The President went to a small stage at the end of the palace hall where there was a microphone attached to a stick.
He tapped the microphone a few times to ensure that it was okay.
The sound from his tapping spread out into the hall so that people looked more serious.
From the moment he arrived on stage, the live inside this palace started so that people elsewhere could watch via tv.
"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen," said the President in a voice that was still very clear.
Despite his age, he still looked so dignified that people felt subservient to him.
"Today, as you all know, we will be swearing in Mrs. Isabel to be the new minister of the Ministry of the Interior. However, sadly we can't see the old minister because last night he suddenly had to go to the hospital and is now undergoing treatment. Although there is no serious threat, he cannot leave the hospital for the time being."
His words made people look around and realize that the old Minister of the Interior was absent.
Now people are getting convinced about this change. Some think that this should have been done a long time ago.
The problem is that influence is necessary to be a minister. Before this, although Isabel had been very influential, it was not enough to hold a ministerial position.
She also didn't have a background as a supporter in the first place.
"Uhmm, well, let's get started," the President continued while looking at Isabel.
"Mrs. Isabel, please come forward!" He pointed his hand towards the direction right in front of the stage where another microphone was standing.
Isabel nodded with a faint smile and took a step, looking calm and confident.
She stared at an area where there were several people gathered. They were all ministers from other ministries, and after being sworn in, Isabel would practically join them.
Some of them might not like her.
When she gazed at them, there were those who turned their gaze in another direction.
Of course, some were her friends, so they smiled at each other.
Quickly, Isabel arrived in front of the microphone.
"Greetings Mr. President," she said, addressing the old man.
The President answered with a few questions. "Mrs. Isabel, you know that today you will be sworn in as Minister of the Interior. My question and probably everyone's question is are you ready for that? Are you ready to work fully for the country and the people? Are you ready to accept punishment if you make a fatal mistake?"
These questions were just formalities that always came up in every inauguration. Isabel has been through this many times and as a true politician with great ideals, she unhesitatingly replied, "I am ready for all that, Mr. President!"
Her tone was so firm that some military generals thought that she seemed more convincing than they were.
The President nodded before saying, "well, mark my words! I swear in the name of God Almighty that I will do my best and prioritize my work as a servant of the country above all else..."
"I swear in the name of God Almighty that I will do my best and prioritize my work as a servant of the country above all else..."
Isabel followed the President's words smoothly without a single word left out or difficult for her mouth to pronounce.
This reassured people that she was indeed serious and determined. Sometimes some people cannot swear fluently even if they have good public speaking skills.
After finishing the oath, the President invited Isabel to go to the side table to sign the document.
She did so quickly without any problems.
Now, she was basically officially a minister.
The other ministers approached her and congratulated her.
Now, she'll probably be sent straight to her office.
Of course, this is a democratic government. Officials couldn't leave their workplace for too long or have a small celebration party at the palace.
If they do that, some groups of people might come to demonstrate.
At the palace, they only meet the President or attend formal events like this inauguration.
Isabel chatted with some ministers for a while and then with the President before returning to Arthur and Carla while the others began to leave the palace to return to their respective workplaces.
"I'm going to the Ministry of Interior office now, you can come with me or go straight back," Isabel told them.
Actually, bringing the family to her office as a minister might not look too good for Isabel as it might make some people say bad things.
Arthur wasn't keen on going there either because it was too crowded and he would definitely attract too much attention, so he replied, "aunt, I'll just go straight home."
Perhaps, if he wanted to visit Isabel, he would come secretly.
Hearing his decision, Carla made the same decision.
"Mom, I might as well go to Vera today, after all, the graduation ceremony is only a few two days away," she said.
Without attending the graduation ceremony, they had not officially graduated. Although things could be taken care of, given Carla's high regard for education, there was no way she was missing out on that.
Isabel did not object to Carla's wishes while Arthur who still had business to attend to decided to go to Vera tomorrow.
Right now he still wanted to examine the corpse of the mysterious creature first.
A while later, Arthur met up with Linda again on a certain street in the city.
Today, the woman was wearing long pants and a shirt, looking relaxed. Probably because she felt more comfortable after making love with Arthur last night.
When Arthur entered her car, she said, "You really left without telling me, how did you leave?"
She seemed to be confused about waking up and not finding Arthur beside her.
"Just leaving casually, you slept too much, so you didn't realize," Arthur replied.
Linda seemed unsure of his answer, but she didn't seem to think much of it either.
After that, she laughed softly as she said, "how does it feel to come to the palace, it must be really fun there, right?"
When she said that, she seemed mesmerized, which was very strange. Arthur guessed that this woman was fantasizing about being the main character in the palace.
"There's nothing fun there," Arthur replied, shaking his head. "You'll just meet a bunch of people with vague personalities. They all look alike, like nice people. Well maybe similar to you in public."
The point of Arthur's words was that all he saw in the palace were people who continued to pretend to be like how Linda was in normal days when she met people.
Linda smiled wryly when she heard that because she felt like Arthur was mocking her too.
She chose not to say anything now and drove towards Mark's office.
It didn't take them long to get there.
Mark happened to have just arrived as well. He was still in the parking lot so they met right away.
Seeing Linda's car, it was impossible for Mark to enter his office now, so he waited for Linda to get off.
As he guessed, he saw Arthur getting off with Linda.
Despite his earlier doubts, he quickly smiled when he saw him.
"Mr. Arthur, I didn't expect that you are Mrs. Isabel's nephew, no wonder I've always felt that you are wonderful," he said in a very friendly tone.
Now he believed that Arthur's money was from Amanda who was his girlfriend. After all, the latter's business was booming right now. Her wealth had increased drastically.
Giving her boyfriend a hundred million was no problem at all although Mark was also not quite sure how Amanda became Arthur's girlfriend.
He felt that Amanda was probably mesmerized by Arthur's looks to the point of being blind that she wanted to have him above all else.
Given that she was already very rich, she would no longer worry about money from a man so what she was looking for was a man who could completely make her happy.
Plus, Arthur's background would guarantee her to be part of a great power that no other businessman would dare to provoke.
Before Arthur could say anything, Mark continued, "Mr. Arthur, would you like to go to the house you bought. It's occupied now, we can head there."
Arthur's purpose for coming here was just that house, so he nodded.
"Okay, let's just go there now," he replied.
"Mm, you can follow my car." Mark nodded before getting into his car while Arthur went back to Linda's car with the woman.
As she followed Mark's car, she asked Arthur, "Are you going to stay in the house later?"
Actually she wasn't sure that Arthur would live in the house, so she was curious about the reason she bought it.
"I don't know," Arthur replied with an expression that looked like he really wasn't sure, leaving Linda even more confused.
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