Volume 3: Artifacts Chapter 102 Further
Office of the Prime Minister of the Imperial Cabinet.
After working late into the night, Luke asked his subordinates to bring a blanket and prepared to rest for the night on the sofa bed in the side room lounge. He would go to the palace to meet Queen Christina in a few hours when it was dawn.
Agatha should also go to the palace to report the results of today's arrest.
Luke, who was lying wrapped in a blanket, snapped his fingers, the magic lamp went out, and the room became dark. In the silence, he could hear the footsteps of the patrolling guards outside and the ticking of the pendulum of the clock.
Fatigue caused Luke to quickly fall into a daze before falling asleep, and he could vaguely hear some sounds that seemed like a dream.
"long……"
"Shh...it's late at night, don't make so much noise. Has the Prime Minister gone to bed?"
"The Prime Minister has just gone to bed. Do you need me to report?"
"No! Since the Prime Minister is asleep, don't disturb him. I... I can go in and check on him."
"Please, Your Highness the Princess."
With the sound of a door opening, light footsteps walked in.
Luke felt the blanket being pulled, and then someone came in. Luke didn't open his eyes, but he knew who was coming just by the familiar scent. He hugged the person in his arms and felt some tears on his face.
"You're crying?"
Agatha finally couldn't hold back her emotions. She hugged Luke tightly, buried her head and cried, but she didn't dare to make any sound, for fear that the guards outside the door would hear her. The guards were standing outside the side room, and there was no soundproofing between the side room and the office.
"I, I just killed a lot of people, more than I've killed before combined. I tried my best to appear strong outside, but I'm not as strong as I thought... I don't know who to talk to, and I only thought of you."
Luke stroked Agatha's hair and said, "You don't need to pretend with me. I will always be by your side when you need support."
Agatha hugged Luke tighter, she raised her head and kissed him on the lips, her hands groping to unbutton his clothes. The narrow sofa bed made her cautious, while at the same time she had to hold back her breath and not make any sound.
Luke responded to Agatha. He threw the blanket that was in the way aside, turned over and pressed the person in his arms under him.
Outside the door, Kylena approached sleepily in her coat and asked the two guards, “Did anyone come just now?”
The guard replied in a low voice: "It's Her Royal Highness the Princess. She came to visit the Prime Minister."
"Your Highness, you came so late? It seems that you have been busy all night. But the Prime Minister has already gone to bed, so your Highness came here in vain. Tomorrow morning, don't forget to inform the Prime Minister that the Princess is here to visit..."
The two guards looked at each other and said with strange expressions: "Her Royal Highness the Princess has gone in."
"Your Highness is in there?" Kylena, who was still a little sleepy, woke up instantly.
Just as she was about to ask something else, she heard something seem to be knocked over in the room.
Kylena walked closer quietly, put her ear to the door and listened quietly, then immediately took a step back in shock.
She reprimanded in a low voice: "The Prime Minister and the Princess are discussing state affairs. Can you listen here? Everyone, step back... Don't talk nonsense outside."
The two guards felt relieved and ran away immediately.
The noise in the room became louder and louder, causing Kylena to blush. She wanted to leave, but there had to be no one guarding the place.
Helpless, Kylena could only sit behind the Prime Minister's desk, holding her chin, waiting for the night to pass.
After a night of comfort from Luke, Agatha finally recovered from her gloom. But when she stood up and looked at the mess in the room, the broken sofa, and the incomplete clothes, she felt like she had just woken up from a drunken stupor.
"How do I get out?"
"Of course, we have to go out." Luke picked up his shirt from the ground and put it on. He came to the door and knocked: "Kylena, go prepare a set of clothes for Her Royal Highness the Princess. We are going to the palace to see Her Royal Highness the Queen."
Kylena's panicked voice came from outside: "Yes, Prime Minister! I, I will prepare it now."
Luke turned around and couldn't help but stare at the person in front of him.
The morning sun shone in from the window, shining on the woman lying on the sofa. Her golden curly hair was spread on her creamy skin, and under the sunlight, the golden color and white jade color were reflected.
Agatha unloaded all her burdens in front of the man in her heart. She no longer had the dignity and sharpness of being the eldest princess and the head of the Secret Service. Her eyes were full of tenderness as round as the curves of her body. She just looked at Luke, and her eyes gradually became blurred again.
"Your Highness, we are going to the palace."
“Your Highness, Kylena will bring your clothes soon.”
"Your Highness, we can't keep Her Royal Highness the Queen waiting."
"Okay, Your Highness... We can go to the palace after breakfast..."
Luke walked towards Agatha. At this moment, he finally understood why the king did not attend the court early in the morning.
After breakfast, Agatha changed into the clothes sent by Kylena, walked out of the Prime Minister's office with Luke without any hesitation, and then took the same carriage to the palace.
After entering the palace and meeting Queen Christina, the two finally returned to their respective duties and adopted a proper working attitude to discuss with the Queen what to do next.
Yesterday's surprise arrests can be said to have wiped out all the opposition in the imperial capital.
Agatha placed a thick stack of lists on the table between the three people. "Yesterday, the Imperial Secret Service arrested 564 major criminals and 3,569 accomplices. All the major criminals were convicted and the cases were closed. Among them, 436 committed suicide out of fear of punishment, and the rest signed confessions. These people are not core members, and some of them were deceived and made mistakes. I suggest that they be given lighter sentences.
As for the coerced accomplices, the Secret Service will need to conduct more detailed screening and interrogation.”
Queen Christina wanted to pick up the list and read it, but when she heard that so many people committed suicide out of fear of punishment, she paused and put her hand back: "Alas... the blood-stained throne and crown! These should be the last resistance, right?"
Agatha replied, "Yes! We should thank the World Bank. If it weren't for their funding, it would be difficult for the Secret Service to accurately gather them together and arrest them. We should also thank Prime Minister Meteorite. If it weren't for his suggestion that the Secret Service check the accounts of the World Bank and the Imperial Bank, we would not be able to find them along the funding chain."
"Yes, we all see the contribution of Prime Minister Meteorite." Queen Christina said to Luke: "If you had come earlier, you would have seen Alex. He came to see me before dawn and had breakfast with me.
This time he expressed to me personally that he was willing to support me in ascending the throne as emperor of the empire.
It was obvious that he was frightened by the actions of the Secret Service yesterday."
Luke smiled and said, "After returning to the imperial capital, His Highness Alex has been in seclusion and has cut off contact with the former court officials and ministers. This time, the Secret Intelligence Bureau's investigation found no evidence of collusion between His Highness Alex and Gabriel and the World Bank.
Whether he truly supports us or tolerates it, it proves his maturity.
This is a good thing for the empire."
"Yes, it's a good thing!" Queen Christina agreed with Luke's point of view: "You have time to go see Alex and explain our purpose to him. I am determined to remain single for life, and the empire will eventually be handed back to the Augustine family."
Luke nodded and agreed: "I will visit Alec today."
Queen Christina smiled and said, "After the celebration will be your wedding. Have you set a date?"
Agatha looked at Luke.
Luke said embarrassedly: "I plan to propose to Her Royal Highness the Princess after Your Majesty the Queen ascends the throne. As for the date of the wedding, I want to decide after I come back from hell."
Hearing that Luke was going to hell, Agatha couldn't help but ask nervously: "What happened in hell? You need to go there in person!"
Luke replied: "Raging Waves City has been secretly trading arms with Hell. With the help of our agent demons, Raging Waves City can obtain high-quality minerals from Hell at very low prices, which is one of the reasons why Raging Waves City's industrial products can keep costs very low.
It's just that I just received news from Hell that another force is also supplying weapons to Hell, and the price of the shipment is very low. If Raging Tide City doesn't respond quickly, it will affect the acquisition of Hell's minerals.
The demons in Hell are very difficult to deal with, and I don't feel comfortable sending someone else to handle them."
Agatha stopped him, "But that's hell. You know how fickle and difficult demons are. It's too dangerous. I can't let you take such a big risk."
Luke comforted Agatha, "Hell is not as dangerous as you think. Besides, I have the demon Tyrant following me this time, and I have the demon Red Flame supporting me in hell. I have weapons that all demons want, so they dare not do anything to me easily."
"But..." Agatha was still reluctant.
Luke grabbed Agatha's hand and said, "You have to trust me, just like you did before."
Agatha looked at Luke: "Okay, okay..."
"Ahem!" Queen Christina reminded the audience what kind of occasion this was. "Let's talk about the next phase of the war against the Art County Alliance. It has always been the Art County Alliance that attacks and the Empire that defends. This time, the enemy has penetrated deep into the Empire's territory.
Intelligence shows that the World Bank is rapidly arming the Ater County Federation. I think the Empire can no longer wait for the enemy to attack, but should take the initiative and place the battlefield on the territory of the Ater County Federation. "
Luke and Agatha withdrew their hands and their eyes that were glued together at the same time.
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty." Luke apologized and regained his position in this meeting: "I agree to take the initiative to attack, but the scale of the war must still be controlled. I plan to reform the grassroots official system of the empire after you ascend the throne, eliminate corrupt and incompetent officials, and improve the efficiency of handling grassroots government affairs.
Unleash the potential of the empire's long coastline, accelerate exchanges with the Emerald Forest and Dragon Kingdom, and continue to accumulate the empire's war potential.
The war against the Ater County Union should continue to follow the strategy we specified before, using the Empire's national strength advantage to consume the County Union's war potential and economic system. This will force the World Bank to continue to provide blood transfusions to the Ater County Union, thereby reducing the ability and energy to threaten the Empire from other places. "
When Queen Christina heard Luke's plan to reform the empire's grassroots officials, she could feel his ambition.
The lower levels of the empire were a tangled mess. Even an emperor as iron-blooded as Augustine the Great was powerless against local officials and gentry.
Now that the protective umbrella of the empire's upper echelons has been wiped out, it is the best time to clear out local congestion.
Queen Christina said: "You are the Prime Minister of the Empire. Do as you wish. The court will support you without reservation. If necessary, I will allow you to mobilize the Saint Lun City Garrison Corps to carry out local suppression military tasks."
"Thank you, Her Majesty, for your trust."
Queen Christina said to Agatha: "The Secret Service can also take back all the finances of the local branches this time. In the past, the empire had no money, and the local branches needed to obtain subsidies from local government affairs. Now that there are fewer rats in the empire, there is financial resources to bring all the spies under control.
In this way, the Secret Intelligence Bureau can serve the Prime Minister wholeheartedly and wholeheartedly in rectifying the local area."
"I understand, Your Majesty. I promise that after this, the Secret Service will no longer have any interest relationship with the local authorities."
In the past, the Secret Service was really short of money, so it had to turn a blind eye to the extra income of the local branches. Agatha could only control the most elite part, and the control of the local branches could only rely on anonymously appointed branch detectives.
Now the Secret Service has truly found a rich man, and Queen Christina knows that she will never use the Secret Service, so she simply throws this financial burden to Meteorite.
Do you, Nutao City, have the nerve to not give us the money needed to support the spies?
In this way, the three giants of the empire determined the policy direction of the empire in the future period.
Next, the first thing is to make this celebration a success.
The much-anticipated day has finally arrived.
The Imperial Palace removed the outer mirror barrier, and the real majestic palace appeared before the people. This time the palace did not fly up, and the royal knights wearing gorgeous armor rode their war horses and lined up from the palace gate and lined up along the avenue outside the palace.
The Empress led the imperial officials to the viewing tower, where the invited foreign representatives had been waiting for a long time.
Theresa led the angels to fly to the right side of the palace, close to the celebration venue.
The golden dragon King Tyron and the giant dragons that came to watch the ceremony all clung to a tall tower on the left side of the palace. Luke specially had multiple layers of supports erected on the tower so that the giant dragons could watch the ceremony comfortably.
The square opposite the imperial palace was filled with citizens of the imperial capital. People who knew magic kept launching magic fireworks into the sky to show their joy.
Hundreds of steam airships of various types were suspended in the air, providing magical protection for the smooth progress of the entire celebration.
Flags were everywhere within sight, and cheers like waves hit everyone's eardrums over and over again.
Such a powerful empire inspired everyone in the viewing tower. No matter what their purpose was, they were all shocked by this high and mighty civilization.
