April 4, 2024

Halia, Kingdom of Orland

Ivory Palace - Emergency Meeting

To many, the order established by women had been invincible and unshakable.

Clearly, that had not been the case.

And now, it has become even clearer.

The Treaty of Eutstadt, which ended the Great War, had not even lasted a year.

This month, the Empire of Larissa stopped paying the war reparations, because last week, their economy crashed.

And now, Orland, without the reparations that kept their debt-ridden economy afloat, was now headed to the same fate.

Now, the value of bonds issued by the Orlish Government had begun its downward spiral - a spiral that had been accelerating since last week.

I just wanted a nice day...

Another bang on the conference table, and Amelie's eyes turned away from the painting that she was subtly staring at.

The Ministers had been arguing for hours. Amelie on the other hand was simply glancing at whatever she could look at in the room. And whenever she spoke, it would be three or two-word lines such as, "That seems bad", or "I agree", or "I see", or more dreadfully, "Yeah".

It was economics after all, and while she would slap anyone who would suggest that she was a dimwit at such matters, even she could not deny that this subject completely eluded her.

Dammit, I have absolutely nothing to say. This is bad. Should I say something? Heindhöff looks like he's about to punch Heiss again...crap...

The door suddenly opened, and in came an aide. The aide recoiled when everyone suddenly looked at her with their pissed-off faces, but she regained her footing and stood firm. She cleared her throat and spoke.

"Ladies, Your Majesty, we have bad news from the Halian Stock Exchange."

B-bad news? Again?

"What is it?" Amelie asked, already pale, as the Ministers fell silent.

"...Investors are panic-selling. The market dropped by two hundred thirty-seven points in the last hour."

Great...just what I needed.

+++

The graphs were going down on the display screens of the Halian Stock Exchange building.

Below, employees, and brokers had their hands full as calls came in left and right. It was chaos, panic, and utter despair, as traders and investors walked slowly out of the building with their now ruined financial state.

The situation was no different on the streets of Halia. Already, the news of the ongoing crash had reached every home of the Orlish people, and the palpable anxiety and tension for the upcoming chaos and hardships could be felt.

Much in the same way in the meeting room.

"I say it's time!" Minister of Economy Melinda Heiss said as she slammed her fist at the table, which broke the loud arguments. "I've been saying this for months, the budget for the Military must be cut! We need fiscal responsibility, now!"

"Oh, do try, Miss Heiss, do try," Heindhöff replied as he scowled, but now, the women in the room weren't backing down.

The Minister of Public Health spoke.

"I agree with the budget cuts, we women are ready to continue using our magic to keep the healthcare system running anyways...but only if the Military is gutted too."

Followed by the Minister of Education.

"If you shall cut the budget that had supported our children's development for centuries, then I believe in the same." She said, her tone low as she looked down at Heindhöff. "We shall cut the war machine's budget more."

Heiss smiled smugly at Heindhöff. Indeed, it was time for comprehensive austerity measures, especially for the blasted Orlish Armed Forces.

Heindhöff and Bluch's faces were flushed red, yet Heindhöff spoke calmly, even when his hands appeared to be subtly shaking.

"Fine, I see. But if such budget cuts are to be implemented - it should target the Royal Guard too."

"I raise no objections to that." Heiss conceded as Heindhöff's smile twitched. She won, regardless, and he knew it.

It appeared that the idea of austerity was going to hit everyone. It was what they argued over for days anyway. Originally, the argument was about who would receive the cuts - but now that the economy seemed to be in freefall, there was no argument left for anyone to justify their bloated budgets.

But of course, again, everyone knew, that the one about to be gutted the hardest, was the two hated men in the room.

"Lady Heiss," Amelie asked, as the meeting fell silent. "What would be our short-term response anyway? Yes, indeed, this might balance our deficit in the long term..."

God, she almost sounded like an economist with that, she thought, but the last few days had forced her to dig in about economic theory, even if it was just an overview.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

She hoped that she didn't sound stupid.

"But...don't we need to cushion the fall for now?" She continued slowly, and Heiss cleared her throat.

"It's simple, Your Majesty. Close the banks. Close the markets. Bailout the Royal Corporations - and liquidate the failed private corporations."

Silence.

Well, that doesn't sound half bad-

The two men at the back of the room stood up, packed their laptops, and closed their briefcases.

No words were exchanged, and immediately, both Heindhöff and Bluch exited the meeting room.

An outraged look was plastered on every Minister's left, especially Heiss, insulted by their audacity.

"Um, that was bad, wasn't it?" Amelie asked Alexa with a small voice, who was sitting near her.

"...Certainly not a good sign, that's all I can say, Your Majesty."

...

Immediately the next day, a call rang Amelie's office. The speaker of the Rebenslof Group, a private NGO that represented and organized the "upstart" male-controlled corporations, invited her to an emergency conference.

In a few hours, with the 16th and her security detail's escort, she arrived at Rebenslof, then to the Meintz Hotel.

The hotel was filled with fancy decorations of gold and white, and the smell of freshly served food filled the nose, yet she couldn't eat. Not when the tunes of what was being discussed turned her stomach upside down.

"Your Majesty, we request a bailout too." The speaker said as they ate their dinner. Amelie had so far kept her mouth shut during the proceedings, but now that she's finally addressed.

She realized a crucial blunder.

She didn't know what to say.

"The central bank had already bailed out Rolentz Crystals, Weilder Group, the Vohler Arcane Chain, and Weirlöff Bank, all corporations owned by women. Even the Prime Minister's bank was prioritized." He looked at her, straight in the eye. "But what about us, Your Majesty? My company, Rebenslof Steel is failing too."

He pointed his finger at another man in a suit.

"Eirhow Electronics too." And then he pointed to another man. "And Streamlined Oil? What about him?" And then he pointed to another man. "Or Chipsoft? Or what about Cykro? Or Riemens? Or Vickers Shipping? Or the Orlish Railway Group?"

She didn't even know most of the companies he listed, except for Rolentz Crystals, because her family owned it, or, well, more specifically, she owned it, and Rolentz Crystals currently had a monopoly in the modern wand industry, which was why it was prioritized to be bailed out.

But the rest?

I mean...I think Vickers Shipping ships stuff? Right? And I heard Riemens synthesizes chemical weapons. Wait, why are they asking me to bail out that one?

"How close are you all at failing?" She asked as she tried to give them a small smile. "I think if you guys could just hold out for a while, I could arrange something..."

The speaker looked down and shook his head.

"Damn if we know. Our investors are dropping like flies. The only reason half of us survived is because the markets closed last night."

So it's more of a question of when then?

The speaker looked back at her and frowned bitterly.

"Your Majesty, this crisis is going to devastate the tech and industrial sector of Orland again. We don't have time. Please, don't just leave us in the air just because we're men." The group of CEOs all looked at her with desperation.

For them, this was an existential crisis. For decades, their rise was powered by their extreme tactics - low wages, government subsidies, and other measures to keep their balance sheets green, as the competition was always too stiff. Now...the economy crashed.

How would they stay solvent then?

With the crisis before the Great War, and another crisis now, and without support from the Central Bank and the Orlish Government, it would appear that their bankruptcies were in order.

"I...I can't promise anything yet." She replied back, as she shifted slightly back in her seat. However, she immediately wanted to scold herself for how unsure she sounded and looked.

Damn it, this is not how I'm supposed to act!

"...I see." The speaker said, almost as if his entire life had just shattered before him.

The meeting soon ended.

Amelie looked down at the road as her convoy returned to Halia. The day today had drained her greatly. The bad news just kept piling up, and she hadn't given the Rebenslof Group many answers on how they would deal with the crisis.

For even she didn't know how.

"The world is collapsing, Your Majesty." Said William, his classic voice of indifference still there. Truly, he reminded her of Albert, way too much.

"The Civil War is inevitable, isn't it?"

"Eirhow is already burning." He added, as his head shook slightly. "Workers are being laid off en-masse, and they aren't happy. Soon, it will spread to every city of Orland."

"I just wanted slightly peaceful elections to gain more allies..." Her head hung low, and her voice seemed dead. "What's the news from Lorathia?"

"The Redcastle gas attack?" Yesterday, due to the collapsing economy of Lorathia, strikers in the city of Redcastle - the capital of their ally, faced an anti-royalist chemical attack.

Sarin gas was deployed by militant men who striked from their aristocratic employers. News of Lorathian women and many of the Lorathian nobility who died in the thousands as the gas filled the streets filled the net and the global news as well, which distressed Amelie, as the terroristic act sent a nasty message to everyone. To her especially.

"The Lorathian authorities already cracked down on the strikes. But that district is still off limits, and there wasn't much that they could do to save the victims. Crown Princess Ethelien was pronounced dead this morning."

"E-ethelien? She...no...dammit." She looked down again. The Lorathians weren't just allied to Orland, they were their close sister. She even knew Princess Ethelien...including her mother.

She remembered the days when her mother was shot. To lose someone, especially one's child...it must be hard for the Queen of Lorathia today.

"I...I suppose Lorathia would have no heir to the throne now then?"

"I think they have a bigger problem than that."

He's right.

She breathed out. Her stomach also ached a bit. She hadn't eaten much at the conference, her appetite completely dead since yesterday.

"You hungry?"

"How'd you know?"

"You didn't eat anything since we left this morning. And the face you're making too."

He handed her something. It was a simple, fluffy, cheese bread, that he probably bought in a grocery store somewhere while they were in the city.

Still, a tiny smile graced her face as she took it.

"Thanks."

"It's pretty shit though, I regret buying it at that convenience store."

She frowned. How dare he? She, the Queen, being handed this?

But dammit did her stomach growl.

"Whatever! A hungry lady doesn't choose."

She opened the package and munched on it.

It was pretty shit.

Now she truly regretted not taking more slices of the steak back at the Hotel.

"Told you."

She still ate it fully for a few moments, as the two fell silent. Then when she was finished with the abomination, she merely sighed.

She looked back at him. He avoided eye contact.

"What?"

"...So I've wanted to ask for a while now. Um, what can you say?"

"Say about what?"

"My rule."

He looked down for a while at the empty package of cheesecake she held, before his eyes were back at the road.

"It's like that cheesecake. Soft, and quite fluffy, especially compared to your mother. But still quite shit."

She narrowed her eyes.

"I can legally behead someone for insolence, you know?"

He chuckled.

"Yet you wouldn't. You even promised to remove it."

She looked away.

"Well, it's a stupid law. You're lucky I think that way."

She huffed as she distracted herself by looking at the scenery that they passed through.

It was already afternoon, and the roads were quite clear, outside of a few cars that passed their convoy.

Soon, she breathed out slowly, and softly, as she felt relaxed. Sleep seemed nice for now...

"Still, I applaud your efforts. At least, you're trying, and you do care, Your Majesty. That's...something rare."

What could she say? No one had praised her like this before.

She didn't look back at him, but, she smiled nonetheless.

"...Thanks, William."