331 Reinforcement
Selma Payne’s POV:
“When the water is clear, there will be no fish. We can pretend we don’t see things that don’t matter, but we must have a sense of propriety in everything. Tens of thousands of people are looking forward to a new home. As the leader they trust, we must not disappoint them.
“From my selfish point of view, I don’t want my hard work destroyed by parasites that reap without sowing. This is the first major task I’ve handled since I was crowned. Its success or failure will directly affect my trust and prestige among the people. If anyone dares to challenge my authority, I won’t let him live the rest of his life in peace. Do you understand?”
I was rarely so strict with the girls, and they were terrified and helpless.
I knew that some things were out of their control, and I didn’t want to scare them too much, so I softened my tone and said, “I know that you may be confused and feel wronged. However, I have to say that you are not only my friends at work but also my spokespeople. In the eyes of outsiders, your every move represents my attitude. If you back off, I am the one backing off. If you turn a blind eye, I am the one turning a blind eye. Meanwhile, those insatiable villains are waiting to step on my weakness and climb all over my face.
“I’m happy to spread some insignificant interests to win people’s hearts, but I can’t do that at the core, understand? If I’m willing to give, then others can take it. If I’m unwilling to give, whoever reaches out challenges my authority. A benevolent ruler is not a good person, and my vision for the future is not to be a mere royal mascot. That would be too embarrassing for my ancestors.
“I know that many things are not your original wishes, but I must tell you a cruel reality; if you want to be my friend and play some tricks in the court, you must change the compromises you have made over the years.
“Be clear about your position, girls. You are the princess’ close friends, the crown princess’ attendants, and the future Queen’s close attendants. This will make you the ones with the upper hand over anyone. The days of living under someone else’s roof or being an obedient girl are gone forever. If you can’t control your power, others will take it away and hurt you.”
Jordin and Emma’s initial confusion and fear turned into panic and deep thought. I knew that they understood my hint.
“Anyway, the Spring Rain Pack is training me, and it’s also training you guys.” I held their hands and said sincerely, “I’m extremely envious of my father because his most trusted official is also his closest friend. I love you, Jordin and Emma. I don’t want our relationship to lose to time in the end. Please take pity on me and don’t leave me, okay?”
The girls held my hands and promised me, “I swear to the Moon Goddess that I will offer you the sincerity of a friend and the loyalty of a subject. Selma, we love you too and will never drift apart from you.”
After arranging the Spring Rain Pack, I set off with the support team when the bright moon and the stars were few.
This time, we were openly helping them, so we could use our wolf forms to hurry on. We could already detect the obvious remnants of evil power on the outskirts of the elf forest, which showed how much the border cities that had been attacked had fallen.
The elves had sent out a reinforcement unit to a sentry post on the border of the elves’ territory to receive us. I saw that the other party was an acquaintance – Kaya’s 3rd Patrol Group.
The elves who needed help couldn’t maintain their high and mighty pride and eagerly led us to the closest city.
“Autumn City has already fallen,” Kaya said anxiously. “Autumn City’s City Lord sent out a message for the last time at four in the morning. There was no more movement after that. The communication between Autumn City and the palace has also been cut off. It is impossible to predict the situation in the city. The reinforcements from the palace will only arrive tomorrow morning at the earliest. We have no choice but to ask for your help, and thank you for your help.”
“Didn’t Autumn City ask for help from the other city-states? Even if the surrounding city-states had fallen, the city-states that were further away would still be closer than the capital, right? Why do we have to wait for the capital to send troops?” I was rather puzzled.
Kaya didn’t want to talk about the elves’ internal affairs, but she had a favor to ask of us, so she could only vaguely say, “The sudden outbreak of evil corruption is too strange. To prevent large-scale infiltration, other city-states shouldn’t get involved.”
I understood what she meant.
Although werewolves and elves were divided internally, the degree of division between the elves was not comparable to the werewolves. They were divided into many complicated clans, such as the Water Elves, Wood Elves, and so on. These large clans had different branches.
Some clans had cold relationships with each other, and some were even hostile to each other. This wasn’t a secret; it was even written into the history books of many supernatural races.
From the looks of it, the city-states that could save Autumn City had chosen to play it safe.
Before midnight, we finally arrived at the outpost outside Autumn City. There was no one there. The sentries who were supposed to stay behind had all disappeared. Kaya’s expression wasn’t good. It seemed that the sentries were in danger.
Not far away, Autumn City was filled with evil energy. Master Kevin only took one look and shook his head. “Try your best to save people.”