Alina approached Lolita in the hallway, a newspaper clutched in her hands. "Lolita, I want to show you something."
Lolita snatched the newspaper from Alina's grasp, her eyes scanning the headline.
Yesmin Trixie, ruler of Jayland, is deeply saddened by the news that Technate bombed Dynasty Tower.
Lolita rolled her eyes. "This is a publicity stunt."
Alina shook her head. "No, I believe she is deeply upset-"
"I don't need her sympathy; I need her money to cover the cost of rebuilding the tower." Lolita snapped. "She doesn't know what it's like to be in my position of power."
"Yesmin is the ruler of Jayland-"
"Yes, that's true! But Jayland is not a country crippled by enormous amounts of debt. Her country is easy to rule, in comparison to mine! I receive endless complaints from civilians who're too out of touch with reality to realize I can't afford to give them what they want."
"But you can afford to give yourself what you want," Maxwell interjected from behind her. Lolita invited him to the castle for the committee meeting.
"Don't be smart with me." Lolita glanced at her gold wristwatch. "We need to go meet with the committee members."
Lolita glided through the corridor, entering the boardroom alongside Maxwell, who settled next to Artemis. Fifty men clad in tailored suits filled the room; their faces etched with seriousness. Taking her place at the head of the table, Lolita basked in the sunlight streaming through the arched windows, illuminating her lemon-hued cocktail dress that perfectly accentuated her pear-shaped figure. The dress exuded confidence, making her feel as valuable as gold. Her hair was elegantly arranged in a high braided bun, complementing her poised demeanour.
"Artemis, do you know how much it would cost to rebuild the Dynasty Tower?" Lolita nervously adjusted her gold hoop earring.
Artemis's voice crackled as he spoke. "It would cost us two billion dollars to rebuild. And we cannot take on the project because we don't have the funds for it."
"Do you know how much damage the fire caused last night?"
"The fire destroyed thousands of trees. It took five hours for the firefighters to extinguish the flames." Artemis paused to drink from his glass of water. "The fire killed an entire family of Technate Blue rabbits, which are an endangered species. If the Technate Blue Rabbit becomes extinct, then the Anau wolf will follow. The Anau wolves aren't fast enough to capture other species of rabbit."
Lolita's jaw tightened. "We'll make Technate pay. When we win this war, we'll collect our debt."
"Lolita!" Maxwell slammed his fist on the table. "Going to war with Technate is a bad idea. We should talk about making peace with them."
Lolita narrowed her eyes. "I'm not changing my decision. If Technate didn't want war with us, they should have thought of that before they bombed us! We're not a pushover country. I'm invoking conscription for every man between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five."
"Lolita! We can't afford to do this. It'll cost billions of dollars to equip an army to send to Technate-"
"I'm going to borrow one trillion dollars from the World Bank."
Maxwell's jaw dropped. "One trillion dollars? Have you forgotten about the thirty trillion dollars of sovereign debt? You're going to bankrupt this country!"
"It's necessary to borrow that amount for the army. I'm worried about the safety of our people."
"We can't borrow that amount of money-"
"Then what do you propose? That we go to war empty-handed? We need enough money to buy guns, tanks, and fighter planes."
"I oppose going to war."
"No! I'm not changing my mind. I know how to run this country, you don't." She leaned back against the soft purple cushion of her chair and folded her arms across her chest.
"I'm worried about the economy. People are starving to death in Intermarium. We should be spending our money on food, not on weapons."
"People in the army will have food. I'll make sure everyone in the military will not starve."
"What about everyone else?" Maxwell raised an eyebrow.
"We're raising the taxes on rice products-" Lolita said.
"How the hell are people going to survive in this country if they can't afford to buy food for themselves? The value of our dollar bill has dropped by one percent, and we can't raise minimum wage!"
"We need to have enough money for the military. That's our priority. Farmers will have to work harder to produce more food for people."
"Lolita, I can't agree with your decision on going to war with Technate."
"Maxwell, you're fired! I'm having the security guard escort you out." She grabbed her cellphone from the table and sent the guard a text message.
Maxwell rose from his chair and cried, "Lolita! Please listen to me. I want to make Intermarium a better place, that's why I took this job." Tears streamed down from his green eyes.
"Shut up! Nobody questions my authority as Ruler of this country."
The door opened, and the security guard marched inside.
Lolita's eyes narrowed at Maxwell. "Get the hell out of here. My security guard will escort you outside the castle."
Maxwell left the room with his head down. The security guard closed the door.
Lolita said, "Tyler, I'm promoting you as the secretary of state."
Tyler smiled broadly.
"And Artemis. You'll be accompanying Axel and I to Catwerp."