"Xu Yi, I find it harder and harder to understand what you're thinking." President Cruz raised his eyebrows slightly as he looked at Xu Yi, his face full of puzzlement.
"How so?" Xu Yi smiled, his smile as relaxed and open as ever. He looked nothing like the "deeply scheming," "ruthless" Xinfei Merchant Guild President so many people imagined him to be.
Yet that very smile only made President Cruz feel more frustrated.
"Back then, you absolutely refused to discuss what to do with the Tural Autonomous Territory with the Candel Empire. Everyone assumed you wanted to take it for the Xinfei Merchant Guild, or even have a go at being king yourself. Even the Candel Empire more or less accepted that. But all this time has passed, and you still haven't made a move. So what exactly are you thinking? What do you intend to do with that land?"
"I'm not interested in being king." Xu Yi shrugged. "You've known me long enough to know that."
"Of course I know you're not interested in being king or anything like that. Otherwise, the Stantin Duchy would have become the Xinfei Duchy long ago." President Cruz waved a hand. "But you forcibly wrested Tural Province from the Candel Empire. Are you really going to leave it alone?"
"Who said I was leaving it alone? The territory's administration committee has been operating normally all along."
President Cruz's eyes widened. "Stop joking! Tural Prov... fine, the Tural Autonomous Territory is enormous. Are you really planning to keep it running indefinitely with nothing but this so-called autonomous administration committee? That's absurd!"
"What's absurd about it?" Xu Yi shot President Cruz a baffled look in return. "Do you think you have to establish a country to govern that land?"
"Don't you?"
Seeing how confidently President