Chapter 43: Suzy New queen

The guards pushed the doors back. Inside the main room, it was completely full of people. The old King’s advisor stood next to the high platform, holding a long paper scroll. Around the large table sat thirty of the wealthiest lords and merchants in the capital city. They were right in the middle of a tax meeting, completely unaware that the Prince was dead down.

The advisor stopped talking, dropping his pen. He looked at our four guards, then looked at my black jacket.

"What is this?" the advisor shouted, stepping down. "This is a private royal meeting. Guards, throw them out right now!"

Ten inner guards near the walls drew their weapons and stepped forward. But our four new guards immediately stepped in front of us, pointing their spears at their own people.

"Stand down!" our lead guard shouted. "The Prince is dead in the vault downstairs! The cash is gone! The king has changed!"

A huge panic hit the table. The wealthy lords jumped up from their chairs, their faces turning completely white.

"Dead?!" the advisor stammered. He had to grab the edge of the throne steps to keep from falling over. "That is a lie! He is an Ascendant expert!"

"He is gone," I said, stepping past our guards. The full pressure from my mid-stage Ascendant tier came out of my muscles, filling the entire room. It was hard for them to even breathe. "And your old laws are finished. Drop your weapons right now and submit to the new king–i mean queen."

The ten inner guards looked at the strength coming from my body, then looked at their four friends. They didn’t even try to raise their blades.

They drop there weapon kneeling down in front of us. Seeing the weapons dropped, five of the wealthiest lords panicked. They ran toward the doors, escaping like total cowards to save their own skin. But the rest of the merchants stayed right where they were, dropping to their knees in pure fear as they looked up at my face.

Suzy didn’t look at the running lords. She walked straight down the center path, her sword held firmly in her hand. She marched up the steps toward the high throne. Her hair was slightly messy and wet, but her face was completely steady.

She turned around right in front of the grand seat, looking down at the entire hall of kneeling men.

"Ten years ago, the royal family killed my parents and my brother to hide their corrupt math," Suzy said, her voice clear. "They left the common people in the villages to starve while they enjoyed luxury lives on stolen taxes. Today, that old dynasty ends."

The room was completely quiet. Every single person stared up at her.

"Things are changing right now," Suzy declared, her eyes flashing as she looked at the merchants. "We are cutting the trade taxes by forty percent immediately. We are opening the palace vaults to send food and money to every single village that was abandoned during the war. If you are an honest merchant, you will have total freedom to grow your business. But if you try to cheat the workers, my partner will audit your life until there is nothing left."

She looked down at the remaining lords, her voice very serious. "Stand with me, and we build a real enterprise. Stand against me, and you get liquidated like the Prince."

The remaining lords and guards looked at each other, their faces filling with a sudden wave of hope.

"Long live the Queen!" our lead guard shouted, raising his fist.

"Long live Queen Suzy!" the rest of the hall roared back, the nobles and soldiers all bowing their heads completely in total submission.

Suzy turned around smoothly and sat down on the main royal throne, her sword resting right across her knees.

I stood at the bottom of the steps, my hands in my pockets, a small smile forming on my face. The capital city was finally under our control.

I walked over to the large council table in the center of the room. The surface was covered in heaps of loose tax papers, scroll maps, and the gold quill the old advisor had dropped earlier. I pulled out a chair, turned it around, and sat down comfortably, crossing my legs .

"Alright, gentlemen," I called out.

"The company under the old Prince is officially bankrupt. But before we start running the new daily operations, we need to do a thorough accounting check. I want to see the main palace ledger books right now."

The old advisor, whose knees were still shaking near the platform steps, slowly stood up from the floor. He didn’t even look at the dead Prince’s ghost; he just ran toward a hidden wall cabinet behind the throne, pulled out three record books , and brought them over to my table with trembling hands.

"Here... here are the central tax registries for the entire western sector, sir," the advisor stammered, his eyes filled with pure fear as he bowed his head against the wood.

I flipped the first book open, my eyes scanning the long columns of numbers. My grocery store manager brain ran through the data lines at lightning speed. Within two minutes of checking the pages, my teeth grinded together in pure disgust. The math was an absolute mess.

"Look at this, Suzy," I said, pointing at a line item on the page. "The western border sectors have been paying a forty percent infrastructure tax for three years, but the palace ledger shows that zero funding was ever sent to repair their defensive walls. The Prince was literally pocketing the entire public safety budget to buy luxury items for his inner circle."

Suzy looked down from the throne, her face turning serious. "The western border villages are completely exposed to the outer state, Barry. If those walls are broken, the neighboring Kings can march their forces straight into our trade lines without any legal warning."

[System: New corporate risk detected! The old Prince’s bad debt has just compiled into a major security threat! Look at the optic map indicator on your status screen, boss!]

Before I could even reply to the system screen, the main doors at the back of the hall were violently pushed open. A palace scout came running down the center path, his clothes completely torn and his chest plate covered in dark, fresh stains. He looked completely out of breath, his face with pure terror as he collapsed onto his face right in front of my table, his hands shaking.