Weak

Considering that smart people have commonalities and naturally gravitate towards answers infinitely close to the correct one, Ryan didn’t dwell on it.

What surprised Ryan more was Flora’s keen interest in state affairs.

Of all the noble ladies he had met, none paid attention to such matters; if they did, it was merely to humor a gentleman and they clearly hadn’t researched it deeply.

However, Ryan also detected a hint of something—Flora seemed to have believed rumors and was worried he might go astray.

He wouldn’t mind others, but being doubted by Flora… Ryan felt a little displeased.

“Actually, I’m also steadfastly pushing forward with the canal project,” he said, introducing it as he went along,

“The population near the imperial capital is too dense; it has multiplied several times since the founding of the nation and is projected to continue growing in the future…

Coupled with the convenience for future northern expeditions and considerations for developing the eastern regions, the construction of the canal is imperative…”

The chosen site for Floreland’s imperial capital was next to the Fast Empire’s capital; the former on the south bank of the river, the latter on the north bank.

They had now essentially merged, both falling within the broad definition of the imperial capital.

The Fast Empire, among the seven kingdoms after the dissolution of the Divine Alliance, was located in the eastern borderlands.

Although its capital was slightly toward the east, it was still quite a distance from the prosperous central regions with abundant food supplies.

Transporting grain and materials from there to the imperial capital was quite troublesome by land.

While water transport was convenient, the tributary river near Jarrod’s capital was too shallow for large ships and would freeze in winter.

Therefore, building a new canal connecting the imperial capital to the central regions became an urgent matter.

However, the situation was similar to the Great Wall project: His Majesty approved it, but a large number of nobles and misinformed citizens opposed it, causing very slow progress.

This matter had been spearheaded by Ryan. After Flora’s suggestion that for the national economy to flourish, the populace needed to be wealthier, Ryan suddenly realized why those nobles opposed it.

He adjusted many plans and regulatory methods… at least three days ago, when he concluded his work, the public protests had significantly dwindled.

To put it bluntly, although the masses were easily misled, they were very clear-eyed about what benefited them.

“Your Highness has worked hard.”

Flora said, her heart full of gratitude.

“Mhm.”

Like a child praised by an adult, Ryan’s heart swelled with satisfaction.

At this moment, the students’ excitement had subsided, allowing the teacher to proceed to the next announcement.

“Everyone, please properly experience the various course demonstrations now, and submit your desired courses in a week.”

“Since the knight and magic courses are no longer separate starting from fifth grade, the course schedule is very flexible.

There are only a few compulsory courses, and all others are for students to decide whether or not to take them—this is to assess students’ future planning abilities, and to cultivate their judgment of their own level and their capacity for self-improvement.”

However, what the teacher said afterward was rather routine and uninteresting.

Flora organized her thoughts and informed Ryan of her planned actions.

In a blink of an eye, class dismissed.

“Your Highness, it’s starting.”

Flora reminded him.

“Mhm, good luck”, Ryan said unenthusiastically.

“Let’s cheer each other on!”

Flora quickly left her seat and walked towards the students on the other side.

“Hello, my name is Flora Haggia. May I ask your name?”

Indeed, much like her initial encounter with Ryan while working at the mansion, Flora’s task was to greet people.

The result, well… was pretty much the same as back then.

The person opposite quickly ran away.

Others, however, continued politely talking to someone else or pretended to be busy.

Flora wouldn’t be deterred.

She would continue to greet another person, and then another.

Her ultimate goal wasn’t to greet everyone.

Instead, it was to observe these students.

Flora knew that the Crown Prince was already here.

So, how they responded would reveal their attitude towards the Crown Prince…

The key here was that the Crown Prince could not personally get involved. If he asked a question, even if they secretly disliked him, they would still respond.

But with Flora, they had no such concerns.

Would anyone notice this point?

This would reveal whether these students had cunning, and what actions they would take.

The significance was equally immense.

Flora could not miss these clever people.

As for what she was doing?

She was waiting for someone who might proactively offer goodwill.

Although every school was an enemy… the principle that there were always allies was timeless.

Not to mention opportunists…

Although the first conversation ended without much interaction, later on, they would create better opportunities for these students who dared not approach openly.

Of course, there were also those with courage who did not.

Ryan was rather disappointed by this.

He wasn’t expecting people to openly defect to him now…

He was still aware of this.

Instead, he wished someone would challenge him.

Then he would fiercely punish these guys, striking down the smaller ones and discarding them.

One after another, in a continuous cycle, until everyone submitted…

These were all people who were dissatisfied with him but unwilling to act on it.

How uninteresting.

‘Your Highness Ryan, no matter what, you are the Crown Prince. They wouldn’t dare do such a thing.’

Flora realized Ryan wanted to solve problems purely by force, but things in the world were not as simple as they were in novels.

However, Flora’s situation wasn’t much better. Ninety percent of them seemed old-fashioned, and seventy percent looked like they didn’t want to cause trouble, deliberately acting very busy.

Furthermore, Flora couldn’t directly conclude that.

She didn’t have enough information. Flora had already assumed that those she had interacted with posed no threat.

Before coming to the school, she had naturally obtained a complete list of all students and their background families from Derrick… but she was too busy.

And it was probably difficult to get accurate information afterward.

Moreover, Flora also found it hard to judge this group.

And not only that, there were no photos, and it would likely be difficult to get accurate ones later.

Photos in this world were made with magic.

If a wizard hadn’t seen the person, they couldn’t create a photo.

And among the Crown Prince’s connections, there were no wizards who knew any students from the Royal Academy.

‘Your Highness’s influence is rather weak.’

Flora now understood that if it weren’t for His Majesty’s backing, Ryan’s influence among the upper-class nobles might be quite disadvantaged.

Because of this, even the now-declining Blue Lion family was one of Ryan’s few sources of support—the only student who had been willing to tell Flora her name just now was a knight from a collateral branch of the Blue Lion family.

Clearly, for His Highness Ryan, the Blue Lion family’s assistance was indispensable… both now and in the future.