Over the next few days, though Jeanne hadn't witnessed it firsthand, she could easily gather from Amiya's chipper remarks that Kal'tsit's overall mood had improved quite noticeably.
Not knowing the full context, Amiya had spent the first few days in a mild state of panic, secretly worrying that Kal'tsit might still be holding a grudge over all the times the young Cautus had scolded her about drinking too much coffee.
Mainly, Kal'tsit's sudden shift in attitude had caught Amiya completely off guard, and paired with the Feline's notorious aversion to explaining herself, a delightful little misunderstanding had naturally blossomed.
Whenever things reached that point, Jeanne couldn't help but wonder whether Kal'tsit had simply let her conversational faculties atrophy over the millennia, or if that utterly unapproachable communication style was just hardcoded into her very soul after thousands of years.
While she could manage proper, polished pleasantries with outsiders, the moment she spoke to her own people, emotional inflection vanished entirely.
In the end, it always fell to an outsider like Jeanne to smooth over these internal domestic frictions. She frequently felt the pressure was rather immense—what if she accidentally triggered a full-scale Rhodes Island civil war?
"Hey! What are you spacing out and letting your imagination run wild for? If I'm keeping you around here, the least you could do is pretend to be useful instead of sitting there refusing to pour a cup of tea! Watch it, or I'll dock your pay!"
Accompanied by the crisp snap of a command, a tiny paper ball came flying across the room, bouncing squarely off Jeanne's head and dragging her back from her stray thoughts.
Sitting right beside her was Talulah, buried beneath a literal mountain of administrative paperwork. The Draco still hadn't completely cleared the backlog of decisions that had piled up during her absence, and right now, her expression radiated pure, unadulterated envy.
What could possibly make someone envious enough to grind their teeth? Talulah figured nothing surpassed the sheer resentment of slogging through grueling labor while your companion sat right next to you, brazenly slacking off. She was moments away from committing physical violence.
She had originally kept Jeanne nearby in case she needed an extra pair of hands, but it turned out the only thing this slacker was good for was raising her blood pressure.
"Isn't this just a testament to your boundless competence? Here, let me get you some water—water right away!" Jeanne hastily scrambled into action with a sheepish grin, looking for all the world like a dutiful little subordinate.
Ten minutes later, Talulah watched as Jeanne leisurely chugged an entire glass of water herself, before finally sliding a meager, half-empty cup over across the desk while muttering, "You drink this first, I'll go fetch another batch."
Talulah officially retracted her prior thought: this absolute parasite was genuinely less than useless; she was a negative asset.
Simmering with suppressed rage, Talulah abandoned her work for the moment. Since none of the remaining documents were immediately critical, she shoved the files aside and fixed Jeanne with a hard stare.
"Tell me, aside from driving people insane, do you actually serve any practical purpose?" she scolded, tapping Jeanne firmly on the forehead. Was it her imagination, or had Jeanne been acting a bit dimmer lately?
Coincidentally, Jeanne was harboring the exact same sentiment. Both of them privately concluded that the person sitting across from them had grown significantly dumber, quietly filing away that judgment in their minds.
"Speaking of which, now that the Doctor has left, don't you feel like the city is missing a certain eccentric genius?" Jeanne glanced at the paperwork scattered across the desk—tasks that had originally fallen under the Doctor's purview.
By now, the Doctor had officially returned to Rhodes Island to assume her legendary role as the landship's primary strategist. According to reports, she had hit the ground running, completely winning over the entire roster of operators within a mere night.
Every time Jeanne heard those updates, she couldn't help recalling all the unhinged stunts the strategist pulled, privately concluding that Rhodes Island was probably doomed in the long run.
"It's not as disruptive as you'd think. Before leaving, the Doctor had already wrapped up all major handovers and transitions. She only departed once everything was running smoothly."
Even when speaking of the Doctor, a trace of genuine respect bled into Talulah's tone. It was obvious the strategist had left a profound impression on her.
To be frank, if Talulah hadn't been intimately aware of how deeply entangled the Doctor was with Rhodes Island's core operations, she would have seriously considered poaching her.
She might have even been willing to let Jeanne deploy some honey-trap diplomacy; given how the Doctor treated Jeanne, the odds of success was likely more than fifty percent.
"I was just worried because she left so abruptly. Though looking at you, it seems you're the one secretly missing her?"
"Don't project your inner monologue onto me. If I ever want to visit her, it won't take long—don't forget, I can fly!" Jeanne declared with a proud tilt of her chin. As one of the very few people on this continent capable of soaring through the open skies, she viewed geographical distance with utter indifference.
"Never mind. I suppose I do wish she could have stayed a bit longer, even if I know her place is ultimately elsewhere," Talulah murmured, shaking her head as she let out a soft sigh over the strategist's departure.
"By the way, I noticed Rhodes Island's vessels pulling out of the port earlier today. Did something happen?"
Jeanne suddenly remembered seeing the white landship detach from Chernobog's docking ring earlier that morning. Amiya had mentioned they intended to leave eventually, but the timing still felt rather sudden.
"They've set out to visit neighboring settlements to forge deeper commercial and defensive alliances," Talulah replied, far better informed than Jeanne.
"Apparently, Kal'tsit left Rhodes Island earlier today to handle matters elsewhere, while the Doctor took full charge of the fleet, leading a diplomatic tour across the surrounding regions to expand their cooperative network."
Hearing that, Talulah couldn't help marveling at the sheer administrative foresight required. Apparently, the Doctor had been quietly drafting those expansion frameworks long before they even arrived in Chernobog.
During her stay in the city, the strategist had used every casual interaction to analyze what the surrounding settlements desperately needed, and what Rhodes Island could offer in return.
Meanwhile, Jeanne's thoughts were anchored entirely on the Feline who had just departed. Right about now, Kal'tsit was probably somewhere on a convoy heading back toward the volatile heart of Kazdel.
Considering Kazdel's notoriously abysmal security climate and the extreme political sensitivity surrounding her destination, Jeanne could only offer a silent, inward prayer for the Feline's safe return.
"You two share the same racial lineage—did you ever consider using that connection to chain her down here?" Talulah tapped Jeanne on the head, teasing her with a sidelong smirk.
"Are you trying to make me run away with her?"
"If you did, I'd have no earthly way to explain myself to Alina."
Catching the knowing amusement in Jeanne's eyes, the Draco instantly stamped out any further teasing. If she actually managed to piss Jeanne off, Alin's quiet wrath combined with Jeanne's divine backing was a combination Talulah had no desire to test.
"You two can chat all you want, but why must my name keep getting dragged into your conversations?"
Alina's gentle, slightly aggrieved voice drifted in from the doorway. She stepped into the office, treating the two troublemakers to a smile that was dangerously sweet.
Both Jeanne and Talulah instantly froze into absolute silence. The stack of materials Alin was carrying happened to be today's lunch menu—if they pushed their luck any further, they might genuinely starve.
"We were just worried you two were too busy to eat, but the moment I walk in, I catch you gossiping behind my back..."
"Alina, you've got it all wrong! I didn't say a single bad word, it was entirely Talulah's fault!" Jeanne immediately threw her hands up, shifting into a masterclass of self-preservation.
With zero hesitation, she threw Talulah right under the carriage to save her own skin, completely ignoring the murderous glare and frantic note-taking happening behind her back.
"That's only because you hadn't gotten around to it yet! If I had walked in a minute later, I'm sure I would have heard the worst of it." Alina walked over and playfully pinched Jeanne's soft cheek.
There was an inexplicable, terrifying aura of authority radiating from the gentle Cautus today. Under that gaze, Jeanne could feel cold sweat trickling down her neck. Since when had Alin developed such overwhelming psychological pressure?
"No way! Alina, you know me—I would never speak ill of you!"
"Fine, I'll take your word for it. But there is one small detail you should probably pay attention to."
"What's that?"
"The person standing directly behind you... looks like she's getting ready to collect her debts." Alina gestured toward the furious Draco looming over Jeanne's chair.
"Jeanne, prepare to meet your maker!"