Villains of All Worlds: Starting with the Beautiful Vampire Bride.

Chapter 45 Kingdom Affairs
This was the scene that Vlad and his crew saw when they arrived at Dracula's castle.

Without much greeting, Vlad, accompanied by many ministers and nobles, entered the castle.

Along the way, there were residents of the city who came to watch.

"Make way, thank you, please make way, hi~ Vlad, Vlad, hi."

In the bustling crowd, a slender figure kept shuttling among the people around.

Loud shouts were heard from time to time, and this scene was immediately caught by Vlad, who had a keen sense of hearing.

Just when Vlad was wondering who was calling him, a beautiful figure appeared in his eyes.

At that moment, Vlad only felt his heart suddenly beating violently, as if struck by lightning.

"It's her~!" Vlad murmured slightly absentmindedly.

In an instant, scenes began to flash through his mind. That was the girl who grew up with him and was his childhood sweetheart before he went to the Ottoman Empire as a hostage.

At the same time, she is also his future wife: Marina.

But in the end, the image that froze in his mind was Marina falling off the cliff, and he was powerless to stop her. He saw the girl die in his arms with his own eyes.

Looking at the blonde girl who was constantly moving among the crowd, standing up and jumping, waving her slender white arms, with a happy and smiling face.

For some reason, Vlad felt a sudden urge to cry and shed tears.

It was as if there was an illusion of being in another world and being reincarnated again, which suddenly came to my mind.

Vlad turned to the guards beside him and ordered:

"Let the girl over there come over here."

The guard first glanced at the chief minister beside Vlad, and after receiving a slight signal from the other party, he turned around and carried out the order.

Vlad saw all this but didn't say much, he just kept it in mind.

He still needs to understand the situation more before he can judge which of these people can be trusted and which need to be eliminated.

It is impossible to judge a person's loyalty and goodness based solely on these trivial details.

"Hi~ Vlad, you're finally back." A moving voice suddenly sounded.

It was Marina who came trotting over, holding up the hem of her rather gorgeous skirt, with a look of unconcealable joy and a hint of some other emotion.

Looking at the girl in front of him with slender figure, fair skin and long golden hair, her hair looked a little messy due to the intense running.

Before she could calm her rapid breathing, Marina gently stroked Vlad's chest with one hand and greeted him warmly.

"Hi, long time no see, Marina."

Vlad jumped off his horse, walked up to Marina, and took a closer look at the now grown-up girl.

Then he hugged the girl tightly in his arms and kissed her forehead.

Marina, blushing at this sudden scene, couldn't help but hit Vlad's chest coquettishly to cover up her embarrassment.

The appearance of this scene caused the residents in the city who were watching around to burst into cheers, and the scene was very lively for a while.

It can be seen that the governance here is quite good, and the civilians are not afraid of the authority of the nobles or the swords of the soldiers.

Vlad observed this and nodded secretly.

"Marina, come with me."

"Yeah~!"

Before Marina could reply, Vlad grabbed her tight and slender waist, and before she could react, he put her on his horse and started heading towards the inner castle palace.

The Minister of Finance Count Messer Lander behind him couldn't help but show some relief when he saw this, because he was Marina's father and also Vlad's uncle.

Seeing these two childhood sweethearts still so close at this moment, I am naturally in a good mood.

"Hey, you only know how to bully me. You did this when you were little, and you're still doing this when you grow up."

Marina blushed and lowered her head, muttering softly, while giving Vlad an elbow to express her condolences.

"Hey, there are so many people here, can't you give me some face?" Vlad covered his chest and pretended to be in pain. "Don't think I don't know your tricks. You always used this trick to scare me when I was a kid, but I didn't fall for it."

Even as she said this, Marina couldn't help but secretly turn her head to look, and she happened to see Vlad's face with a half-smile on it, and she didn't realize that she was being tricked again.

Vlad smiled slightly and whispered in Marina's ear:

"You're still the same as before~ Marina, you knew I was pretending but you still chose to fall for it. You're still so cute."

The two of them were whispering to each other along the way, just like they used to, bickering from time to time, and there was no sign that they hadn't seen each other for years.

It is obvious that even though the two have not seen each other for many years, they still keep their feelings for each other in their hearts, otherwise they would not be the same as before.

At this moment, Vlad undoubtedly felt very relaxed.

"Marina, take them to the palace and settle them down first. I will come to you when the time comes."

The group arrived at the palace, and Vlad gave instructions to Marina.

Then he signaled Mariska and others to follow Marina to settle down first.

Watching the figures leaving, Vlad turned and walked towards the council hall.

"Lord Grantham, you are the chief minister of the interior. Please tell me about the recent affairs in the territory."

Vlad walked towards the throne at the top of the council hall without any hesitation and immediately got into the role.

Looking at the dozens of people below, these people are basically the most powerful ruling class in Wallachia.

After listening for a while, Vlad found that they were all trivial matters and lost interest.

"If it's nothing important, Lord Grantham, you can handle it yourself."

After calling a halt to the old man with sparse blond hair, Vlad looked at his uncle again:
"Count Lander, as the country's finance minister, please tell us what you have to say."

Earl Rand was thin and had golden curly hair. He nodded in greeting and then said:
“This year’s autumn harvest has just passed and the harvest was good. Currently, the five major grain depots are full, enough to supply the city’s 26,000 residents for a year.

In terms of treasury tax revenue, the various taxes and rents collected in the past three quarters of this year have added up to more than 34,000 gold coins, but the royal family and the funeral of the previous old king have also spent more than 16,000 gold coins in the past three quarters, and there is also..."

Hearing this, Vlad interrupted Earl Rand and said, "Earl Rand, just tell me how much money the treasury has now."

Count Rand paused for a moment, then looked into Vlad's deep gaze, perhaps realizing something:
"Your Highness, the treasury now has 73,600 gold coins, more than 100,000 silver coins, and a number of copper coins."

"How can it be so little?" Vlad frowned slightly.

"Your Highness, the annual tribute required by the Ottoman Empire will account for one-third of the total expenditure, so..."

Although he didn't say anything more, Vlad understood.

He waved his hand and asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer to leave first, then looked at the Minister of War, Viscount John.

“Your Highness, there are 3,000 soldiers guarding the city, 2,200 infantry, and 800 cavalry.

There were 500 palace guards, 300 of whom were cavalry.

Five thousand sets of armor, and a number of spears, swords, longbows and other weapons."

This is a sturdy middle-aged man with black curly hair, a beard, and a slightly rough voice.

He spoke simply and clearly, with a military air.

This gave Vlad a very good first impression of him.

This meeting, which was held since Vlad's first return, lasted for two hours, and only gave a general understanding of the specific situation in the kingdom and the familiar faces of the gangsters.

Also tell them by the way, who is the king you need to be loyal to now!

　Please read, collect and vote!

　　Today is the recommendation period! Please support us! Thank you again!

(End of this chapter)