In canon he is a civil servant sworn to serve Queen and Country. He is part of a very small elite group of civil servants who managed the gigantic machine of the empire to run (more or less) smoothly. Perhaps he do it because he was raised for that special role from the beginning (family tradition) or because someone in the Royal Family had earned his personal respect and devotion. For the sake of this prompt, think of Cardinal Richelieu without the official title but more or less same scope of influence. Guardian of the empire but underneath the metaphorical armour he is still a man.