The United Nations conference room was not as noisy as one might imagine.
It was a tiered conference hall with seats rising and falling like sand dunes, its floor and walls paved with marble and granite.
Tver and Cynthia stood at the highest point, also the very back, looking down over the entire hall.
Although the content of this meeting was different from every previous United Nations conference, more than a hundred national representatives, along with their assistant teams and the staff of the United Nations Office in Geneva, were all preparing for the meeting in an orderly manner.
Tver was rather satisfied with this part.
Because the wizarding population was small, the representatives of the Wizards' Confederation were generally quite familiar with one another, so whenever they held meetings, the atmosphere tended to be especially… lively.
The preparations before a United Nations meeting displayed a completely different style. Throughout the conference hall, there were only the quiet exchanges between delegations from different countries and the faint rustle of papers as people consulted documents.
Of course, that also had something to do with how spacious the venue was.
At the far end in front was a speaker's platform set in a lower area.
That platform was actually a little smaller than the podium used at the Wizards' Confederation Assembly, probably because speeches at the United Nations required reading long prepared scripts, unlike speeches where one could move around freely.
This solemn atmosphere not only swept away the leisure in Tver's heart, but also stirred a faint excitement in him.
"I think you're better suited to a stage like this," Cynthia suddenly said softly, turning to look at Tver.
Tver shifted his gaze to her with interest. "Why do you say that?"
Cynthia smiled faintly.
"When you were at Hogwarts, although you could always arrange everything outside the school in perfect order, and even began planning for today and for the future five years ago…"
"I always felt that you were suppressing yourself."
"To keep yourself from appearing too dazzling, you kept suppressing your talent and ability, making yourself look like nothing more than an excellent professor."
"Since Voldemort's resurrection, your edge has finally stopped hiding. You're like a sharp black sword. Even a muted gleam cannot stop the blade from cutting through everything."
"But the wizarding world is far, far too small…"
Her bright eyes swept around the hall. More and more representatives had arrived, and even the smallest sounds had begun to merge into noise.
"Only a stage like this, a stage involving everyone in the entire world, is worthy of your talent and ability."
"If you really are a Dark Lord, then I absolutely would not want to see you become a Dark Lord who belongs only to Britain, or only to the wizarding world."
"You should be the strongest Dark Lord among nearly six billion people across all the countries of this world."
Looking at the restrained yet still fervent light in Cynthia's eyes, Tver raised his eyebrows in surprise.
But he had to admit that he truly enjoyed this ever-expanding stage, as well as…
The control he increasingly no longer needed to conceal.
Yet precisely because of that, he became wary instead.
"You're right, Cynthia. Greater and greater stages are waiting for me." He shook his head. "But power is always intoxicating. The only thing that separates me from Voldemort is restraint over desire."
Cynthia froze, surprised by Tver's strict self-discipline.
But Tver had no time to explain. The United Nations Secretary-General was actually walking toward them from the entrance.
"I didn't expect to see you here." Tver extended his hand in a friendly manner and shook hands with the energetic old man in front of him.
At least, he was much friendlier than when he had shaken hands with Duyef.
Generally speaking, the United Nations had many different offices and agencies established according to the matters that needed to be handled.
The Secretary-General was basically responsible for affairs at the New York headquarters. Only when more serious issues were involved would he come out to preside over a meeting.
But this meeting was nominally about climate issues, so it should originally have been handled by the Director of the Geneva Office.
"If this meeting were really about climate issues, I certainly wouldn't have come to join the excitement," the Secretary-General said helplessly, though he still gave Tver a sly wink.
The Middle East issue had always been a major problem troubling the United Nations, and this near outbreak of the Sixth Middle East War had rattled him so badly he could hardly sleep.
Now, if this meeting failed to produce a suitable result, not only the Middle East powder keg, but even a hot war between East and West might break out.
By then, the great powers above would probably have no need for the United Nations or for him, the Secretary-General.
So after exchanging a few pleasantries with Tver, he quickly got to the point.
"The meeting is about to begin, and you may not be familiar with some of the procedures yet." He pointed at the stage, which was already lit. "I will first give an opening address there, mainly introducing the attendance at this meeting, as well as the issues and content to be discussed."
"After that, it will be your turn to take the stage."
Seeing that Tver was even younger than he had imagined, the Secretary-General patted him on the shoulder with concern.
"A few mistakes in the speech are allowed, because your prepared remarks have already been translated in advance and distributed to the representatives of each country."
"However, there may be a questioning session afterward. That is when representatives from various countries will express their opinions. You can answer or refute them, but whether they listen is another matter."
The old man gave an endearing shrug.
A certain shameless superpower loved nothing more than making all kinds of ridiculous threats during this part. But the most fatal thing was that even when its lies were full of holes, the small countries being questioned still found it hard to refute them.
Even at the United Nations, facts and justice had to give way to the games played by great powers.
Tver nodded in understanding and agreement.
During his term, this Secretary-General had also been affected by the international situation at the time. Even if he wanted to strengthen the United Nations, the United States, now the sole dominant power, would never allow that to happen.
So he could only do his best to protect weaker countries and devote himself to maintaining peace in underdeveloped regions.
That aligned very much with Tver's own ideas. If he had a good excuse, Tver would even have liked to let this old man serve another term.
Unfortunately, his successor had already been chosen and would take over his position in another two months. It was already a little late to bring that up now.
Still, looking at the helplessness on the old man's face, and noticing the representatives of various countries glancing curiously in their direction with all sorts of expressions, Tver could not help becoming much more cautious.
The United Nations was, after all, a microcosm of the international law of the jungle.