The Dragon Queen and her mates.
Chapter 248: Trust

Chapter 248: Trust

"You seemed to be having a hard time, your majesty," Yakov entered the office and glanced at Bree, who was lost in thought.

When Bree heard his voice, she raised her head with a tense look on her face. But when she saw that the man was showing no signs of anger, she sighed in relief and remarked in a light-hearted voice, "I originally wanted, once we were done settling the matters of Count Cilantro’s land and the titles of the officials who were caught in the corruption but it seems like we have to move forward with the plan of establishing exams for the official positions."

The nation that Bree reigned over was not under the direct control of the empress. Especially when there was such a strong resistance towards accepting a woman as their ruler.

Though it differed from nation to nation. As the empress of Dragoniere, Bree didn’t have the right to take the ownership of the lands that belonged to the officials as they were given to them by the late emperor. If she were to abolish the official titles, then she would be accused of going against the late emperor.

The reason she was able to take Duke Cilantro’s title was because the duke betrayed the trust of the ’late emperor’ and not Bree.

What was more, their actions had far exceeded the limit that the officials could stand for, thus no one questioned Bree regarding this issue but if she were to suddenly start abolishing the titles, then she would be questioned and accused with a set of vile words.

She could think of one solution to this problem and that was ’proving that the officials were not fit to be given the position that they were sitting on at the moment.’

She originally wished to wait for a while but Bree was afraid that if she waited any longer, then these officials would continue to cause trouble.

More importantly, Bree looked down at the stack of documents in front of her and curled her lips in annoyance. These documents were supposed to be the responsibility of the officials but as they looked down on her, they did a sloppy job and sent the documents back without even caring to take a second look.

Since they feared nothing, they have gotten more and more bold!

Though there was going to be a number of backlash after this order of hers was made public, Bree didn’t want to be shackled by her fears any longer.

Yakov understood her worries. He nodded without saying anything, which only made Bree a bit more nervous. She raised her head and looked at the man standing in front of her and questioned, "Umm, did you come here to tell me something, first consort?"

"Yes," Yakov replied as he set down the information that his father had collected. "My father just received information from the southern city. It seems like someone is recruiting the half shifters."

Though he did not say anything out loud, Bree understood what he was trying to tell her. Her lips parted and she released a sigh, "It seems like our worries were not wrong."

She didn’t believe that these were just coincidences; others might be willing to push these incidents as mere coincidences but Bree knew that they were more than that. After all, she didn’t have the habit of burying her head under the ground when she was in trouble.

Because even if she were to hide and refuse to admit the reality, it wouldn’t change anything.

"Would you like to send some of the shadow guards to the southern city and take a look?" Yakov asked.

"No," Bree set down the evidence that Lord Sceptre had collected and smiled at Yakov, "I will be going there myself."

The southern city came under the control of Duke Cilantro but that man hadn’t done a good job maintaining it. Duke Cilantro wanted power and authority over as many cities as possible as he treated himself as the next emperor.

Though he was just daydreaming, he had made many small waves.

However, even though he took control of these small cities, Duke Cilantro did not know how to deal with and handle the matters of these cities.

Most of these regions are used as the dumping grounds by the nobles. They send their mistresses and illegitimate children to these small regions from where they would never be able to return. If Bree was being direct, then these regions were the ones that held the strongest grudges against the capital due to the carelessness of the officials.

If she did not deal with them quickly, then Bree was worried that these regions would be the first to start a rebellion. The southern city had already started it!

"Are you really going to visit these places personally?" Yakov asked.

"Shouldn’t that be the case?" Bree questioned with a smile. "I was the one who let that man run amok along with the many officials who had thrown their children to these regions all for the sake of keeping their reputation clean, even though they are stained with numerous sins."

"I understand; I believe in your foresight, your majesty," said Yakov.

Though he said that he seemed a bit too hesitant, which made Bree amused.

"You don’t have to say it if you do not wish to," stated Bree with a light-hearted laugh.

"I didn’t mean to say that I don’t believe in you—" Yakov paused before taking off the brooch that he always wore.

He set it in front of Bree and said to her, "I heard that Dion had already taken off his seal and handed it over to you?"

"That’s right," Bree nodded as she realised what Yakov was trying to do.

"Then I will do the same," Yakov stated with a smile. "Since your majesty wishes to start an exam that would determine whether an official is fit for his role or not, then I, as the chancellor of the nation, need to set up an example by showing my trust in you, your majesty."