Touch the Sky (Hyunjin X Felix X San X Juyeon)

|Second Act - I Will Hear Their Every Story|

Sunmi was both exasperated and impressed by the stunt he'd pulled during the archery contest, but she'd eventually admitted it had worked to his advantage – he'd definitely made a point known by standing his ground of the sort, and he'd most definitely left a lasting impression on everyone who'd watched.

Felix was quite glad about how things had turned out. Thanks to his free afternoon, he could now properly focus on concluding one of the numerous projects he'd undertaken during his first week at the High Palace. Thanks to the thorough accounts of the treasury Yedam had made for him, he now had an exact idea of how much capital was at his disposal – and so, he was free to start planning what to do with it.

He found it quite stupid, to constantly amass all sorts of riches without making use of them, when there were so many people who needed that money. Helios had a vault of its own, of course, but it wasn't used to uselessly accumulate treasures, merely to store most of the kingdom's capital.

First thing first, thanks to the records Tzuyu had provided for him, he could see exactly how much every single staff member made by working at the High Palace. He was quite horrified to find how underpaid they actually were when considering how many hours they worked every day. So, without hesitation, he'd started working on a raise for everyone.

(It was a bit complicated, since he had to consider everyone's respective duties, current weekly wage, years of experience, etc, etc. However, Felix was determined to raise the salary standards up to pars with that of Helios's, at the very least, so he worked hard to make it happen.)

It would take much more than a single afternoon but, now that he'd worked out a proper equation to make things go faster, he could hand in the rest of the work to some of his council members. He was quite satisfied with his work when Sunmi came to fetch him for dinner, that night.

"Tell Nayeon, Haruto, Jihoon, and Momo to take over this for me," he instructed, patting the large stack of files beside him. "I'd like this done as quickly as possible, too – they can ask for more help from other council members if needed, though."

"And this is..."

Sunmi's eyes widened a bit as he quickly read over the few pages he'd already filled. Felix leaned back into his chair, grinning from ear to ear when she finally looked at him again, her mouth falling open – it wasn't often that he managed to see her lose her cool composure of the sort.

"You're serious about this...?"

"Of course. Good work deserves to be rewarded, and no one should have to choose between having food on the table or taking care of their family, like what happened with Chef Lee and his wife," he replied, nodding firmly. "Everyone working here will get a raise, and will start working reasonable hours for a reasonable wage – including you and everyone on the council, of course."

"With all due respect, Your Highness, we are not doing what we do for the money," she replied, frowning a little.

"I'm aware," he assured. "If you don't want the extra money, I can't really force you to take it. I'll personally talk with the other members of the council later, to see where they stand about the matter – but please don't pressure anyone into thinking it'd be wrong to accept it, alright?"

"Of course. I'll make sure to pass your instructions along right away." She then offered him a slightly taunting grin. "But, as impressed as I am with the work you've put into this little project, I'm afraid your hard-won alone time has come to an end. It's time to head to dinner, Your Highness."

"Ugh..."

Hopefully, he wouldn't get skewered for the stunt he'd pulled at the contest.

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