I had planned to wait until the next morning to ask her what had happened to her, but I opened my eyes to the sound of knocking. I had even forgotten when I fell asleep; the dawn sun had not risen yet, and the servants had come to wake me.
I had requested it myself, so I wasn't angry. I looked to my side—Morgana was still asleep. I suppose I would wait a little longer, so I went to the bathroom and made the worst possible decision in such cold weather: I used only cold water to wake myself up and force every muscle in my body to awaken as well. I regretted it immediately, but I didn't stop. Afterward, I remembered my wardrobe and sighed.
Well, there was no other solution. This was only the third day—let's endure it.
Since I had time, I searched for clothes that were slightly darker and less extravagant. At the end of the shelf there was one covered in a bit of dust, but it was better than nothing. I looked at the maid and asked her to take care of Morgana, then headed to the office. I needed to finish some things. An hour after I entered the office, Cecilion arrived, looking exhausted.
Clearly, he had not bathed in cold water like I had.
He greeted me, sat down, and began working until a knock came at the door. I assumed the servants had finally remembered to bring the food, but behind the door was a lovely cat with black hair and violet eyes.
It was Morgana.
"Your Majesty, are you busy?"
"Come in."
Fortunately, the guards had not arrived yet; otherwise they would have prevented her from meeting me. It seemed she had come with the maid I had asked to take care of her. Good—I would reward that maid later.
Morgana entered, looked around as if studying the place, then spoke, seemingly worried that I might not understand what she was hinting at.
"Your Majesty, I came to ask permission to return to the Mercury Palace."
"Very well. You may return and prepare to move to the main palace."
I paused and looked at the maid.
"Tell the head maid to prepare the Queen's chamber and a shared room. I want it finished before evening."
"Your Majesty, the Queen's chamber is currently occupied by the Second Queen Mother."
The Queen Mother?
Ah… does she mean the second wife?
Again? Did that woman marry someone or what…?
Forget it. It would be better not to interfere. Morgana's eyes seemed to say exactly that.
"Fine. I'm busy now. Handle the situation as you see fit. You have full authority within the palace."
This time my words were directed at Morgana.
She bowed, smiled with a mischievous grin, then bowed again before retreating with the excuse of not disturbing my work.
I suppose the palace would be lively these days.
Finally, Cecilion spoke after Morgana left.
"Your Majesty, is it really alright to hand the authority over palace affairs to Her Majesty? She may not know how to deal with such matters."
"Let her play. Why are you interfering in women's affairs? Return to your work."
"As you command."
She hadn't learned. That girl seemed to have lived a long time after the rabbit's death. I needed to get to know her better. But until then, I didn't care if she destroyed the palace from the inside.
Sometimes it is easier to rebuild things than to repair them.
If I could do that with the Empire itself, it would be even better—but that room of relics attracted far too many greedy parties.
Right… I needed to hand over the seal that confirmed her authority. But it was in the possession of the rabbit's father's second wife. Taking it from her would be troublesome.
Let's see first how Morgana handles the matter.
It would also be nice if she came asking for my help.
"I forgot to ask about those injuries."
I suppose I would postpone that.
A moment later another knock came. The door opened and breakfast was brought in. They had taken so long that I had nearly forgotten about it.
Well, a hungry man should not complain about delayed food.
After breakfast it would be time for the meeting.
And so it was.
Today would be more comprehensive than yesterday. There were more guests present, even members of the Church.
To be honest, I didn't like those people. They worship the sun and the light and curse the darkness—and they were the reason public opinion had turned against Morgana.
A religion that fears confronting logic… is it natural to believe in it?
I don't know.
And honestly, I don't really care.
They might be useful. Above all, I cannot antagonize them. Even though the Church meddles in the Empire's affairs, it still remains subordinate to the Holy Empire. They may not interfere in decisive decisions, but they always try to speak in the name of faith.
Even so, their interference is annoying.
Especially since that mage who fled with many technologies—including the teleportation gate—later joined the Holy Empire and declared his repentance.
To calm the situation, the Holy Empire did not return the arrays. Instead, it claimed they were a donation he had given to the Church in exchange for his repentance.
And since they were stolen in the first place, the Holy Empire decided to spread them publicly across the continent.
Because of this, relations between the two empires deteriorated, until the Eleventh Emperor tried to repair them by offering countless donations—thus announcing the beginning of the end.
Even the Tyrant Emperor who came after him did not choose to oppose the Church.
But to continue the donations without affecting his own comfort, the burden of paying them was placed on the people.
That was aside from the rest of his deeds.
Anyway, enough of that. Talking about them is even more irritating than talking about Cecilion.
The meeting began.
As I expected, after clearing their minds, the atmosphere returned to what it had been: cold, dark, and filled with devilish ideas—especially with more people present.
Cecilion opened the discussion. Since no one knew where to begin, I decided to discuss the guild idea in detail first.
Today was different.
Everything was being recorded for later review and eventual implementation.
Those who had not attended yesterday began asking questions, and soon the conversation began to flow smoothly while I tried to recreate the mental current once more.
It was difficult because of several stubborn heads, but gradually the discussion moved from the guild to the currency issue, then back to the guild again—linking the two.
Eventually I stepped back slightly and observed as the flow of ideas took shape again.
Everyone began questioning, analyzing, proposing, adjusting, criticizing.
More ideas surfaced—some brilliant, others so foolish they were almost amusing.
Some expressed anger loudly, others remained calm.
But the discussion never stopped until the ideas once again reached a dead end.
I threw in another idea.
Like poison, they swallowed the bait and continued arguing.
The Church proposed that it should distribute food instead of the Blue Tower.
The Duke of the South suggested a new system for the Adventurers' Guild.
Another man proposed changing the name of the currency.
Someone suggested a radical solution starting from the capital itself.
Before anyone realized it, a competition had begun over who could present the better solution.
Calm leadership had created a conflict that served the Empire.
Some nobles offered concessions; others did not.
Some revealed their hostility unintentionally before correcting themselves.
Everyone stared at the map of the Empire spread across the table, each pointing to the advantages of the lands they governed.
I no longer knew how this would end.
But that wasn't bad either.
They had given me several good ideas, and I had gained a clearer understanding of the situation than before.
Then the meeting was paused for lunch and mental rest.
Afterward we returned to the beginning.
Ideas now reached their conclusions. Their weaknesses were exposed and addressed.
I believe it was time.
I raised my hand and the noise lessened.
I was starting to like that gesture.
"Very well. Since the course of action is now clear, let us divide the tasks. Everyone will help restructure the Empire."
Whether they believed in it or not didn't matter.
Pretending would be enough.
Since I was the one who proposed it, no one objected. They seemed to have grown accustomed to analyzing my proposals before rejecting them, due to the sheer number I had made.
Things moved quickly.
Their adaptability was astonishing.
But this time I used it to my advantage.
Work was divided.
The Church repeated its request to distribute food in the ruler's name.
Without hesitation, the request was rejected.
The argument was simple: the ruler does not borrow food.
The food had been borrowed only from the Blue Tower.
That would be an insult the priest could not argue against.
He wasn't pleased—he knew I was playing with words.
But if he pushed further using charity or the spread of light as excuses, they would collapse under simple logic.
Still, I did not want hostility with the Church right now.