Pests, Problems, and the Issue of Coronation

It was currently at the break of dawn, and I was in my office petting the cutely yawning Bellerophon on my lap, who adamantly refused to part ways with me ever since I returned a week ago, as Horus and Abraham protectively stood behind me as usual, while Kira stood professionally near the door awaiting any instructions, like an exemplary maid.

And as I continued petting the lazy creature, who's horns and wings were starting to sprout out of his head and back respectively, I couldn't help as my mind slowly drifted back to this past week, as a slight smile bloomed across my features, whilst I remembered how I played with Alisar and Cyrus for hours, as their infectious laughs resounded all around me. Or how I spent hours listening to Nizam remove his usual mask of maturity as he enthusiastically spoke about his new found passion for the magic arts. Or how I would accompany my mother on her evening walks through the Palace gardens, with Azrael and Dido.

And my smile grew even larger, as I remembered my mother's enraged, yet concerned and loving tone, as she loudly scolded me, for hiding my injury from her. Her concern and fury only subsided after I promised to not do anything remotely taxing on my body until I was completely healed, which wouldn't be too long now, since the Arch priest of the empire, Adam Sekhmet healed most of my wounds a few days ago.

But before I could further dive into the river of my memories, a loud knock echoed throughout the room, as I heard Darius loudly say "May I enter, sire."

I nod to Kira, who immediately understands my meaning, and swiftly opens the door, letting both men in, as they slightly bow, while saying "Good morning, your imperial majesty."

"Good morning to you too gentlemen. My apologies for calling you so early in the morning, but we have much to discuss about the state of our empire, as well as the damages this war has caused." I reply as I shake off the remnants of my distracting thoughts, and focus on performing my duties as emperor once again.

Darius nods, and steps forward as he happily says "Please don't fret my liege, it's our duty and honor to answer whenever you call. But before I speak on those issues, we must decide on another matter." Darius finishes as he looks at Isaac.

Seeing this, I also turn my eyes to him, as he stepped forward and carefully said "It's about your step siblings and step mothers, sire."

As soon as Isaac said those words, everyone felt the temperature in the room drop by a couple of degrees, as my gaze became frigid, before releasing a deep frustrated sigh, and say "What did those ravenous hyaenas do now?"

"They, along with the noble faction spread slanderous words, and demeaning rumors about you, and your family, sire. They also attempted to galvanize the people against you, by claiming that you were too young to handle the responsibility of the throne, and a regent must be named for the good of the empire." Isaac replied calmly, with a sharp gleam in his eyes.

I laugh heartily as if I'd heard the finest joke in my life, as I said "For the Empire? And not to satiate their selfish ambitious desires? Even the court jester would struggle to find a more absurd joke!"

"Indeed, sire." Isaac says with a scornful smile, as he continued ruthlessly "As soon as the news of your victory arrived, they quickly escaped with their tails between their legs to their mothers families, in fear of retaliation."

Horus scoffed upon hearing this, as he smirked mockingly, while saying "So they only dare to bare their fangs when we are gone? What cowards!"

"They are nothing more than wild dogs, young man. And dogs can only bark when the lions are away." Isaac said sneeringly.

"Did you dispatch any members of the Shade Corps after them Isaac?" I ask murderously.

"Of course, sire. A single word from you, and their heads will be under your feet in a day." Isaac said mercilessly.

I smile hearing this, but then I shake my head, saying "Although it's a tempting offer, we can't take it just yet. Let them snivel away in their dens for now, we'll deal with them when the time is right."

Hearing this Darius breathes a sigh of relief, since all the families in question, including the families of my step mothers were all powerful, and ancient houses within the empire, and removing them from power would most definitely lead to a civil war, something the empire can't handle at the current moment.

"Now that we're done with that, shall we focus on more meaningful matters." I say, while looking at Darius.

"With pleasure, sire." Darius replies courteously, and takes a deep breathe before experiencedly saying "The empire has numerous problems plaguing it at the moment your majesty, but the ones that are most urgently in need of swift, and decisive action are the constant decrease of the yearly food yield of the Vitar River, as well as the complete obliteration of our northern army in the most recent war, thus leaving our borders with the Luminous Empire virtually unguarded. Another crisis we are currently facing is the Empire's dilapidating, or in some areas lack of infrastructure that is causing merchant caravans to take weeks to arrive to their destination. Which leads me to another disease that is infecting our land, and that is the massive expansion of bandit gangs, and highway robbery, which is only increasing the strain on the already empty treasury. And the final issue is that we can't begin to fix these problems, until your majesty assigns his ministers."

Horus and Kira, who were hearing about all these problems for the first time, were stunned as they listened to the unending deluge of problems spouted by Darius, and they both worriedly looked at me, fearing that I may not be able to handle all these difficulties. But their fear, and worries were misplaced, because I was completely unaffected by any of this. If anything, I was happy that there were only this many problems, since by the time I finally took the throne in my past life, the empire had ten times as many problems!

I recline back in my seat, as a thoughtful look settles in my eyes, for few seconds before asking "How much Darr is left in the treasury?"

"Around seven million, and if we count the thirteen and a half million we gained from the Luminous Empire in this war, that would amount to nearly twenty one million Darr. And I must say my liege, your decision of not conquering any land, and opting instead for gaining as much Darr as possible from them was the perfect choice." Darius replied.

I nod to him appreciatively, before asking again "How much are we expecting to gain in taxes this year?"

"Around seventeen million Darr." Darius replies solemnly.

I frown at this number and ask gravely "Isn't that number a bit too small?"

"Indeed it is sire. We have the weakest economy among all four great empires at the moment." Darius once again replied.

I stay silent for a few seconds, before resolutely saying "Darius, I want you to prepare a recommendation list for the positions of my ministers by the end of the day. And I want you to make sure that the war reparations from the Luminous Empire arrives safely to the capital. Those funds are necessary for us at the moment."

"Understood, my liege." Darius happily said, after all he was now certain that his position as Grand Vizier would not be in jeopardy under his new emperor, since the privilege of offering recommendations for the minister positions was only afforded to the Grand Vizier.

"Isaac, I want the Shade Corps to fully mobilize, and begin investigating every political enemy we have, and find all the incriminating evidence you can possibly get against them." I say sadistically.

"Right away, sire." Isaac said while slightly bowing.

I nod to him, before looking at both of them, and asking "Is there anything else we need to discuss today?"

"Yes there is, your majesty. There is still the issue of your coronation. When would you like it to be held?" Darius said.

I sigh and facepalm as I heard this, since I completely forgot about it; and I honestly wished I didn't have to remember it either! Because not only is it a long, time consuming ceremony, that was completely pointless, since I'm already the emperor in name and power already, but I would also have to meet and socialize with a lot of annoying and narcissistic bastards, who would try every trick in the book to take advantage of me.

'But I can't ignore it.' I depressingly thought, since it was tradition. And to break tradition is a foolish endeavor, since it would alienate me from my people, and it would give my enemies an easy weakness to take advantage of.

"Is one month enough time to prepare everything?" I ask in a defeated tone.

"More than enough my emperor." Darius replied, as he chuckled amusedly after seeing my deflated state, and understanding that I didn't want to do it.

I glared at him after hearing his amusement, which prompted him to immediately excuse himself, saying he needed to finish his many tasks. After which he was also followed by Isaac saying the same reason.

And seeing their departing figures I couldn't help but sigh once again as the unappealing thought of having to suffer through another coronation resurfaced in my mind. But little did I know that I would be extraordinarily grateful for it in the coming few days!