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It was just a day before the full-scale war, but, as always, I was buried in paperwork. Even though I had already looked into things in Philander, there was still a ton of stuff I needed to check on-site.
"Why are there only three smelter reports? I can't see the Senges Smelter one."
Ned, acting as the head secretary in place of Kaleb, scrambled over and rummaged through the piles of paper. He unearthed a document from the third pile and handed it to me.
"Here it is, Your Majesty."
Ned excused the late arrival of the report from the Senges Smelter, which led to it being filed separately.
'Kaleb may be timid, but he really did his job well.'
I felt his absence as my head secretary, but I didn't have much of a choice. He was likely busy working at the Imperial Palace in Philander at the moment.
At the noble council meeting, there were suggestions that it would be best for me not to leave the palace. Kaleb, usually reticent, had been particularly supportive then.
