The year 1464 of the Imperial Calander.
Saturday, the fourth of December.
The festival spirits are in full swing, and I guess with each day dawning closer, it'll only increase. What only adds to this mood, for me at least, is the snow that poured down two days in a row now.
It reminds me of back home, wandering down the cobbled streets of Gaus city house Greenwich ruled over.
The small kids that ran through the snow-covered streets, full with glee and without a worry on their little red-cheeked faces.
We had the tradition that all males of house Greenwich, young and hold, would join the rope drawing competition the peasantry held each year.
No magic was allowed, and no special potions that enhanced your physical strength were allowed either.
As a result of my father, who'd let himself go drastically since the days of his adventuring days.
Would find himself dragged by the forces of the other side, even when he used that big belly of his to act as an iron anchor.
It was always fun, even if we didn't win all the time. But, I must say, the best thing that came after was the magical displays in the city square.
I don't know what kind of tradition New Aiev has in store for me on Mid-winter night, but I hope it'll be enjoyable.
The year 1464 of the Imperial Calander.
Friday, the tenth of December.
It's been a busy day today, like always, but today I got informed to set some funds aside for the up-and-coming Mid-winter night festival. I didn't get informed that I'll be overseeing this festival, like the festival for the third Prince's birth. Instead, thankfully, a person by the name of Albert Haupbaum will be overseeing this festival.
After I handed over the notes of the budget for Albert, bidding him farewell shortly after. I decided to take a walk through the market, wondering what they sold on the Mid-winter market in New Aiev.
The typical stalls with warm drinks and food dotted the market square, like in the south. One big difference, which wasn't in the south in my childhood, was that in the middle of the market square a stone stage stood.
A duo of a man and male, probably in their early twenties, stood on the stone stage and performed magical deeds.
I remember from the lectures my father forced me to attend, and I hope old whitebeard doesn't get the chance to read my Diary. But magic has never been my strong suit, and I only listened to what I had to know.
The woman had a purple mist emitting from her body, splitting apart into small bubbles that floated into the sky. his I remember indicates she's a Powerbriner, a practitioner of Arcane magic.
The man was just some simple Teramancer, nothing special about them to be honest. The basic elements are always the easiest to control, though it seemed like he also had control over the metal sub-school since chunks of metal shot up from the ground.
It was an interesting spectacle to watch, but I wonder, why would someone that was taught Arcane magic be a performer when you could be serving a lord?
The year 1464 of the Imperial Calander.
Thursday, the Twenty-fourth of December.
Mid-winter night has arrived!
The wonderful food, the large gathering of the faithful to our almighty lord and saviour, and close to the end of the year.
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The wonderful mood you can see when you walk down the streets, smiles and polite greetings, something you'd only see at this time of year.
During the day all the city people would go to the Cathedral to gather for mass prayer, hoping for a blessing from almighty Vozhos.
After that festivities would start with a play in the market square, performed by actors from the Royal Theatre.
The play will go on for the whole day, repeatedly shuffling between three plays.
First play is about a King that is beloved by his people, because of his wise and benevolent nature. Every year they hail his name, complementing his wise and prosperous rule, but then they suddenly stop.
The populous start to criticize the King's rule, saying he's gone mad and become a tyrant. The King then takes matters into his own hands and walked down to the city, asking why they said he'd gone mad and become a tyrant.
But, unbeknownst to the King, the whole reason for their sudden change in behaviour is because the water source they all drank from became poisoned.
It ends with the king getting thirsty after debating a lot, getting some water from the same well as the city. The King becomes one of them, as they start praising his name again, but the kingdom never returns to be the same as before.
I don't know why they'll perform such a play on this day,
The other two plays, a female announcer informed them, will be about a famous battle a century ago and the last play will be about the creation mythos of the world.
I didn't stick around to watch the other two plays being performed by the actors, but instead just went from stall to stall to eat the delicious food.
The year 1465 of the Imperial Calander.
Sunday, the first of January.
I don't see why heavy consumption of wine, and other hard liquor, is seen as a good thing when entering a new year.
The headache and spinning stomach when having to work the day after, and probably be at the risk of throwing up.
I don't see why people do it willingly.
The year 1465 of the Imperial Calander.
Tuesday, the Twenty-sixth of January.
I've noticed, since the New Years, that there's a large hole in the national treasury. I'm not talking about just a few hundred silver coins here and there, though I wish it was.
No.
I've noticed that there's a sum in the thousands of gold coins missing from the vault, and I don't like this one bit. The only thing I've found out thus far is that the money is going toward frivolous projects, some which I've never heard about.
I will have to look into this at once! I can't have such a large hole be present on my watch, or my head will probably be on the chopping block for suspicion of embezzling money.
The year 1465 of the Imperial Calander.
Monday, the First of February.
A representative from the Republic of Petoltich came to the King's court today, quite a surprise they stabilized this quickly.
He came with the goal of establishing a trade deal, going so far as to present a gift of a painting of the Petoltichian countryside from some famous artist.
King Phillipe II directed the representative to me, and I informed the guest to meet me in my office shortly after this.
I managed to work out a favourable deal in Luthern's favour, and how easy it was. I had originally agreed to pay eight silver coins per fourth unrefined log, and I suggested we also do the refining of logs into lumber. But, unfortunately, I got an outright refusal for my suggestion.
So much for getting more coins out of them.
The year 1465 of the Imperial Calander.
Wednesday, the First of March.
Some very suspicious people had been spotted observing me, always when I'm outside the castle.
I got this informed by the Kingdon's spymaster, Jacob Wesely.
For what purpose these suspicious people trail me I don't know, but It might be best to not go into the city unguarded anymore.
The year 1465 of the Imperial Calander.
Thursday, Twenty-third of April.
It's been exactly a year since I entered King Phillipe the second's service, and it's been interesting so far.
Remember that large hole in the budget? I showed it to my right-hand aid, an elderly man around the age of Sixty, by the name of Robert Arlund. I showed him the large hole in the annual budget for the Kingdom, and he at first didn't believe me until I showed him.
It's a first for him, even when he dealt with the Spymaster's black budget books. A large whole like this didn't exist with the old Royal Treasurer, taking good care of how the treasury was spent.
I informed him that I've been trying to gather more information about it, but haven't gotten much thus far. I got informed that I should go to the Spymaster about this, something I should probably have done when I discovered it.
I will do that tomorrow.
In other news.
There's no new development with the people who shadowed me, but I don't know if I should feel relaxed about it or not?
I have minimized my time spent outside, and when I do have to go outside the castle. I bring guards with me if I have business outside the castle grounds, though I think two guards are too few.
If my death was their goal, I would be six feet underground already by this point.
I hope Spymaster Jacob will find out who it is, or I might just not set a foot outside the walls again.