Today was the day of the regular State Council meeting.
The atmosphere in the central palace became more solemn than usual as high-ranking officials entered the palace.
All the ministers of each department were sitting in the conference room.
They were all people chosen at the discretion of Chancellor Langston, who had been entrusted with Julian's authority.
Only the Minister of Defense fell out of favor with Julian and was replaced by a new person.
He was the only member of the neo-royal faction.
And today, everyone gathered here sensed that another change was about to occur.
It wasn't the usual regular meeting atmosphere.
"There is evidence that the military supplies leaked due to the Count of Kensington's corruption ended up in the hands of thieves."
His gleaming red eyes scanned the ministers one by one.
The Minister of the Interior, who is in charge of the National Police Agency, held his breath at the word "thief."
'Am I the one getting my throat cut today?'
Fortunately, Julian's gaze passed the Minister of the Interior and turned to someone else.
Someone pulled down their tie a little.
When Julian got angry, the air would strangely become heavy, and it would be hard to breathe.
The ministers trembled, thinking it was a threat. In fact, it was because of Magi.
In the tense atmosphere, it was difficult to even breathe properly. Julian's slow gaze stopped on the Foreign Minister.
"The thieves were smuggling military supplies out of the country illegally. Did you know that, Marquis Hickliffe?"
Marquis Hickliffe was startled, never expecting him to be the one to take the blame.
'I'm the one getting cut!'
He looked at Chancellor Langston in confusion instead of answering.
Chancellor Langston happened to be sitting opposite Julian, so it was obvious that Marquis Hickliffe was rolling his eyes.
"I ask the Marquis, where are you looking?"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
"Is Chancellor Langston involved in this matter? Why are you looking at him?"
As Julian's cold gaze turned to Chancellor Langston, the Chancellor shook his head, trying to maintain a stern expression.
"It seems our eyes met by chance, Your Majesty."
The new royalist Minister of Defense inwardly laughed at Chancellor Langston's poor answer.
It was he who quickly moved and submitted the report on behalf of the former Minister of Defense, who had been replaced due to his failure to track down the military supplies stolen by the Count of Kensington.
Chancellor Langston glared at him coldly.
'Don't do useless work.'
Chancellor Langston, who had filled the position of Minister of State with his own men, hoped that Julian would not interfere too much in the affairs of the country.
So, he intentionally diverted or manipulated the reports that were going to Julian.
If you don't know there's a problem, you can't try to fix it.
Julian was supposed to be a puppet from beginning to end.
However, the Minister of Defense was replaced as a result of the recent replacement of secretaries and administrators who began to pour useful information into Julian's ears.
The loss of a key military figure was a painful blow to Chancellor Langston.
But now, like pulling up a sweet potato vine, Julian was doggedly pursuing the Count of Kensington's corruption and even attacking the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
'The Count of Kensington, that greedy old man, seems to have sold the military supplies to thieves to line his own pockets.'
Even If the thieves smuggled it out of the country, how could the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who is busy conducting diplomacy with foreign leaders, be aware of the situation of the thieves at home?
Chancellor Langston took the side of Marquis Hickliffe.
"Your Majesty, Marquis Hickliffe has been busy trying to prevent the damage from the war that broke out in the Kingdom of Cartanla from reaching the Kingdom of Baltak. Please take this into consideration."
"Illegal military supplies have flowed into the military camp of the Kingdom of Felons."
"...!"
At Julian's words, the ministers of each department tightly closed their eyes.
The face of Marquis Hickliffe turned pale.
The decades-long war with the Kingdom of Felons had just been brought to an end by Julian, and yet the nation's military supplies were falling into the hands of the enemy.
"While I was fighting the enemy, I found out that someone was raiding the weapons storage in my house and giving it to the enemy. Do you mind?"
A sneer spread across Julian's lips.
"..."
"..."
The Minister of Defense has already been replaced.
Someone else was needed to take responsibility for this.
'The Foreign Minister's head is blown off today.'
Those who realized that Julian had decided to do this kept their mouths shut.
"Tell me, Marquis Hickliffe. Are you Incompetent or colluding? Are you saying that you were completely unaware that the Kingdom of Felons had been filling their warehouses with military supplies stolen from ours while you were going back and forth as their own?"
"I... I... Your Majesty, I didn't know anything."
"How can you say you don't know anything when you're a minister?"
Marquis Hickliffe kept glancing at Chancellor Langston as if pleading for his help, but the Chancellor avoided his gaze.
That was why Julian had given a solemn warning.
"From now on, anyone who protects Marquis Hickliffe will be considered to be in collusion with the enemy and will be punished together with him."
Julian looked at Marquis Hickliffe again.
Marquis Hickliffe said nothing.
"Hey, listen!"
The guards came in at Julian's call.
"Take him out."
"I have never colluded with the Kingdom of Felons! It was a misunderstanding! Please give me a chance to properly investigate...!"
The Marquis' voice grew distant.
"The opportunity was given when you ordered a full investigation, wasn't it?"
Julian looked around at the ministers and asked.
He didn't ask with the expectation of an answer.
The stabbed people lowered their eyes.
None of them submitted a proper report to Julian's investigation.
From then on, every time Julian uncovered an unreported corruption case, one person would be beheaded.
The ministers secretly cursed Chancellor Langston, who had instructed them to make a show of complying with Julian's orders.
***
After the meeting, the nobles came out of the conference room and got into their carriages.
His steps were hurried as if he wanted to leave the palace as soon as possible.
Julian, who came out first, headed to the office. He was followed by his attendants, including secretaries and scribes.
'I missed lunch today.'
Everyone swallowed a sigh at the sight of Julian's sharp expression.
With the Foreign Minister out of the picture, things will be hectic for a while.
Then Julian's footsteps suddenly stopped.
His gaze was focused on one place.
The back of her head was visible, with her wavy blonde hair hanging down beautifully.
Julian waved his hand and dispersed the people following him.
Then, he quickly chased after Bridget.
"See you after dinner."
The attendants, who had unexpectedly been freed, stood for a moment and blankly watched Julian's back.
The air that had been suffocating them until just now became lighter.
Julian's steps also seemed light.
He followed Bridget's shadow and followed her stealthily, startling his lover, who turned around at the strange sensation.
"It's a surprise."
Her wide blue eyes turned towards him.
"Surprising."
Her eyes were half-closed, and a smile appeared on her lips.
"When did you come?"
"Just now. Where are you going?"
His hand dug into Bridget's, their five fingers intertwined tightly.
A pleasant aura radiated from her. It was a refreshing feeling, as if the cool breeze blowing in from the snowy mountains in the north was cooling the muggy late summer heat.
All his worries and concerns melted away.
"I came to see you because it was time for the meeting to end, but you looked busy, so I was on my way back."
How can the smile that greets me as soon as she sees me, as if it were natural, be so beautiful?
Strength entered the hand that was clasped with hers.
He resisted the urge to hug and kiss her right away.
"I'm busy. But I'm free."
As soon as he said he had free time, all his schedules were pushed back.
The attendants, who heard his voice faintly from afar, opened their mouths.
It was because they knew Julian's tight schedule, which could never be considered free.
When the attendants stood there with their heads sticking out like a flock of penguins and flinched repeatedly, Bridget finally noticed their presence and exclaimed.
"Oh no!"
"Your Majesty. Your subjects await you."
"They're not waiting."
Julian waved his hand behind his back, a slightly nervous gesture as if to ask if they were still there.
Only then did the attendants come to their senses and retreat.
"Oh, let's go eat."
Everyone nodded.
Thanks to Bridget, they didn't skip lunch today.
As they slowly left, they glanced back at Julian, who was smiling slyly and joking with Bridget.
Soon, Bridget's laughter was heard.
It felt like a massacre could break out in the conference room at any moment.
The subjects were dumbfounded by Julian's appearance, which seemed to have switched personalities.
"Did you see the joke?"
"You almost ran. What a beautiful pair you make."
"The government is hanging around the central palace during regular meetings. Isn't His Majesty being too lenient?"
"The meeting is over, and it's time for lunch. What's the problem? His Majesty needs to rest, too."
"Still, it's a bit much for the officials. This is not a private residence but the central palace, so how can you rest with the government?"
"Oh, my. As His Majesty's secretary, please speak carefully! If someone were to hear you, they would think His Majesty was having fun during the meeting."
Half of the retinue gathered here were from Chancellor Langston's faction, while the rest were from the neo-royalist faction gathered by Bridget.
There was a mixture of joy and sorrow on both sides' faces.
Count Nicholas, standing among his colleagues from Chancellor Langston's faction, rolled his eyes.
'Maybe I stood in the wrong line?'
Support Novellate!
Comments
Post a Comment