“Von Metternich and nearly half of the royalist faction aren’t going to support your proposal,” Wilhelm said, as the two returned to the Monile Palace in a carriage. Alexa listened intently, silently watching the passing countryside as she ate a few chocolates she bought earlier at Perlenstadt before they departed.

  “Is that so?” Alexa frowned. “Why so? I thought you already started lobbying to back Mr. Kepler for the premiership? What’s up with Sir Wenzel again?”

  “You have to remember that Metternich’s sub-faction is made up of the old guard. Most of the high nobility’s remaining representatives in the Imperial Diet practically flocked with him, and all of them aren’t going to tolerate a radical premier any time soon.”

  “So we only have the backing of moderate royalists?”

  “Yes. I’ll try expanding it further, but it’s not easy. My men are also having a hard time approaching the radicals, though, mostly because Mr. Kepler has a tight grip on his faction. I presume that if he gives the command for them to vote for him, his entire bloc will join.”

  Alexa looked up at the ceiling of the carriage with a sigh. “Unlike the people who ‘support’ me, the radicals sure are much more solid and cohesive.”

  She remembered the entire mess back during the first national election. Right after the new districts for the Imperial Diet were drawn up and candidates formed, so many districts had multiple royalists competing within them. While the nobility was not used to appealing to the common man, and the idea of an ‘election’—which was already preposterous to them—was alien, they sure flooded the ballots, eager to get in the Imperial Diet and gain political power for their families. Alexa even had thousands of letters from her peers in the academy, with many of her classmates begging for her to support their fathers or brothers running for their districts.

  Then, there were the various bureaucrats and low-level court lawyers and functionaries who were quite wealthy too and weren’t interested in the chaos that Henry’s rebellion caused. Most of them joined the royalist group as well and were now a part of the moderate bloc. As a result, during the election, royalist votes in many districts were split up and fractured.

  To be fair, there was no such thing as a ‘royalist’ faction anyway. It was generally just everyone who wasn’t a part of the people who supported Henry’s rebellion two years ago. The radicals, on the other hand, had one designated candidate in every district, ensuring that their vote wouldn’t be split between multiple candidates. The result was that even if they got so many fewer voters, they still had a considerable presence in the Imperial Diet.

  It makes sense. My brother probably schooled them about how to optimally play in a field like this. Considering that Lotharingia had changed considerably and family politics was starting to wane, the ones who would overperform were naturally going to be the people who had advanced knowledge on how to participate in an electoral system.

  “Do you still have a lot of options at…well, affecting things?” Alexa asked, a bit nervous. Quite frankly, even now, she still relied heavily on her knight. Wilhelm practically ran the country from the shadows since the end of the war with Henry.

  Even now, arguably, he was the kingmaker. Or well, Alexa made the picks of who she wanted as a premier and who would be appointed to high positions. Wilhelm made sure that her choices were then enforced, and then, he steered everyone installed in high positions into following Alexa’s agenda.

  That, and Wilhelm’s grip over the military was near total. All of his past victories greatly boosted his prestige, and practically no one in the military disliked him. While there were large sections of the Defense Forces disappointed with Alexa and her lack of initiative so far against the demon horde, the same wasn’t true for Wilhelm.

  I hope he can place my pick into the position. I’m sure he can do it.

  “Don’t worry,” Wilhelm smiled. “Even Metternich’s faction can be cracked, if you wish for me to use drastic methods.”

  He’s probably referring to blackmail and threats of exposing past corruption again. Alexa sighed. She had enough of that.

  “Please don’t. We’ve had enough of that earlier.”

  “Well, if they want to oppose you—”

  “I said it’s alright. Use gentler methods.”

  Wilhelm smiled, nodding. “As you wish, Alexa.”

  Later, around early afternoon, Alexa’s carriage reached the Monile Palace. Naturally, she first talked to her chamberlain and made sure to inspect and check if her servants were doing alright in their work for today. Then, she took a few hours to train with Phoebe and Adele under Alfred. Once that was done, she retired for the evening to have dinner with Anastasia, who was currently desperately studying for her first upcoming semestral exams, which included practical spellcasting tests.

  Largely, this routine remained for weeks as she waited for news from Wilhelm, who was hard at work in Perlenstadt trying to herd cats and make them agree to Alexa’s picks. She briefly stopped once at Perlenstadt a week later to watch over her little sister during her practical exam, where she met a few of her old teachers at the Grand Academy.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  After Anastasia passed the exams, the tired girl and Alexa both rode a carriage back to Perlenstadt. Alexa happily tested out ice cream from a new shop that opened up near the Perlenstadt palace, while Anastasia sulked on the side.

  “Hmph…I barely managed to get full marks…” Anastasia whined. “Why is it so hard?”

  “Don’t worry too much about it,” Alexa said, smiling a bit. “Back then, I didn’t even manage to cast spells. Considering you had 91 points out of 100, I’d say you’re beyond good already!”

  “But, but, you’re so amazing!” Anastasia’s eyes glistened. “While I’m just…”

  She looked down. “My spells are barely capable of holding a candle to what you can do.”

  Alexa snorted.

  “Most of my spells are glyph spells,” Alexa said. “I wouldn’t really call myself a true, proper mage. Unlike you.”

  Then, Alexa used her free hand to pat her little sister’s head. Anastasia immediately melted, looking down as Alexa gently patted her soft, pink hair. That was when their carriage suddenly stopped. The coachman then called out to Alexa.

  “Your Majesty!” The man shouted. “Sir Wilhelm is up ahead!”

  Alfred, who was sitting in front of the two girls all this time, practically napping with crossed arms, perked up. “Wait, Wilhelm? What’s up with him?”

  “Hmm…” Alexa stopped playing with Anastasia’s head, placing a finger on her lips. “Oh! Right, today’s the first day for the Imperial Diet to vote for the first premier!”

  “Why didn’t you tell me that?” Alfred asked, groaning. “Shouldn’t you, like, stay here during that?”

  “It’s not really my business,” Alexa said. “Officially, I shouldn’t even be publicly poking my nose into this anyway. That, and I’m pretty sure Wilhelm told me that it might take a few more weeks of failed votes before things work out…”

  “Your Majesty!” Wilhelm’s voice finally called out from outside. Then, he opened the side door to Alexa’s carriage. She smiled pleasantly at him, noticing how ragged and out of breath he was.

  “You look like you ran a long way here,” Alexa snorted. “You know, you can just send me a letter later to give me an update.”

  “No, not needed,” Wilhelm panted a bit before straightening himself with a grin. “You wouldn’t believe this. Mr. Kepler just won with two-thirds of the Imperial Diet voting for him.”

  Alexa’s eyes widened.

  “Two-thirds?! ”

  +++

  Count Wenzel von Metternich the IV, the leader of the hard royalist faction, chuckled as claps and cheers drowned out the plenary hall. 364 out of the 540 representatives in the Imperial Diet voted to appoint their new premier—Jonathan Kepler, who was now styled as Sir Jonathan Kepler after Her Majesty, Alexa Theresa, ceremonially knighted him in the Monile Palace for his ‘valiant acts’ in ‘fighting for the rights of the common man.’

  It was quite obvious for most that for whatever reason, after their private meeting, the sovereign of the realm now favored the leader of the radicals. Considering their victory over the rebels two years ago, with the empress taking a leading role in doing that, it was deeply ironic that the first elected premier of the nation was going to be a commoner of low birth.

  Still, Sir Wilhelm’s offer was too tantalizing.

  Wenzel, ironically, also voted for Jonathan, to the consternation of many of his peers. It was a deeply pragmatic move for the middle-aged nobleman. He was offered to lead the Home Office, and his close friend was also offered to lead the Foreign Office, while another nobleman from the hard royalist faction, Duke Anton von Hohenzollern, was offered to lead the Minister of War.

  It was a strange arrangement. The empress at the top, a radical prime minister, and the main cabinets led by prominent royalists. Then, the rest were filled up by various moderate royalists and radicals. At a glance, it was a horrendous arrangement. Royalists and radicals were like oil and water with each other—it didn’t make sense to even place them in the same room!

  Yet somehow, with the presence of Her Majesty moderating both, the days of the Imperial Diet’s first session were remarkably peaceful. There were debates and spats on the floor, but otherwise, nothing too damaging. Even Wenzel made friends of the people on the other side, even if they were still deeply against each other in their ideals.

  “Congratulations, Sir Jonathan,” Wenzel said, as the premier-to-be—Alexa Theresa still had to swear him in officially—walked out of the center of the plenary hall back to his designated seat. He was currently still handing out handshakes to those who voted for him when the two men’s eyes met.

  “Sir Wenzel!” Jonathan tipped his hat with a grin. “I hope we’ll work well together soon!”

  “My colleagues behind me aren’t very amused,” Wenzel joked, leading to awkward laughter from a lot of the royalists around him. Though some behind him just shook their heads, many of them were still quietly annoyed at the fact that so many in their team broke off due to the offers given to them by Wilhelm, who many saw as the man who was truly in charge of the nation at the moment.

  “Still, it’s good to see your bid for premiership working out,” Wenzel added, before shaking the man’s hand. “Say, I haven’t met the empress yet in person. I’ve been wondering to ask, how was she?”

  “She’s extremely pretty,” Jonathan laughed. Some of the royalist representatives turned red in anger at the commoner man daring to talk about their monarch’s appearance, but it seemed like Jonathan didn’t give a toss about it. “She’s very good to talk to as well. Polite and very agreeable. For a young empress, she sure is a bright one.”

  “I can tell,” Wenzel nodded, and then he tightened his grip on Jonathan’s hand. “I wish to meet her soon too. It excites me that I’ll be working with a lot of good people for the nation soon.”

  Then, Wenzel felt Jonathan’s grip on his hand tightening as well, as the two continued shaking and pulling each other while laughing. “Indeed. I’m happy as well, Sir Wenzel. I’m sure Her Majesty is looking forward to meeting you.”

  “Wonderful.”

  We’ll see how the new empress’s little schemes work out.

  On the side, one of the moderate royalist representatives wiped a bead of sweat going down his forehead as he watched Wenzel and Jonathan continue their passive-aggressive conversation while praising the empress.

  It seemed that the new government was up for a good start.