about the queen changing succession plans."
"So within potential Class recipients, the Aldegia Royal Family would most likely select from the previous generation – the queen's contemporaries."
"After all, candidates would need royal bloodlines, impeccable backgrounds, plus being controllable individuals who'd heed the queen and crown princess's directives."
As Luo Shu outlined his calculations, Lacus responded with some surprise:
"Those are extremely stringent conditions!"
"From what I know, the Aldegia Kingdom shouldn't have suitable candidates meeting those criteria."
"The queen's generation only includes two princes."
"As males in Aldegia's Valkyrie-based system, they're naturally excluded from succession rights."
"Aside from these two princes, only their children remain, but they can only be considered peripheral members of the direct line. According to the Aldegia Kingdom's royal statutes, grandchildren of princes are no longer considered part of the direct royal lineage. Thus, having obtained Class powers, they might well pursue the throne to secure benefits for their descendants..."
"Wait, did you just say La Folia has an aunt?"
Lacus finally noticed the blind spot, her expression turning slightly odd:
"I don't recall the current Queen of Aldegia having such a rival."
"So you mean she's not the previous queen's daughter, but rather the illegitimate child of the former king?"
The rulers of the Aldegia Kingdom consist of the queen and her consort, the king.
Unlike the queen, who must be a direct descendant of the Rihavein family, the king's selection is more flexible.
He could be a commoner, a foreign noble, or even a noble from Aldegia itself - including branches of the Rihavein family.
Everything depends on the crown princess's choice, and the queen would only respect her heir's decision.
The previous king of the Aldegia Kingdom happened to be from a branch of the Rihavein family.
While the former king was from a collateral line, the former queen was a direct princess, the two being fifth cousins.
Therefore, if La Folia indeed had an aunt left outside, she couldn't possibly be the queen's daughter, only the former king's illegitimate child from an external affair.
Only this scenario could produce such a peculiar yet special individual - not a direct Rihavein by blood, yet truly La Folia's paternal aunt, while still possessing the Rihavein family's bloodline.
Moreover, only someone like this could satisfy all the complex conditions: clean background, no ties to any faction, deep connections to the royal family, and susceptibility to influence from both the current queen and future crown princess.
After all, she'd be just a helpless child.
Seeing that Lacus had guessed correctly, Luo Shu saw no reason to conceal further:
"Her name should be Kanon Kanase - that child left outside."
"The illegitimate daughter born from the former king of Aldegia's affair, taking her mother's surname but indeed possessing branch royal blood."
At this, Luo Shu smiled and added:
"Of course, I don't know where this child is now. But presumably, once La Folia learns of her existence and makes the queen understand her importance, the former king should obediently reveal her whereabouts."
"So this Kanon child is also a suitable Familia candidate? The aunt you mentioned earlier?"
Lacus finally understood Luo Shu's scheme: intending to bestow the first Class upon a Familia candidate, keeping the benefits within their circle.
But wasn't this rather intriguing?
A princess cruelly abandoned by the former king, yet welcomed back by the Rihavein royal family due to various circumstances... it sounded like something straight out of a novel.
"Shall we have Meer assist?" Lacus asked with an amused smile.
Hearing this, Luo Shu curled his lips:
"Let Meer sell the information's value a bit cheaper. Consider it part of the package deal."