The small flame of a large candle cast a black shadow right behind the reflection of the glass, there was a large wooden table full of food with a magnificent cloth covering the table lining, there were some brown grilled meats that looked very delicious, beef stew, vegetable soup and fresh fruit, I can clearly tell that whoever owns this castle is trying to be nice to their guests.
The little clanging sounds of metal from small plates and knives were enough to distract me. The owner of the castle, drank red wine while finishing the last mouthful.
It was a mature woman wearing military garb with a red coat bearing the lion's crest.
Her sharp eyes, long hair and red lipstick on her lips made her look beautiful with a mature aura, and her kind smile was enough to make me think that the lady seemed to be from a noble family.
I wonder how much corruption funds that woman has spent on beauty treatments, It would make a lot of sense if she at least took some of the money.
When I finished eating, the woman then opened her mouth to speak.
"I am very pleased with your coming here. The food here isn't any better than the capital's, but at least it's better than normal food, I hope you like it."
"You are wrong Miss Carmila, the food here is actually better than what I imagined. Who would have thought that Lunaria city has such great chefs, I might think about recruiting some chefs in the future," Irina replied with a friendly smile.
"If someone like you likes it, I'm sure His Majesty general Ludwing will be pleased when I give him some cooks. You know, to relieve stress, it's important to host some simple dinner parties. "
"Me and my fiancé, maybe we will often come to dinner just to say hello or eat some pieces of grilled meat cooked by the chef."
"Cut of meat? Ah— I can imagine, the noble generals and other officers will kindly put it on a plate and then give it to you. "
"That would be fun, but I'm still worried, the taste of the food will be too spicy or too sweet. An expert chef sometimes forgets recipes when trying to adapt in a new place. "
"If Miss Irina has her own taste in food, you can tell the general's maid, then you can get what you want. We are very open to a solution for a better future."
I had a feeling what these two ladies were actually talking about wasn't something simple about food, it tasted like something else.
Kyle's eyes narrowed as he realized that his guess was the truth.
Pouring red wine into the glass and then drinking it, my ears widened as the main topic just started.
"Speaking of generals, I wonder what presidential election mechanism the parliamentary council has agreed on, I heard it will use the new election mechanism."
"Points for each city, the point value will be determined by how many residents live in that city, the election system will not be changed. That is the information I received from my business partners in parliament, rejecting the new election mechanism, the three factions rejecting the changes proposed by the government faction, that is the final result that has been mutually agreed upon."
"They refuse? This is quite surprising, what made the mechanism rejected by the majority of the parliamentary council?"
"To determine the final result, the number of votes that will be collected from all over the country will result in a huge waste of budget for operational costs, the amount is far greater than the previous mechanism. That's the main reason."
"Every adult citizen of the Republic will have the right to vote, even if it costs more, it will create justice in real elections, from the people for the people. Of course, as good citizens, I and my comrades in the military guarded and respected the final results of the mutually agreed elections, therefore, I had no idea what my superiors were really thinking. Clearly, the new presidential election mechanism will open up better opportunities than before."
That sounds both plausible and idealistic, a form of fair election mechanism, where every Republican has the right to choose their own president. However, does the Republic have enough competent individuals to make it happen? I have no statistics at all.
Wait— is there a government organization that creates statistical survey teams? Damn it, I have no idea. This sounds bad, how can they try to implement such a grand mechanism without understanding what they are doing?
As I started to think about what happened to this country's presidential election system, Irina then continued with an explanation.
"Miss Carmila, I'm sorry, do you understand politics? From what you said, you don't seem to understand that our beloved country, namely the Republic, is all determined by the decisions of each faction in the government, parliament, or high executive council. This also includes presidential elections, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that the popular vote is not the main factor in determining who is the next president of the Republic, the results of votes in each city can turn out very differently when submitted to the parliament, there are many gaps depending on how many faction members participate. occupy key positions and majority positions, that is the reason why your superiors want great influence in parliament."
"In that case, wouldn't it be better to actually be foxed? There isn't any justice in there, it can't be called a fair election."
"That's the point, Miss Carmila. Pouring wine into a glass tastes better if it's being poured by someone else. "
This is business, this is business, I have to remember that. The food business, the arms business—no, this is a broader sense of business, trying to influence the government from within and trying to change the state of a country in its own favour. A system of public manipulation, where idealism that sounds good is just a joke thrown in the trash.
Should I interpret it like that? To be honest, I don't understand what Irina is saying, what's with the glass that someone else poured? However, if that's what Irina said, it would definitely be related to business, I can confirm it.
"Ah— Looks like the Republican government should adopt the military's system to make it more efficient. I understand a bit why the generals and officers in the capital seem to be quite troubled over this, our interests and influence can't stand on the same spot," Carmila replied with a nod of her head.
"I don't know if the system in place in the military will be suitable for government. I'll pretend I didn't hear this, if it was someone else, they would probably be thinking dangerous things while listening to your words when they saw the stockpile of weapons purchased from my family's company. "
Irina's eyes closed for a moment as she placed the small knife and fork onto the plate. The subtle sound of colliding cutlery reached my ears.
Irina gracefully took the handkerchief that was provided to try to clean her smooth cheeks. There wasn't even a trace of food to begin with, but Irina did that just to be sure.
My gaze then averted as I saw Miss Carmila pouring red wine into the glass cup beside her, it made the subtle sound of water being poured into the vessel. So calming under the bright candlelight.
The woman then grabbed the glass filled with red wine and brought it to her lips, before a trickle of water reached her throat, she then opened her mouth to say something.
"By the way, when miss Irina came here, did miss get in trouble on the way? Something like wild monsters or troublesome bandits occasionally encamping in your path, that would definitely cause some trouble. "
"You mean about the bandits harming the military? No, Darling and I didn't run into any bandits, the path we walked was completely safe from harm. "
"Is that so? Not a bit? "
"Yeah, that's a line the military often goes through. It's all because of the Burnet family company, the people who work there are very experienced to be able to solve various shipping problems, that's the reason why my family company partnered with them."
Well done Irina, I'm very impressed with you, you understand that's what I need. Once the company proved its quality, the people who doubted because of the bandit rumors would definitely decrease.
It would be better if the people from the military start thinking about canceling their operations that cost my family's company a loss, then the military can consider partnering with us.
As I was thinking about it, a sound of glass breaking sounded loud and startled me. The red tint of the alcohol in Miss Carmila's hand was scattered around the table, she seemed to have broken the glass in her hand for some reason.
"Sorry, I'm sorry. It seems the quality of the glass cup in this place is so bad that it shattered when I held it, I hope Mr Burnet and miss Triase don't think too much of this. Let's talk about our business tomorrow morning when my men try out the weapons you guys have brought."