He assumed office on November 7, 1912, but, as he later confessed, official records were modified to make it seem that he had been a civil servant since October 29. His time in office is described by critic Barbu Cioculescu as a bland affair, Mateiu having "ehausted his fantasy" with his efforts to charm Bădărău. As Caragiale later recounted, he led talks with a delegation from the Kingdom of Serbia involving the initiative to build a bridge over the Danube to link the two states. In 1913, he became a Knight of the Romanian Order of the Crown ("Coroana României"), received the Russian Empire's Order of St. Anna 2nd Class. He was also awarded the "Bene Merenti" and "Bărbăție și credință" Romanian medals 1st Class. In 1913, Caragiale wrote the story "Remember", while continuing his contributions to "Viața Românească". Although his office was owed to Conservative-Democratic politics, Caragiale was still close to Bogdan-Pitești, whose daily newspaper "Seara" repeatedly published articles claiming to expose Take Ionescu's faction and often focused such attacks on Bădărău. His employment eventually ended on January 17, 1914, as the National Liberal cabinet of Ion I. C. Brătianu came to power. According to Ion Vianu, Caragiale was right in assuming that his marginal involvement in the political intrigues had made him a target for Bădărău's adversity.