"Where there is amity, there is prosperity. That is a noble sentiment, Your Excellency. As a member of a financially powerful family, I can confirm that we are indeed versed in economic affairs most excellently. Perhaps we have much to learn from one another in the matters of commerce, but that is as of yet to be determined by the inevitable tides of fate"

"Versed most excellently" was a nice way to put the Charlotte-Imperial's vast economic and political connections. He had never desired to walk the path of business, but, as he was a member of this prestigious house, he certainly knew more than he let on. Whilst he was not involved in it himself, the Charlotte-Imperial family was powerful enough to bribe, manipulate, patronize or doom anyone they wished to. He had heard stories from his siblings and cousins...extortioning or bribing local politicians, spying on rival companies, manipulating elections and the media...you name it. Carl was not fazed by this, as this was the way it has always been, and it shall forever remain so. He only asked to be left out of the action and drama of his family, for he did not wish to live such a life. His dream was to be a diplomat, and gosh darn it he was going to be one.

Carl thought of it all. These monarchs, this Chancellor...how much did they know of their own country's elite? How many strings did they pull? None like the Emperor? Some? Or did they pull them all like the aristocrats of old and the aristocrats of the new age? He could not trust them, for, in a way, he was one of them.

Upon seeing the Legada District, he was reminded of his family. How many business deals were being made there by his own kin, how many crimes were they committing? Were they ordering an assassination today? Despite the ruthless nature of the Ryccian titans of finance, they seldom ordered them, but, for those who were privileged enough to have been born in the wealthiest families of the Empire, they were not unheard of. Whatever they are doing, Carl thought it was best he was not involved in those acts. He did not have the stomach for it, for he wished to live the peaceful life of a civil servant. He had negotiated peaceful resolutions between planets. He had even negotiated with crime organizations and the like. Even that was more serene and clean than what his blood was capable of doing.

He was thinking too much on it all. Looking at the glittering skyscrapers and the beautiful skyline of Daonlathas distracted him from his own mind. Let the trip continue.