Halia, Kingdom of Orland

January 2, 2024

Ivory Palace

To laze around was an unacceptable idea. Indeed, a day after her hasty coronation, the job had already immediately begun.

With many promises and a Kingdom at the edge of the proverbial dumpster fire, she could hardly afford to not direct her Kingdom herself. Orders and decisions had to be made and so she waited with gnawing anxiety inside the empty conference room.

Shuffling papers that had dreadfully decided to be in front of her, her expression was one of unmitigated confusion.

Economic reforms? How am I even supposed to do that?

Why she promised such promises should be the first question, however, as she didn't even have an idea of what she blabbered about.

Indeed, this young Queen unfortunately made the mistake of studying magic and arts instead of political science and economics. In hindsight, of course, it was disastrous. Though her mother did warn her that such a decision was foolish, she did not pay heed.

However, to be fair to Amelie, she did not expect her mother to unexpectedly kick the bucket. Her expectation was to take the throne at the ripe old age of forty or fifty, where she fancied herself as a wise old lady.

Unfortunately, reality handed her a nice platter. She took the throne while she was a mere 'mature' and 'definitely wise' young lady - at the age of nineteen. How fun.

A sigh escaped her.

Returning to the lovely documents that decorated her table, she took a good look at one of them - issued by the Orlish Intelligence Agency (OIA).

The Royal Guard's competence is in question…?

Well, quite the pretty little accusation it was, Amelie thought. Of course, being the nice little intelligence arm of the army, the OIA would say such a thing.

"Of course they would say that…"

A good look at the document issued by their rival, the Royal Guard, naturally lent an equally expected result.

Requesting investigation of the OIA for possible anti-crown activities.

Well, the two indeed were at a silent war with each other. The OIA was on the side of men, being the good little boy of the Armed Forces - also dominated by men.

The Royal Guard of Orland (RGO), on the other hand, had been involved for centuries in internal security and defense, and was the female aristocracy's nice little pet. And thus the rivalry between men and women extended to these two agencies.

There were footsteps outside. Finally, they had arrived. In haste, she clipped the documents back into her folder, and with a dignified stand - she welcomed the Weirlöff Caretaker Cabinet.

Led by Prime Minister Alexa Weirlöff, they entered one by one as Amelie greeted them, with the Prime Minister sitting beside her.

The Weirlöff Caretaker Cabinet was a mere name change from the Weirlöff War Cabinet, which Alexa once led. Most ministers kept their position, except for the Defense Minister as she resigned, ashamed that the last Queen promptly died as a result of an assassination while she was conveniently running the Ministry of Defense.

Which led to the appointment of the angry General of the Army Geoffrey Heindhöff.

Being a "filthy" man, and an Army General to boot, the Royal Guard was thus not a fan of such a decision.

In any case, the Weirlöff Caretaker Cabinet now had one purpose left - to oversee the General Elections in June, conveniently the first elections where millions of men (elevated from the status of rat fodder to human, many thanks to Her Majesty Areya herself) would be voting for the first time.

Which meant it would be the most 'fun' election that Orland would have. If dumpster fire would fit such a bill.

At the very least, men could at last rejoice for having a tinge of equality after their three centuries of humiliation. After a nice little payment of nine million young men dead of course. What? Freedom had a price and all that.

Sucks they still had no magic.

And to visualize such inequality, one good look alone at the Cabinet produced quick results. A ratio of eight to two, with eight being women and two being men - that being the glasses-wearing bitter nerd who seemed like the number one public enemy of women, Director of the OIA Alfonso Bluch, and the aforementioned angry guy Minister of Defense Geoffrey Heindhöff, who seemed to be the second runner-up to Alfonso's title.

And he also had a toothbrush-styled mustache, which somehow unnerved the pure-hearted Amelie.

The two sat at their seats, much like a duo of criminals, at least for the women in the room.

Which earned a quick scoff from the fine lady beside Amelie, Alexa herself.

"Oh dear, how uncouth…"

"At least we do our fucking job-"

Amelie intervened quickly before Alfonso and Alexa began a shouting match.

"Please everyone, let us calm down. It would be most pleasing if we discussed the Kingdom's fate with cooler heads."

Alexa quickly backtracked from her blunder.

"I apologize, Your Majesty."

Alfonso on the other hand was a professional asshole, and decided otherwise, until Heindhöff reminded him to avoid stupidity with a subtle nudge.

"I apologize too, Your Majesty."

"Thank you." Crisis averted, Amelie rejoiced. "Well, we shall begin then. What shall be our first agenda?"

And immediately the crisis presented itself again, as both Heindhöff and the Minister of the Economy, Melinda Heiss raised their hands.

"General, may we please prioritize more pressing matters first?"

"What exactly is the more important matter than national security? The previous Queen was assassinated! Women and your priorities are bonkers!"

Aghast would describe Melinda, not discounting the lady-like gasps from the other ladies in the room.

"You dirty man! How dare you address us, women, that way? Have you a death wish, you magicless scum?"

And so did Amelie, who also gave a sigh. How fun. Her civilian government - dominated by women - seemed to be in a silent civil war with her military - dominated by men.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, may we please discuss Lady Heiss' concerns first? Security indeed is an issue, but our nation is still in the middle of an economic crisis." The voice of reason thankfully came from the Prime Minister, Alexa, which of course didn't satisfy Heindhöff.

"Fine." Heindhöff conceded angrily. "Have it your way then. The military will remember this."

"Is that a threat, General?"

And thus, another contender butted her head in the ring. Archduchess Pristina Dubois, a picturesque example of a noblewoman, who also happened to be the Director of the Royal Guard, chimed in with a hiss.

While not an actual part of the Cabinet, she insisted that she was the rightful one to lead the Ministry of Defense and not the asshole on the other side of the table.

"Is that an accusation? How about you fix your inept knights first?"

"Oh, now you've-"

"Silence!" Amelie had enough. "If we are simply going to argue, then all of you, leave!"

Shame and silence dominated the room. Oh dear, they screwed up, much like spoiled children, now the young Queen raised her voice. How unexpected. Luckily, the Prime Minister broke the ice.

"We apologize, Your Majesty."

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

With a huff, Amelie nodded.

"Apology accepted. To avoid unnecessary arguments, I shall choose what to discuss first. The general elections."

The Prime Minister spoke.

"Currently, there are two leading parties for the upcoming elections according to the recent polls."

Amelie smiled. Finally, they were being productive.

"What parties?"

"Our incumbent United Orland Party, and our new rival, a party seemingly promoted and supported by our new male voters - the Orlish Republican Party."

She raised her eyebrows.

"Republicans?"

"...The monarchy isn't exactly popular with men."

Well, unsurprisingly, of course, their opposition would be Republican men. The United Orland Party (UOP) represented the Crown and women, who didn't give a rat's ass to the magicless beings who dared refer to themselves as 'human'.

Oh dear, this looks ugly. The people I want to help hate me...

"Not as bad as the party those two young men at the back support," Heiss added with a glance at Heindhöff and Alfonso. "The National Redemption Front. A movement of radical young men demanding way too many rights and your 'peaceful' overthrow, and even demanding that we give up our goddess-given right of using magic. I request you look further into it, Your Majesty."

No confrontation occurred, but the two were clearly agitated by her comments.

"Do we men even have a voice here?" Alfonso said to Geoffrey.

"No, we don't."

Amelie, quick to rescue her government's reputation, corrected such notions.

"Yes you do, Mister Bluch and Mister Heindhöff. While you two do oppose the idea of me being your monarch, we are building a true democracy. We will listen to your concerns too."

"Your Majesty, my concern is that you're all painting us men as traitors here. Just because we don't like your system does not mean we killed the Queen."

"Then why so defensive-"

Amelie cut the Archduchess sharply with a glare, then turned back to the General.

"I understand, General. I promise that we won't be playing a child's pointing contest for the tragedy my mother faced. We will be conducting a fair and neutral investigation to find justice."

"...Thank you, Your Majesty. You have my trust." The General said, clearly unsatisfied, as he finally stayed silent.

With such petty infighting now temporarily out of the way, Amelie continued.

"Well then, next. The economy. Minister Heiss?"

"Very well, Your Majesty."

The lady promptly stood up from her seat, and with a flick of a wand, a projection on the board conveniently behind her seat appeared.

"To begin, the Great War cost us a lot."

Indeed, that was a nasty red line upward, Amelie thought. Why did it go above the green line?

Debt?

"The war placed us in a lot of debt. And due to the casualties we took our industrial sectors, usually run by young men, had been greatly affected. Thus, our GDP is down as well."

Oh…great.

"Luckily for us, magical sectors are unaffected. We shouldn't see a drop in the production of focusing crystals, for example. Or of digital wands."

Such 'good news' didn't seem quite 'good news' with that red line that her eyes tunnel-visioned on.

"What about the other sectors?"

"Well, unfortunately, the recession will continue to be a problem for our consumer market and our continued exports of goods. But that's just the price of war."

Please tell me it's solvable.

"Minister Heiss, how can we address this?"

"It will take a lot of time, but investing more in employing the millions of destitute men on the streets would help. Both in rebuilding our workforce and satisfying our shortage of consumer products by getting our civilian industries back."

Amelie let off a sigh of relief. See, problems did have solutions!

"I see. Any more concerns?"

A small silence. "Your Majesty, another major concern of ours is, coincidentally, also the people we would have to invest in to recover."

"Who exactly?"

"Those upstart private corporations controlled by men. Those greedy fellows demand less taxes. Some of them even demand that we privatize Royal Corporations. Such audacity. I advise that you do not listen to those fools - they only desire money."

The General, a natural ally of these corporations, was quick to their rescue.

"Your Majesty, they are asking for it because Royal Corporations are unfair competition. Just because female aristocrats are their owners, they gain unearned privileges and power. Please see reason and open your eyes to this injustice!"

Which immediately earned him a scoff of condescension.

"General, when were you an expert on economic matters?"

The General scowled at Minister Heiss' words, but she continued.

"Your Majesty, if we are to invest in these corporations, we should nationalize them. Either the crown controls them, or we, the nobility, do. This would help us control our economic recovery better and prevent disloyal elements in this Kingdom. Plus, can we really trust the men of the private sector to use our investments right?"

Well, indeed, they do seem quite untrustable…hmm…

"In fact, I'd add that perhaps we should nationalize them already regardless because-"

"What's next? We, men, can't vote in the next elections after fighting your war for years?! Try it, you noble bitch. Trample on our rights more! I dare you. I double fucking dare you!" Alfonso shouted at Lady Heiss, who just looked at him condescendingly for his childish outburst.

"Director, please calm down."

Amelie was quite close to her breaking point. The hostility that brewed between both sides in the room choked her.

"I have not yet decided on these matters. Whichever path we choose for our economic policy will be decided by the advice and interests of both sides. We are not privatizing or nationalizing anything yet."

Alfonso's anger slightly dissipated at her reassurance, yet it was clear that just like the General, he absolutely did not trust any woman in the room, the Queen included.

This guy...I can see where you're coming from, but I can't trust you with how you act.

She took a deep breath. "Alright, onto the next agenda. National Security. General, what's our first issue?"

"Your Majesty, our first concern is the question of your security. The Royal Guard failed to protect your mother. We request that we review their adequacy at protecting you and the Kingdom."

Silence.

And then, the Archduchess fumed.

"How dare you question us! Know your place, you rat! That parade was organized by your goons, and you blame us for the tragedy?"

The General seethed. "Sure, we made mistakes, but need I remind you that we eliminated the assassins while your guards were fucking up on shielding the Queen?"

"There were jammers! You know that my Knights couldn't cast shielding when there were jammers in place!"

"Are you telling me that your weakling knights couldn't cast magic because of a 'flimsy men-made gizmo' that you were laughing at during the war?"

She stopped, then looked at him with an accusatory expression.

"General. I knew it. You placed those jammers, didn't you? Were those assassins your men? Or did you purposely allow them to place it unchecked?"

"How dare you? Are you insinuating that we committed regicide?! We can't detect if there are jammers in place! This is not our work. This is the work of those terrorists alone! You accuse us of being traitors because of your incompetence?!"

"The two of you, shut up." Alexa sharply cut in, her concern for the continued sanity of the young lady beside her growing.

Amelie (bless her) paled at the display, as her fear grew inside after watching these two argue about her mother's demise. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself.

But the General didn't relent.

"Your Majesty, I request that you evaluate the fitness of the Royal Guard in their security roles."

And the Archduchess was no different.

"No, Your Majesty, remove this man from his position as the Minister of Defense and put me in. It is clear that he and the military's loyalty is in question. I request an immediate investigation of the military and their connections to your mother's death."

"Shut it, you runt-"

"No, you two shut up!" Alexa declared as she glared at both of them. "This meeting is adjourned. We will discuss these matters on cooler heads next time."

Most ministers didn't even have a chance to speak. The entire meeting shocked many and the Queen herself.

The members of Cabinet nodded before Heindhöff and Alfonso stood up, furious at being completely dominated in the meeting.

"Ladies, have a good evening." Heindhöff's words were icy and cold. He saluted Amelie, and then the two took their briefcases and left the room, which left a chilly atmosphere of dread to the rest of the room.

Soon, the rest left, leaving Amelie with the Prime Minister.

"...Your Majesty, I apologize for that shameful display. It wasn't always like this. While Bluch had always been problematic, ever since Heindhöff was appointed to head the Ministry of Defense, those two men have been quite vocal and aggressive at their opposition."

Amelie seemed malaised and drained. Her voice now was weak. The meeting wasn't fun indeed.

"Is that why the military refused to demobilize?"

"...Yes. The sons of this Kingdom do not trust us. Not after we sent them to the meat grinder. It's an open secret that if they do not get the reforms, the constitution, and the government they want after the elections, they will start a civil war."

Amelie fell silent. Indeed, what a distasteful situation. She made great promises when her nation was barely even functioning. Perhaps, she should have toned down the idealism?

"I'm torn... on the one hand, it's hard to expect their loyalty. They might even be the ones responsible for my mother's death." Amelie laughed bitterly while saying that. "But it seems like we never truly gave them a reason to be loyal."

"Perhaps, but I should still remind you. Men have an axe to grind against us. Be careful."

"...Where do you stand, Mrs. Prime Minister?"

"I believe in limited reforms. Enough to appease them not to burn down the country."

"Why not full reforms?"

"I know the Royal Family likes to act liberal and 'for equality' for a while now, but there is a reason why we women rule."

She expected that. In a way, even she slightly believed it. Yet never did it make sense to her.

Why were they considered superior simply because of magic?

She lacked any such concrete answers. Still, it was clear as day. Her Kingdom's answer 3 centuries ago was the cause of its current crumble.

She could only say one phrase in response.

"I see."