Eric drew a breath and closed his eyes to rest for about a minute. Then he opened them again, picked up the towel soaking in the basin of cold water beside him, and scrubbed his face twice. Refreshed, he resumed reviewing official documents.
Ever since he had firmly stopped Duke Stark from dispatching the Second Army of the Kingdom Garrison to suppress the rebellion in Colebo City, Eric seemed to have suddenly grasped something. The affairs of state that had once seemed hopelessly tangled had begun to make sense to him, and he no longer handled them without any views of his own.
Accordingly, he relied on Duke Stark less and less. Unless something important arose, he now never summoned the duke of his own accord, instead working to make independent judgments most of the time.
Of course, he still regularly sought advice from the Kingdom's nobles and ministers, while diligently reading all kinds of books to further his education. He even frequently left the Royal Palace in disguise to mingle with commoners and observe their lives firsthand.
In short, he was growing increasingly committed to his role as king, and had come to feel a profound sense of pride and honor in it.
Of course, he also felt the pressure keenly.
The more deeply Eric understood state affairs, the more he regretted his earlier decisions.
The figures from every quarter showed that his greatest mistake had been failing to keep the Xinfei Merchant Guild in the Kingdom.
More than half of the year had already passed, yet the Lampari Kingdom's recorded revenue was still below one million gold coins.
At this rate, the year-end tally would probably barely exceed one million gold coins. It certainly would not exceed one and a half million.
Compared with the previous few years,