The sunlight streaming through the window fell on Alexander’s face. He slowly opened one eye, then the other, and saw himself lying next to Sophie. She was sleeping peacefully beside him. His heart felt so full as he looked at her beautiful, perfect face; she was truly amazing.

He carefully placed a hand on her cheek, feeling the warmth radiating from her skin, which made him feel so warm. The way she looked right now was so peaceful and relaxed, an ethereal scenery that would wash all his exhaustion away. Slowly but surely, he leaned in and pressed his lips onto hers.

They did it again yesterday, an urge that Alexander couldn’t control. It felt so good that he might have gotten addicted to the pleasure.

But now, it’s another day in the Ruthenia Empire, an important one to him. First is that he’s going to select the new Ministry of Justice and the Chief Justice for the Supreme Court, Secondly, he will create a new ministry called the Ministry of Energy that will prepare, integrate, coordinate, supervise and control all plans, programs, projects, and activities of the Government relative to energy… And lastly, he is going to be briefed by the Minister of Internal Affairs about the operation that took place in Helsinki,

Before he could get away from the bed, a hand grabbed him by the arm, Alexander looked over his shoulder and saw Sophie looking back at him. There was a smile on her face, and a slight blush on her cheeks.

“Where…are…you going?” She asked, her voice was soft, like a sweet caress on his ears.

“I’ll have to prepare for work, as usual, Hon…” Alexander didn’t get to finish what he wanted to say because Sophie suddenly pulled him towards her, putting her arms around his neck. Her breath hitched as she closed her eyes, and they stayed like that, just taking time to appreciate their little world.

“Stay…a…little longer,” Sophie whispered softly and planted a smooch on his neck.action

Every time they were this close, Sophie would always go for the cheeks. If not kissing, she’ll suck it amorously. It’s like she has a neck fetish or something.

“Alex…I want you to eat me again…”-.

“Eat you again?” Alexander muttered as he looked at her with a slight smile on his face.

“Hmm…” she hummed a response.

“Okay…you asked for it, don’t blame me if things got rough,” Alexander warned teasingly.

…

Two hours later, Alexander was walking towards his office with files clutched under his arm. When he arrived at his office, he walked straight to his desk and started sorting out his paperwork.

After almost 15 minutes, the sound of someone knocking echoed in the room. When Alexander looked up, there stood the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Internal Affairs, Sergei and Dmitri.“Sergei…I wasn’t expecting your arrival.”

“Well…sir there’s something I wish to report to you personally,” Sergei said as he bowed his head.

“As for me as well, Your Majesty,” Dmitri followed.

“Well, this is perfect timing. But I’ll hear Dmitri first if that is okay for you, Sergei?” Alexander smiled.

“Of course, Sir,” replied Sergei as he looked at Dmitri, giving him a bow, indicating that he could proceed.

“Your Majesty…good news. Our teams in Helsinki reported a successful operation against the Black Hand Organization. They also reported that they’ve retrieved records in the scene that contained invaluable information,”

“Invaluable information?” Alexander mused, leaning forward as it piqued his interest.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Dmitri continued. “It contains a list of locations that we assume are the hideout of the Black Hand operatives across the Empire of Ruthenia. There’s also a ledger that contains bank information which we can use to figure out how they are funding their organization…”

“This is great!” Alexander beamed with excitement. However, he noticed something wrong. “Are you okay, Dmitri? Why the long face…”

“Well…the truth is…Your Majesty, in one of those records. I was informed that there was a mole in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. An employee of ours who has been giving them sensitive intel…”

Alexander frowned “Is that so? Where is that employee now?”

“We arrested him for treason, Your Majesty. But this incident could also be the same with the other departments, we must investigate all government employees and clear them out…”

“What are you saying, Dmitri?” Sergei interjected as he looked sharply at Dmitri.

“It is what it is, Sergei. We’ll place all the ministries under investigation to make sure there’s no mole in the government. I’m sure you understand this Sergei, my job is to protect His Majesty’s Empire from within.”

“I have no objections…do whatever you want. In fact, I agree with your reasoning,” Sergei said.

After listening to their words, Alexander nodded “Very well, you do your thing, Dmitri. It’s better safe than sorry.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty. I’ll excuse myself then, Your Majesty…” with that Dmitri turned and left the room, leaving Alexander and Sergei alone.

The moment Dmitri shut the door, Alexander’s eyes flickered to Sergei.

“What is it that you want to report to me personally, Sergei?” Alexander asked.“Sir, this is regarding your interest in the Far East, specifically, the Manchurian region. I’ve discussed this with our ambassador in the Imperial Han by telephone. He said that the Han Dynasty is willing to sell Manchuria.”

“If they are willing to sell the land then there is no problem. But your tone implies there is a catch. What is it?” Alexander said.

“Your Majesty, in addition to the money, they’d also want us to give them weapons as well.”

“Give?” Alexander cocked his head to the side. “May I know the reasons why?”

“The Han Dynasty is crumbling, Your Majesty. Suffering from rebellions, internal strifes, overpopulation, and high poverty rate to name a few. It seemed as though the Han Dynasty would want to maintain their powers through military…”

“I don’t see a problem with it. Just give them the weapons they need and settle the deal,” Alexander said flippantly.

“Your Majesty…are you serious?”

“I couldn’t care less about what would happen to the Han Dynasty, to be honest. I just need land in the Far East. We’re just giving them weapons and money in exchange for territory.”

“I understand, Your Majesty. We shall prepare the necessary arrangements.”

“Good.”

“But…Your Majesty. May I ask something?” Sergei said.

“What is it?”

“The Han Dynasty is at its weakened state, why not just take Manchuria through military force instead of buying it?” Sergei asked.

“Because Sergei, if we take the land by force, it will attract the attention of our main rival. The Britannia Empire and risk another war with the Yamato Empire. We can prevent that by buying it from the Han Dynasty, legitimizing our claim. What we want in the Far East is a warm-water port where we can establish trade over the region,” Alexander explained.

“But Your Majesty, even if we acquired Manchuria through acquisition, there’s no guarantee that the Yamato Empire will accept it. They are also expanding their sphere of influence over the region to feed their imperialistic ambition,” Sergei said.

“Don’t worry, leave the diplomacy to me. I’ll handle it…”

Just as they were having a conversation, the telephone on Alexander’s desk rang.

“Oh before you leave, I’ve selected a candidate for my Minister of Justice and Chief Justice for our Supreme Court,” Alexander handed Sergei a file, the telephone kept ringing.

Sergei received the file.

“Oops…I’ll also want your counsel with this,” Alexander handed him another file. “It’s a Ministry Creation Bill. I plan to create a Ministry of Energy that will handle energy-related affairs of the Ruthenia Empire.

“It’s thick…Your Majesty,” Sergei commented, noticing a large number of pages in the file. “Is this all, Your Majesty?”

“Yes…you’re dismissed.”

When Sergei left his office, Alexander picked up the telephone. “Who is this…a request from the Britannia Empire…? A favor from King of Britannia? Give me the details.”