""Indeed, the Ryan Family's current situation seemed destined to collapse completely within two months.
Upon hearing the princess's assessment, the Minister of Defense couldn't help but shake his head as well, *a peculiar sense of melancholy emerging in his heart.*
No matter who became the new Duke of Lionheart, he would only be able to watch helplessly as the Ryan Family fell apart. And the princess and himself, who were both trying to keep things together, were not much better off.
The influence of the Old Nobility was deeply entrenched, and nearly a third of the twenty-something major departments were controlled by them, clinging to the country's body like fat lice, ravenously sucking its blood.
The merchants and members of the Lower House, initially supported to counter the Old Nobility's control over the Upper House, had once played a restraining role, but after a hundred years of development, they too had become unmanageable, now using their legislative power in the Lower House to desperately seize benefits for themselves.
With the support of both the Upper and Lower Houses, the Kingdom's regulation of commercial activities had become increasingly lax in recent years. Commerce in the Kingdom was clearly booming, yet the tax revenue was rapidly declining.
The nation's wealth began to frenziedly concentrate in the hands of the big merchants and the Old Nobility, growing ever fatter, while ordinary people and the Kingdom itself were becoming increasingly emaciated and weakened.
These maladies might have been barely contained, but the war six years ago had torn everything apart. The Kingdom's finances were now in continual deficit, military preparedness was lax, and rebels roamed unchecked. All these issues teetered on the brink of explosion.
Even though, through the efforts of consecutive royal administrations, financial power had been returned to the royal family, and he himself, as part of the "Princess's faction," had been elevated to the position of Minister of Defense, gaining the ability to intervene in military affairs, the overall situation remained bleak.
*Should the princess's reforms eventually fail, unable to sweep away these chronic ailments, then the entire Kingdom would be no more than a slowly rotting cabbage...*
At that thought, the gray-haired old man took a deep breath, made an effort to straighten his slightly hunched back, and said solemnly,
"After the Ryan Blood Night, there were quite a few real positions left vacant in the military. I'm planning to seize some more if Your Highness has no other matters to discuss, then I'll take my leave."
She shook her head, noting the Minister of Defense's increasingly white hair since their last meeting. Warmth flickered in the princess's eyes as she added a caring remark,
"Your complexion doesn't look well lately. Please take better care of your health. I understand time is pressing, but if you collapse from exhaustion, all our efforts over the years will truly be in vain."
Responding to the princess somewhat ambiguously, the old man declined her offer to see him out, striding from the room with two young officers. Once his footsteps faded entirely, the door was tapped softly a few times.
As the door creaked slightly open, a young man wearing a dark wool coat with an air of weariness on his face and shoulders slumped, entered and plopped into the chair opposite the princess.
"You handled things quite well this time."
Instead of taking offense at the visitor's rudeness, the princess waved the new Duke of Lionheart's file in her hand, then smiled as she inquired,
"A person just newly added to the Ryan family tree, whose hair isn't even blonde, managed to become the new Duke of Lionheart... How did you do it?"
The weary young man lifted his eyelids, pulled two dice from his pocket, and placed them on the table, then explained without much energy,
"Without doing anything, the chance of the old Duke choosing him was only three percent. But if five to seven heirs were eliminated, elevating his succession rank to the top five, the probability increased to fifteen percent.
"Then, by secretly infiltrating the hospital, finding the old Duke's medication and tampering with it using alchemical supplements to quicken the heart, and kidnapping the old Duke's butler's granddaughter to coerce him into deliberately provoking the Duke's emotions, the probability rose to thirty-six percent."
Though no one touched them, the two dice on the table shook and changed with the young man's story.
First, one die stood on its edge, the other showed three points; then one showed one point, the other five; followed by one showing three points and the other six—exactly matching the young man's figures.
"Lastly, ordering a cartload of fruit from the Banana Fruit Company and secretly unlocking the cart's wheel lock at an intersection to overturn and block the road to the hospital, delaying Leon's arrival until the old Duke was at his most emotionally charged moment, increased his chance to sixty-six percent..."
As the weary young man spoke, the dice turned, both showing six points up, ending his explanation.
"After that, it's up to luck."
Pointing to the dice on the table, the weary young man summed up,
"As long as events unfold within that sixty-six percent range, he'll be chosen by the old Duke; if not, someone else will become the new Duke."
After hearing the account, the princess lightly clapped her hands twice, then praised,
"It's a truly fascinating ability. Even after collaborating with you several times, it still feels incredible listening to you recount it. Things that seemed unrelated, when done according to your requirements, could always bring any success rate up to about sixty percent..."
"It's not about sixty percent, it's sixty-six percent."
Correcting the princess's words seriously, the weary young man gestured to the dice on the table,
"The die on the left is the tens digit, the die on the right is the units digit. The dice go up to six points only, so the maximum success rate is sixty-six percent."
"So, have you considered using two ten-sided dice instead?"
"No, only these two dice can achieve that effect."
Blinking with slight disappointment, the princess took out a blank check, placed it on the table, and handed it over.
"This is the agreed payment. A pleasure working with you."
"Sorry, but there's an additional fee required this time."
Folding the check and putting it away, the weary young man said seriously,
"You didn't tell me before that Leon Laine was also an employee of our Sixth Purification Bureau and quite favored by the director. My actions this time carried considerable risk, so the price should be ten percent higher than we agreed."
"I can accept the fee increase."
Frowning slightly, the princess did not counter, instead, after contemplating, she proposed,
"But since this additional fee wasn't part of our original agreement, as compensation, you also have to use those two dice to answer one more question for me."
Nodding in agreement, the weary young man picked up the dice to ask,
"What is it you'd like to know?"
"The same as before."
Taking a deep breath, the princess slightly closed her eyes and softly said,
"What exactly must I do to save this country?""