As Eugene was explaining, Marianne and Sarah gazed around the office curiously basking in the new image of the room.

When the queen had said that she would be taking full responsibility for the management of the palace, even down to the most trivial matters, they had thought that she was just being over-enthusiastic about her responsibilities. They had had no idea that she would even care to transform this space so entirely.

Marianne had spent decades in the palace serving in place of the queen and dealing with aristocrats so that she had naturally seen and heard many things of how to run the palace. Although she was not high-born, Marianne’s level of refinement was easily comparable to those of noble birth because she had been surrounded by them all her life and had adopted their ways.

She thought that the office felt both refreshing and yet sophisticated.

“It looks very fine, Your Grace.” Sarah whispered to Eugene. “My experience may be limited, but it is like nothing I have ever seen before.” She even added.

Marianne and Sarah both reacted positively to her work, and Eugene smiled to herself. 

Eugene knew that even if they did not like it, they could not very well say so – but she could feel that they truly did. The awe in their eyes as they scanned all over the room was genuine. She could see their delight.

“Shall I change the whole palace to match my tastes a little better?” Eugene inquired.

Although it would take a huge amount of work to redecorate a palace of this size, she actually found herself growing excited just imagining it.

She was in charge of the palace. Without worrying about anyone else’s opinion, she could change things however she liked. Of course, the king had to agree with the changes she wanted to make, but his personality was definitely the type to not be particularly bothered by trivial things such as how the palace may look.

His personality…

Eugene was surprised by how carelessly she had passed judgment on him. It had not been so long ago that she had had no idea what sort of person the king was. Now she knew him well enough to categorically define elements of his character. It was a strange feeling to finally know a person deeper.

“Your Grace, I have something to speak about with you, if I may.” Eugene nodded at Sarah’s words.

“What is it?”

“It’s about employing some temporary staff. Usually, during the active season, we don’t employ temporary staff, but it’s hard on the court ladies to have so many posts left vacant.” 

Eugene nodded understanding the cause of Sarah’s concern.

After the incident of the queen’s disappearance, quite a number of the palace’s staff had claimed responsibility and resigned from their posts. The remaining people they had, tried to carry on until the end of the active season with the few workers they had left after the sudden exodus.

However, problems had occurred far too early in the active season for them to finish all their work until the start of the dry season. Too much work for too few people was bound to result in lowered standards of outputs.

The matter that the chancellor had spoken of was also of interest to Eugene. 

Rodrigo was not going to miss this opportunity.

♚ 

“We’ll begin to formally fill the vacancy on maid positions as soon as the dry season begins. For now, the steward shall handle the temporary workers.” Eugene declared. 

They both nodded in agreement and chorused. “As your command, Your Majesty.” 

“Ah, shoot!” Eugene cursed subtly. “I was supposed to meet with the chancellor, but the time now is-!”

Marianne stepped forward to placate her, effectively cutting her off.

“Do not fret, Your Grace, it’s not too late yet.” She assured her.

“So if I leave now, I should make it in time, right?” 

“Yes, Your Grace.”

Nodding, Eugene began to leave before she stopped and turned right back to the office.

“Marianne, do you think the chancellor knows I am in charge of taking care of the kingdom?”

“I’ve never said anything about it. He probably doesn’t, and won’t know unless you tell him.”

“Then I shall meet with the chancellor here.” She finally decided, staying put, and began to re-enter the office once more. Marianne nodded right back at her.

“As you wish, Your Grace.”

Eugene had only heard of the general relationship between Jin and the chancellor through the steward. The two never met up themselves, except only for official events, and had no interaction or whatsoever except for the customary formal greetings.

Did the chancellor hate Jin? Or was he simply indifferent to her?

As much as she could, she wanted to also improve the relationship between her and the chancellor. This was mainly because he was a powerful man that wielded immense authority in the palace, and was trusted by the king.

So it would be extremely beneficial to be on friendly terms with such a high-ranking person.

Though another reason was because of personal curiosity.

In the future, the queen would eventually give birth to the next king. Being a monarch’s mother was a more stable position than being just a sovereign’s wife. 

When that time came, Eugene would still have more to worry about. As he was still a young chancellor, it would be a priority to establish a good rapport now, if he had yet to do so before with the original queen.