When Annan’s room was unsealed, it was already approaching dusk.
But before he could leave, the Eldest Princess ca directly to his door.
Less than twenty-four hours had passed since their last encounter. Yet, when Annan saw the Eldest Princess again, he could easily read the unmistakable exhaustion on Elizabeth’s face.
"You seem tired."
Annan, holding the tri-colored staff, asked with concern, "Shall I ask His Holiness the Pope to co to you?"
Of course, they both knew.
The exhaustion on Elizabeth’s face obviously wasn’t due to "sadness over her brother’s murder," nor was it from running around tending to the matter.
Even if she claid so, Annan wouldn’t believe her. Thus, she wouldn’t say it.
—If the timing had been slightly different, the Eldest Princess might have even thrown a banquet to celebrate.
Because essentially, this ant that she, Elizabeth, was going to be the future Queen of the Kingdom of Noah.
But the circumstances were different now.
Neither early nor late—Philip died just as Grand Duke Winter happened to be visiting.
His death was extrely ill-tid.
With Philip’s death, the pressure on Elizabeth only increased. She spent most of her day eting various people, explaining to them "it really wasn’t ."
She wasn’t kind-hearted or rciful, nor was she incapable of such an action.
If she hadn’t outpaced Philip by May, then she would indeed prepare to have him killed.
But she would never be foolish enough to throw the bla onto Grand Duke Winter. Only ordinary people who completely lacked political understanding, and those low-level nobles and nouveau riche who were both stupid yet felt good about themselves would think so.
Noah certainly wasn’t afraid of Winter, but that didn’t an they won’t have to ask favors from Winter. Of course, this could be put in a more graceful way—they needed to reach so transnational cooperation agreents with the Duchy of Winter, which would be good for everyone.
Because as long as they couldn’t swiftly breach or defeat the Duchy of Winter, then the "advantages" they held were aningless.
When continuously accumulated advantages could never be transford into victory, they would instead beco a drag.
And if they were to place the bla on Grand Duke Winter at this ti, it would likely an the improving situation between the two countries would deteriorate once again... potentially even worse than before.
Because Annan was a rather young duke.
And youth ant possibilities, ant vigor, ant ambition... It also ant they valued face more than tangible benefits. It ant their patience was insufficient.
Generally, not to speak of rulers... even "power holders" wouldn’t be too young. It’s not because young people weren’t capable enough for the position.
On the contrary... whether it was understanding frontline issues or one’s physical and ntal energy, young people had much more advantage and potential.
But when they were in positions of power, personal ability and initiative actually weren’t that important. Because they didn’t need to deal directly with problems, just manage relationships between people.
Thus, for them, "full of potential" wasn’t necessarily a complint... It ant they still had room to grow.
Energetic and proactive, they would quite actively implent policies, trying to get good results in the short term; and their own growth would make them realize, after a while, "perhaps there were better ways before."
But there was no helping it.
Because society is dynamic, there can never be a "perfect solution" that simultaneously addresses every issue. And the priorities vary from one period to another.
For example, right now, Capital Noah urgently needs to export goods—they need to turn the backlog of rchandise back into money, to get the silver coins circulating again, so that Noah can revitalize.
The workers had been continuously laboring, and they had to be paid; yet the products produced kept piling up—however, it’s important to note that warehouses also cost money, and their maintenance is a crucial matter. Whether it’s theft, contamination, or fire, any such incident could lead to trendous losses.
Once the factory warehouses were filled, they had to transport the goods elsewhere.
Today, since the "ground iron" hadn’t been completed yet, they still relied on subways for the transportation of bulk goods—but here’s the problem again, if they could obtain the rights to use the subway, why wouldn’t they just directly sell the goods?
Thus, they could only hire rchant caravans to transfer the goods from one warehouse to another. Of course, there were risks and losses along the way, and once the goods entered the second warehouse, new risks erged.
But if they pulled out at this mont and dismissed the workers, it would an they were admitting defeat.
Then the other nobles would imdiately take over—whether it was the workers or the factories. Once the ground iron construction was completed, or the subterranean people had replenished the subway carriages, it would be too late for regrets.
—because Noah simply didn’t have that much demand.
If they couldn’t make a profit from the factories, what other industry could they engage in? Return to the era of workshops?
But if trade with the Winter Principality was restored, all these goods could be exported out, providing a unified outlet. At that ti, the issues would once again revolve around the type, quality, and price of the rchandise.
Goods that could be transported with as few ships as possible, and as safely as possible, would definitely sell better than those that deteriorate the mont they are exposed to the Mist.
The policies needed at such a ti were obviously different from what Capital Noah needed now.
And the implentation of policies inevitably ca with a delay, true for both Noah and Winter. Even for a place like Noah that supported apparent "delegates," from the introduction of each policy to when it actually started to be implented, forming new habits around this new policy took ti.
Moreover, depending on the different regions’ distance from Capital Noah, the relationship between the main rulers of the different regions’ "guarantors" and the King of Noah, and even the personal abilities of the "delegates" in different regions, the implentation and normalization of these policies all took ti.
Elizabeth understood this very well.
If she kept issuing new policies according to the current situation, it would only plunge the entire Capital Noah into chaos.
Because she understood all too well what these nobles were like.
Those who enforced policies actively and those who tried their best to delay could be two different groups; but once a new policy was issued, and it involved interests different from before, it would end up being "a different approach for each region."
And the prevalence of local and customary laws would further dilute the King’s authority.
So even if she knew a policy was lagging, she still couldn’t "change it too frequently." Altering commands from morning to evening was far more dangerous than outdated decrees.
But this was understood by her, by Philip.
Annan would not understand. Kafney, even less so.
Because they were young people.
Young people always hope that what they do is right, is correct. They can’t tolerate compromise, don’t understand patience, and will never know that what they say, what they express is actually not directly related to what others hear, understand, and ultimately really do.
It’s not as if simply saying sothing makes it effective. Nor do people act on a solution just because it’s provided.
Because people cannot possibly understand one another fully.
Nor does everyone possess Wisdom.
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