With the mess that the Ironhold and Cinder Kingdoms made fixed and them being forced to sign a contract to become Lioncrest's vassal Kingdoms, the entire Central Lands are now almost 90% under the control of the Lioncrest Kingdom.
Or perhaps, it is now rightful to call them the Lioncrest Empire as other kingdoms have now turned to Lioncrest to join his Sun's Covenant Federation once they got wind of its existence, especially with the next Great War looming ahead.
And of course, what reason is there for Henry to refuse them? They pledged their loyalty, alliance treaties, and Heavenly Tributes to be sent to the Lioncrest Empire once every 5 years.
Henry wouldn't be that cruel as to force them to do it every year, doing so is the easiest way to shoot oneself in the foot. Not to mention, the Heavenly Tribute itself doesn't even hurt that much to these Kingdoms.
But just because they don't give much doesn't mean they're minuscule compared to the wealth that Lioncrest Empire already possesses. Small or not, they're big enough once the other kingdoms' tributes join in.
They have settled on a neutral ground as the meeting place every year to discuss things unlike the High Summit with the other Great Kingdoms from outside the Central Lands that occurs every 5 years.
Both Summits are similar, except for the coverage and the timeframe between meetings.
Besides, with the Great War going on, the High Summit wouldn't occur for an indefinite amount of time.
The agreed-upon place was an empty expanse of a field south of the Lioncrest Empire. In this place, a small town would be built with a very tall building serving as the heart or center.
This particular building will be where the summit or Central Summit as Henry came up with, will occur every year.
Since the current town is being built and the said building is still non-existent, the first Central Summit would temporarily take place in Lioncrest Empire next week, giving ample time for the members to ride across the central lands.
"You call for me?" Flynn arrived with a knock.
Henry sat behind his desk, the paperwork almost non-existent thanks to the establishment of some departments that handle the miscellaneous matters in the Empire and its territories.
"Yes. Take a seat. How's Isabella?"
Flynn nearly blushed as he grabbed the chair in front and sat, "S-She's fine. Strong as usual" He whispered the last sentence quietly while caressing his neck.
This didn't go unnoticed by Henry, who commented, "Be careful. We don't want any…bed accidents now, do we? Perhaps you should tone down the play."
Flynn then blushed fully, feigning innocence, "I-I don't know what you're talking about, Your Grace. Anyways, I'm guessing you have a job for me?"
"Not just any job. This one is particularly long and harder, and something I don't want you to go and tell anyone, not even Isabella, is that understood?"
Albeit surprised, Flynn agreed nonetheless. Not like Isabella probes into his business from time to time. The female ogre doesn't even care that he used to be a thief and the bane of existence to some knights.
"Let me fill you in with the details before you decide if you want to take it."
He passed a piece of paper on the table and pushed it forward for him to take, at the same time he explained, "What I want you to do isn't simple. I want you to infiltrate a noble's house, study the head of that house, learn everything, his mannerisms, history with the other members of the house, and everything that happened throughout his life."
"That's it? Sounds sim—" Just as Flynn thought that was all there is to the job, Henry cut him off.
"And then replace the head once you've learned enough."
"Pfft! Wait what?!"
Henry smiled softly, "I did tell you that the job wouldn't be easy."
Flynn gulped nervously, "You did say that but you didn't say that it would be impossible. Unless I look like the guy, I can't just become…him."
"Of course you can't. But who said you're doing it through normal means?"
Henry then placed three items on the table, prompting Flynn to lean forward to get a better look.
'A ring, necklace, and a bracelet?'
"These two are my personal enchanted artifacts. I'm planning to mass-produce them for other similar missions, but you'll be the first to use them."
"Basically, I'm your guinea pig?" Flynn's lips twitched several times, not knowing whether to feel excited to get to use magical artifacts or not.
Henry assured him, "Don't worry, they're safe to use."
"So what does it do? I'm assuming one of them will let me change my appearance?"
"It's this ring that lets you do that, not just your appearance but even your voice, the personality is up to you, the duration is indefinite. It has a single day to recharge after use. On the other hand, this necklace will help you turn invisible for 30 seconds, you can use it to escape certain situations or infiltrate. Any questions?"
"…You said earlier that you're planning to produce more of them. Does that mean I'm not the only one who would do this kind of mission?"
Henry nodded, "That's right. And we're not stopping at just one noble house. We'll keep infiltrating until we can influence their Kingdom entirely." Spreading a large map of the entire continent on the table, he pointed at one particular kingdom in the North.
"This one here is a very minuscule jarldom that has recently pledged loyalty to the High King. As of now, there is nothing notable about this Jarldom. Which means this would be the easiest to infiltrate compared to others."
He grabbed a single piece of paper and gave it to Flynn, "Read this carefully. Everything our spies have gathered about this Jarldom is written there. Use it to aid you in your mission. Your target is a wealthy merchant, who is also a chieftain or Hersir of a local village under the Jarldom."
Henry then stared straight into his eyes, "I want you to know that although this mission is important to my grand plan, it's not a risk worth taking for your life. So in case you find yourself in a life or death situation, choose life. Leave the consequences to me, got it?"
Flynn's reply was in the form of a stare back, he couldn't help but feel a touching warmth in his chest. It's different when a normal person says the same thing to him while Henry on the other hand, the Emperor of Lioncrest, someone whose status and words hold so much weight says the same thing to him, it's much heavier and more profound.
Like how a child hearing that his parents would protect him from the monster in the closet, that sort of feeling.
Unbeknownst to him, Flynn gained a determined look on his face. For someone like Henry to care so much for a former thief like him, it's only proper not to let him down.
"Don't worry. I'll finish this mission. No matter how long it takes." With a nod, Flynn left but not after grabbing the two magical artifacts and the paper containing all the information he needed for this mission.
Henry leaned back into his chair and took a deep sigh. He's been working non-stop, going from place to place, managing everything for his people.
Earlier this morning, he received the weekly reports of the recently created departments that handle small matters of the Kingdom.
First is the Ministry of Grievances. This department handles small disputes, conflicts, and petitions from the common folk such as bar fights, shorter curfew petitions, and changes to the Kingdom that the common folk request.
The person he assigned to this used to be the head of an Earl Noble house who didn't want to waste the opportunity to sit in a position that would make him closer to the Emperor.
According to his report, he settled a dispute between two noble houses and proposed to establish a force to handle much smaller matters.
"Basically a police force," Henry murmured to himself. He made a few changes to the proposal such as requiring a year of training, changing the uniform from black to dark blue, and using blunt weapons such as police batons instead of short swords.
He then gave it the name, Lioncrest Police Force, or Lioncrest Police Department, in short LPD.
"Didn't expect this guy to come up with such a crucial force." Henry silently praised the new head of the Ministry of Grievances.
Next is the Department of Coin and Trade. Handles the taxation, currency, the economy, and the future Central Bank. Initially, Henry was hesitant about putting someone unfamiliar as its head considering how important this department is and how disastrous it would be to Lioncrest Kingdom if the head turned out to be corrupt, or worse, a traitor.
If they're capable enough, they could discreetly destroy Lioncrest itself from within.
Look at Littlefinger from Game of Thrones. That man caused so much damage that he threw Westeros into another war. He basically engineered the chaos that tore the entire realm apart.
Thankfully, Henry didn't have to think much before the most suitable candidate proposed himself.
It was none other than his own Grandfather, the Grand Duke himself, Albert Goldenshield. The old man seemed to have noticed his conflict and decided to elect himself, abandoning his post as the Grand Duke, passing it instead to his younger sister, who is now the new Grand Duchess.
Henry was initially hesitant, not because he doesn't trust his grandpa but because he's not sure if he was up to the task.
That is until a week later, when Albert proved why he became the one and only Grand Duke of Lioncrest.
In a matter of days, he fixed the tax loopholes that most nobles usually take advantage of, introduced a stricter tax for nobles and softer ones for the common folk.
There's also the matter of the Central Bank. The old man actually managed to make one from the ground up. Albert made sure it doesn't have any connections to the Lioncrest Empire, so instead of using Lioncrest grounds to build the Central Bank, he established it in a random faraway town.
It started as a small organization that gives out small loans to common folk with small interest while charging slightly higher interest for the rich folks.
Basically, the loan part goes like this. The common folk can't borrow more than 100 gold coins as it is beyond what they can earn in a single year, hence the lower interest.
While the rich folk get the opposite treatment. They can take bigger loans but also get higher interest.
In just a few days, the organization grew from small to a fully established bank. To further cement its reputation and trust, Albert suggested that Lioncrest Empire publicly ask for thousands of gold coins as a loan under the guise of a budget for the Great War.
Once the rumor spread, sooner or later, other Kingdoms especially the Great Kingdoms, will start borrowing loans from the bank.
Henry was given the opportunity to come up with the name.
For some reason, Henry instinctively came up with the name: Rothschild Bank.
Soon, Rothschild Bank will economically and influentially infiltrate all Kingdoms in the world and the democracy plan will come to light.
Speaking of the democracy plan, Henry made some changes to it. It took him a while to realize his mistake.
It will also affect him too and he can't have that.
The temporary and experimental solution he came up with was to introduce it to small villages and towns first but with limited qualifications.
Instead of letting anyone, even the beggar on the street, capable of running for election, the requirements would be heavy and would lean more in Henry's favour.
The first requirement is to be able to read and write. The name itself says it all.
The second requirement is that they must be a natural-born in the said village or Kingdom.
The third requirement is citizenship and residency for more than 15 years.
Last but not least, and also the hammer to the nail, they must be a graduate with the highest honors from a very prestigious academy that is also must be located in the same land as the Kingdom they're going to run for.
Honestly, the last one is the only one that actually cements Henry's position to rule with no rival for many years to come.
Why? Because there are only three known academies on the continent, much less a prestigious one. There is the Bingfa Academy in the Xingdu Dynasty but unlike the Royal Academy of Lioncrest, they're more focused on war and battle.
The second Academy that actually comes close was the Umber Kingdom's academy, however, they also have a glaring weakness. That is they're not as prestigious and they're seen as nothing more than a cheap copycat of the Royal Academy of Lioncrest.
Then there's the Royal Academy. Expensive, strict curriculum, and almost no one passes with even the slightest honor, except for Henry who received the highest one.
Basically, because he was already familiar with schooling and he even graduated from a university back in his previous life.
He also worded it so the academy that they can only study on must be on the same lands as the Kingdom they're running for. In layman's terms, if you want to run as a King for a Kingdom INSIDE the Central Lands, you have no choice but to study in the Royal Academy of Lioncrest.
That's right. Everything sounds quite unfair but hey, all is fair in love and war, right?
Since Henry holds the power, it's only natural that he lets things go in his favor, that's just how things go in this world.
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[So what do you guys think with the changes I made regarding the Democracy plan? It doesn't sound much but it's actually foolproof since entering the Academy itself is very expensive, which eliminates any beggars and commoners who dreams of running for the position, and the 'highest honors' part is to remove the idiots and useless ones.
Of course, that's not the only one. Since they also have to be a resident of over 15 years and much be a natural born, Henry would be able to keep an eye for any possible geniuses and talents and use them for other purposes, steering them clear from any thoughts of running for Kingship.
So, how does all that sound so far?]