Chapter 1:
The Queen Makes Her Move
I COULDN’T STOP MYSELF from sighing after the meeting ended. I’d been swept up in meetings since the crack of dawn, and it wasn’t until evening that I got a chance to relax. Even with Gilbert doing all he could to cut down on pointless appointments, it was still rather dreadful. It made me wonder how much worse it’d be without him.
“Excellent work today, my queen. Might I suggest resting for now?” Brian said. The young bureaucrat now spent his days working as Gilbert’s right-hand man.
His suggestion prompted me to shake my head. “That won’t be necessary,” I told him. “What do you have to report?”
“We just finished discharging the Radford bureaucrats.”
“Oh, that was today? Were there any complications?”
“A few. There were some disputes, but it was nothing we weren’t prepared for.”
“I see, very good. I must say, It’s quite disheartening to know that two out of every five Radford officials were caught up in some truly deplorable crimes.”
“Yes, it shocks me every time I look at the numbers.”
“Makes one wonder what must be happening in their region.”
“Many of the bureaucrats themselves are relatives of the marquess. Ideal breeding grounds for corruption and nepotism, I’m afraid.”
Brian was, unfortunately, quite correct. There were five regions surrounding the capital that belonged to the Great Five Marquess Houses. House Radford ruled the north, while House Slade was to the east. To the south stood Houses Beckford and Weston, and House Alcott sat to the west. All of these regions were independently governed by the Great Five. Those with blood ties to the marquesses were given priority for official positions over all other candidates. This abuse of power was so rampant that rumors spread saying the Great Five didn’t consider anyone outside of their bloodlines to be real people.
“Yes. It’s unsurprising that they’ve produced so many individuals who don’t know their place,” I said. Brian stayed silent for a while, but his fretful expression told me what he was thinking all the same.
“Even so, I doubted my eyes a bit when I saw the report,” he said at length. “The corruption is much more widespread than I would’ve imagined.”
“Indeed. Even the ones who haven’t openly engaged in corruption are quite complicit in ill deeds. I’ve heard some have shirked their letter delivery duties and used their social standing to carouse with their friends day and night.”
“Wage theft is what it is. I’d say three of every five bureaucrats were found guilty of it.”
“Will this have any impact on the operation of our government?” I asked.
“Doubtful. We called as many officials loyal to the crown back to the capital as we could, so we should be fine for now. If anything changes, you will be the first to know,” Brian told me.
“Very well. I leave it to you.”
Brian became unusually shy as he requested to say one more thing. “By the way, Your Majesty…”
“Yes?”
“May I ask why you didn’t punish the Radfords more severely for their little rebellion?”
I cackled. “Ahh, so you think I should have raked them over the coals?”
“I suppose so.”
His aloof approval greatly reminded me of his superior, Gilbert. The man must’ve been running him ragged.
“Forgiving them for that incident was my mistake. Disdain for me lingers in the capital because of it.”
“Honestly, my queen, it does. Disparity in how you’ve chosen to punish different parties may lead to criticism over your methods in the near future.”
“I considered punishing them more severely for their crime,” I admitted. “Nonetheless, the pain of the people that led to the rebellion was a reality. The independent bureaucrats would’ve been gravely disappointed in me had I punished an entire party over it.”
Independent officials were those with no ties to the Great Five. They were not necessarily my allies, but they were not exactly friends with the Great Five either. They would become my enemies were I to turn a blind eye to their concerns, and I simply could not allow that to happen. Not a single policy I desired would be feasible if they turned against me.
“In any case, they’re doomed. I let them off the hook, thinking they might prove useful in the end,” I said.
Brian sat up straighter as a sinister grin crept across my face.
“Does that answer your question well enough?” I asked.
“C-certainly. My humblest thanks for your input, my queen,” Brian said as he bowed before me.
He left the room, and Gilbert entered soon after.
“Ah, so it’s you this time,” I said. “What do you have to report?”
“Information regarding the latest harvest,” Gilbert replied.
This was an issue I’d brought up in a prior meeting. Accurate reporting of the harvests was something the Ministers of Finance and Internal Affairs had both neglected for over a decade.
“Did I not order you to prepare reports from each region regarding this matter?”
Officially, the Great Five were meant to be servants to the royal family. In reality, they were our enemies. Over the years, they’d stripped political power away from the king, acted as tyrants in their own regions, and even gone as far as assassinating the kingdom’s previous ruler—my father. Such vile people could not be trusted to report their finances honestly. This was why I wanted to observe the economic numbers coming out of each region. In my previous life, such government audits were performed regularly. They were enacted to make regional expansion fair and to make the actions of local governments public information.
“Indeed, and we did exactly that. Here they are, as requested,” Gilbert said, tossing a stack of paperwork onto my desk.
On perusal, I muttered, “Ridiculous.”
“Isn’t it?”
“The auditing structure and methods written here are fine. But what in the world is this last caveat? ‘We deem the Minister of Finance to be necessary and require his approval’? It’s an empty platitude at best.”
Was the Minister of Finance a relative of the Great Five? Did they fear he’d be upset at being left out? They wanted no audits to begin with, meaning the status quo would not change. They’d report whatever falsified numbers they desired and continue to run unchecked.
“Likely intentional, given they went out of their way to include that clause.”
“Gilbert, I refuse to accept these terms. Remove this clause. Even if we end up having someone approve an audit, it should not be the Minister of Finance. The auditors themselves should decide who gets to do so.”
“You are quite right. I shall do as you ask, Your Majesty.”
“I have faith in you—but be careful. They’ll surely do whatever they can to offer concessions.”