In an office-like room, with luxurious furniture and a chandelier hanging from the ceiling, behind a dark wooden table with mountains of paper, a man wakes up from his slumber.
He appears to be in his mid-30s, and his eyes seem to be tired even after waking up from sleep. His deep blue eyes gaze in front of him, and his bright blonde hair brushes his forehead. His regal black and gold attire makes him exude an exceptionally noble aura, and black gloves hide his hand's skin.
'... It's morning again...', the emperor thinks to himself before waking up completely and leaning back in his expensive chair.
He stares blankly at the ceiling decorated with intricate tapestries and the beautiful chandelier that hangs from the top.
His mouth slightly gapes open, and he doesn't seem to notice.
'... I miss being a kid...', he thinks to himself as he keeps daydreaming.
'I slept for only 2 hours yesterday again... I'll need to drink another sleepless potion today to not pass out of exhaustion...'
He closes his mouth and wipes the little drool that leaked out, then proceeds to look forward, his eyes meeting the countless documents in front of him, on the table.
He picks out one paper and gives it a glance.
'Hmm... The northern wall needs maintenance...'
He picks up another paper.
'Unauthorized land leasing occurring en masse in the southern front...'
And another-
'Polluted perennial river, detrimental to crops in the western front...'
Another-
'Illegal drug imports reported in the eastern front...'
'Metal prices expected to rise-'
'Disease killing barley crops-'
'Mutation in the Ignius disease suspected-'
'Church needs more money-'
'Taxes have been heavy this past few years, emperor's authority in question-'
"AAARRRGGGHH!!!!", he yells as he slams the tables with all his might, scattering some of the papers in the wind.
*Huff Huff*
He stands up from his desk and walks over to the open window. A beautiful view of the mountains greets his tired eyes.
'... How peaceful must those mountains feel... always constant... never having to move or protect themselves... never having to work, or get tired... I wish I was a mountain...', he daydreams again.
As he's getting lost in thought, the door to his room knocks.
"Your majesty? Are you in there?", a feminine voice calls out.
"I am. You may enter.", he replies.
The door opens and a fair maiden wearing her maid uniform enters the room.
"The empress was asking for you, your majesty... what should I inform her?", she asks.
"... Tell her I'm coming."
"Right away, your highness."
With that, the maid leaves.
'Great... Day hasn't even started and it's already ruined...'
--- after some time ---
The emperor sits across a table. In the opposite side, sits a woman who could only be described as beauty incarnate, with her snow-white hair and striking purple irises, along with an indescribably beautiful body.
She brushes her white dress to the side, to sit more comfortably.
"You didn't return to the room again yesterday...", she's the first to speak.
"I had work.", he replies.
"You always have work... when do you rest?"
"... I don't."
"... Can't be healthy for you... The emperor of the empire needs to stay healthy to operate..."
"..."
"... You're already 35... Don't you think now might be a good time to make an heir? Who knows what might happen in the future..."
"An heir, huh... Raising a child... I don't think I can do it..."
"... You should take your time.", she sighs and sips her tea.
"... How's... your academy going?", he asks as he sips his tea as well.
"Oh, it's going great... we just received 4 more major sponsors from the elves... The students are also producing great results... This was a great initiative... the initial costs are finally paying off.", she answers with a smile.
"That's great to hear... Are you... enjoying being headmistress?", he asks while chuckling.
"It's so much work, honestly... but... when the students admire me, and I hear how much everyone looks up to me, I feel happy... So, yeah, I guess I'm enjoying being headmistress, haha", she replies with a chuckle.
They both laugh together for a few moments.
"Uhm... I'm sorry, Seraphine... I usually don't give you enough time... You deserve more from me, I know that, but-", before he could finish his sentence, she cuts him off and says-
"Shush... We're husband and wife, but before that, we're also friends... we shouldn't apologize to each other for things that are out of our control...", she smiles.
"... I suppose you're right."
"But... I do want a little something in return..."
"Hmm?"
"Kiss me.", she says with a small blush.
"... Of course.", he obliges and they share a small intimate moment.
"... See you later...", Seraphine smiles.
"Yeah..."
And then they both walk out through separate doors.
'Seraphine... We had an arranged marriage... and we've been together for about 5 years now... we had nothing in common, but we still respected each other and liked each other...'
'*Sigh...* We haven't had sex in so long now... But I can't afford to waste even a few hours in a day... And not to mention, she herself is an extremely busy woman too... *sigh...*'
'I guess I'm pretty lucky... being born into the imperial family... having such a lovely and capable woman as my wife... Never having to worry about what I'm going to eat tomorrow...'
'I can't complain... this fact... makes everything so much worse...', he thinks as he stares at the mountain of documents again.
'As the emperor of this empire, it's my responsibility to secure our citizen's lives and to give them a decent enough livelihood... without having to worry about bad actors or unfair justice. So that they can bring forth new life into this world without having to worry about whether it will survive or die... or whether it will learn bad things from the world or not... So that they can die, knowing their legacy will be carried on by their successors... and that they will forever be protected by this empire's military and name...'
'And in exchange... Me, and my subordinates get a portion of their income as compensation...'
'Many citizens complain a lot about the tax... but there is simply no other choice for us... if we want security and prosperity, we need money and a strong economy...'
'Economy... a sense of worth... of value... a feeling that gives quantitative meaning to a commodity...'
'Economy is a strange thing, it's invisible, but it affects the lives of everyone... from emperors such as me to the beggars in the streets... Even vagabonds and nomads need to worry about it these days...'
'As the emperor, it's my responsibility to keep this sense of 'Economy' as strong as possible... to prevent people from not believing in it... Because that would cause the fall of order... The fall of 'me'...'
'The feeling of "I have something" is a powerful one... and currency is a materialization of this feeling... in reality, it's pointless, just garbage, but it is essential for human civilization...'
'Anyway, enough skull-chattering... I better get to work...'