Personal Propaganda

Rumor had it that whenever Grand Duke Wessen worked in his office in the government building, you could spot traces of what was happening in the square and on the street outside by looking through the curtains and other places.

The rumors were remarkably detailed, and Frederick himself was curious whether it was true. Before work today, he had made a special detour to take a look at the street.

"Nothing's changed at all." Frederick complained as he climbed the steps to the government building. "I swear, those people are something else."

Tony said solemnly, "My lord, we can't take this lightly. I'll arrange for people to deal with it."

Frederick thought of what Tarot had reported earlier, then finally nodded in agreement.

Inside the office, files were piled high on the broad oak desk, sorted by priority and urgency.

Before heading to work at the hospital that morning, Susan had brewed some lemon-and-ginger Happy Water and poured it into a Vacuum Flask. It was still steaming.

Frederick opened the Vacuum Flask and took a sip, then set it on the cabinet beside him and got to work.

The main task in January was to review the previous year's work. The departments' preliminary figures had been compiled and put into charts alongside data from earlier years, making them easy to grasp at a glance.

Money came first, so Frederick started with the Ministry of Finance's documents. Then he rubbed his brow in dismay.

A year had passed since the Battle of Red Waterwheel Village, but they were still paying off the debts from it. From the cost of hiring allies to IOUs for supplies, the repayments would continue this year.

The relevant departments had reported that the first baby boom among children in the three new states that had joined