The Benevolent Boss can't come into work today; perhaps s/he's sick, or attending a conference, or has to undertake some quest that will take her / him away from their regular job for a few days. But the place still needs running, someone still needs to be in charge, and everyone agrees there's only one real candidate to be promoted to the post. They're competent, they're well-liked and sweet-natured, everyone agrees they'll do a good job, they've been waiting for long time to show the boss what they're made of, and besides - it's only for a few days. It's not like anything bad could happen, right?