Chapter 180: ¹⁸⁰: have to be with you

Chapter 180: 1??: have to be with you

I smirked when I noticed the change in Kael’s expression. The earlier sarcasm had vanished, replaced by that same unmistakable look of interest he had worn before. It seemed I had finally managed to capture his attention for something other than his endless questions...Well, good.

"Working with Lhyden by withdrawing our influence from its internal affairs would have created problems in the long run, too. It would have left our own territories vulnerable. And if we had turned to Evnor for military assistance against Lhyden, or even Salen, we would have risked entering a conflict without securing our most basic necessity first. As for Mevre, relying on its river routes for trade wouldn’t have helped us either, because we still wouldn’t have had the grain we needed to transport in the first place."

I spoke with a small smile, watching Kael as the pieces of the puzzle finally came together in my explanation. There was no way he could still believe that someone else had done this assignment for me.

"So..." I continued, deliberately pausing as Kael’s gaze grew darker and more intent. "To solve all these problems, I had to go straight to their roots. And those roots were buried right inside the royal halls of Garis."

I let the words settle for a moment before continuing with a smug smile. "Why did the merchants of Garis have to impose tariffs on merchants from Salen? Why did Garis have to interfere in Lhyden’s internal affairs to maintain territorial stability? Why had Garis never managed to establish a proper trade route through Mevre’s river system? And why was Garis so dependent on Evnor’s military assistance?"

I raised my eyebrows slightly, letting the questions hang between us. "The answer to all of them lay in the unstable balance of power within the royal court. The king had little control over his own ministers, while the prime minister was busy manipulating policies to benefit his personal business empire. He was making decisions that strengthened his own interests at the expense of the kingdom, without caring that his actions were slowly rotting Garis from within."

My smile faded as I thought about the sheer absurdity of it all. I myself could not help but be appalled by the stupidity of the King, who was getting played by his ministers left and right. "When the kingdom was already struggling with the aftermath of devastating floods, I couldn’t simply expose every corrupt arrangement in the court and expect everything to fall into place. Doing so would have destabilised the government at the worst possible time. Whatever my personal opinion of those dealings might have been, I was there as a representative, and my first responsibility was to ensure that the common people had enough food to survive."

I paused briefly before continuing, feeling more confident now that I had reached the heart of my explanation. "So, I proposed a temporary exemption from the relevant taxes for merchants purchasing grain from Salen, allowing them to import it without the additional tariff burden. The merchants seized the opportunity and begin purchasing grain in bulk. With their costs reduced and the prospect of profitable trade restored, they were willing to buy, and the farmers of Salen were equally willing to sell. The grain began flowing into Garis without the royal treasury having to spend its already dwindling reserves on purchasing supplies directly."

I leaned forward slightly, warming to my explanation. "Once the immediate food crisis was under control, I proposed a broader tax reform to eliminate the excessive and exploitative levies the prime minister had introduced. In exchange, I accepted his proposal to establish military ties with Evnor, but with one crucial distinction: our alliance would be defensive rather than offensive."

I lifted a finger to emphasise my point enjoying explaining my work now, rather than focusing on what Kael was thinking of me. "Instead of using Evnor’s military strength to attack Lhyden, we would secure our vulnerable territories against external threats. That would give Garis a legitimate reason to maintain its territorial security without interfering in Lhyden’s internal affairs. And by respecting their sovereignty, we could finally begin building a stable trade relationship with them as well."

I lifted my chin proudly, allowing myself another small smile. "then, we would secure grain supplies, ease the pressure on the royal treasury, reduce the prime minister’s ability to exploit the taxation system, and establish more stable diplomatic and military relationships with our neighbours. Rather than solving each problem separately, I wanted to create a situation where resolving one would help prevent the others from recurring."

I looked directly at Kael, my confidence now firmly restored. "Because there was no point in saving Garis from starvation today if the very same corrupt system was going to bring the kingdom to its knees again tomorrow."

"And finally, I would use the military alliance to bring Mevre into the arrangement as well, persuading them to open their river routes and establish a trade corridor connecting all the neighbouring kingdoms. As for the political struggle between the prime minister and the king, that wasn’t my responsibility to resolve as a disaster advisor." I finished my explanation, feeling strangely satisfied with myself.

"You found all of this by yourself in just seven days?" Kael asked.

I blinked at him. After that entire, ridiculously long monologue, *that* Was what he had to say?

Still, I couldn’t deny that I had enjoyed explaining my thought process far more than I had expected. It had been a long time since I had talked so passionately about something and, more importantly, had someone genuinely listen to me without interrupting every other sentence. For those few minutes, I had almost forgotten the awkwardness between us and the many unanswered questions still lingering in my mind.

Almost...."Why?" I asked, rolling my eyes at him. "Do you still doubt that I was the one who did this assignment?"

I tightened my crossed arms and narrowed my eyes at him, my wounded pride making another appearance. "Let me ask you something. Who did you even think would do my assignment for me? I literally have only one friend at the Academy, and she had her own assignment to deal with. And after her, I have just you here."

I stopped abruptly. *Just you here.* Oh, Goddess.

The words had barely left my mouth before their meaning caught up with me. I stared at Kael, suddenly wishing I could reach out and shove every single word back down my throat.

I had just implied that he was the only other person I had. The only person besides my one friend. Why did my mouth always decide to betray me at the worst possible moments? *I have just him? Just Kael?* I wanted to bury myself beneath my quilt and never emerge again. I was so stupid!

"When did I say that?" Kael’s question snapped me out of my internal suffering.

Before I could come up with a response, he pushed himself up from the chair, his earlier interest seemingly disappearing as he straightened his clothes.

And just like that, it felt as though our conversation was over. "Why are you getting up?" I asked quickly, unable to keep the sudden panic out of my voice.

I still hadn’t asked him what had happened last night. I hadn’t found out what had brought him to my room in that condition, why he had needed me, or whether he was truly all right now. I had spent so much time worrying about the assignment that I had barely managed to get a single answer out of him. And now he was leaving?

"I’m leaving. There’s a ball tomorrow, and I have some things to arrange for it with Ryan."

A ball? My eyes shifted as I processed his words, my mind immediately racing ahead.

Tomorrow was the day of the eclipse. And I had to be with Kael when it happened.

That was the entire point of my plan. I had spent so much time thinking about what I needed to do, how I would approach the situation, and how I would make sure everything went according to plan. I couldn’t afford to let something as unexpected as a ball ruin everything at the last moment.

But if Kael was going to be occupied with the event, how was I supposed to get him alone? My fingers tightened around the edge of the quilt.

No. I couldn’t let myself panic just yet. There had to be a way to work around this. I simply needed to know whether I could still get him to come to me.

"Will... will you come here tomorrow night?" I asked. The hesitation in my voice was impossible to conceal, no matter how desperately I tried to hide it. I hated that I sounded so nervous, especially when I needed him to agree without asking too many questions.

Tomorrow was going to determine every step I took from that point onwards. Everything depended on what happened during the eclipse, and I couldn’t afford to let my plan fall apart now.

Kael looked at me, though his expression gave little indication of what he was thinking. "The ball is a centuries-old tradition, Athena. I won’t be able to be anywhere else tomorrow."