Chapter 45: Royal Affairs

Fulade and his party arrived at Dracula Castle and saw this very scene.

Without much small talk, Fulade, accompanied by numerous ministers and nobles, entered the castle.

Along the way were city residents who had come to watch out of curiosity.

"Excuse me, thank you, please move aside, hey~ Fulade, Fulade, hey."

In the bustling crowd, a slender, delicate figure kept weaving through the surrounding people.

Occasionally shouting loudly, this scene was instantly caught by Fulade's keen hearing.

As Fulade was slightly puzzled about who was calling him, a beautiful graceful silhouette had already entered his view.

At that moment, Fulade felt his heart suddenly pound violently, as if struck by lightning.

"It's her~!" Fulade murmured, slightly dazed.

In an instant, scene after scene flashed in his mind: the girl who had grown up with him since childhood, his childhood sweetheart, before he went to the Ottoman Empire as a hostage.

At the same time, she was also his future wife: Malina.

Yet the image frozen in his mind was Malina falling from a cliff, while he was powerless, watching the girl die in his arms.

He watched the blond girl, constantly weaving through the crowd, leaping up, swinging her two slender, fair arms, her face beaming with joy.

For some reason, Fulade suddenly felt an inexplicable urge to cry.

As if a sense of déjà vu, a cyclical illusion rose in his heart for a moment.

Fulade turned to the guard beside him and ordered:

"Let that girl over there come here."

The guard first glanced at the chief minister beside Fulade, and after receiving a slight nod, turned to carry out the order.

Seeing this, Fulade said nothing, merely noting it silently in his mind.

He still needed to learn more about the situation before judging who among these people could be trusted and who needed to be eliminated.

One cannot judge a person's loyalty and virtue solely by such trivial details.

"Hey~ Fulade, you're finally back," a moving voice suddenly rang out.

It was Malina, carrying a still fairly elegant skirt, running up, her expression bearing unmistakable joy and a hint of different emotion.

Looking at the slender figure before him, fair‑skinned, with long golden hair that was a bit disheveled from the vigorous running.

Before she could calm her rapid breathing, Malina lightly brushed her chest with one hand while greeting Fulade warmly.

"Hey, long time no see, Malina."

Fulade leapt from his warhorse, approached Malina, carefully examined the now‑grown girl.

Then he tightly embraced the girl and kissed her forehead.

The sudden scene made Malina blush and flush, and she playfully punched Fulade's chest, covering her embarrassment.

This scene caused the surrounding city residents to burst into a cheering uproar, making the atmosphere very lively.

It was evident that governance here was fairly good; the common folk did not fear the nobles' authority nor the soldiers' blades.

Noticing this, Fulade nodded silently.

"Malina, come with me."

"Yaa~!"

Before Malina could answer, Fulade seized her slim waist, and before she could react, placed her onto his mount and headed toward the inner palace.

The Finance Minister Count Maise Lande, seeing this, couldn't help but show a hint of satisfaction, for he was Malina's father and also Fulade's uncle.

Seeing the two childhood sweethearts still this intimate, he was naturally in a good mood.

"Hey, you always pick on me; you did that as a child, and you still do as an adult."

Malina's face flushed shyly as she lowered her head, murmuring softly, while giving Fulade an elbow, indicating consolation.

"Hey, there are so many people, can't you give a little face?" Fulade covered his chest, pretended to be in pain. "Don't think I don't know your ghost tricks; you used that move to scare me when we were kids, I didn't fall for it."

While saying that, Malina couldn't help but quietly glance sideways, and happened to see Fulade's half‑smiling face, unaware that she was being set up again.

Fulade gave a slight smile and whispered into Malina's ear:

"You're still the same as before, Malina—though you know I'm pretending, you still choose to fall for it, still so cute."

The two of them whispered back and forth along the way, still as before, occasionally bickering, showing no sign of having not seen each other for years.

Clearly, even after years apart, they still kept each other's feelings quietly in their hearts, otherwise they wouldn't still be like before.

At this moment, Fulade was undoubtedly feeling very relaxed.

"Malina, first settle them in the palace, then I'll come find you."

The party arrived at the palace, and Fulade instructed Malina.

He then signaled Malisika and others to follow Malina for the settlement.

Watching the few people depart, Fulade turned toward the Council Hall.

"Count Grantherm, you are the chief interior minister; tell me about recent affairs in the territories."

Fulade walked toward the throne of the Council Hall without any hesitation, immediately assuming his role.

Looking at the dozens below, these were essentially the most powerful ruling class of Wallachia.

After listening for a moment, finding only trivial petty matters, Fulade lost interest.

"If there is nothing important, Count Grantherm, handle it yourself."

He halted the slightly thinning‑haired blond old man, then turned to his uncle: "Count Lande, as the nation's Finance Minister, speak now."

Count Lande, slender, with golden curls, first nodded, then said: "The autumn harvest just passed, the yield is good; the five major granaries are full, enough for the city's 26,000 residents for a year."

"Regarding treasury revenue, this year's first three quarters have collected taxes, rents, etc., totaling over 34,000 gold coins, but the royal family and the late king's funeral have spent over 16,000 gold coins, and also…"

Hearing this, Fulade cut off Count Lande: "Count Lande, just tell me how much is in the treasury now."

Count Lande paused, then looked at Fulade's deep gaze, apparently understanding, and said: "Prince, the treasury now holds 73,600 gold coins, over 100,000 silver coins, and some copper coins."

"How can it be this little?" Fulade said with a slight frown.

"Prince, the tribute gold demanded by the Ottoman Empire every year already accounts for a third of total expenditures, so..."

Though he said no more, Fulade already understood.

He waved his hand, letting the Finance Minister withdraw first, then turned to look at the Military Affairs Minister, Viscount John.

"Prince, the city's garrison soldiers number three thousand, infantry two thousand two hundred, cavalry eight hundred.

Palace guards five hundred, of which cavalry account for three hundred.

Five thousand sets of armor, and a certain number of weapons such as spears, longswords, and longbows."

This was a sturdily built middle-aged man with a head of black curly hair, a full beard, and a somewhat rough voice.

He spoke simply and clearly, with quite a martial bearing.

This gave Fulade a very good first impression of him.

This meeting, Fulade's first since his return, lasted a full four hours, merely gaining a general understanding of the kingdom's specific situation, as well as familiarizing himself with their faces.

It also served to tell them in passing who the king they now needed to swear loyalty to was!

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(End of this chapter)