"Besides, Yuffie, I have a suggestion."
"We could ask the Goddess to support the abolition of slavery. Isn't she the one who supports it most?"
"Someone as righteous as her would definitely support it."
Leticia seemed to have some kind of talent for spotting blind spots. She'd made a surprising discovery and pointed it out to Yuffie.
"Wait, you mean ask Freya to support the abolition of slavery?"
"Yeah. Let me think... What was that saying again? 'Unite with every force and individual you can, even your enemies. Do everything you can to win them over.'" Leticia casually quoted a few words of wisdom. They were simple, but also the most useful.
Yuffie was deeply shaken, and came to her senses.
She thought it through. "I see. Unite with everyone you can?"
"Even your enemies."
"Thea, where did you learn that? The academy doesn't teach things like this." The academy's politics classes were completely different from the private political lessons for the royal family.
One taught loyalty, justice, and honor.
The other taught how to rule those beneath you and maintain your authority: use it to make your subjects fear you and submit physically, then use fair laws and rewards to win their submission in both body and heart.
Without a doubt, Yuffie had excelled in the royal family's political lessons.
Yuffie, the High Mountain Flower, was usually every bit the dignified, untouchable princess.
That was how one ruled.
But Leticia believed in uniting everyone you could, not balancing one faction against another.
"Some yellow-haired guy said it offhandedly."
"Did Lynn teach you that?" Yuffie had a vague idea that Lynn, that playboy with a thing for plenty of people, had been involved with many others. But from her perspective, he was someone who wouldn't tell her anything important, keeping