Yes, Madam Prime Minister

Ambrina asked in a very soft voice a question that should have been forceful, "Is there a problem with this?"

Ronan chuckled twice and replied, "Of course, no problem."

Ambrina sat down on the edge of Ronan's bed, and Ronan went to the side to get a piece of paper and a charcoal pencil.

Ronan spread the paper on the floor. "Stand on the paper."

Ambrina stepped on the paper.

Ronan crouched down with a charcoal pencil, preparing to first sketch Ambrina's feet on the paper. At this moment, Ronan's vision was limited to Ambrina's feet.

Ambrina was wearing semi-transparent white stockings that Ronan had given her.

Beneath the hem of her skirt, her pale skin was visible through semi-transparent white stockings.

Her feet weren't as slender and delicate as Dinia's; they were rather rounded, with neatly arranged and slightly chubby toes. Covered in white stockings, they looked like ice cream. Her ankles weren't the slender type, and her calves were slightly fleshy, but not as muscular as Elena's; they had a soft, fleshy feel, like marshmallows in the white stockings.

For some reason, looking at Ambrina's feet always gives me a strange urge to knead them, or even take a bite.

As the charcoal pencil slowly traced along her foot, Ambrina felt a faint tingling sensation surrounding her. Although it was the charcoal pencil touching her, it felt as if Ronan's fingers were moving along the top of her foot.

"My dear sister, and Mr. Ronan, is this some new and trendy way to flirt?"

A voice suddenly broke in.

Isabel emerged from the vortex in the air.

Ronan remained calm. "Could you wait a moment, Your Highness?"

“As expected of you,” Isabel said with a hint of provocation. “Just pretend I don’t exist.”

After saying that, Isabel stared intently at Ambrina with an expression of schadenfreude.

Under the watchful eyes of her sister Isabelle, Ambrina would have become nervous in the past, but with Ronan there, she stood still and stared back at her sister.

Isabelle was surprised by Ambrina's composure.

After drawing the foot shape, Ronan went to get a measuring tape and a ruler to continue taking measurements.

After Ronan finished measuring and recording the data, he gently patted Ambrina to remind her, "Okay, Ambrina." With that pat, Ronan noticed that Ambrina's calf muscles were tense; she was still nervous.

Ambrina walked to the side and put on her shoes. "Isa, is something wrong?"

“Of course there are,” Isabel said. “I initially thought it was that group of people who spread rumors that I had taken money and leaked the questions to Mr. Ronan, but I didn’t expect that Mr. Ronan would let me go, and even the one who took the blame was one of their own. Thinking about it more carefully, the police department’s operation doesn’t seem like it was well prepared at all.”

"I've come to the conclusion that you, my dear sister, were the one who started spreading the rumors."

Ambrina looked at her sister. "So, it's not allowed?"

Isabelle was surprised again, not expecting Ambrina to respond to her like that.

Chapter 172 The Luo Family's Counterattack Method: Power Cannot Be Relinquished Between Sisters

Isabel's surprise quickly disappeared. "Of course, there's nothing wrong with it. I'm just curious when my dear sister would resort to such methods."

Ambrina didn't want to clash with her sister. "Isa, since there's no problem, please leave."

“I’m not leaving, so what are you going to do?” Isabel retorted. “Are you going to call for an attendant, or expect this Mr. Ronan to escort me out?”

Ambrina was momentarily confused. Calling him either "attendant" or "Ronan" would be a sign of weakness, but she was far inferior to Isabel in terms of strength.

Ronan didn't address Ambrina directly, but instead uttered two words, "musketeer, knight." After saying that, he walked straight out of the room.

Musket? Knight? Isabel was completely baffled. Was this some kind of code?

Ambrina suddenly remembered that this was an example Ronan had given her when she first consulted him.

The original idea was that a ruler trying to deal with his subordinates solely through political maneuvering would be like a person taking up a sword to fight several knights in full plate armor—it would be very difficult. Instead, he needed to seek out entirely new weapons, and once found, everything would be as simple as defeating the knights with a musket.

In this context, it means stepping outside the other party's preconceived notions and into one's own domain.

"If you're not leaving, then do as you please."

After saying that, Ambrina left, heading straight for her garden.

If you make a scene, I won't care. What will you do then?

Having failed to embarrass Ambrina, Isabel followed, determined not to leave today, as she didn't believe Ambrina could handle it.

Ambrina picked up the watering can from the platform and went to water the flowers, and Isabel followed.

As soon as Isabel stepped into the flowerbed, Ambrina suddenly turned around, stretched out a hand, and said, "Pay up."

"What?" Isabel was stunned.

“You stepped on my things,” Ambrina said.

“Do you think I’m blind? I’m stepping on grass,” Isabel said.

"That's a very precious and rare herb," ​​Ambrina said.

“It’s clearly just ordinary grass,” Isabel argued.

Of course, Ambrina knew that Isabel was just stepping on ordinary grass, but did it matter? Even if Isabel had stepped on a broken stone, she would have called it a gemstone. That was Ronan's way of speaking.

"Then go and invite a few botanists over to prove in person that this is just ordinary grass. Oh, no, you can't invite them yourself. You like to bribe people. Go find a judge and have him find a few botanists to evaluate it. If they all say it's just ordinary grass, I'll apologize to you in public."

Ambrina added.

Isabel clenched her fists. How could she possibly go to the Supreme Court and ask him to bring a botanist? If she went to the Supreme Court for something like that, she would become a laughingstock, and those who followed her might all leave her.

Even if they bring people over, do you think a few botanists would dare to say that Ambrina is wrong?

"Okay, I'll go."

Isabel gritted her teeth and said that if she didn't leave now, who knew what other tricks were waiting for her.

Ambrina stepped forward. "Wait a minute. You think you can just leave without paying? Are you some kind of street thug?"

Isabel suppressed her anger, took out a silver dragon coin from her pocket and tossed it to Ambrina. Ambrina caught the coin and threw it back to Isabel, saying, "You are my dear sister after all, and I am richer than you, so let's just forget about this loss."

Upon hearing this, Isabel threw the silver coin to the ground and disappeared into the ethereal vortex.

Seeing Isabel leave, a smug Ambrina stuck out her tongue and made a face in the direction Isabel had disappeared.

It was so satisfying to see Isabel run away in anger.

After her moment of triumph, Ambrina realized that Ronan was not far away. She immediately covered her mouth, her expression freezing instantly. She thought to herself, "I'm doomed. Ronan saw me. My image is ruined."

Ronan had known for a long time that Ambrina had a lively, carefree, and genuine side, but he never expected that she would even make such a funny face at people.

“Um, Ronan.” Ambrina wanted to explain, but hesitated.

"What?" Ronan looked at him with an expression that said, "I really didn't see it."

Seeing Ronan's expression—clearly he'd seen it but was trying not to laugh—Ambriina huffed, "I'm not saying anything more."

"Fine, don't tell me then, pfft." Ronan said, unable to hold back his laughter.

"Ugh, ugh," Ambrina groaned in frustration for a long time. "I'm not like that, really. I learned it from those girls at the church school when I was little. I'm not like that. I haven't made faces at anyone since I was ten, really."

“Yes.” Ronan nodded.

“I’m serious,” Ambrina emphasized through gritted teeth.

Ronan smiled. "I didn't say I didn't believe you."

Ambrina gripped the hem of her skirt with both hands, almost tearing it apart. "If you keep doing this, I won't let you leave."

"Pfft, hahahahaha." Ronan couldn't help but laugh out loud this time. Seeing that Ambrina was really unhappy, he immediately stopped and quickly changed the subject. "Speaking of which, Princess Isabel is quite interesting. She came alone to cause trouble, and it seems she just wanted to embarrass you."

Ambrina sighed. "Isa has always had an eccentric personality. Sometimes she's very calm and gets along well with people who are much older than her, but other times she's incredibly childish, almost like a little kid."

Ronan didn't think Isabel's behavior was abnormal. Her upbringing and ambition had given her a composed demeanor, but she was essentially a princess who was not yet sixteen and had been spoiled for a long time. Couldn't she have a little princess-like capriciousness? After all, Ambrina sometimes had that kind of princess-like capriciousness.

In fact, five or six years ago, before the king was diagnosed with his illness, no one expected that it would be a situation where two princesses would compete for the throne.

Even after the king fell ill, no one thought of it this way, because the king had nephews. It wasn't until shortly after the king fell ill that he sent his second brother's two sons to the colonies, and everyone realized that the Kingdom of Fas was going to have a queen.

Therefore, before this, Ambrina and Isabelle had never received any royal education; they were just princesses.

“Sigh, if it weren’t for her personality, I wouldn’t even want to argue with her,” Ambrina said, not for the first time.

"If you hadn't competed with her, we might never have met."

Ronan said.

Ambrina thought about it and realized that was true. "Then, I should thank her."

"Let's not talk about that. I have something important to tell you." Ronan suddenly became serious.

Ambrina gave a soft "hmm".

“I don’t want to give up my official position,” Ronan said. Although being Ambrina’s consort would allow him to remotely control things from behind the scenes, there is a fundamental difference between indirectly wielding power and directly wielding power. This difference lies in the nominal, or rather, the rationale behind it.

“This…” Ambrina didn’t know how to answer, because there was no precedent for a royal consort to continue serving as an official.

“We’ll go see His Majesty together tomorrow,” Ronan said.

“Okay.” Ambrina didn’t think much of it and agreed immediately.

Chapter 173 Surprise, surprise, it's a fucking surprise!

The next day, at night.

Ronan and Ambrina arrived at King Lucien's bedchamber. The king was still the same, with no sign of illness on his face. He didn't look like a king who didn't have many years left to live. He had the air of an old man who had retired early and was living a leisurely life.

Upon seeing Ronan and Ambrina approach, the king, dressed in a nightgown, walked over and said, "Speak, what is it?"

Ronan knelt down. "Your Majesty, if one day I am fortunate enough to be granted a title in name only, I hope to continue serving in the government."

"That's it?" Lucien asked.

Ronan was taken aback. He had imagined many possible reactions from the king, but none of them were like this.

Lucien turned his gaze to his daughter, Ambrina. "Anri, have you made up your mind?"

"What?" Ambrina didn't understand her father's meaning for a moment.

Lucien sighed, pointed at Ronan, and asked, "I'm asking you, have you decided that this is the man?"

“I…” Ambrina was convinced of Ronan’s identity, but she couldn’t bring herself to say it to her father.

Lucien waved his hand dismissively, as if swatting away a mosquito. "Never mind, you can go back now."

Ambrina lowered her head and gritted her teeth. "No, I've made up my mind."

Lucien smiled with relief, "Then there are some things I can tell you."

With that, King Lucien pulled a table out of thin air and placed it in front of him, then pulled out three chairs and set them aside. "Sit."

Ambrina sat down obediently, and Ronan went over and sat down next to her.

Then Lucien took out a bottle of red wine and a glass and placed them on the table. Ronan, with great insight, opened the wine, poured half a glass for the King, half a glass for Ambrina, and finally for himself.

Lucien casually picked up a wine glass, took a sip as if it were water to moisten his throat. For a monarch, even the finest red wine was merely a beverage to be drunk during conversation; it could be savored, but there was no need to.

Setting down his glass, Lucien looked at Ronan. "Edian II, Ronan, what do you think of him?"

Edian II, father of the "Holy King" Lawrence (who reversed course), was a remarkable king who married five times, each time to a princess. While inept at governing, he was a master of art, excelling in painting, sculpture, and music. In diplomacy, he had a unique approach, readily resorting to gifts and marriage alliances at the slightest provocation—albeit by using himself as the means to achieve peace.

This resulted in a large number of princes having an uncle who was a king in another country. Eventually, three of these uncles joined forces and came to fight, intending to choose a good nephew to succeed to the throne.

“Your Majesty Edian, well, he simply found himself in a position where he couldn’t fully utilize his talents at the wrong time,” Ronan said. This was absolutely true. If he had been born into an ordinary noble family, he might have been a master who would have left a significant mark on art history.

“Just say he’s a useless king,” Lucien said. “But he’s not the worst. In over three hundred years, the Freigo family has only produced two monarchs with the talent to govern. In the end, expecting a prince to be successful is a ridiculous thing.”

Lucien suddenly changed the subject, asking, "Give all your heirs a rigorous education, and then choose the most talented one to succeed you. Ronan, do you think this is the right thing to do?"

“Election based on merit is an extreme mistake. Only the primogeniture system is a stable system of succession because primogeniture is an immutable and unique standard, while merit is not an objective standard and will only lead to fierce struggles. This is indeed the case. Your Majesty only has three daughters, and the rivalry between Ambrina and Isabel has led to the current power struggle. If you had several sons, the situation would be unimaginable.”

Ronan made no attempt to conceal his opinion.

“Well said,” Lucien praised. “But here’s the problem: the eldest son is likely to be a good-for-nothing. If it were a few hundred years ago, it wouldn’t matter if the king was an idiot; it would only lead to a temporary decline. But in this rapidly changing era, if the king doesn’t have the ability to govern effectively, it won’t just cause the country to fall behind; it could lead to instability. Once the country is unstable, there’s a chance that unscrupulous people will use reform as a pretext to gather a mob, collude with the army, and ultimately send the king to the guillotine.”

At this moment, Ronan couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration for His Majesty the King, who had actually foreseen that day.

Lucien continued, "Therefore, the country needs a capable commoner to govern, but this person cannot be the prime minister."

At this point, Ronan already had a bad feeling.

"That's right, it's you."

"Of course, that wasn't my original plan. I originally envisioned this exam as a rehearsal, with the real selection process next time. I would have Ambrina pick out a few qualified candidates from among those selected, and then have them stay in the central government for a period of training before being sent to a local area. Finally, one of these candidates would be chosen to marry, and after marriage, the candidate would enter the central government, become the secretary-general of a department, and eventually become the chief secretary."

"After my death, the next generation, after the establishment of the heir apparent, the crown prince's wife will be selected directly from among the non-noble groups, preferably a cultured female magician, but not a ritual magician."

"Ultimately, the practice of assigning a selected spouse to a monarch became an institution."