The Wise King

Philiers, Royal Palace

Back Garden

"Your Majesty, look how beautiful the flowers over there are!"

"Yes! Very beautiful! Just as beautiful as you, Queen!"

The Queen, who was strolling arm in arm with Belmod, nestled shyly against the King upon hearing his praise, and said coquettishly, "Your Majesty!"

"Ha ha!"

Seeing the Queen's shy demeanor, Belmod laughed triumphantly, simultaneously reaching for Queen waist with his lecherous hand. Just as he was about to succeed, a white-robed attendant hurried to his side and whispered a few words in his ear. Belmod waved for the attendant to leave, then said apologetically to the Queen, "Your Queen, I'm afraid I can no longer accompany you on your walk. Please don't blame me!"

"Your Majesty, you flatter me. I am already very happy that you could take time out of your busy schedule to accompany me for a walk. Since you have official business to attend to, I will not disturb you any longer!"

Belmod nodded, then said to the maids around her, "After I leave, you must serve the Queen well, understand?"

"Please rest assured, Your Majesty, we will serve the Queen well and ensure that Queen suffers no harm whatsoever!"

After giving instructions to the maids, Belmod gave the Queen a hug and gently kissed Queen forehead before turning to leave.

Council Hall

With Belmod still nowhere to be seen, the Prime Minister grew increasingly anxious. For the nth time, he asked the attendant beside him, "Little White, why hasn't His Majesty arrived yet?"

The waiter suppressed his impatience and replied in as calm a tone as possible, "Your Excellency, His Majesty was just taking a walk with the Queen and needs some time to change his clothes. Please be patient and wait a moment."

Hearing this answer, repeated countless times, the Prime Minister's anxiety grew even stronger. However, bound by his status, he could only suppress his impatience and irritation, just like the attendants, and wait quietly. Just then, footsteps sounded, growing ever closer to the council hall. A few minutes later, Belmod, wearing a crown and with a dark expression, entered the hall.

Instead of sitting high on the throne as usual, Belmod walked up to the prime minister and stared at him with an unfriendly expression.

"Everyone, get out!"

"Yes!"

After a respectful response, all the attendants standing around the palace withdrew outside. Once only the two of them remained inside, Belmod said angrily, "My lord, what do you want to say? Speak quickly!"

The Prime Minister stared blankly at Belmod, who was clearly in a foul mood, wondering how he had offended this man. However, remembering the purpose of his visit, the Prime Minister had no choice but to bite the bullet and say, "Your Majesty, I have, as Your Majesty has instructed, conducted a thorough investigation and inventory of all the territories. I have recorded the available troops, weapons, funds, and laborers in each territory. Please review them, Your Majesty."

Upon seeing the account book handed to him by the Prime Minister, Belmod's displeasure vanished instantly. He hurriedly took the account book and carefully examined its contents. Just as Belmod was completely absorbed in reviewing the account book, the Prime Minister, standing to the side, suddenly slapped his forehead, as if waking from a dream, and said, "Your Majesty, when I entered the palace just now, I met Duke Gould. The Duke asked me to inquire whether Miss Diphiya could return to Philiers with the Peace Negotiation Delegation?"

Belmod closed the ledger, stared at the Prime Minister's face for a long time, and then laughed and scolded, "You old fox, don't you just want to know why I sent Diphiya and her brother to Dragunov together? Did I leave any way to check and balance Oddek?"

Having his thoughts exposed, the Prime Minister bowed to Belmod and praised her, saying, "Your Majesty is wise!"

"Since you want to know, then I will tell you. However, before explaining this, I must tell you something else first. Otherwise, even if I tell you, you won't understand."

"Your subject is all ears!"

"A month ago, I received a message from the No. 13, informing me that the Oddek siblings had actually escaped from Fostadu, and that their whereabouts had been discovered by Prince Sordil of Fostadu. As soon as Sordil returned to Fostadu, the higher-ups there immediately issued an order to eliminate the brother and sister."

"Huh? If that's the case, wouldn't Philiers potentially be implicated by Diphiya?"

"That's why I sent these two siblings together on a diplomatic mission to the Kingdom of Donagunov!"

Hearing this, the Prime Minister finally understood the purpose of the three orders the King had given him a month ago. However, the Prime Minister quickly realized another serious problem, and he hurriedly asked, "But Your Majesty, aren't you afraid... of summoning Diphiya back to Philiers now?"

"Heh! Prime Minister, have you forgotten the assassination attempt on Oddek not long ago?"

"Of course I remember that! But wasn't that a play that Oddek orchestrated himself to obtain Irene's Augmented Magic?"

"That was what I thought at first, but yesterday, the No. 13 sent a letter saying that the assassination was arranged by Fostadu's side, and the one who carried out the assassination was Fostadu's ambassador in Dragunov, Kaldiz."

"What? Your Majesty, if that's the case, then you shouldn't have recalled Diphiya to Philiers!"

"Prime Minister, please don't be anxious, let me explain slowly. If Fostadu had the energy to assassinate the brother and sister, I certainly wouldn't have recalled Diphiya. But right now, the entire Fostadu is busy searching for something important and has no time to concern itself with these matters. Moreover, besides Diphiya, I have no other way to restrain Oddek, so I have no choice but to recall Diphiya."

"It turns out everything was under Your Majesty's control. I was overthinking it. I beg Your Majesty's punishment!"

"I'm overjoyed that the Prime Minister is so concerned about state affairs, how could I possibly blame you?"

The Prime Minister, deeply moved, kowtowed and shouted, "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Belmod helped the Prime Minister, who was bowing, to his feet, and then said to him, "However, there are a few things that I need the Prime Minister to handle for me!"

"Please give your orders, Your Majesty!"

Belmod whispered in the Prime Minister's ear, "The first thing I need you to do is to put all the officers back in their original units. The second thing is to urge the various territories to train militias and strengthen our country's military power. The third thing is to collect all the surplus grain within the kingdom. The fourth thing is to speed up the forging of weapons and armor."

"Yes, Your Majesty, I will arrange it immediately!"

Dragunov, Royal Palace

Central Garden

Irene placed the flowers in her hand in the flowerbed in front of her, then clasped her hands together, closed her eyes, and prayed to the sculpture in front of her.

"Father, please bless the kingdom so that it may safely weather this calamity!"

After Irene finished praying, the waiter who had been waiting for a long time immediately went to greet her.

"Your Majesty, the peace ambassador of the Kingdom of Tsuyioru Xiu is currently awaiting your summons in the council hall!"

When Sordil heard that Sodir actually dared to ask to see her, Irene was taken aback. Then she asked the waiter, "Did he say what it was about?"

"Your Majesty, the Ambassador did not mention any specific matters, but only requested an audience with Your Majesty."

"Oh? Interesting! Let's go and meet this lovely ambassador."

As soon as she finished speaking, Irene led a large group of guards toward the council hall.