The female knights wore a variety of expressions, but Brunhilde continued to keep her poker face, utterly unruffled. "All right, the interesting part is over. You can turn it off."
"They haven't announced Best Picture yet. I'd really like to... Oh!" Ostana let out a rather regretful sigh as she watched Jiafeier reach out and turn off the projection.
"Ostana, what were you saying just now?" Brunhilde asked.
"Best Picture? I'd really like to know whether The Glorious Call or In Search of Whale Song wins. In a way, that could reflect the current cultural trends in the Alliance and offer some evidence for interpreting its future policies." Ostana spoke with perfect seriousness.
"...I meant what you said before that. Before the film festival." Brunhilde sounded exasperated.
"The Privy Council meeting? Oh, it'll start in an hour and a half. If you want to rest, you can still squeeze in a little time. Though, personally, I'd recommend changing your clothes at the very least."
King Suluka mused for a moment, then said with a cold laugh, "No, I meant before that. That... His Highness King Vellent said he wanted to treat me to a meal, didn't he? What was he hoping to discuss?"
"It's about the Serpent. The Alliance sent us a formal proposal, saying they'd made a major discovery about the location of a Serpent's Nest and hoped the two sides could reach an agreement to cooperate on the matter. They even want to join forces with us in a joint counterterrorism operation," Ostana said.
"Something like that can be discussed at the Privy Council. Why does he need to speak with me privately?" Brunhilde asked.
Olivier smiled. "Perhaps because we wiped out the Fourteenth Workshop last time and seized quite a lot of information?"
"And you personally captured