Scholarship Princess | Choi Seungcheol

08.

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Jeonghan had been reading up on the new Princess. He disliked being unaware, even more so when it came to his job. Flipping through pages and arranging newspaper clippings, he pondered over the sudden appearance of this mysterious Princess while waiting for the Crown Prince in his study. The loud bang of the door against it's frame, shook Jeonghan from his place. Prince Choi Seungcheol had arrived and Jeonghan hastened to stand up.

"Update me on the staff." Seungcheol's command shot in before Jeonghan could barely look in his direction.

Jeonghan sighed softly, gauging based on the Prince's mood that it was going to a be a particularly thunderous day today. He forwarded the ready file in his hand, summarising the situation orally, "Demotions were carried out." He noted, "Replacements have been assigned. The new staff has been alerted of the Royal Residence's rules and conduct."

But why? It didn't make sense. Jeonghan wondered why the Crown Prince cared so much about the resistance against the new Princess. Seungcheol shed his coat over the stand with one hand while reading a file nestled in another. He settled into his chair just as Jeonghan's hesitance broke, "Do we have to go this far? It's only good for us—"

Jeonghan shut up at the raise of Seungcheol's eyes.

"If I need to bring someone down to go up, I'm not sitting high enough to begin with." Seungcheol refused to delve into reason too much but offered his assistant a simple explanation. Signing up the orders for change in staff, Seungcheol shut the file. He clicked his pen shut, looking at Jeonghan, "Father assigned her a secretary. Is my dear brother doing well?"

It was common information that Joshua was Seungcheol's only cousin. It was betrayal enough that he had shifted over to the Princess but the worse had yet to come.

"Too well, actually." Jeonghan slid the morning newspaper over the hardwood desk. "Princess Ari is en route to becoming the real woman of the people because of her talented second in command."

Seungcheol raised an eyebrow at that one, the piece of information seemingly unbelievable. His cousin was talented, yes. But not enough to cause him any significant damage. Piqued, he read out the headlines out loud, "Slums empowered, new Princess creates anticipation for greater things." Seungcheol was thoroughly taken by the news, "She cleared the slums?"

It was her. The one that didn't fit in. Like an odd-shaped piece in a perfectly drawn puzzle, Crown Candidate Ari confused Jeonghan. She stirred trouble everywhere she went. First, it had been the Crown Candidate announcement, the staff issue next and now, her meddlesome behaviour had reached the slums. "Yes, your highness." Jeonghan answered, "She curated a system to allow cash flow and work among the people. Of course, a sizable amount of funds moved hands in the process too."

"Within three days?" Seungcheol couldn't wrap his head around the timeline, "Who allowed the finances?"

"The King, your highness." Yes, it had seemed suspicious to Jeonghan as well. But the King's seal had appeared to disperse all clouds of doubt. "Not only did the finances move, so did the people. The land is now being appraised to a higher value than before. She'll cover all lost finances in a second once the tender passes."

Jeonghan pointed at the second line, "She associated with the local police. The people residing in the slums chose to work on merit. Cases that were previously unsolvable are now moving in the background. The weak has begun to support each other, and have begun applying for social security. Princess Ari has solved one of the biggest pending problems in the Monarchy's path."

Ari was clever and hard-working. She made it obvious. Her quick thinking and active movement was helping her build her space in the tight circle of Royalty. "We must do something about this, your highness."