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Emilia knew that, under normal circumstances, even if Mr. Fionn switched sides and tried his best, he would probably only manage to look like a clown. His futile struggle against the inevitable would just end up boosting Mr. Sullivan's prestige further. This was the greatest reason that prevented him from switching sides, although it wasn't wrong that he must have looked down on the White Deer to some extent.
But when he saw that not only were they moving against Mr. Sullivan and the Black Tiger, they were even succeeding… was it possible for him to not be tempted?
From that point on, all the other factors automatically fell into place, hastening his decision to turn against the Black Tiger. After all, his only daughter Bianca seemed to have hit it off quite well with Emilia, and combined with the fact that they were making a move against his opponent right now… what better time was there to switch sides?
Emilia couldn't help but sigh in her heart. In terms of finances, they were already leading, and if they managed to get their hands on this chess piece, things could finally start moving forward. 'As long as I complete even one of the three missions… heh…'
"What else did they tell you?"
Sam had been busy rubbing her cheek against Emilia's as she held her beloved little baby close, wondering why she felt a little different from usual. It took her a moment to snap out of her thoughts and process Emilia's question. "W-Well… our influence inside the ruling party has always been very limited compared to what the Black Tiger has, but if Mr. Fionn truly comes over to our side… I can see why our parents were willing to temporarily put aside their cold war for something like this."
Emilia blinked. "Eh? Cold War?"
From what she could recall, although the old couple hadn't been what one would consider 'lovey-dovey', they were still on good terms with each other, weren't they?
The taller girl shrugged as she snuggled closer to her little sister. "No idea, neither of them will tell me, I only know that they're fighting."
"Hmm…"
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Emilia didn't bother digging too deep into the matter of Bianca's father, and they soon moved on to discussing more 'mundane' matters while cuddling on the bed.
"So, although I'm not sure if the list is complete, most of those who were involved in supporting the Porter boy to get where he was are already there."
Emilia smiled. "Good. Make sure they're all investigated thoroughly for any shady or suspicious moves."
The older girl couldn't help but be a little confused. She had thought that Emilia had only been waiting for them to catch all these vipers in one net before casting them out. She never expected that her little sister still planned to nurture these snakes. "Why not just fire them altogether?"
Of course, Emilia's thinking wasn't as straightforward. "That won't work. Not all of them are traitors, and it's not so easy to get proper replacements for them, right?"
Although it was easy for them to judge the situation from up top, most of these people had no idea of the overall picture, and many of them had believed that they were making decisions that were profitable for both the corporation and themselves.
To find truly selfless employees was difficult, and while firing a few of the most culpable ones among those in the list was fine, firing them all together would create more problems than they would solve.
After all, those people were where they were for a reason, and their jobs would still need to be done by someone. Who is to say that the next person wouldn't be worse?
Samantha also seemed to grasp the point after thinking about it, and nodded in understanding.
Emilia grinned. "Plus, this way, there's a chance that we'll be able to catch our opponent's moves."
The older girl nodded. "Oh, alright, I'll pass your instruction on to Noelle, then."
"Good. By the way, Sam, keep the next weekend free for me, I'll take you out."
"Okay!" Samantha couldn't help but turn excited. Her reward was finally coming soon!
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Emilia had already known that Sam must be quite busy already, and was only waiting for her after hearing about it from Noelle the moment that she had told her about the situation with Mr. Fionn.
Of course, if Samantha could, she would ignore all her duties in favor of cuddling with her little sister. But at the same time, she was afraid that Noelle would snitch on her and let Emilia know she had been slacking off, and would lower her big sister prestige in Emilia's eyes.
Gritting her teeth, the older girl apologized before leaving with regret. Even the promised kiss had to be delayed, because Samantha couldn't bear the thought of not making the most out of it in her hurry.
After the car door closed, she couldn't help but scream in regret. "AHHH! I really want to cuddle more with my little sister!"
The driver cringed and pretended to have heard nothing.
Meanwhile, after waving goodbye to her older sister and watching her car leave, Emilia had already returned to her room with a smile.
Ding!
—Unfortunately, there has been an error, and the skill 'Follower Summoning' is temporarily unavailable.
Cynthia's 'shocked' voice echoed in her mind. "H-Huh? W-What is going on? S-Seems like there must be an error with the void formula! A-AH, m-maybe it was because of the whole mating thing?! I-I will check and—!"
'Heh… She underestimates me too much… ' Emilia ignored the strange status message, and activated the skill anyway.
Ding!
—Follower Summoning: Cynthia!
—Error???
—Cynthia's projection can be sustained for: 7 hours 11 minutes 24 seconds.
—???
And of course, a flustered Cynthia appeared in front of her shortly after. "Y-You meanie!"
But although she immediately tried to dash away, Emilia had already grasped her arm and pulled the girl back into a tight hug. "Ehehe… you smug little brat… why don't you continue what you were saying earlier?"
"W-What do you mean? I-I didn't say anything at all?"
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