An autumn breeze rose, carrying a hint of chill as it slipped through the window into a small room in the rear courtyard of the Lampari Kingdom's Royal Palace.
Servini had been feeling a little groggy, but the chilly breeze made her shiver slightly and left her considerably more alert.
In the past, she would certainly have welcomed the breeze, which could refresh her and allow her to keep handling state affairs efficiently.
This time, however, she looked up toward the window. After a rare moment of distraction, watching the leaves blown down by the breeze outside, she considered briefly, then rose and closed the window.
Returning to her desk, Servini picked up a document she had just put down. After scanning it, a heartfelt smile appeared on her face once more.
It was the Lampari Kingdom's financial report for the previous month.
The report made it abundantly clear that the Lampari Kingdom's revenue had made tremendous strides.
In that single month alone, the total revenue tallied across the Lampari Kingdom had actually exceeded five hundred thousand gold coins.
During the reigns of Servini's father, Lampari the Thirteenth, and her elder brother, King Eric, the Lampari Kingdom's annual revenue had amounted to little more than a million gold coins, averaging only around a hundred thousand gold coins a month.
Yet Servini had been on the throne for less than two years, and the entire kingdom's revenue had already increased severalfold.
If growth continued at its current pace, the annual revenue tally at the end of this year would very likely break the five-million-gold-coin mark.
Servini knew that five million gold coins was not actually a particularly large sum to many major merchant guilds and aristocratic families.
For the perpetually impoverished Lampari Kingdom, however, it was already a remarkable achievement.
If