"That"s right, Jessica, I officially invite you to our lunch party today. Father is going to cook lots of good food for us." Amy made her way over to them with Ugly Duckling in her arms, and she nodded as she said, "Open the present; I think you"ll definitely like it.""A party?" Jessica"s eyes lit up, and her gaze rested on the bag in her hands, with curiosity and antic.i.p.ation on her face. She looked up at Rebecca, and asked, "Mother, can I open it?"
"Of course you can." Rebecca nodded in encouragement.
Jessica walked over to the bed before carefully untying the bow-knot that Amy had tied onto the bag. She tipped the bag over, and a cream-colored dress slid out. There was a colorful b.u.t.terfly emblazoned on the chest of the dress, and it had its wings spread open as if it were going to fly into the sky.
"Wow! That"s such a beautiful dress!" Jessica"s mouth gaped open as she stared at the little dress on the bed. She was stunned for a few seconds before turning around, and giving Amy a ma.s.sive hug.
Amy was a little nervous as she asked, "Jessica, do you like it?"
"Yes! I love it! I have my own dress now, and it"s the most beautiful yellow color. Amy, thank you!" Jessica nodded, and held onto Amy tightly with tears s.h.i.+mmering in her eyes.
Rebecca turned away, and wiped at the corners of her eyes before raising her head to look up at the ceiling, and blinking to hold back her tears.
In a quiet voice, Amy said, "Then… can you let me go? I think Ugly Duckling is suffocating…"
"Meow~" Ugly Duckling gave a despairing cry.
"Sorry, Ugly Duckling, I forgot about you." Jessica immediately took a step backward, and rubbed Ugly Duckling"s head with an apologetic expression.
"That"s alright, it"s got a very hard head." Amy shook her head with a nonchalant expression.
"Meow~" Ugly Duckling cast a gloomy glance at Amy.
"I"m going to wear this dress to the lunch party today. It"s so beautiful; I"ve never received such a beautiful present." Jessica was overjoyed.
"Oh, you can wear that little b.u.t.terfly hair clip as well, it would look super good on you." Amy nodded with excitement.
Mag looked at the two excited little girls, and a smile gradually appeared on his face as his sullen mood was lifted. Sure enough, his little girl was always able to cheer him up.
After playing together for a while, Amy departed with Mag as they had to go back to the restaurant to prepare for the lunch party.
"I really don"t know how to thank you." Rebecca was full of grat.i.tude as she bade farewell to Mag at the door.
"If you want to thank me, then ask Jessica to play with Amy more. Amy would love to have a playmate on her days off." Mag smiled as he waved goodbye to Jessica and Rebecca before pus.h.i.+ng his bicycle away with Amy sitting on her little seat.
The ordeal was over for everyone else, but it was only the beginning for the Gray Temple and the city lord"s castle. They had to clean up the bodies on the scene, and launch a thorough investigation into the events that led up to the incident.
The residents were all munching on bread, and they looked up at Mag and Amy with grat.i.tude as they left. Even though they didn"t say anything, their grat.i.tude was plain to see.
Amy smiled, and said, "Father, they all seem to be very grateful to you."
"They"re thankful to you too. If it weren"t for the fact that you wanted to invite Jessica to your party, we wouldn"t have come here." Mag smiled, and got onto the bicycle before riding it toward the restaurant.
An autumn breeze blew past, and the sunlight shone down upon them, warming their bodies as well as their hearts.
…
Within a conference chamber in the city lord"s castle, the atmosphere was grim to the extreme.
The officials present all wore different expressions on their faces. Some were enraged, some were concerned, and some were horrified.
Brandli put down the paper in his hands, and there were tears swimming in his eyes, but he forced himself not to shed them.
Michael sat in silence with a frosty expression on his face.
"From now on, Alva will be stripped of his duties, and an investigation will be launched against him to find out where the compensation money meant for the miners" families has gone. This must be kept confidential, and I"ll be requesting the Gray Temple"s a.s.sistance to investigate all of the governors in Chaos City. Those who twist the law and use it against citizens of the city must receive severe punishment! Also, increase the compensation given to families of deceased miners and soldiers; set up a department to specifically address this issue. Do not let this tragedy repeat itself! Let me reemphasize this: the laws of Chaos City are there to help people live more freely and safely. If anyone dares to use them against the people of Chaos City, then I will find them, and make them suffer a fate worse than death no matter who they are!"
Michael"s sharp gaze scanned through all of the officials presents.
One of the fat officials instantly paled significantly, and he slid down onto the ground from his chair, but no one dared to help him up.
"City Lord, I will report this immediately to my higher-ups!" Brandli extended a respectful salute toward Michael before quickly departing.
"If a person upholding law and order were to sit at the same table with someone aiming to destroy law and order, the people that are supposedly being protected will always be the ones to get hurt. This was something that Novan told me when he rejected my offer to recruit him into the city lord"s castle. At the time, I didn"t understand what he meant, but I suddenly do now. The most powerful corruptive force always originates from the inside." Michael glanced at Alva as a wry smile appeared on his face.
…
Mag rode his bicycle toward the restaurant, and just as they were pa.s.sing the magic potion shop, Amy asked, "Father, can I also invite Big Sister Xixi and Big Bear?"
Mag parked his bicycle, and smiled as he replied, "Of course. I wonder if they"ll have time to attend, though."
"I"ll go in and ask." Amy climbed down from the bicycle on her own, and greeted Black Coal and Green Pea before walking into the magic potion shop.
"Stupid fat cat, are you bike sick again? Look at you, lying around like an idiot, kakakaka…" Black Coal poked its head out of the cage, and chortled at the dizzy Ugly Duckling.
"Meow!" Ugly Duckling let loose an indignant cry, but it had only just extended its paws toward Black Coal before it lost control of its body, and fell onto its back, upon which it looked up at the sky with a suicidal expression. Black Coal burst into laughter again upon seeing that, and even Mag couldn"t help but join in.
"You"re inviting me to a party?" Within the shop, Xixi was holding two vials of magic potions, and she looked at Amy with an elated expression.
"Yes, and Big Bear can come as well. Father will be preparing a lot of good food." Amy nodded before holding up a little finger as she said, "He"ll be making your favorite braised chicken as well."
"I"ll come!" Xixi"s eyes immediately lit up as she raised her hand, but she then slowly put down her hand, and was a little hesitant as she said, "But Master Urien went out this morning, and someone needs to look after the shop."
"Then just close it. You barely get any customers anyway." Amy shrugged nonchalantly.