Growth and Maturity

"No, little Al probably isn't hungry yet. He just woke up and said he missed Mom."

Bell placed the Personal Terminal in front of little Al so that he could clearly see his mother on the screen.

"Ah ah~!"

n(≧▽≦)n

"Oh! Baby! Mommy missed you too!"

The moment Elena saw her younger son, she immediately set aside her work and rubbed her face against the screen repeatedly.

"But Mommy still has some work to do. When I get home tonight, Mommy will play with you, okay?"

"Boo boo~!"

Little Al made a dissatisfied noise.

(It was actually Bell who made it.)

"Mom, look, little Al is already unhappy. If you ask me, those matters are good enough as they are. Just leave the cake there and let those people divide it themselves."

Bell, the family's current biggest idler, naturally could not possibly be unaware of the family's most important affairs. In fact, even if he had not wanted to know, his father would have dragged him into conversations about them every day.

To be honest, Bell did not really support the arbitrator-like role his father had chosen.

According to his father's plan, the Menethil Family would carefully divide the existing benefits, distribute the higher-quality portions to their supporters and collaborators, and only give the inferior sectors to Wizards who were less hostile toward the Menethil Family.

Through this method, they could bind Wizards close to the Menethil Family more firmly to the family's chariot while also establishing the Menethil Family's lofty, detached status through the act of dividing benefits.

Coordinating the balance of interests among so many factions—especially when many of them supported the Menethil Family—was an extremely taxing task. To keep everyone satisfied, William held a small meeting every day and a large meeting every three days, negotiating daily