Meeting the Ministers

Ciel spent several hours just thinking.

Currently, he was standing in front of the mirror, looking at his own appearance.

As Joe said, he was very handsome.

His figure was rather thin while his skin was pure white to the point of being cleaner than women's skin.

He had slightly curly white hair, clear blue eyes, and rosy lips.

When he smiles, there are dimples on each of his cheeks.

"Hmmm, what a face that can kill," said Ciel.

As a person who drew comics, he naturally knew that most women were crazy about faces like this one.

He then raised his index finger.

A small flame appeared above the finger.

He could use magic, but unfortunately he could only make that small flame. It is also the result of his lifelong learning.

To be able to practice magic properly is not easy, it takes a certain constitution or maybe integrates with something that contains spiritual power.

Knock! Knock!

Ciel's bedroom door suddenly knocked, Joe's voice echoed after that. "Your Majesty, are you inside?"

Ciel thought maybe a minister was coming, he tidied up his clothes before going out.

Joe looked worried as he waited, seeing his appearance, he immediately observed him from head to toe.

"I'm fine," Ciel immediately said, uncomfortable with the old man's gaze.

"Who has come?" He asked.

"Minister of Agriculture, Minister of Social & Health, and General Martin, John Martin." Joe clarified the latter's name.

It was indeed a name that made Ciel knit his brows.

"And the Prime Minister is coming too," Joe added.

"Oh?" Ciel started to show interest.

"Does it have anything to do with what we talked about earlier?" He asked.

"Yeah..." Joe nodded.

"Interesting!" Ciel smiled.

After that, they immediately went to the Palace Hall.

It was a large room with a throne.

There are also several areas with large tables.

At one of the tables sat three men, two middle-aged men and one old man. One of the middle-aged men was wearing armor and his eyes made the other two men not dare to look him in the face.

Behind each of the middle-aged man and old man, there were about five people, they were wearing white shirts lined with suits and carrying a lot of documents that were tucked into bags that were similar to suitcases.

Behind the man wearing the armor, on the other hand, there were five men wearing black armor.

Apart from them, there were several Palace Officials acting as supervisors.

Their gazes all immediately fell on Ciel.

The latter gave a light nod before sitting on the chair opposite them.

Ciel acted as usual, showing a slightly uncomfortable expression so no one would think he was weird.

Actually he wasn't pretending because even Ciel from earth felt a bit uncomfortable with their existence.

The first he looked at was the old man, the Minister of Social & Health, Darien Wilson.

"Please, Mr Wilson," he said matter-of-factly.

Reports may be submitted to him, but in the end the decision will be made by the Prime Minister.

Those Palace Officials were his subordinates who acted as his spies.

If Ciel tried to act on his own, they would do anything to stop him.

"Ehmmm..." The old minister cleared his throat.

"Your Majesty, several hospitals that have been built in other big cities have been completed... It's just that we need funds for their operations," he said.

He made finger gestures at the people behind him. Several of them immediately approached Ciel, handing him a pile of documents.

They also handed some over to the Palace Officials.

Ciel looked at the topmost document.

The letters and numbers here were different from those on earth, but he could naturally read them fluently.

Overall, these documents contain data on the hospitals that have been built and the funds that will be needed for their operations.

While Ciel and the others read the documents, Darien Wilson continued, "Your Majesty, although the cost of medical treatment in the hospitals we have built is quite cheap for the rich, it is still too expensive for the common people. — They started cursing us for charging too much."

Here, some High-ranking Priests can treat the sick with the miracle they summon.

Magicians with certain fields could also do it.

However, both are very rare and the cost of treatment with them is also very expensive.

Magicians traveling the world to give cheap or free treatment were as rare as Dragons. Most of them are just scammers.

The hope of the common people is only hospitals, but unfortunately that also costs a lot of money.

When he heard about medical expenses, Ciel couldn't help but think of Health Insurance on earth.

'I can basically use knowledge on earth to develop this empire,' he thought.

'But well, now's definitely not the right time.'

Ciel realized that he had to continue acting as usual, showing slight differences would be dangerous, let alone to the point of showing unthinkable ideas.

'The bottom line is power. Before having that, any flashy thing from me could cause my downfall... And even if I was safe now, someone else would probably claim the idea.'

Ciel tapped the table three times with his finger before sliding the documents aside.

"All right, Mr. Wilson, the funds you need are quite large, I need to discuss first with the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance," he replied.

Dariel Wilson's old face twitched for a moment. But he just kept quiet while occasionally glancing at the Palace Officials.

Actually he is a good official, unfortunately he is also afraid of the Prime Minister.

"Ehmmm... ummmm..." The Minister of Agriculture, Anthony Burton, cleared his throat.

Ciel's lips twitched slightly when he saw him. This one is close to the Prime Minister and very corrupt.

After clearing his throat, he took out a large piece of paper.

It contained an image of a map of the Great Sun Empire.

This empire itself is located on the Astora Continent, a continent with four seasons, similar to Europe, and is connected to two other continents by a small path.

This Empire's exact location was in the southeast of the continent, facing the continent across the sea and controlling the route to the continent that was on the eastern side of the Astora Continent, the Desert Continent.

It had fertile farmland thanks to several large rivers that crossed the entire Empire.

Ciel didn't know why this minister took out the map, so he looked at him with a doubtful expression.

Meanwhile, he took out a pen, something that already existed in this world.

He then crossed out an area that seemed to be an agricultural area.

"Your Majesty, recently, the Ministry of Natural Resources found a copper and gold mine here, they suggested closing the farm here... I agree with his suggestion, the Prime Minister also thinks it's good, but we still need your approval."

'My approval?' Ciel cursed inwardly.

Mining was fine, but turning farming into mining would definitely anger all the farmers. They would lose their already comfortable workplace and might have to become miners while nobles would become richer.

'Reject or accept?' Ciel couldn't help but wonder.

The real him would definitely agree as he didn't want to have anything to do with those officials.

If he didn't want to attract attention, he'd have to agree too, but that would basically add more trouble in the future.

He knocked on the table, pretending to be thinking even though he was really thinking.

After a while, he took a breath and looked at the middle-aged man.

"Mr. Burton, this is a big deal. I think I agree, but how about we put it off for a while until I finish doing some things I have to do in the near future," Ciel replied.

The middle ground, he finally chose it.

From someone else's point of view, he didn't look completely different, maybe just trying a little because there might be hope ahead.

Anthony Burton's eyes flickered while Darien Wilson smiled faintly.

However, John Martin looked sneer.

Ciel finally turned his gaze to him.

This man didn't live in the capital, but in a province on the eastern border, the leader of the troops there.

He wasn't part of the Prime Minister's faction either, but he was like a king in his realm. Plus the combat power he possessed, it wouldn't be surprising if he claimed to be king when the Empire was in chaos in the future. His reputation became even more outstanding because he had a son who was as brilliant as him.

"Please General," Ciel said, allowing him to speak.

"I won't mince words," the general replied. Only his voice caused a slight vibration in the air.

Ciel felt uncomfortable hearing that.

"I heard the Empire just imported a hundred Black Thunder Horses from the Beast Continent, I want sixty of those horses."

What he said made everyone in the hall knit their brows.

It was clearly too much since the horses would be distributed among the four territories of the Empire, east, north, west, and the capital.

East was probably the most dangerous, so it was natural to get more, but not 60, 40 at most.

The northern territory is also almost as dangerous, so the troops there should also be given more.

The West could be given less because it's quite safe there while the capital also needs to have some.

"Um, general, I think we need to wait for the Prime Minister to discuss," said Anthony Burton.

He was clearly worried that Ciel would comply with General Martin's request.

The last one looking at the Minister, he replied, "I spoke to the Prime Minister yesterday and he agreed."

"What?" The answer surprised everyone.

Ciel couldn't help but stare at Joe

If the Prime Minister agreed to General Martin's request, then that would mean they might have started forming an alliance.

So what kind of fellowship is that?

As far as Ciel knew, the Prime Minister was a very cautious character. He wouldn't help increase the strength of his allies unless he had good control over them.

Only a few moments after he looked at Joe, the latter brought his face to his ear, he seemed to know something.

He then whispered, "Your Majesty, according to some of the information I gathered, General Martin's best son, Azix Martin, has been infatuated with the Prime Minister's daughter. But until now, still no response, I think the Prime Minister wants to use that."

"Love!" Ciel suddenly thought of that word after hearing what Joe said.

"Oh, I see!" He finally nodded.

What the Prime Minister did was quite reasonable.

If his daughter could make Azix obey, then that meant he could make him obey too.

With his help, Azix should be able to increase his influence more widely among the eastern armies, even beyond his own father.

Of course, that was only from the Prime Minister's point of view.

The Martins focused on muscles, but that didn't mean they were stupid.

It is possible that they also have their own scheme.

'But one thing is clear; beautiful women are really dangerous in politics like this,' Ciel thought.

He secretly swears that he will not fall under the control of women, he must control them.

Thinking back on what he had said at breakfast this morning made him feel amused.

Become a toy woman?

He didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

He is not against marrying Jasmine and Zara, but he will definitely make them obedient wives.

'But it's really interesting, if the Prime Minister had chosen me as his daughter's husband, then he would have made the Martin family angry and feel betrayed.'

Ciel smiled strangely and then said to General Martin.

"General, by any chance the Prime Minister is coming, how about we wait for him?"