“She took them off! ” he exclaimed, bursting into the council meeting chambers. “The empress has removed the rose-colored glasses!”

“Prime Minister, I thought you said this wouldn’t happen,” shouted one of the councilmen.

“Yes, the wizard who gave them to me assured me that the euphoria of never seeing the downside of an action was quite addicting. Oh dear.” replied the Prime Minister.

“You mean, she’ll know of everything in the past eight years now?”, queried the Director of Finance.

“Like the civilian spying program? We had convinced her it was to capture evildoers easier!”, quipped the Director of Internal Protection.

“And the collateral casualties of our three ‘liberator’ invasions?”, said the General.

“The eradication of our senior support services?”

“All those plans to ‘optimize’ education to ensure the next generation wasn’t smart enough to unseat us?”

“Oooh, all that and a lot more,” the Prime Minister replied.

“Gentlemen, ” he continued, “We are in trouble!”