Mr. Pantalone has no crazy plans today.

Piero reported his decision made in the council to the Queen and waited quietly for her reply.

“You did very well, Piero.”

After a long silence, the Queen spoke softly.

“But you don’t have to think from my perspective entirely. I know you’re obsessed with the destruction of Kanria. If there are any plans or ideas that can help you, then go ahead and do them.”

The Queen's voice was cold and indifferent, but Piero could hear a hint of tenderness hidden beneath that indifference.

The Queen understood the Fool's pain and gave this answer.

This is precisely where the Queen's gentleness lies.

The Fool's eyes flickered slightly, and after a long silence, he spoke softly.

“It’s alright. I’ve long been prepared to give everything for Winter. Let the past be buried in the dust of history. This is my answer as a clumsy fool.”

The Queen's voice held a slight sigh, but she granted Piero's request.

"In that case, do it your way."

Chapter 16 Lord Pantalone is truly a gentle man

After the executive meeting concluded.

Under the demands of the "clown," Pantalone's performance and KPIs were raised again, forcing him into a quagmire of overtime work.

He pondered how to submit a satisfactory plan to the "clown" so that he could achieve his goal.

But such a plan is not so easy to come up with, which greatly affected Pantalone during the period after the executive meeting, causing him to sleep and eat poorly.

It can be said that for a considerable period of time, he was unusually depressed.

He was listless when handling official business, often daydreaming.

When listening to reports from his foolish civil servants, he would often fall into a long daze, sometimes not reacting for more than ten minutes at a time.

This caused a surge in the workload of Pantalone's clerical staff, leaving them feeling overwhelmed and miserable.

Pantalone, still handling official business, once again drifted into a daze, lost in thought.

This caused the two Fools civil servants who had come to report to Pantalone today to look at Pantalone in this state and begin to whisper among themselves.

"What's wrong with Master Pantalone lately?"

"Perhaps... Master Pantalone is conceiving some incredible, grand plan?"

"An incredible, grand plan?"

"Yes, after all, he is the wise Lord Pantalone. He must be thinking about such important things all the time, which is why he gets distracted every time."

"After all, these reports and official business can be postponed. As the saying goes, overtime is like water in a sponge; you can always squeeze it out. But Mr. Pantalone's plans must be extremely important. Compared to that, what do these official business matters?"

"I see. As expected of the wise Lord Pantalone, he works hard for the Fools even while eating and sleeping. Lord Pantalone is truly too hardworking."

"Indeed, with Mr. Pantalone working so hard, we should also put in a lot more effort."

Just as the two Fools were discussing this matter, Pantalone, after being in a daze for an unknown period of time, suddenly woke up with a start.

This made him realize that he had started spacing out again.

"No! I have to find a way to get this done quickly and hand it in, otherwise my life will become a complete mess if this continues!"

"I have to think of a way. Is there any way I can get a ready-made, free plan?"

He suddenly remembered when he first approached Arecino, she had given him the cold shoulder and told him to go find someone else. This made his eyes light up.

Yup!

He doesn't need to think about it all by himself!

He could easily ask other people; maybe he'd get some ideas from them.

Having realized this, Pantalone suddenly stood up from his desk, startling the two Fools civil servants who had been whispering among themselves.

The two Fools, startled, thought Pantalone had overheard their whispers.

At that moment, Pantalone suddenly realized that he might have been a little too impulsive.

Just as he was thinking about how to reply to the two foolish civil servants, he realized that there were two people right in front of him. He could ask them what they thought, and maybe they could give him some inspiration.

However, he certainly couldn't directly ask, "Do you have any plans to defy the laws of nature that I can use to explain to Piero?" After all, given his status, asking such a question would not only make him look inferior, but it would also make him appear incompetent if word got out.

So if he really does ask something, it's best to come up with a cover-up.

Pantalone pondered for a moment, carefully organizing his thoughts before slowly speaking.

"Suppose, I mean suppose, suppose you were the administrators of a small village, and you knew that a terrible disaster was about to strike in a few months, a disaster that was destined to happen and could not be prevented."

Furthermore, other villages will not offer you assistance, and you cannot force the people of this village to leave. So, what do you think is the best course of action to deal with this unknown disaster?

The two were taken aback by Pantalone's question.

They couldn't understand why the wise Lord Pantalone would suddenly ask them such a strange question.

However, they still answered Pantalone's question honestly.