Why it never ends

Chapter 1220 Annoyance
Although Chloe and Gahodorei could not fully recount Hersta's speech, judging from their fragmentary remarks and descriptions of the audience's reactions, the twilight in front of the old house was clearly spectacular.

"Why are you making that face?" Chloe said, slightly annoyed. "What's so interesting about this kind of speech?"

"You don't understand!" Lü Qizhen clenched her fist. A moment later, as if suddenly remembering something, she rushed back to her room and took out her phone.

Gabrielle put down the puzzle she was working on: "...What's wrong? What are you looking up?"

“No wonder the Emperor came today,” Lü Qizhen said with a relieved look on her face, as if her suspicions had been confirmed. She looked at the screen and said quickly, “Look, if District Twelve wants to form a new party, they have to start submitting materials in September of the previous year and announce the results in March of the following year—now that the two dates are not close together, Hershta has to go through a special channel if he wants to establish a new organization!”

Gabrielle and Chloe exchanged glances, not understanding what Lu Qizhen was so excited about.

Lü Qizhen's hands were still rapidly tapping on the screen. After a while, she held her breath again.

"Found it! There is a royal recommendation decree in Annex II of the Political Parties and Election Law, which gives the emperor the right to bypass the review and scheduling of the election commission, grant legal status to specific parties first, and then proceed with the regular procedures."

“…Oh.” Chloe said somewhat coldly. She put down the puzzle, glanced at the time, and stretched languidly. “I was just thinking—”

“I see.” Gahodore suddenly thought of something else: the emperor did not come for no reason. He came in the afternoon specifically for Hershta’s announcement of the establishment of the Aschia Free Front.

In other words, Hesta somehow managed to get in touch with the Emperor.

...Does Teacher Boheng know about this?

"Once the imperial charter is issued, the Ministry of the Interior needs to create a file within two working days, and then the Finance Department will open a temporary account for the political party. If the Constitutional Court does not issue a warning of unconstitutionality within five calendar days, then the Emperor's charter will automatically take effect on the sixth day thereafter, until its expiration—ah, there's a time limit! A total of 180 days, which can cover the party activities for the next six months. Herstal and the others still need to submit the materials again in September this year to complete the regular registration; otherwise, they will be automatically downgraded to a political organization—"

"It's late, I'm going back." Chloe stood up abruptly.

Gabrielle glanced at the time: "No rush, right? I'll take you back in a bit."

Then she looked at Lü Qizhen and said, "So that means that the party that Hershta set up is not officially established yet?"

"Yes, of course it counts. For the next 180 days, starting today, her party will enjoy the same rights as all legally registered political parties. However, during this period, they will not be able to enjoy normal party funding, will not be able to nominate candidates for elections of a general nature in the twelve districts, and must publish their accounts on a monthly basis—not by year—and be subject to auditing."

Chloe scoffed, "I thought she'd be running for prime minister tomorrow, but it turns out she can't."

Gabrielle breathed slowly. She didn't quite understand many of the words Lu Qizhen had just said. She had memorized those Third District words and seen some in news reports, but what did they mean?

“…Amazing,” Gahodore murmured.

Chloe had reached her limit. She looked at Lü Qizhen and said, "Why are you so happy? This is none of your business!"

Lü Qizhen laughed out loud: "How could I be happy? I'm just excited! This is the first time I've ever witnessed someone around me establishing a party on the spot, so of course I'm—"

"Isn't this kind of thing common in District One? Haven't you experienced anything like this in District One?" Lü Qizhen was taken aback. Chloe's question made her suddenly realize that this wasn't the first time someone around her had formed a political party. At least in her school, students would occasionally form small parties with bizarre demands...

Why does she feel so close to the "Askia Freedom Front"?
Without a word, Chloe dropped the jigsaw puzzle in her hand and left Lü Qizhen's room. Even though Lü Qizhen and Gabrielle called her name, she didn't turn around even once.

“I’m going back too.” Gahodore also stood up at this moment. “See you tomorrow.”

"See you tomorrow."

As they reached the door, Gahodore suddenly turned back: "By the way, if you want to watch Hersta's speech this afternoon, you can ask around to see if anyone has a recording—I saw someone carrying a camera and filming this afternoon."

"Really!" Lü Qizhen exclaimed with delight. "That's wonderful! Thank you!"

“You’re welcome,” Gahodore said earnestly. “Um… thank you for talking to me about those topics today… registration, auditing… and stuff like that.”

Lü Qizhen was somewhat puzzled by this expression of gratitude.

"Goodnight!" Jiahedolei waved quickly and ran outside. She still needed to check if Teacher Boheng was asleep; she wanted to repeat to him what she had heard today in a mature and appropriate way—just like Lü Qizhen had done when she talked about it.

……

Chloe flew quickly through the palace.

She had been waiting there, waiting for Lü Qizhen to wake up, not to hear her talk about party registration or imperial privileges.

She saw Kvišik sitting in the Emperor's carriage that afternoon, though he never got out. And after confirming Kvišik's location, she never looked back.

How she longed to tell Lü Qizhen about her resolve, her sadness, her regrets... However, Lü Qizhen had clearly forgotten all of these things. Not only that, she was also engrossed in the speech that she wasn't even present for!

Chloe harbored resentment towards her two friends. Although Gahodorei didn't say much, she remarked that Hersta was impressive, so of course she could hate him too.

Chloe tried her best to immerse herself in anger; at least this burning rage gave her some kind of power, these flames acting as a barrier, protecting her from some kind of pain...

But what kind of pain was that? Chloe dared not think about it.

When she returned to her and her sister's room, she felt as if she had lost all her strength. She had to fall asleep before she was seized by some inexplicable emotion mixed with sadness, lethargy, self-blame, and violence.

I pushed open the door; the room was dark.

Perhaps Sheena was already asleep, Chloe thought. However, as she passed her sister's bedroom door, she faintly heard sobbing. She gently pushed the door open a crack—Sheena was crying.

Chloe suddenly felt a little lost. She was used to seeing Sheena cry, but she had never seen Sheena cry so sadly that Sheena didn't even notice her when Chloe was standing by Sheena's bedside.