The portents of war on the horizon seem to have cleared. Our relations with the Duchy of Pales in the south, chilly at best since the start of my reign, have thawed remarkably quickly. We had had a dispute over an offshore natural gas field, and the Alliance of Nations, disappointingly, ruled against us in arbitration, giving the Duchy full control even though 52% of the field should have belonged to Rizia. But we abide by international law, and rather than behave like a petulant child as the dictator to our northwest is prone to, we abided by the decision.
Thankfully, the Duke was just as handsome as he was a tough negotiator, and the potential internal strife caused by my daughter's pending betrothal to a divisive local duke was averted, as she was instead convinced that perhaps it wouldn't be so bad to marry the most eligible bachelor on the continent - and matrilineally at that. Thus the royal wedding bells have sounded, our southern border is more secure than ever, the alliance of monarchies strengthened, and "Duke Dashing" as the press calls him is already winning over Rizian hearts, including that of Her Royal Highness the Princess of Rizia and Grand Duchess of Pales, Vina Torus. Quite the relief for her father to have found a groom who seems to be accepted by everyone.
Sadly, the dictator to our northwest, "President" Smolak, has again reneged on his agreement to return the lands temporarily given to his realm to administer by my father, the late King Valero, and the Alliance of Nations has been swindled into approving his proposal to decide the fate of the territory by referendum, rather than returning it to Rizian rule, as specified by legally binding documents. As if that dictator would ever administer a fair election. At least our democratic-socialist neighbors in Morella saw through his lies and didn't fall for the "I love democracy!" cries from the most oppressive ruler on the continent.
The people also seem to appreciate my benevolent rule. Increased healthcare and education funding is improving their lives, a new state-of-the-art hospital has opened, and our energy supplies have been strengthened by new hydroelectric dams and a coal mine. Although energy production may have been over-done a bit, as prices are now falling significantly, and the economy is threatening to spill into a recession as well. Still, we have confidence that the Kingdom will weather this, with a gold mine scheduled to open next year that will supplement the treasury handsomely, a thriving shipbuilding sector, and a new small arms factory that will both ensure our own supply and allow the possibility of exports. International reports tell us that we're keeping up in standards of living, and the people seem to recognize that they could hardly choose a better leader than their enlightened King Romus Torus.
Compared to my Sordland play-through, it's going remarkably well. I keep expecting something to implode, but it hasn't. Sure, we keep losing cases in international decision-making venues, but as President of Sordland I was facing almost constant protests in the street of moderate-to-high severity, mostly over my economic mismanagement and ethnic tensions, before a catastrophic military conflict. Here I was expecting the anti-monarchists or ethnic tensions or the quarrels with neighbors to blow up at some point, but thanks to fair rule, a stiff upper lip, prudent economic decisions, diplomatic outreach, and some amount of luck, it hasn't happened.
Yet.
