Today was going to be even harder than handling the banquet. Rosaline put a hand on her stiff shoulder and stretched. Hui, who was watching the scene from afar, ran over in a second.
“Secretary, are you tired? Why don’t you take a break today?”
Rosaline visited Cahir’s bedroom early in the morning because she thought she could get a day off today. Somehow without sleep, he still got up before the sun and finished grooming.
As soon as Cahir saw Rosaline, he sprang up and handed over the crown. Rosaline accepted the crown skillfully without panic, as this was often the case. At this point, people might even think that the crown was broken, considering it spent more time in Rosaline’s hands than on Cahir’s head.
“Rosaline, no more banquets.”
No more, why? Rosaline thought the banquet had been very successful. Everyone enjoyed themselves and had fun, which made for fantastic promotional material for today’s royal family.
Rosaline raised an eyebrow in question.
“I don’t want them because you are so close to me. It’s uncomfortable”
Alas, a selfish human being.
Rosaline had tried hard to meet with her landlord, and she pushed for a banquet to boost the image of the Imperial family and get rid of unsavory rumors before they get a chance to grow. Was he telling her not to hold a banquet just because he took care of her?
This is really not the way to go.
She didn’t do it for compensation, but it was a brilliant achievement, so she believed she at least deserved some words of praise.
‘You’re being way too cheap and dirty, I want to quit!’
Unaware of Rosaline’s thoughts, Cahir set out for the conference hall.
***
The morning came swiftly like an arrow, all of the secretaries and staff who attended the banquet all night long rubbed their eyes and got ready to work at dawn.
The Aetheus Empire had regular aristocratic meetings where the council of nobles discussed important matters of the state. The overall task of dealing with the decisions of the aristocratic council were undertaken by the secretaries and administrators set up by the emperor. Most of them graduated from the academy, were tested with difficult problems given by Cahir himself and personally interviewed, and had excellent brains and guts.
Cahir listened to the war reparations proposed by the other country and discussed in depth how to revise some unsatisfactory proposals and how to proceed with future negotiations.
He asked sharp questions non-stop, more like an interrogation to make sure Rosaline was sober and working rather than wanting to know the information.
At the end of the meeting, Rosaline finally gave him some advice.
“That wasn’t advice, it was verbal abuse”
It was good as far as solutions were concerned, but…
“…Can’t the nobles read a report? You know how to laugh and drink at a banquet, but you don’t know the basics of what to do first when you sit at the negotiating table. Do I still have to tell you this much myself? And as for the administrators… Did you go to the academy through the back door? Or were you not the ones who took the exam and were interviewed? Did your twin siblings take over that day?”
The problem was what Rosaline added later.
Rosaline was butting heads with the aristocrats and her colleagues, whose faces were getting darker.
***
“Your Majesty, it’s time for tea.”
Tea was prepared by Derek at two in the afternoon. At Rosaline’s words, Cahir stopped frowning and he and Rosaline walked side by side. In the afternoon, the corridors of the Imperial Palace were calm. Sunlight came in and touched the jewels of the crown in Rosaline’s hands. The light passing through the jewels illuminated the area, creating colored refractions.