Empress of Self-Ruin

Chapter 16: Praying for the Devil

"You're truly brilliant, Your Majesty." Rowan grinned from ear to ear at me before excusing himself from my study to see all the committee members out.

Elizabeth came in with my tea at the same time Rowan left.

"Rowan is right, Your Majesty," she commented as she poured me a cup. "Your Majesty is amazing. No one will starve again after Your Majesty puts your plans to work."

I didn't reply, only nodding silently as I listened to Elizabeth's ranting while sipping my tea.

It was a hectic day. The Empress Palace had been a rolling bustle of nobles, government officials, scholars, and merchants since the early morning.

I also had a meeting with the committee to finalize everything regarding our project before we could dive deeper into action. I had read through their final report thrice, making sure there were no mistakes before I was finally satisfied. Then I continued by dividing a role for each group.

Some were tasked to visit the nobles and make announcements regarding our tax and charity projects—some to negotiate the land prices, and the rest would be sent to recruit experts and professionals from all over the country or even outside our empire.

I, myself, would finalize and legalize a few land agreements that we were already able to acquire. One was from my dear uncle, who had given us one of his lands for free. Of course he had boasted about it for days, ensuring everyone knew of his generosity. That was so typical of him. My father had also followed suit not long after and donated quite a big chunk of land for our orphanage project—but in contrast, he was very subtle about it. Again, very typical of him as well.

From the other nobles, we managed to get our hands on a few smaller pieces of land that we were planning to turn into public facilities such as shelters, healthcare centers, public sanitation, etc. The biggest one so far was sold to me exclusively at a relatively low price by Marquis Villarreal, and we were planning to turn it into a farm field. I guess, as much as I disliked him, that was the perk of having him on my side.

Anyway, those lands were pretty much of no use to him or the other nobles and were just rotting uselessly. Well, except for boasting more of their riches of course. So I was actually doing them a favor.

Looking at what we could accomplish if I just put my priority in the right direction was astonishing. We honestly never were lacking in resources, only in the way they were allocated. Unfortunately, most were in the hands of some greedy bastards.

This got me wondering why most authors were obsessed with making their characters relatable by having them not wanting their powers. It happened in a lot of stories with royalty or noble protagonists—they would often sneak out of the palace to mingle with the poor civilians because they were fed up with the pressure that came with their positions, yet still had a naive wish of wanting to make the world a better place.

Of course it would still work out somehow for them since they were the protagonists, but in real life—it would be a different matter.

What impact did people make by tossing away their responsibilities to go gallivanting to god knows where? Sure, they might be able to learn about the suffering of their people by doing so, but to make a real change, they should just utilize the power given to them and do their job properly.

It was funny how people still wonder why a lot of assholes in this world have the most power. Wasn't it because the good ones didn't usually care enough to keep it?

"With this project, we can actually help people." Eli's voice snapped me back to the present, and I re-focused my attention on her. She always had that innocent, childlike soul—making her opinions enjoyable to listen to. "Maybe... maybe we can truly make a change, Your Majesty."