Alice refused to answer that question.
She settled down and watched Klein pretend to listen attentively, then deliver a long, tedious speech from the script at the end.
Listening to the familiar phrases, "There are a few more points below" and "Let me mention a few more points," Alice finally realized that the reason leaders' speeches seemed especially long was not the leaders themselves, but the secretaries who wrote the drafts.
She turned her resentful gaze on Lü'er An.
Lü'er An was listening to "Emlyn's" speech nearby, diligently fulfilling his role as a qualified secretary. Suddenly, his spirituality twitched, and he felt a sense of crisis.
It was not fatal, but...
Before he could react, he fell onto the floor—the chair he was sitting on had collapsed.
Klein looked at Lü'er An, who had fallen to the ground, then at the speech in hand, and began considering the possibility that Alice had grown impatient.
After a bout of chaos, Klein chose not to finish the remaining half-page of the speech and hastily summarized the conclusion of the day's address.
By the time the meeting ended, it was already nearing evening. Accompanied by Secretary Lü'er An, Klein left Aulavi Base and headed to a naval agent's residence for a dinner party.
At the dinner, they chatted idly about fluctuations in the prices of port supplies. Klein imitated Admiral Emlyn, telling an outdated Backlund joke from time to time, drawing enthusiastic responses from everyone as they all praised Your Excellency, Admiral, for being truly humorous.
The more Alice watched this scene, the more familiar it became. After the dinner ended, she finally had a sudden realization and slapped her forehead—the way everyone spoke to her at the Tarot Club seemed to be exactly like this.
Ah, I see.
Alice lowered her head