Chapter 95
As expected for an administrative space, the layout of the East Wing was fairly straightforward. The lower floors consisted of a predictable alternation of meeting rooms and offices, while the upper floors housed facilities for staff who needed to stay within the castle.
There was no need to memorize every corner, so Nerys checked only the most important locations before heading to the office assigned to her.
Her office, flooded with sunlight and offering a clear view of both the West Wing and the Main Wing, came with two small adjoining rooms. Inside, two people were already waiting.
“Advisor.”
“Advisor.”
The two men standing in the center of the large office bowed as she entered. Familiar faces. Nerys gave a slight nod in return—she remembered them from the meeting earlier.
“Sir Sidney, Sir Hughin.”
“It’s an honor that you remember our names.”
Karl Sidney beamed with his usual easygoing manner. Hughin, on the other hand, gave her a disinterested glance, as if it was nothing to fuss over.
“What brings you here?”
“Yes, Advisor. Because you’ll need to understand even the minor workings of the castle—and because there is so much to handle—Sir Hughin and I have been assigned to assist you.”
“Who assigned you?”
“Lord Bronson, ma’am. He also said to let you know that if you prefer different personnel, that can be arranged at any time.”
Bronson—Rex Bronson, the elderly man who had sat closest to the head of the table. Likely the most senior official before Nerys arrived.
That man had kept his distance from her from the beginning. Most likely, he had picked the subordinates he thought would cause the least trouble if reassigned.
Sending them over without so much as explaining in person was a bit presumptuous, but not surprising. In busy places, even positive changes could feel like nuisances. Nerys smiled slightly.
“Very well. So then, what are the tasks I’m expected to go through first? Are those what you’re holding? Let me see.”
Both Karl and Hughin were holding thick stacks of papers. Karl’s bundle was about half a palm’s width, while Hughin’s was nearly a palm and a half thick.
If someone else had dictated which documents to bring, they’d have been split evenly. This division suggested the two had sorted through the contents themselves and decided what Nerys needed to see.
Karl offered a few sheepish comments about the overwhelming amount of paperwork on her first day. Hughin, by contrast, immediately placed his stack on the desk, his attitude bordering on rude—as if to say, “I was waiting for you to ask.”
Dora looked visibly annoyed but held back, unable to act before Nerys did. Nerys quietly observed the two men’s behavior and sat down at her desk.
Moments later, everyone in the room was staring, mouths slightly agape.
With the ease of someone picking up snacks, Nerys began sorting the documents—swiftly and without hesitation. She skimmed the first page of each one in less than two seconds.
“And what exactly do you—”
Hughin, who had started to speak with an arrogant tone, closed his mouth after flipping through the documents she had sorted. There was nothing to criticize. Dora almost smirked despite herself. How dare he!
Karl gave a strained smile. Since she had started with the documents he brought, he only needed a glance to realize:
She was sorting everything with precision, based on priority and required reading order.
Everyone had their own method for processing paperwork. There was no absolute right or wrong in that regard.
But this woman—she was ruthlessly efficient. And she looked like someone used to handling workloads no single person should be expected to manage.
Both men were now watching her hands, captivated. The stacks grew steadily. Hughin’s documents, perhaps already organized in a way similar to Nerys’s, needed little rearranging.
Before enough time had passed to even finish a cup of tea, Nerys pointed to the thinnest stack and spoke neatly.
“Let’s begin with these. Explain the contents of what each of you brought.”
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The East Wing’s dining hall.
In Maindulante, as in the rest of the Empire, most workdays ended around dusk. Candles were expensive, and there were evening tasks to tend to at home—so when the sun dipped, farmers laid down their sickles, and miners their picks.
But that logic didn’t apply to the staff of the White Swan Castle. With selective hiring came heavier individual workloads. And as administrative power grew, so did the volume of tasks.
In short, the castle’s junior staff were always overworked.
Given their value, however, they received benefits unheard of in other workplaces. High pay, and provisions in daily life so they could focus solely on work without distractions.
The dining hall, where all staff could enjoy high-quality meals for free, was one such benefit. True, not getting to go home before dinner was a problem—but not being provided dinner didn’t mean they could leave early either.
It was said that of the staff who once quit due to exhaustion, nearly twenty percent came back because they couldn’t forget the food. The meals served here were dishes even nobles rarely got to eat, always served in generous portions.
Tonight, the hottest topic among junior staff gathered in the dining hall was, of course, the new advisor. What had happened at the meeting had spread like wildfire—not just among staff but even to the villagers below the castle, who were now saying, “That ‘Southerner’ advisor is no pushover.”
When Hughin and Karl—now officially assigned to her—entered the dining hall, the room briefly fell silent.
The two of them looked exhausted, but not disgruntled. As soon as they received their meals and sat down, a crowd formed around them.
“How was it? Were you really working until now?”
“Did she seem alright?”
Since Hughin had a reputation for being prickly, the questions were directed mostly at Karl. He offered a weary but genuine smile.
“Yes. We’ve been working until just now. And we’re going back in once we finish eating.”
Tch. Half of the staff who might’ve gone home after dinner if they finished early let out weary sighs.
“Is the new advisor the kind who watches you like a hawk?”
“Does she meddle in more than she can handle?”
“Sir Sidney’s known for being fast with work, and even he got held back on the first day?”
No subordinate liked a boss who made them work overtime. The moment that sentiment quietly spread among the staff—
Hughin set his water glass down with a sharp clack and muttered,
“She went through a full day’s worth of tasks in one go. She’s in quite the rush. You’ll want to be prepared too. The Odeville Bridge project, the faulty construction at the Farulent Dam, the Yukend-Dorrian treaty issue—she’s reviewed them all and says she wants detailed follow-ups.”
The staff who had been sighing opened their eyes wide.
The issues Hughin listed were all tasks each department had wanted to resolve quickly. But across the whole of Maindulante, they weren’t quite important enough to be made top priority—so they’d been pushed back.
If someone from above didn’t take an interest and press for resolution, the people affected by those problems would continue to suffer. Still, none of them were critical enough to outrank the frequent larger disasters they were constantly managing.
Hughin had meant it as a warning—but if the work was going to be hard regardless, it was better to be exhausted making progress than to be exhausted getting nowhere. And she had already gone through all of that—today.
“Wait… is she just reviewing things one by one without understanding which ones are more urgent?”
One baffled official asked. Karl shook his head.
“We started with the most urgent issues. She plans to discuss them with Lord Bronson tomorrow, so we stayed behind to prepare the necessary materials. She’s very proactive.”
The officials looked at each other.
Anyone starting a new job—especially in an unfamiliar place—needed an adjustment period. Every workplace had its own culture. And wasn’t this new advisor just a fresh academy graduate?
So no matter how “impressive” she seemed, they all expected she’d need a few weeks before properly settling in.
“Hey, about that drink we were going to grab later… Mind if we postpone? I think I’ll stay behind and get some more work done.”
A junior official turned to his colleague, who nodded.
“Sure.”
Others were having similar conversations.
Energy.
The spark of motivation born from the desire to push their own duties through while the opportunity was hot—and make life easier for the citizens in the process.
Karl gave a tired smile as that wave of productive energy rippled through the room. Hughin just gave a faint snort through his nose.
…All the staff who remained in the perpetually understaffed White Swan Castle, to varying degrees, were workaholics.
❖ ❖ ❖
“Hoho!”
As a series of daylong meetings concluded over several days, Rex Bronson couldn’t hide his astonished admiration.
“This is a good method. I’m learning something new here.”
“You flatter me. I’m hardly a match for someone with your lifetime of experience.”
Even as the chief administrator of Maindulante praised her without restraint, Nerys remained unfazed. She assumed, correctly, that he was exaggerating out of courtesy.
But Rex wasn’t exaggerating at all. Unlike when they first met just a few days earlier, he now admired her genuinely.
“No, I’m honestly impressed by the clarity. Where did you learn to work like this?”
Nerys had, of course, learned. In her previous life—from seasoned ministers who had governed the vast territories of the Bistor Empire for decades. From hyenas who tore into her at the slightest mistake.
But she couldn’t say that.
So she shamelessly fibbed.
“Learn? Didn’t you all already know I came straight here after graduating from the Academy?”
“You divide tasks precisely, identify key issues with remarkable speed, and even account for potential risks when proposing solutions. That usually takes years of experience. It’s a natural gift.”
“I still don’t know much about Maindulante’s procedures and culture, so I’m sure I’m lacking in many areas. Thank you for saying so. But if you notice anything wrong, please tell me right away.”
“Oh, there’s really nothing to worry about, but since you’ve asked—I’ll speak up if anything’s missing.”
The ambiguous tone from their first meeting had completely vanished. Rex, for all his skill and pride, was also surprisingly sincere—and Nerys could tell.
Rex wasn’t the only one satisfied with the new advisor. Problems that had languished due to lack of manpower were suddenly getting resolved, and in a way that was so clean and rational it felt almost cathartic. The atmosphere among the castle’s staff had visibly improved.
As head of administration, Rex knew this better than anyone.
Now, if anyone dared suggest, “Can we really trust a new advisor from the South? Maybe we should hold off on giving her too much,” the staff would probably storm over and shut that person down on the spot.
‘As expected of His Grace.’
To find and appoint someone like her—what foresight. Whatever her origins, surely “Yayeon” had already done the vetting.
While Rex basked in satisfaction, the junior staff who had attended the meeting gathered up documents. Just as someone was about to suggest they finally go eat—
Bang! Bang!
“Lord Bronson! Lord Bronson? Advisor?”
A voice urgently calling for the highest-ranking people in the room, accompanied by loud knocking. Nerys gave a slight nod, and Hughin, who was closest to the door, opened it.
An out-of-breath official stumbled in, face pale and chest heaving.
“What’s the matter?”
There was no disagreement about who was in charge of this room. Everyone had instinctively fallen silent, waiting for Nerys to speak—and that alone confirmed her authority.
The official tightly shut his eyes and shouted,
“An urgent report! A messenger from Fecernon just arrived! A massive tidal surge has overrun the Buhi River estuary—half the territory is flooded, and all administrative functions have ceased! They beg for emergency aid as soon as possible!”
* * * * * *
(T/N: I’m alive! 😂 Just dropping in with a quick update. Still not back to a regular upload schedule, but I’ll be uploading at least 5 chapters per series every week, in order based on the most recent series I picked up. No fixed days yet, but I’ll keep the bulk uploads coming as best as I can!)
