"Pleased to meet you, Lord Alliance Leader." Nicole's voice was gentle and polite.
Yao Guang also nodded slightly in return, wearing her trademark smile—proper, yet impossible to read.
"Pleased to meet you, Miss Nicole, was it? Welcome to the Paradise Alliance. You may call me Boss Yao from now on." Yao Guang's voice was soft and composed, the nobility and approachability of a Xianzhou general fully displayed in that brief sentence.
The moment their gazes met, they sized each other up.
What Nicole saw was a silver-haired woman of exceptional bearing. Even casually holding a wineglass, she exuded the authority of someone long accustomed to high office, along with a certain... easygoing air.
What Yao Guang saw, meanwhile, was a dignified beauty with elven ears. In particular, the hardcover book in her arms and the feather pen poised to strike gave Yao Guang a whiff of the danger unique to a "troublemaker."
After the brief exchange of pleasantries, Nicole's gaze shifted back and forth between Yao Guang and Chen Li for two seconds before she spoke with perfect naturalness.
"As the saying goes, a country cannot have two rulers. Lord Alliance Leader, what exactly is your relationship with Mister Miraculous Forger? When it comes to the Alliance's major decisions, who is the true leader?" Nicole's tone was serious and professional, her feather pen already prepared to take notes.
"Chen Li, the Lord of Paradise, is the Alliance's irreplaceable spiritual leader. As for me, I am the actual leader responsible for handling concrete affairs." Yao Guang smiled as she gave an impeccable official answer.
"Why say 'currently'? Is that position not secure?" Nicole sharply caught the key word.
"Because the position of Alliance Leader of the Paradise Alliance belongs to the capable." Yao Guang tilted her head slightly, her gaze drifting