The Crown's Seduction
Chapter 289: Topnotchers

Chapter 289: Topnotchers

Before long, Mineah arrived at Valcrez along with Nikolai. There was still a lot to be done, but she sincerely hoped that she had some time to try and relax before she had to leave for one of her many visitations again.

"Back to work, huh," she chuckled as she casually leaned on Nikolai’s sturdy frame. "If I knew being your queen would mean this much trouble, I probably would’ve just run away."

"You don’t mean that," Nikolai hummed as he stroked her hair. "You enjoy a bit of a challenge, right?"

"Unfortunately," Mineah sighed as she smiled at him. "Still, the moment we get some time to ourselves, we should get another vacation or something."

"I’ll agree to that," he chuckled back as he gave her a quick peck on her lips. "If it’ll get me away from those officials constantly whining about Zoran’s current stay in the palace, then maybe I’ll just take you up on that offer of running away."

Mineah laughed at that as they casually lounged in their shared office. She had heard of the many officials still complaining about how letting Zoran stay in the palace was a massive security risk for their kingdom. And while she agreed on some level, that wasn’t the case if they knew exactly what was going on. They were sure to only talk about redundant information whenever they were around the man, and even if they did talk openly in public, so long as the man was around, they would quickly talk about outdated information. That way, they’d be able to control the flow of information out of the palace to their advantage.

"They do know that we’re keeping Zoran under strict supervision, right?" Mineah scoffed.

"They know, but they still don’t like it," Nikolai shrugged. "Then again, I couldn’t really blame them. The man’s a known traitor. No matter how much he would try to convince them otherwise, it won’t be for a long while until some of them would even try to trust him."

Mineah shrugged as well before resting her head on her husband’s shoulder again. Some things never changed, she supposed. Trust was hard to regain after breaking it, and she could only hope that Zoran actually managed to do exactly that... assuming that he was sincere with his motives, of course.

"Speaking, the Civil Service Exams just happened, right?" Mineah commented as she remembered the date. "When are the results going to come out? Laura’s getting a bit antsy waiting."

"They should be coming right about..."

"Your Majesty."

"Now, actually," Nikolai smugly remarked just as Ministers Milo and Marion came into their office. With a smile, he addressed them. "Right on time, too. I assume you two are here to give me the results of the exams?"

"Indeed," Minister Milo nodded as he placed two sizable stacks of papers on Nikolai’s desk. One is noticeably thicker than the other. "These are all the participants that passed. The thick stack is the standard passers, while the other is the top five that passed."

Nikolai blinked as he stared at the papers in front of him. Meanwhile, Mineah was quick to parse through the top five papers that came upon his desk, her brows rising higher the more she read through them.

"Two top ones then?" she hummed as she read through the results. "Laura’s one, as I expected, but Teresa... I didn’t think she had it in her."

"Teresa? From the Rossi Clan?" Nikolai asked.

"It would seem that she wanted to try her hand at the exam," Minister Marion casually replied. "I heard that she didn’t even want any special treatment during her exams... that she asked all the proctors to treat her like they would any other participant."

Mineah couldn’t help but smile at that. She knew Teresa from the brief time she spent with her during her travels and their subsequent kidnapping. The woman might be from a rival clan, but she had a good mind to her on top of an actual functioning sense of justice.

"This is the first time women topped the Civil Service Exams," Minister Milo pointed out. "That is on top of them being tied for first place, with the other not being from Valcrez in the first place."

"And these other topnotchers... They look exceptional as well," Mineah hummed as she looked at the rest of the potential candidates. "These will be the pool you’ll be getting your new Minister of Justice from, right?"

"That is the plan," Nikolai hummed to himself. "However, there’s clearly a divide between the top two and the rest of the top notchers. We might shortlist them even further."

Mineah nodded in approval. On top of it increasing Laura’s chances of being chosen, it would at least make things easier for them to choose. After all, screening two candidates would be far easier than screening five of them.

"Shall we call them for further screening then?" Minister Milo asked.

"Tell them to be ready," Nikolai nodded. "And publish the list of passers in the local bulletin. It’ll be better for us if those that passed can get processed and added into the workforce as quickly as possible."

"Of course, Your Majesty."

With a curt bow, the two ministers took their leave, leaving Mineah alone with Nikolai once more as they mulled over the candidates.

"A girl from the Rossi Clan," Nikolai mumbled as she read Teresa’s file. "This might complicate things."

[Actually, I don’t think that’s the case here,] Mineah told him through their bond, knowing that there was a chance that the walls might be listening. [I’ve read her thoughts before. She’s clean.]

[How so?] Nikolai asked for clarification.

[She’s honor-bound,] Mineah replied. [She has no drop of prejudice in her at all. She’ll make for an impartial judge, and we can probably get her on our side if we appeal to her morals even if she isn’t chosen.]

Nikolai hummed in reality as he switched back to speaking normally. "And what about Laura?"

"Her file says she’s clean," Mineah carefully replied, making sure to sound as neutral as possible. "She also aced the exams despite not being a native Valcrezian."

Mineah smiled as they both deliberated on the choices. While there were technically three others that could be chosen, Laura and Teresa were the clear frontrunners now. She could only hope that her friend would do her best here. After all, while she rooted for Laura to win, she also wouldn’t mind if Teresa would get the position as well.