Maggie slightly opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but realized there was actually nothing to say.
“I do sympathize with her. Because, in my view, she does possess the qualifications to compete for the position of the Wolf King,” she looked at the densely woven stars on the blanket, “Can’t women have ambitions? Women can’t be Wolf Kings? Clearly, every Moon Goddess is female, and there are outstanding female warriors in every tribe. Women, who balance family life while also stepping onto the battlefield, are already so exceptional, yet they are still subject to the scrutiny and thoughts of men.”
Urania poured herself another cup of floral tea, her gaze also falling on those stars. “I’ve never thought about gender issues. In my view, reproductive issues will no longer dominate public opinion as the times progress. With the changes in productivity come more ethical issues, such as whether werewolves should still imitate outdated pairings from a thousand years ago or choose their own mates. Werewolf technology is advancing rapidly, no longer relying solely on claws, teeth, and magic. Shouldn’t werewolves explore a new path, a path without gods and magic?”
“But it seems they haven’t.”
“Yes.” Urania gently stirred the ripples in her tea. “Werewolves initially had a higher starting point than humans. They could freely transform, were better suited for hunting, and could create tools. Moreover, a small percentage of this group possessed extraordinary strength, could glimpse the future, and could condense light waves with their fingers. However, these advantages haven’t been maintained, and werewolves seem to have become lazy.”
So, except for the southern continent, werewolves in the other three regions haven’t fully integrated into this world.
“Does Aldrich have a chance to change this situation?”
“I no longer make prophecies about heroes.” She restrained herself from thinking about those irrelevant futures. That was the werewolves’ own future, and the future was something to be fought for with their own hands, free from any interference. Even if it was just a glimpse, it was not allowed.
Maggie agreed deeply. She felt that sometimes, seeing is not a good thing. Especially when you can see it but can’t change it. Or maybe, seeing it, wanting to change it, but attracting other consequences.
“So, as a woman yourself, do you think women shouldn’t have excessive ambitions?”
The topic returned to this matter.
Urania rarely judged and evaluated a person from a gender perspective. It was challenging; she had always been an individual. Even the gods liked to give her gifts. The first one gave her longevity and strength, and the second one gave her the freedom to choose a partner without interference. She could choose her own mate or choose not to have one. She chose knowledge. Only knowledge could bring her satisfaction, and her life was filled with various information.
Soon she became the unparalleled High Priestess in the werewolf world. Even the old guys in the Elder Council had gone to great lengths just to see her. She became a name in legends, spoken of with the most prestigious praises. People no longer looked at her from a gender perspective but spoke of her with eyes of admiration.
Strictly speaking, she was no longer an ordinary werewolf but rather a being closer to the category of a deity.
Therefore, within this context, her identity as a female was greatly diminished. She was an exception among exceptions, unable to be applied to reality.
“I can’t say I fully support women having ambitions, wanting to strive for greater power; that seems a bit too high and mighty. From the current distribution of gender roles in society, whether among werewolves or humans, excluding exceptional cases like the southern continent, the universal situation worldwide is that in species where females have reproductive capabilities and the birth rate is consistently low, a patriarchal structure is maintained. They need the female reproductive system and new labor to sustain the operation of this system.”
“But I hope that women, women with thoughts, consciousness, and strength, will no longer be tormented by reproductive difficulties. When people mention them, they should first be individuals, not someone’s partner or someone’s mother. This difficulty is the difficulty of the entire lower-class population, and lower-class women are the most at the bottom among them. So, women are more oppressed. If you want to lead women out of this situation, you shouldn’t dwell on this issue but think more about ways to improve the social status of women.”
Ways to improve women’s survival status? Maggie thought dully. What else could directly break this male-centric thinking besides allowing men to get pregnant?
This was not something that could be figured out all at once.
They began to chat.
“Do you think Alexander loved Peirene? I think he just saw Peirene as a stepping stone to escape his life as a gardener.”
The divination ceremony had actually been prepared long ago, but the two of them showed no sign of starting.
“He certainly loved Peirene; otherwise, he wouldn’t have kept putting Ethan in the position of the prince. In his heart, Ethan couldn’t match his outstanding mother at all, so he doesn’t value Ethan, but he’s reluctant to give him up either. In my view, Alex’s core is very fragile. When he realized he couldn’t stop Peirene’s excessive ambitions, he could only use poisoning to achieve his goals. But when he found that his actions deviated from his original intentions and brought about unbearable consequences, he vented his anger on the wizard but didn’t look for the root cause. He tried to make amends, but his abilities didn’t support him.”
Maggie felt this man was unreasonable. “He shouldn’t have become the alpha of the Frost Moon Pack. He caused so much tragedy and ruined Ethan’s life.”
“A child’s lousy personality mostly stems from a lack of family education. Ethan’s father didn’t know how to be a father, so he didn’t understand how to educate his son. Similarly, Alex doesn’t understand how to be a leader, and Ethan emulates him. Tragedy, like a plague, tends to spread. People caught up in one tragedy often cause the next one.”
Maggie subconsciously touched her belly. “Fortunately, my child doesn’t have such a paranoid father.” Thinking back to when Ethan boldly claimed that her test tube sperm was his, she couldn’t help feeling a sense of relief. “It turns out mediocrity is sometimes another kind of luck.”
Urania glanced at her and knew exactly what she was thinking.
“What if he is? You can easily insist that the child has nothing to do with him. You’re the child’s mother, from the moral perspective of your human world, a single woman using artificial insemination to have a child doesn’t necessarily need to inform the original owner of the sperm. Whoever you say is the child’s father is.”
“I just don’t want to tangle with a mad dog.”
That’s fair enough. Urania smiled, “The divination ceremony is ready, and I plan to give you this opportunity. Consider it your first lesson in learning divination.”