Socially anxious people transmigrate to another world; living in seclusion is too difficult.

The carriage arrived at the gate of Sigrid's mansion. The driver showed his military token, and the gatekeeper immediately let them through. Upon receiving the notification, Sigrid quickly changed into a proper outfit and hurried to the reception room to meet Colin. As soon as she entered the reception room, she saw Colin standing by the window with his hands behind his back, rubbing a plant back and forth in his hands.

“My lord, I am late, please forgive me…” Sigrid’s words of apology were interrupted by Colin: “Alright, no need for anything else. Time is of the essence. His Majesty commands you to enter the palace immediately. Change into your court attire and go to the palace to see His Majesty. Also…”

Colin turned around and continued, "When I left the palace, Litt was already preparing to have an audience. When you arrive, find out from the sidelines why Litt came to the palace, and report back to my residence immediately after you leave."

"Yes, my lord."

Upon hearing that His Majesty had summoned her, Sigrid dared not delay. She rushed back to her room to change into an exquisite and appropriate dress, then hurriedly went downstairs, boarded the carriage, and headed towards the palace.

Upon arriving at the palace, Sigrid had only taken a few steps after getting out of the carriage when she looked up and saw Ritsu coming towards her. Sigrid immediately bowed and said, "Lord Ritsu~"

"Oh, it's Minister Sigrid. Please come in quickly, His Majesty is waiting for you." Litt smiled slightly when he saw that the person who came was Sigrid, and then urged her to go in and pay her respects to the King.

Sigrid nodded and continued walking towards the palace hall. Litt stood behind her, watching her retreating figure, and suddenly called out loudly, "Minister Sigrid, you'd better watch what you say later!"

Sigrid looked back at Lyt, who was turning to leave, somewhat puzzled, but her keen political intuition still detected a dangerous signal.

Upon entering the palace, a guard led her into a secret meeting room. Sigrid entered and saw seven people seated around a round table. Pact sat in the center, while the other six men in white robes sat to her left. All seven were staring at her, and an invisible pressure emanated from them.

After a slight pause, Sigrid immediately composed herself and said respectfully, "Your subject Sigrid greets Your Majesty and Your Excellency."

Pact said in a deep voice, "Yes, sit down, Sigrid," and gestured to the seat directly opposite him, indicating that Sigrid should sit down.

After they were seated, Pact spoke first: "Sigrid, I have called you here today to entrust you with a very important task. As the Minister of Foreign Affairs, you are responsible for all the kingdom's foreign affairs. You have done a good job in recent years, which is commendable, so you must do this task well."

After speaking, Pact turned to look at Austin and nodded to him. Austin acknowledged the gesture and continued, "Sigrid, the kingdom is about to face a crisis. The military has failed to act properly, resulting in the leakage of important information about the Elemental Stone. You will be stationed at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the next few days. You will be responsible for all matters concerning the Elemental Stone from visiting envoys, ensuring that the kingdom remains in a favorable neutral position."

Austin then told Sigrid the details of the leaked information about the Elemental Stones and continued, "Can you do it?"

Upon hearing that such crucial information had been leaked, and that the King and the officials had specifically assigned her to take responsibility, Sigrid knew there was no time to hesitate or shirk her duty. She immediately replied, "Your Majesty and the officials, please rest assured, I will certainly not fail in my mission!"

Sigrid in officialdom was quite different from other times; at least she was both tactful and capable in handling affairs, and she was highly trusted by Pact in diplomatic work.

Just as Sigrid was about to leave after receiving her orders, Pact spoke up again: "Sigrid, if you encounter any problems that you can't solve, you can go and discuss them with Duke Little. After all, the Ministry of the Interior has a lot of things to do, and Duke Little is an outstanding person. Asking him for help will definitely be of some use to you."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

After leaving the meeting room, Sigrid's face was filled with fear. Duke Litt had previously reminded her to be careful with her words, and now His Majesty had reminded her that she could consult Duke Litt if she had any issues. Duke Colin had also instructed her to find out what Duke Litt and His Majesty were reporting from the side. These three things happened too coincidentally, and it was hard not to think that their private business dealings had been exposed.

However, there were no particularly clear signals yet, so it was best not to act rashly for the time being. After leaving the palace and getting into her carriage, Sigrid thought it over carefully and decided to go to Duke Colin's residence first.

The carriage sped along and soon entered Duke Colin's mansion. After meeting Colin, Colin did not exchange pleasantries again, but asked directly, "So, what did Little report to His Majesty at the palace?"

Seeing that Colin seemed a little anxious, Sigrid became suspicious: "Lord Colin is usually calm and collected, so why is he acting so strangely today? And why didn't he ask me first why I met His Majesty, but instead asked what Lord Litt reported? Could it be that he already knew about my meeting with His Majesty, and that Litt has caught us doing something in secret?"

Thinking of this, Sigrid said calmly, "My lady, I happened to run into Duke Litt at the palace. He said that he was only going to the palace to report on the work of the Ministry of the Interior. Moreover, when he met His Majesty, the officials were also there, so I didn't dare to find out anything from the side."

"Well... His Majesty's request is quite difficult. What are you planning to do?" Colin paused for a moment, then changed the subject.

"Intelligence leaks are indeed difficult to resolve. I believe the most urgent task is to first find the missing troops and ensure that the other side has no evidence. Then, we should prepare an unrelated treasure to serve as a royal treasure lost abroad, so that all the other troops detained in various countries can be withdrawn. We should then conduct targeted public relations with the foreign ministers of various countries, announcing that our country has never participated in the exploration of the elemental stones. If the countries do not believe us, let them go to the Spiritfall Forest on their own. Our country will not participate. I think we should be able to resolve this crisis smoothly."

“Hmm, you make a good point. The military should cooperate with your actions and not increase military exercises and training in the short term.” Colin pondered for a moment and concluded that Sigrid’s measures were still feasible.

"Your Excellency is wise," Sigrid complimented, then asked, "Your Excellency, could we ask Lord Xiu and Olben to suspend their business in the capital? Lord Xiu has been coming to see me frequently lately, asking me to come with him to see you."

Upon hearing the name Boan Xiu, Colin felt a surge of frustration and even anger. He immediately said, "What meeting? Tell him not to make any trouble lately. The matter His Majesty and the Ming official entrusted to him is of paramount importance. If he causes trouble at this crucial juncture, he will definitely lose his official position in the military!"

"I understand, sir. I will go and tell him right away."

"Go ahead, I'm a little tired too." Colin sighed and let Sigrid leave.

After stepping out the gate and getting into the carriage, Sigrid thought to herself, "The situation seems a bit bad. It looks like I need to find a way to get away from Colin."

A few days later, Colin, Boan Ster, Sigrid, and Alban were all summoned by Pact. The four of them gathered in the royal palace hall, where Pact sat on the throne, smiling as he watched them enter.

"Your Majesty has summoned us to pay our respects!" the four men said in unison.

"Alright, alright, sit down, all of you." After saying that, four guards brought over four chairs. After the four of them were seated, Pact began his questioning, starting with Colin.

"Duke Colin, the military seems to be quiet lately?"

“Your Majesty,” Colin immediately stood up and replied, “Minister Sigrid and I have discussed the matter and believe that the most urgent task is for the military to cooperate with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to refrain from large-scale investigations and training exercises in the short term, maintain the status quo, and then proceed according to the original plan after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has completed its various tasks, in order to ensure that nothing goes wrong.”

“Hmm, that’s not a bad move.” After thinking for a moment, Pact continued to ask Boan Ster, “Marquis Boan, as the army commander, you have failed in your duty to discipline the troops!”

Upon hearing this, Boan Ster immediately stood up and said with trepidation, "Your Majesty, I have failed in my duty. Please punish me!"

"Fine, I can't blame you for that. After all, you were just following orders. As for discipline, I don't think you've done a good job disciplining your son, Bo'an Xiu. He was even bullying ordinary people in the street not long ago. Is this the demeanor of a nobleman?!"

"Please punish me, Your Majesty!" Boan Ster, true to his military background, didn't argue, kneeling down to beg for punishment, leaving Pact speechless. However, his purpose today wasn't to punish anyone, so he ignored him and turned to Alban, saying, "Alburn, you've always been in charge of religious matters. Now the bishop of the Holy Temple in the capital has complained to me! He says there have been acts of humiliation against members of the same race in the capital of the Paison Kingdom, and that there's a place in the capital where people are frequently beaten, some barely alive, others already dead. Tell me, how have you handled your relationship with the Holy Temple?"

Upon hearing this, Alban was also trembling with fear, unsure of how to respond. The Temple of Saints had not contacted him about this matter at all, and he was completely unaware of it, so of course he didn't know how to reply.

But Pact didn't seem to intend to make things difficult for him. Instead, he continued with a look of exasperation, "Look at all of you! When will you ever be able to get things done properly and make my life easier? Can't you be like Duke Little and get everything done right? A few days ago, Duke Little came to the palace to report on the work of the Ministry of the Interior. In the past year, the kingdom's total tax revenue was almost 30% higher than last year. Look at that for yourselves, look at the results he got!"

Pact paused for a few moments, then continued, "You should all learn from Duke Litt more often in the future. Don't always stay in the same place. People should strive to move upwards, not downwards!"

After a long lecture, Pact gave instructions, ordering the four men to come up with solutions and deadlines for the problems mentioned earlier. Only after they had all reported did he dismiss them.

After leaving the main hall, Colin walked forward silently. Alban wanted to follow, but seeing that Sigrid was walking silently behind him and had no intention of keeping up with Colin, he slowed down as well. In terms of political acumen, he was definitely no match for Colin and Sigrid, so it was safest to follow Sigrid's lead.

After boarding the carriage, Colin was furious: "Litt must have found some clues about me. He must have reported to His Majesty when he went to the palace a few days ago. Today, His Majesty's words were a warning. Not only me, but also the other three were warned. It seems that I have to take action, which is to resolve the current troubles in the military and bring Litt down!"