The next morning, Adrian changed his schedule.
For the first time since becoming king, he deliberately put aside the reports waiting on his desk.
There were too many.
Agriculture.
Trade.
Military supplies.
Taxes.
Mining.
Magic research.
Every minister seemed to believe their problem was the most urgent problem in the kingdom.
Adrian was beginning to understand why kings could spend an entire day working and accomplish almost nothing.
He needed priorities.
So he wrote four words on a sheet of paper.
Food.
Money.
Roads.
Security.
Everything else could wait.
For now.
He folded the paper and placed it beside his desk.
Then he called for Elias.
“I want the southern road repaired.”
Elias looked at the map.
“All of it?”
“Eventually.”
Elias smiled slightly.
“That’s going to cost a fortune.”
“I know.”
“Then which part first?”
Adrian pointed toward the damaged bridge they’d passed during their journey.
“This section.”
Elias studied the map.
“That bridge is important.”
“Why?”
“It connects three farming villages to the southern trade route.”
Adrian nodded.
“Then repairing it should increase movement of grain.”
“And merchants.”
“And tax revenue.”
Elias smiled.
“You’ve been thinking about this.”
“Constantly.”
Adrian tapped the map.
“But I don’t want the army doing civilian construction.”
Elias raised an eyebrow.
“Why not?”
“Because I need the army to defend the kingdom.”
He paused.
“And because if we make soldiers build every road, we’ll never develop a civilian engineering workforce.”
Elias nodded slowly.
“Then who?”
“Contractors.”
“We don’t have enough.”
“Then we’ll create them.”
Elias looked at him.
Adrian smiled.
“That’s the point.”
Adrian summoned the Ministry of Public Works.
The ministry had existed for decades.
Adrian had barely heard of it.
That alone told him something.
Its budget was small.
Its staff was smaller.
Its records were poorly organized.
The minister, an elderly man named Osric Bell, arrived looking nervous.
Adrian pointed toward the map.
“How many road crews does the kingdom have?”
Osric blinked.
“I…
don’t know.”
Adrian waited.
The minister swallowed.
“Approximately forty.”
“Approximately?”
“Yes.”
“How many bridges?”
“I don’t know.”
“How much did we spend repairing them last year?”
Osric looked toward Cedric.
The finance minister gave him a sympathetic glance.
Adrian sighed.
“This is exactly the problem.”
Osric lowered his head.
“Your Majesty, the ministry has been underfunded for years.”
“I believe you.”
That made the older man look up.
Adrian continued.
“I’m not interested in blaming you.”
He pushed a document across the table.
“I want an inventory.”
“Of what?”
“Everything.”
Osric stared at him.
“Roads.
Bridges.
Canals.
Drainage systems.
Public buildings.
Construction crews.
Quarry sites.
Stone supplies.”
Adrian pointed at the document.
“And I want every major structure classified by condition.”
Osric looked overwhelmed.
“When?”
“Three months.”
“Your Majesty…”
“Is that too fast?”
Osric hesitated.
“No.”
“Good.”
Adrian leaned back.
“And after that, we’ll prioritize repairs based on economic and strategic importance.”
Osric nodded.
For the first time, the minister looked interested rather than frightened.
The first road project began two weeks later.
It was not impressive.
There was no grand ceremony.
No statue.
No royal parade.
Just workers.
Stonecutters.
Carpenters.
Farmers looking for extra wages.
A few engineers from the capital.
Adrian visited the site personally.
He found the workers standing around the collapsed bridge.
“What’s the problem?”
A foreman approached.
“We need more stone.”
“How much?”
“Enough to rebuild the foundation.”
“Where are you getting it?”
“From the quarry twenty miles away.”
Adrian frowned.
“Twenty miles?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
The foreman shrugged.
“That’s the nearest one.”
Adrian looked toward the surrounding hills.
“Are you sure?”
The foreman hesitated.
“I don’t know.”
Adrian turned toward Osric.
“Have the area surveyed.”
“Why?”
“Because hauling stone twenty miles to build a bridge is expensive.”
Osric nodded.
Adrian wasn’t going to make the same mistake again.
Resources were everywhere.
The kingdom simply wasn’t organized enough to use them efficiently.
Meanwhile, Clara’s investigation continued.
She had begun looking into House Merrow without directly confronting Count Roland.
She started with the family’s businesses.
Shipping.
Grain.
Textiles.
Mining.
The Merrows were wealthy.
Very wealthy.
But wealth alone proved nothing.
Adrian refused to let suspicion become accusation.
He had seen too many examples from history of rulers destroying people based on rumors.
He wanted evidence.
Actual evidence.
Then Clara found something.
A payment.
Small.
Almost insignificant.
A provincial grain official had received a large sum from a company connected to House Merrow.
The payment was disguised as a consulting fee.
Clara placed the document in front of Adrian.
He read it twice.
“How much?”
“Five hundred gold.”
Adrian looked up.
“That’s not a consulting fee.”
“No.”
“Can we prove it?”
“Not yet.”
“Then keep digging.”
Clara nodded.
She looked exhausted.
Adrian frowned.
“How long have you been awake?”
“Since yesterday morning.”
“Go home.”
“But—”
“That’s an order.”
She opened her mouth.
Then closed it.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
She left.
Adrian shook his head.
He had expected corruption.
He hadn’t expected his investigators to work themselves into the ground trying to uncover it.
That evening, Adrian met with Elena.
They were eating dinner in a smaller room rather than the grand dining hall.
Elena had noticed he preferred it.
“You’ve been sending people home early.”
Adrian looked up.
“What?”
“Clara.”
Adrian sighed.
“She was exhausted.”
“So?”
“So I sent her home.”
Elena smiled.
“You’re learning.”
“Learning what?”
“That people aren’t machines.”
Adrian paused.
Then laughed.
“Apparently I needed reminding.”
Elena took another bite.
“You do.”
Adrian looked at her.
“How was your day?”
“Boring.”
“That sounds peaceful.”
“It wasn’t.”
“Why?”
“I had three tutors argue about which history textbook I should read.”
Adrian smiled.
“Which one won?”
“None.”
“Good.”
Elena pointed her fork at him.
“Don’t encourage me.”
The following week, something unexpected happened.
The agricultural experiment attracted attention.
Farmers from nearby villages had begun visiting the royal fields.
They wanted to see the results for themselves.
Some were skeptical.
Others were interested.
A few simply wanted to know whether the king’s strange farming ideas would actually produce more grain.
Adrian encouraged them to come.
He didn’t want the experiment trapped inside the royal estate.
One afternoon, he found twenty farmers gathered around Eliza.
She was explaining the crop rotation system.
Adrian stopped nearby and listened.
“So you’re saying we don’t plant wheat every year?”
A farmer asked.
“Not if your soil can’t support it.”
“And the beans?”
“They help restore the field.”
“How much?”
“We don’t know yet.”
The farmer frowned.
“Then why should I try it?”
“Because that field produced more grain.”
The farmer looked at Adrian.
“Is that true?”
Adrian nodded.
“So far.”
“How much more?”
“Twelve percent.”
The farmer whistled.
“That’s not bad.”
“No.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“But don’t change everything at once.”
The farmers looked at him.
“Try one field.”
He pointed toward the fields.
“If it works, expand.”
“If it fails?”
“Tell us why.”
The farmers exchanged glances.
One older man laughed.
“You’re asking farmers to complain to the king?”
Adrian smiled.
“Please do.”
The man laughed again.
“Then we’ll never stop.”
“Good.”
By the end of the month, something Adrian hadn’t expected began happening.
Farmers started bringing their own ideas.
One had developed a better drainage ditch.
Another had discovered that storing certain grain varieties differently reduced spoilage.
A third had designed a simple plow attachment that made turning heavy soil easier.
Adrian listened to every one of them.
He began keeping records.
Then he had an idea.
“Lord Hale.”
The agriculture minister looked at him.
“We need a permanent institution.”
“Another ministry?”
“No.”
Adrian shook his head.
“A place where farmers can experiment.”
Hale considered it.
“An agricultural school?”
“Eventually.”
Adrian looked toward the fields.
“For now, an agricultural research farm.”
Hale nodded slowly.
“We could train farmers there.”
“Exactly.”
“And teach soil management.”
“Yes.”
“Irrigation.”
“Yes.”
“Seed selection.”
“Yes.”
Hale smiled.
“You’ve thought this through.”
“Only partly.”
Adrian looked at the farmers.
“They’ll think of the rest.”
But while agriculture was beginning to improve, the kingdom’s finances were becoming more complicated.
Lord Cedric arrived one morning with a new report.
“Your Majesty.”
“How bad?”
“Not bad.”
Adrian looked suspicious.
“That’s unusual.”
Cedric smiled.
“The treasury collected more customs revenue this month.”
“Why?”
“Trade volume.”
Adrian frowned.
“Trade volume increased?”
“Yes.”
“Despite the roads?”
“Some merchants are paying higher transport costs but still trading.”
Adrian thought for a moment.
“Which goods?”
“Grain, iron, timber, textiles.”
Adrian nodded.
That was encouraging.
But then Cedric added:
“There’s another matter.”
Adrian waited.
“The southern ports are reporting increased grain exports.”
Adrian’s expression hardened.
“How much?”
“Enough to matter.”
“Do we know who’s buying?”
“Foreign merchants.”
Adrian leaned back.
The same problem again.
He looked toward the window.
The investigation into House Merrow had not produced enough evidence.
The grain exports were legal.
The farmers were producing slightly more.
The roads were slowly improving.
And yet the price of grain continued rising in the southern provinces.
Something wasn’t adding up.
Adrian stood.
“Get me the full port records.”
Cedric nodded.
“And bring me the list of ships.”
“All of them?”
“All of them.”
Cedric hesitated.
“That will take time.”
Adrian smiled.
“We have time.”
He turned toward the map.
“But we don’t have forever.”
His eyes moved across the southern coastline.
The kingdom’s problems were finally becoming visible.
And Adrian was starting to understand something important.
The most dangerous enemies of a kingdom weren’t always armies standing beyond its borders.
Sometimes they were ordinary problems that had been allowed to grow for decades.
Bad roads.
Bad records.
Bad incentives.
Corruption.
Waste.
And people who had learned that nobody would ever ask difficult questions.
Adrian intended to start asking them.
One by one.