In the end, Horace was still forced to spend most of the day miserably handling paperwork in his office in Leyndell.
Driven by his urgent desire to "finish this quickly and leave," he actually managed to make headway on the most pressing portion and offer clear recommendations.
When Serosh woke up and secretly watched him, he was utterly astonished, his gaze brimming with a longing that said, "What a talent! Please stay!"
That evening, Horace practically fled back to the embassy, dragging along Rellana, who was equally dazed after Marika had spent the entire afternoon asking her "what styles of hair ornaments Carian girls liked."
"No, we can't stay any longer." Horace rubbed his throbbing temples.
"If we stay, I'm afraid I'll end up becoming the Golden Dynasty's unofficial chancellor."
Rellana nodded in wholehearted agreement. The Golden Dynasty's senior leadership, with their habit of mixing public and private affairs and casually dumping responsibilities on others, had truly been an eye-opener for a meticulous Carian knight like her.
Horace slumped in a chair.
"Big Brother's already talking about having me draft the Golden Dynasty's budget for next year. I even have to step in to mediate border conflicts... Am I a marquis of Caria, or Leyndell's long-lost chief secretary?"
Rellana poured herself a glass of water and drained it, trying to wash away the dreadful memories Marika had filled her mind with.
"King Godfrey and Queen Marika... Their way of handling state affairs is truly... unique."
She chose her words to be as inoffensive as possible, but the expression on her face said it all.
"Unique? It's an outright disaster." Horace sighed.
"The whole thing's held together by that old lion Serosh, a mysterious secretary... and conscripted stand-ins like me. I'm seriously starting to suspect the only reason our tribe didn't