Hogwarts: From Selling White Peppers to Becoming a God

Chapter 290 Letter

Al-Kaim.

Spring Palace.

As soon as Sofia entered her bedroom, she forcefully threw off her high heels and pounced onto the bed.

I'm so tired, so very tired.

She was surprised to discover for the first time that being an empress involved so much tedious work.

Today she inspected the palace guard, stood on the stage for over two hours, watching them perform all sorts of strange formations and acts, then attended the opening ceremony of a Quidditch match, and finally awarded medals to twenty shamans who had just graduated from the ancestral mausoleum...

She actually started to miss her uncle, Grand Duke Ivan, who had always been very willing to do these kinds of work that could win people over.

If this is the price of power, she suddenly felt that the throne wasn't so appealing anymore.

Just bear with it a little longer, just one more month. Once we've settled things with all the work and spheres of influence that once belonged to Ivan, we can relax a bit...

As she comforted herself, she drifted off to sleep in bed without even realizing it...

"Your Majesty, Lady Jaga wishes to see you." Suddenly, the maid's voice outside the door startled her awake.

Sophia jerked her head up from under the pillow. After a moment of confusion, she managed to control her urge to fall back asleep. She struggled to sit up, tidied herself, and said, "Let her in."

"Mrs. Jaga, what brings you here?"

The hunched old lady walked in slowly. "An officer told me you almost fell asleep during the opening ceremony of the game?"

"Who is it?" Sofia asked, somewhat annoyed. "Is it Igor?"

"Let that poor child go. He was just doing his duty," Mrs. Jaga shook her head. "You should be glad that no one filmed that scene, and you should be glad that no one dared to report the Queen's loss of composure."

"I'm not going to be empress to put on a show of dignified manners for them," Sofia said, somewhat displeased.

"It's a good thing it wasn't, otherwise your performance wouldn't have been very good." The old lady said bluntly.

Sofia glared angrily at Mrs. Jaga for a while, then finally sighed, "Fine, next time I'll be careful not to get hypnotized by boring ball games."

Lady Jaga shook her head. "The people of this country revere you and your family. This expectation is somewhat heavy, but responding to it is the emperor's duty. You can't be living in this magnificent palace, enjoying fine food and meticulous care, simply because you like to sleep all day, can you?"

Sofia blushed. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Jaga. It's just that sometimes I feel these things are too tedious, as if I'm repeating the same meaningless things every day."

"Your presence can soothe the people's anxiety. After the turmoil, what people need is a signal that they can safely return to normal life. This work is not as meaningless as you say, and only you can do it," said Mrs. Jaga.

"Now, all the major families have basically accepted the status quo and nothing has gone wrong, all thanks to your previous work."

"Although you may see it as just a boring banquet or speech, it is actually a way of communication and exchange."

"I thought being an emperor would be more interesting, with lots of troubles and difficulties to solve, rather than just socializing..." Sofia complained.

"Alkaim has existed for hundreds or thousands of years, and it will continue to exist in the foreseeable future without much change. In such a stable environment, you do not need to expand your territory or defend against foreign enemies. All you need to do is maintain an established order."

"Although it may not be that exciting, it's not a bad thing for the people."

"But... Murphy said the Muggles will bring about change..." the Queen said.

"Oh, I thought we wouldn't talk about him again," Mrs. Jaga smiled. "We haven't spoken of Mr. Darkholm for a long time since you rejected my suggestion last time. I thought you weren't interested in his rhetoric."

"I really don't believe it," Sophia thought for a moment. "Has there been any change in the Muggle government recently?"

"Darkholm's people have basically taken control of the Muggle government, which is somewhat unexpected. I originally thought they would fail, as that country had accumulated too many problems... I didn't expect that he would actually revitalize it."

"Besides, he seems to be preparing to build a magical research laboratory... This is a military secret in Muggles, and it was Murphy's people who leaked it to us. Because it involves magic, we were required to be informed according to the agreement."

"A magic research laboratory?" Sophia asked, puzzled. "What's it used for?"

"Let's study magic. Murphy seems to be taking this very seriously, which is probably the direct reason he wants to control the Muggle government of Sue. He wants to mobilize the entire Muggle nation's resources to help him build this laboratory."

"What do you think we should do?" Sophia asked.

"According to the agreement, we cannot interfere," Mrs. Jaga said, "but not interfering doesn't mean we can't understand or help. You can look into this matter. I have a feeling it will bring about tremendous changes to our world... If possible, I suggest you can offer some assistance."

"Help?" Sophia asked, somewhat puzzled. "Aren't you afraid we'll be tied to him? You said before that what he's doing might alert all the wizards, didn't you mean you didn't want us to get too involved with him?"

"Well, we can be more tactful," said Mrs. Yaga. "We certainly can't help in Arkaim's name. But offering some assistance privately is possible."

Sofia was silent for a moment, then said, "You still intend to find a husband..."

Mrs. Jaga did not deny it, but said, "Mr. Darkholm is a very suitable candidate. I heard that he has recently made some big moves at the British Ministry of Magic. He has enough power, and now, his status will not be beneath you."

Sofia didn't know whether to agree or not. After Mrs. Jaga left, she lay back down on the bed, but this time she couldn't fall asleep.

After a while, she had her maid summon a wizard in charge of external liaison. She met with him in the reception room and listened to his description of recent events in the Muggle society of Sugo.

Finally, they asked about the magic research laboratory, but the latter didn't know much. "The British wizards only told us that they would build a laboratory, but they didn't say anything more about the specifics."

Sophia dismissed the other person and paced back and forth in the reception room, her mind filled with thoughts of the magic laboratory.

She was very curious about what it was and also wanted to know what Murphy was trying to do.

She felt that compared to her own boring and tedious social interactions, Murphy seemed to be doing something very impressive.

However, this seems to be a confidential matter, and few people on Alkaim's side know the specifics.

"Wait, I can write him a letter!"

Suddenly, she had an idea.

At the time, it was agreed with Murphy that within the territory of the State of Sumeru, Alkaim would not interfere with Murphy's actions towards Muggles, but whenever magic was involved, Murphy should inform Alkaim in advance to prevent misunderstandings.

Given this, as Queen Alkaim, I should have the right to know about Murphy's plan to build a magic laboratory in the Sukuri Kingdom, and it is perfectly normal for me to send a letter to inquire about it.

Sophia was overjoyed with her brilliant idea and picked up her pen to write a letter when a maid came in and handed her a letter.

"A letter from Your Majesty, the Protector Shaman, Mr. Murphy Darkholm."

(End of this chapter)