While I was having a talk with the worker representatives, the supervisor was equally tense about the situation and the eccentric behaviour I had shown earlier in front of the artisans. The supervisor had first hand witnessed that though I was polite to them, I had shown bias against them when they had completed their introductions.
He felt that the pride shown by them was acceptable and normal for someone of their standing, but seeing my dislike he knew that I might be an oddity among the royalty. He thought of me as a greenhorn who had grown up listening to mythical stories of heroes, justice and equality in the safety of my palace without having to face the harsh reality of the outside world.
Yes, he was worried, but not overly so. It was not the first time that he had heard of a young royal with a distorted sense of achieving greatness by sympathising with the general populace by acting kind to them, only to revert back to the social norms after having faced the excess emotional, financial and social pressure required to keep up with the pretence.
In the end it was always about self-welfare and it was especially true for the royals. According to him, this was because the social order was set in such a way that from the ancient times royals had gotten used to being served and revered, and even if some had illusions, their core instinct to be served will not let them be generous to the point that it becomes harmful to their own well-being.
There were some cases in history of generous and righteous rulers who had remained strong and prosperous even after having equality in their kingdom, but the catch of such records was that these kings or emperors were the living embodiment of some gods sent down on earth to reclaim peace from chaos.
The rest of the rulers who were so righteous were very short lived, as their over generosity caused the normal populace to grow bold and overthrow the king, seeing his weakness and seizing the throne for themselves. These then went on to become examples to future young royals and rulers on what happens when you over indulge your subjects.
Seeing that I had shown some of the same symptoms, he was sure that I would take away his powers and distribute it to the ten workers that I had called for to become the representatives for the whole worker population. This move would make me feel good about myself and my false sense of greatness will be boosted, but it would be easily resolved for him after he discusses it with the official who will in turn place it in front of the court.
After the official notice from the court will arrive to inform me of his reinstatement to the post of supervisor and the dissolving of the little worker council I had created for self-monitoring, his position in front of the workers and artisans will increasing many folds. He will then be more influential than he is currently.
This narrative that had formed in his mind was what lead to him being so calm, collected and even a bit happy. He was just waiting for me to call him back in and inform him of his dismissal, which will then set the ball rolling leading to increase in his reputation.
As he was waiting in anticipation, he saw the guard captain coming out. He figured it was his turn to go back inside and got up, but the captain rushed past him without so much as a look towards him. He dejectedly sat down again, waiting.
After another fifteen or so minutes he saw three workers coming out of the hall and thought that this was definitely going to be his turn to go inside, but they too rushed pat him without him giving him a second glance.
He was baffled with all that was going on. He was not able to understand the reason for people to continuously come outside and rushing out without informing him of any order from me to go inside.
Just as he was feeling fidgety about the talks currently going on inside the hall, he heard another sound of footsteps. This time it was not from the inside but rather from the opposite direction. The first to come in his vision was the captain of guards who was the first to exit. Behind him he could see three women in worker clothes.
It took him a good moment to recognise the women. Though he did not remember two of the three ladies, he recognised the last one. This was Adishri, the women with the highest prestige among the workers. The reason he clearly recognised and remembered her was because she was the one who would protect the various women from being bullied by him or any noble, they previously worked for.
He was at a loss on the reason why they were called by me for a meeting.
His poor brain worked in overdrive and came up with two possible scenarios.
First, I had just gotten my freedom and like many nobles, I wanted to do untoward things to the women workers under me and had called them to satisfy me. If this was the case, it would be much better as this will show that even though I wanted to pass of as a hero of the people, I was just as bad as others and this was all a mask I wore for the public. This was what most young nobles did anyway.
Second, I was so engrossed in my illusion that I not only wanted to show equality among the workers and artisans but also among men and women. This would be a more acceptable theory considering the three male workers that left earlier. This would also be the bad option, as this will show that it will be harder to convince the king to correct me.
This was due to the fact that the king dearly loved his son and this whole project was just to satisfy the whims I had.