Once she'd lifted me all the way up, Erica went back to her office.

　It's the same as always.
　No matter how many times I see it, it's an on-off switch that I fall in love with.
　It's not as if the last time she was saying "wow, wow" to me as if her intellect had dropped to 3, she was doing away with the administrative tasks that came up from Eleni, one after the other, as if she were lying.

Next. Baron Salamis' supplemental budget request.
Salamis?　As I recall, they're repairing the outer walls of King's Landing... how many times have you done this?
'What?　Yeah, uh...

　Eleni fumbled around, turning over the material to find something.

'If I remember Erica correctly, this is the fourth time, I believe. And first to the east, then to the west, then back to the east, and then to the west again.

　Erica scowled formally as she read the document at hand.

'......................Approved the additional budget. Have Deodoros look into it.
So, Mr. Deodoros?　Yeah, does that mean there was an injustice?
Yeah, of all things, yeah.
Wow, I get it!

　Erika is giving orders without hesitation.
　I kind of know what you're talking about.

　It's a pattern that sometimes exists in repair work.

　I'm going to take on two construction projects first.
　The first thing we do is work on one part of the project normally, and then we start on the other part.

　In this case, the materials used are pulled from the first site.

　Then, the balance of the materials for one work site goes into our pockets.
　Then, when the second site is finished, the first site needs repairing again.....

　Then, while applying for a new budget, the materials from the previous site are pulled from the previous site.
　It's a kind of alchemy.

　The key to this approach is to run multiple small sites.

　For the politicians, repairing public facilities and roads is an everyday occurrence across the country.
　They don't care about a small site, and they don't question the fact that there are new repairs that need to be done.

(Yeah, right.)

　Erica, on top of that, you're making all the decisions on your own.
　That would make it more of a matter of having to handle it alone, so you were taken advantage of.

　I thought about that, but I didn't say anything.
　There's Erica handling it properly, and when I mentioned it here, I said, "I knew you were great, darling! I can see it coming.

　Speak up, speak up, and let's not do anything unnecessary.

"Tut, next. Mr. Hagnon. Next year...
'That's fine. That's a good thing, because that guy does everything to get in Erica's face. Again--this time--it's about the harvest festival, right?
Oh, you're right.
You're in charge. That's all I ask.
I understand.
Totally, a no-good guy who listens to Erica for everything. The thought of him being a potential fiancée makes my stomach hurt.

　Heh, you don't like that kind of bad guy.

　While thinking that, I decided I would never intervene and watched Erika's political affairs in silence.
　I won't intervene, no matter what, no matter what.

　Playing the bad guy here would have the opposite effect.
　I can see that from my experience so far.
　Absolutely, you can't do this.

Next........oh, is this Erica-sama?
What?
The dismantling of the Rose Garden... what is this?
'Yeah, that's what Erica made me do. The Rose Garden now is all dismantled once and for all. All the girls will be given their fair share of money and sent home.
Why? Why?

　Eleni was surprised, and I was just as surprised.
　Eh?　I was so surprised that I almost stopped myself from saying, "You know what?

Because the current rose garden was chosen by Erica for her own reasons.

　Erica's tone was broken, glancing over at me.

'Once we're cleaned up, we'll gather up the girls our darling likes. Isn't that obvious?
Yeah, okay. Yeah, I see.
Do you get it?

　Her resolve was torn down.
　Her determination to stay out of the political business came crashing down at the drop of a hat with the fact that she was involved in it.

'Of course, darling. Watch me, darling, Erica, and I'll make sure I get my darling's favorite girl properly.
No, no, no, that's not--
'I've already made all the 'ortiers' in Calamba run to scouts, you know.
No no no no no.
There was a great pause...

　In a thin voice, Eleni gave a small shove.
　It was a reaction I felt I had to shove into this myself.

　When I say Ortias in Karamba, that means those girls I've only seen in photo albums are coming too.

　That's.........mind-blowing.

''........no, no. In the first place, is it okay to have Oltia in the queen's harem?　Aren't harems and prostitutes not a good match for each other?
You talking about an heir?　You can't just wait a year after you put him in your harem for that.
...I see.

　I couldn't help but nod my head.

　The king's harem is usually filled with virgins who don't know men in order to protect the purity of the bloodline.
　In that sense, a whore is nothing more than a whore.

　But such a thing is just a matter of isolating them in the harem for a year.

　So when I heard that, I couldn't help but agree.

''Ufufu, I knew my darling liked Ortia.
Well, yeah.
Why don't you introduce me to Mr. Althea?
You know what?
Yes.
Please, please!

　I grabbed onto Erica.
　I grabbed her little hand and closed in on her.

　The Great Sage Ortia.

　As the title "Great Sage" implies, he is said to possess all the knowledge of the world.

　Not only that, she is also known as an immensely beautiful woman, and is the person who became the mainstay of the "Ortia Boom" of prostitutes.

　It's a dream come true to meet someone like that.

'It's a bit difficult for Erica, but... oh, but I'll make it work, I'll make it work, just wait for me, darling.
Yeah, I'll wait as long as I can.

　I'll wait as long as I have to wait to meet the original Ortias, if only to wait.

　I was excited.
　I was so excited that I felt like I was forgetting something (,).

　Before I could remember that, there was a knock at the door and Mimis walked in.

　Mimis glanced at Erica and the others.

'You are here, my lord. I don't want to be too picky about women's games, but I'd rather have a prostitute with no consequences than a town girl.
'What?　Yeah, yeah.

　I don't remember Erica and her friends doing disguise magic.

What can I do for you, anyway?
Yes, this way.

　Mimis approached me and handed me the papers.

'What's this?'
'This is a direct appeal from a merchant. This is a matter that we would like to have your owners handle.
A direct appeal, yeah.

　I clapped my hands with a pop.
　I remembered that I'd forgotten something, I thought.

　I didn't like bad men (,,,,,,) I remembered.

　Remembering that, I handed the direct appeal to Erica.
　I handed Erica the one Mimi gave me in the bare street.

"Darling?
What do you think of it?　What would you do if you were Erica?
What if it was Erica?
Yeah. Say it and I'll do it.
What, master?

　Mimis is surprised, and ignores it.

　Erica, on the other hand, also shows surprise - but is immediately impressed.

　She was purring and shaking and thrilled with her direct appeal.

'I'm so happy!'
What?
'That's what I'm talking about, darling!　I can't believe you're trusting Erica with something this important.
'What?　Huh?　Huh?

　What do you mean?　Why do you react like this?
　Did I do something else?

Oh....

　My cooler head realizes it.
　It's not that I forgot.

　It's that I wouldn't interfere in Erica's political affairs, no matter what.

　But the joy of being introduced to Ortizia is what got into my head, and I interfered in her affairs - or rather, I threw her my affairs into her hands.

"Darling, your bowl is so big and nice!
Oof....

　I came to myself and collapsed on the spot....