Leona's Happy Time

(Leona POV)

Lord Hadar was so great!

All of my proposals had been approved.

All of my teachings came to fruition. Lord Hadar enthralled all of my teachings in just one day.

I didn't want to disappoint him, so I gave all of my power to teach everything.

He was really a benevolent leader among his peers, so he's really determined to save his people.

He carefully jotted down in his notepad the important things related to the economy.

He was the ruler of the people, the underrated prodigy of the Empire, and my beloved hero.

I really made sure I won't fail. I didn't want to look stupid.

When Lord Hadar announced that he's looking for talented people. And, I was one of the few lucky attendants selected.

I couldn't help but rejoice afterward.

After Lord Hadar appointed me as his advisor for administrative tasks and management, I prepared everything in my power to present all of my ideas in front of him.

I wasn't dense to figure his intention. He gave me the opportunity to repay my debt. Therefore, I must do my job properly.

Honestly, I often sensed a disturbance between us whenever we were alone in his room. His attentive gaze made me uncomfortable, feel unsafe and displease. But this child wasn't the same person as those perverted criminals and ugly men who only lusted for my body.

Yes, I must be hallucinating and feeling unwell.

Lord Hadar was the man of his words. This won't daydream perverted thoughts or vile ideas at my body.

The next afternoon, I went to his room for our private lesson.

This time I told him to create a law for recycling. All of the scrap materials from the old warship should be sold to the junk merchants.

Lord Hadar startled when I mentioned the word, 'Loan.'

'I wonder why,' I tilted my head with a curious face.

(Hadar POV)

'Oh, please, no more loan, Leona! No more! The number of bills is increasing inside my head. I'm gonna explode like my past self!' I begged inside my mind.

"L, Leona, there's something I have to tell you. Hear me out, will ya," I faltered a little bit.

My beautiful maid shut her mouth and looked at me with a curious face.

"What is it, Lord Hadar?" she asked, smiling.

'Gaaagh, damn it. Stop smiling!'

"A, about the loan," I hesitated again when she moved next to me.

"Hmm?" Leona's pure heart pierced my heart.

"L, let's do it. Okay, we'll do that," I said with a stumble tone.

'G, goddamn, Hadar. You're starting to become a simp!'

Leona's eyes blinked several times and she rejoiced thereafter.

"Thank you very much, Lord Hadar. You're truly a benevolent ruler," she placed her hands behind her waist and bent her body on the side. Then, her smiling face hit my heart.

'Fuck, too cute. Medic, medic, please help me. I got hit. I got hit again. M, my heart,' I puke some blood inside my mind after the direct hit.

"This is bad. I can't wait to become an adult," I muttered aside that only I could hear.

I heaved an exhausting sigh.

"Is there something wrong, milord?" Leona worried. "Naah, I'm fine. Please proceed," I replied, waving my right hand to let her continue.

"Oh, you look tired, milord. Should we take a break?" Leona suggested. "Naah, please continue. I'm fine, Leona. I'm not tired at all. You're just imagining it," I assured.

"But, milord. It's my duty to ―" Leona paused after I raised a finger on my hand. "Stop it, you don't have to. Let's continue the lecture, Ms. Leona. Your beauty will suddenly age if you keep thinking about me. I don't want to ruin the mood," I insisted, waving my finger left and right. Then, I put it down and sit properly.

"D, did I stutter?" Leona inquired.

"Good grief, princess. I'm tired of waiting for your lecture. Please open the PowerPoint presentation," I heaved a sigh and ordered.

"My apologies, here," Leona pressed the button of the remote. Then, a big illustration of our military budget appeared.

"Somehow, we manage to salvage the lives of our veterans. Thanks to your new modernization program, we eliminated the threat of corruption within the ranks, gave the pension needed by their families, and reshuffle the staff based on their skills."

"Right, the maintenance cost is really such a pain in the ass. Anyways, we're stuck now with a force numbered of 500 warships. Blasphemy, who the fuck set the maintenance cost to maximum level when we're not even capable to save up some money for the industry within our territory? They are nuts. Totally ignorant," I slammed a hand on my armrest angrily.

"I fully understand your reaction, but please control your emotion. A ruler must think wisely and do the right. Not getting emotionally attached to the past is the most important thing for us to move forward, so please calm down," Leona offered me a drink and corrected me.

"They are responsible for all of this, though. C'mon, don't look at me like that. Okay, fine. I'm calm now. I'm dead serious."

'She's scary when her eyes turned sharp.'

"Milord, the mark of maturity is when you stop blaming others for your problem,' Leona's cheeks puffed, and folded her arms across her chest.

"O, okay. I'll remember that. Please don't get mad at me," I said, smiling.

She tilted her head on the side. Then, she smiled back.

"Good, please remember. We are here to fix the problem, and not to blame anyone," Leona raised a finger and waved it, left and right.

'Damn it, now I'm worried about the future. I'm very blessed. I think I need to hold my plan to reach adulthood. She's a terrifying girl, a mature and strict wife material.'

"By the way, I have a question here," I quickly changed the subject and pointed my finger at the debt file.

"Sure, what is it?" Leona's eyebrows raised up and her lips upturned.

"How can we pay our debt? If we keep taking more of it, our economy won't last anymore. Our planet might be blessed with natural resources, but our lower-class people are still uneducated and undisciplined. Only a few could write down their name and read properly according to our census. We need to create a countermeasure. I don't want to increase the tax, so I make a proposal. I want you to give me your honest thoughts about this. Should I increase our tarriff?" I quizzed.

Leona's eyes turned sharp. Then, she picked up a large pile of papers on the desk and placed it down on my table.

"What is this?" I asked. "That is the answer for your question, milord," Leona declared.

"This is a tax reformation proposal and the old imperial law of the Empire," I stated after I read the content thereof.

"Good grief, milord. You should hold the plan for the increase of our tariff. Increasing the tariff will only increase the prices of our import goods," Leona warned.

'Eeeh?'

"The wealth of the nation comes from taxes of the people and tariffs collected from the business sectors," she added, pointing her stick on the monitor.

'Honestly, when did you summon the stick?'

"Then, we should tax the people then," I proposed.

Leona's eyes wrinkled after I said it. She pulled out her remote and changed the screen from the report to the empty notepad.

"Milord, let me show you this," she illustrated two figures on the monitor, "Look at this picture. I'm gonna show you how it's done. This is citizen A and this is you. You're the owner of the business and he is the taxpayer. Once we increase the tax of our people, they will suffer a lot from the increase in prices," Leona explained.

"Eeh? Why? There's gotta be a mistake there, " I complained. "Milord, please imagine yourself in your people's place. You're already forgetting the important thing here. Our people don't have enough money to support themselves, buy what they want, and afford to pay taxes. If we raise the tax more, we'll no longer get a chance to attract some investors too. In other words, we will disrupt the chance of our people to rise from poverty. Taxes are the lifeblood of every government for centuries and the money comes from the hard work of the citizens," Leona pointed out.

"Then, what should we do to pay our debt, Leona?" I inquired. "The only way for us to decrease a large number of our debt is by opening a bank. Please read chapter 12 verse 34. There, that's the answer," she instructed.

I turned the page to check it. Then, my eyes trembled upon reading the content.

My shaken hands dropped down the documents.

"Is this for real? Or did I read it wrong?" I shuddered. "No, it's the truth," she nodded with a thumbs up.

"Eeeh, why do I have to do this?" I asked. "Because you're the only person who can push this plan into success. This is the only way. We must lend them money," Leona asserted.

'Huh? Are you out of your freaking mind? I'm a greedy and selfish man, Leona. Lending my money to other people is the last thing I will do,' I badgered.

I wanted to say it, but she's really determined.

"Hold up, is this really the only way? Do I have any other option?" I quizzed. "Yes," she confirmed.

My main objective was to become the vicious man in the universe. I wanted to dominate the world behind the scene, became one of the richest men in the world, and formed a harem on my own. But to think the future vicious man in the universe must comply and carried a piece of big and heavy luggage.

I, I was at loss.

'Damn it, I'm gonna die in stress because of you, Leona! Loan and money lending? C'mon, milady. Give me a break. Oh dear Courier, save me!' I cried inside my heart.