"The state of the nation is precarious..."
The Sitting Clock sounded eleven times, and the Marquis of Sandiana rubbed his sore eyes, sighing deeply.
The Marquis was neither a pessimist nor a complainer. Having inherited the noblest bloodline of the Ifandante Dukes from Castilian nobility and being at the golden age of fifty for a statesman while holding the distinguished position of Prime Minister, he theoretically should not be so despondent and anxious.
The only reason for such pessimism was that the great Kingdom of Castilia, lauded as "the world's third strongest power," with colonies spread across the seas and a nation where "the sun never set," had reached a state of extreme difficulty, both domestically and internationally.
It might have been a slight exaggeration, but the situation was indeed not cause for optimism.
