Not completely none. Though Oscar spoke with a straight face, a hesitant look of "Is this truly all right?" subtly showed through.
"Speak your mind. If it stays within this room, I will make sure to 'forget' I ever heard it."
"Understood."
Oscar bowed his head once before speaking.
"Unlike the honorary knights, selling off the villas will inflict at least some damage upon the Emperor's dignity."
"Mm."
His response was just as I had anticipated.
Oscar held the concept of the "Emperor" in high regard.
I had fully expected him to raise such a concern.
"I have considered that as well. Among Father's villas, the one in the north that he used until the very end was the largest in scale, was it not?"
"Yes, Sire."
"Then, at the same time as the sale, have plans drawn up to construct a villa larger than that one—let us say, about twice its size. If we do that, we can nominally claim that we have no need for something old and cramped, and are rebuilding a newer, more spacious one."
"Build a new villa? That is... If it is roughly twice the size, disposing of all the villas would still leave us with a net positive, but..."
Oscar showed reluctance.
"You wish to say that if we build a new one when we are selling the others due to financial hardship, the effect—no, the actual revenue—will be cut in half, do you not?"
"Yes, frankly speaking."
"That is why I said plans."
"Eh?"
Oscar went completely blank with bewilderment.
His eyes widened in shock, wondering what on earth I meant.
"Ten years, twenty years—well, it surely will not take thirty. During that time, all we need to do is keep claiming, foreeeever, that it is 'planned.'"
"...Ah!"
Oscar had a sudden realization.
"I-I see! If the scale is that grand, it would only be natural to proceed with extreme caution!"
"Mm, indeed... I am a selfish man. I have not the slightest intention of compromising on a half-baked plan."
I smiled and said so.
I delivered the line with an air of How about that?
I had intended to elicit a laugh from Oscar with that deliberate phrasing, but it had the opposite effect, deepening the look of reverence in his eyes.
"Magnificent, Your Majesty. In that case, after selling off all the existing villas, we can funnel the proceeds into the national treasury."
"How much will it amount to?"
"If it is all of them... five years of the national budget—no!"
Oscar swallowed his words mid-sentence and looked straight at me.
A dead serious face—one I knew well.
It was the expression he often made when he was about to propose something, particularly when it was a delicate suggestion to make.
Having been together for decades, first as brothers and then as sovereign and subject, I had seen that expression countless times.
"With all due respect, Your Majesty, would it be possible for you to stay there once with Her Majesty the Empress before selling it off?"
"I see. If I use it as well, it will add further prestige to it."
I gave a clear nod. "Mm."
"Yes, Sire. Having been favored across two generations by the Late Emperor and yourself, we would be able to add even greater value to it."
"And while we are at it, we can craft a narrative that I was dissatisfied with how cramped it was."
"Precisely as you say."
"If that is the case, I have no reason to refuse."
When I said that, Oscar's expression brightened.
"If so, we can secure up to ten years' worth. I have in mind several merchants who would 'ruin their own houses just to put on airs.'"
"Is that so?"
I nodded.
"Ten years, then... That is just right."
"Just right, you say?"
Oscar tilted his head.
"You know that I have had research and development conducted on rice, correct?"
"Yes, regarding the budget for that matter."
"If rice production increases, the population will also increase. And needless to say, the vast majority of the nation's problems can be resolved if we increase the number of children being born."
"Precisely as you say."
Oscar nodded solemnly.
The foundation of the nation was agriculture, and the Empire was a "nation of warriors."
No matter which perspective one took, the number of children born—in other words, the population—was almost directly linked to national power.
While there had been eras in history where that was not the case, strictly speaking for the Empire, virtually all of the nation's problems could be resolved simply by increasing the number of children born.
"We develop a new strain of rice, and with that rice, the number of people a given area of land can support increases. And from starting now until we see a noticeably larger number of children being born—"
"Will be approximately ten years later..."
Oscar said, and I nodded.
A few years to develop the new rice strain, and a few years for it to spread among the common people.
Then a few more years until people, feeling that their yields—namely, their incomes—have increased and making it easier to support a family, begin having more children.
Roughly speaking, it calculated out to around ten years.
"The Empire has a poll tax. If the number of children increases, the tax revenue will rightfully increase as well."
"Magnificent, Your Majesty!"
Oscar exclaimed, and I nodded.
If we managed the late Emperor's legacy skillfully, it would carry us right up to the point when our projected population growth would take effect.
That prospect seemed immensely reassuring to Oscar.
And seeing him feel that way gave me the confidence to push forward with the plan as well.