Chapter Sixty: Suddenly this turned into a date 5
James was enjoying his tour around the town, Clair had mentioned that the city was boring and also too big for a tour in such a short time.
They had gone through all the stalls and she had bought many things….interesting things he had never seen before in his life. She knew it amused her because of the way she would smirk at him secretly.
Despite her secret teasing, it was still fun, he also learned that he wouldn't be the first prince in history to secretly come and tour the town.
She taught about how it's good to get to know his people and the way they live so that when he inherits the throne he will be able to give them what they need and help the country become greater than what it already is.
He saw the surprise in her face when he had mentioned that the only way monarchs got to know their people was through surveys that went out every 10 years.
"Sure, that helps keep count of the population and all but do you think everyone submits true information in those surveys? You do realize how easy it is for rich business giants to twist things in their favor?" She asked him.
"To avoid that my father made sure that the reports matched, for example, the taxes that are paid and the way it has helped places in critical need. Or when natural disasters happen, those reports help out a lot." He answered though he didn't mention a lot of other things, on purpose.
He wanted to know what she knew and how he could learn more from her.
"I agree with that but people are greedy. Natural disasters are the most common excuse they use to squeeze out more from the system and fill their pockets. Surveys or not it's always the same result. How could you rely on simple reports? You don't know their lives! Do you know why there are more and more license applications for stalls every year?"
"Some of these people can barely pay their rent every day, and so they look for other ways to earn money. I bet those reports never mentioned this huh." Clair spoke as she took pictures of the wall they were walking around of.
It had many unique art pieces on it, made by the artists in the town.
"Tell me more." He asked.
"Hmm, sure." Clair agreed, not noticing his undying interest.
"Remember the hurricane that came 3 years ago? It hit this town the worst. Claiming they came to reconstruct and fix the mess, all those people did was gain more and more money." She then pointed at a hotel around 4 miles away from them.
Even from their distance, it was so tall and luxurious they could see it perfectly.
"That's the reconstruction they did." She added, her tone was neutral but she could barely control her angry expression.
"Oh, I don't blame you though. I know you aren't exactly on duty right now. Besides, it's your father's carelessness, I might get charged with treason for this so I'm going to keep quiet." She mumbled in a tinier voice than before and she handed him the pictures she had taken.
"Take these as a souvenir since our tour is coming to an end in 25 minutes." She told him, looking at her watch.
James accepted it and mumbled 'thanks'.
His eyes sparkled in interest again, he really wanted to know what was going around that little head of hers.
"You can say it, you have my full permission to speak your mind."
"How close are you to your uncle?" She asked instead.
"I promise, you won't get charged for treason." He countered.
"Okay fine but answer my question."
"Not close at all." He replied.
"Great, no offense but he's a douche bag with a stick very far up his ass. If he weren't 'supervising' the recent constructions and all your father would have known about the things he has been hiding."
"Of course, he framed someone else for it but still it's a step."
"Wait father knows already?"
Clair furrowed her eyebrows, "Yeah….hey do people not fill you in much? There was a complaint submitted 6 months ago. Someone got 20,000 people to sign a petition and send the real reports straight to your father's office."
"Who?" He asked directly.
"I don't….remember." She lied, knowing damn well she was the one behind all that.
"I see. Well, I think I have been focusing on protecting my people and forgetting that they need a lot more than just safety." He heaved a deep sigh and he smiled at her.
Well, obviously he was not a general just to catch an assassin. There were many other important tasks he completed for his country.
"Thank you for telling me all this. I'm going to have a very intense conversation with my father about this." He tried to lift up his mood by adding some humor.
"I think you should have that conversation, though your father is a good and kind ruler he's really slow at finding the dark issues in the nation and it's a problem." She pouted when her camera ran out of battery and she placed it around her neck.
'Am I saying too much? Well if there's someone who can make a change around here it's him.' She thought after leveling the pros and cons of giving him more information.
She was still working with her team to get more petitions out. She wasn't strong enough to fight the people under James' uncle since she was nothing but a big shot in the business world.
She didn't have nearly enough power, which is why it upset her and she has been trying to bring matters to light as hard as she could.
Anna had put in a little help because she knows how important this is for her still, it was not near enough.
She had a feeling that if she approached James about it, the change would actually happen for once.
Benefits of having a crown prince as your husband!
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