224. Deputy Attendance (7)
The voice of the majority has power that cannot be ignored. The people are the majority.
Leaders inevitably have no choice but to look at the people’s opinions. Even if they acted as they wanted, they would subside when a large number of people gathered together and raised a strong voice. There are countless precedents of people who failed to do so and ended up falling to a miserable end due to the angry public sentiment.
In other words, if you capture the public sentiment of a kingdom, it would not be impossible to control the kingdom itself.
“It was only possible because Your Majesty was a saint, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to use this method either.”
The person who made the people of a country that was a vassal country but had its own monarch to praise the king of the Mountain Kingdom smiled brightly.
The King of the Mountain Country, who was listening, laughed softly.
“You speak sweetly for once. People with abilities usually have different personalities, but you are very versatile.”
“Thank you for a good look.”
“It is truly a pity and a waste that someone as talented as you would become obsessed with love.”
“….”
Saerin closed her mouth. King Yeonhwa of the Mountain Kingdom stood up and approached her.
Yeonhwa extends her hand to the person who is silent even at a close distance. His fingertips lightly lifted his lowered head as if he was happy.
She asked, looking straight into his trembling eyes.
“Are there still any changes to that thought?”
“….”
“This is a man who didn’t look at you until the end. Just having the will to take revenge is too much.”
“…majesty.”
“Oh, of course, I’m not stopping you from taking revenge. “I just want to ask what it would be like for a man like that to completely forget about revenge and continue to work for the human world and the mountain kingdom together with Gwain.”
“sorry.”
The shaking eyes hardened.
Before first proving her abilities and working under the king, Saerin made her intentions clear to her potential superior.
[My goal is to kill Deonhardt.]
[That is natural in the current situation…]
[No, that is not what I meant.]
[….]
Even though a commoner dared to interrupt the king, the king of the mountain country didn’t say anything. I couldn’t do that.
Because the eyes we met were filled with despair and were swirling around as if we had lost the world.
I knew it right away. You lost someone precious. I lost it at the hands of none other than Deonhardt.
[I wish for the death of Deon Hardt, not in a vague sense, but sincerely, for very personal reasons. Once his death is confirmed, I will leave regardless of whether the war against the Demon World is over or not.]
[….]
[I will reveal this to Your Highness in advance to avoid a sudden separation in the future. Also, I ask Your Majesty to understand and acknowledge that my number one priority is revenge… I earnestly ask.]
He looked as if he would leave immediately if he said he would not understand.
The king immediately calculated in his head. Is it really beneficial to accept it? Which is greater: gain or loss?
Her advice as a trickster will be in the direction of killing Deonhardt. He’ll probably give you advice in a way that will help you take his head, even if it means taking some damage.
This is a person who will give out advice that contains personal feelings in certain situations. Is your ability good enough to be hired even at the cost of such losses?
[…good night. I understand.]
There was nothing to think about.
[I will not interfere with your revenge as long as the damage to Jim is not too great.]
Unfortunately, Shanguo is lacking in human resources.
A country that relies on one king. Saerin’s appearance was very welcome news to Yeonhwa, who was having a hard time keeping her eyes focused on many things at the same time.
What’s wrong with making Deon Hardt’s death a top priority? Since he has to be killed anyway, it’s not that big of a loss. Rather, it can be seen as a benefit since he will faithfully help him until he dies.
Leaving after revenge? That’s something you just have to go and persuade them at that time. There is plenty of time until then, so it will be enough to seduce her whenever she can.
Returning to reality, Yeonhwa saw Saerin. A bitter smile that was completely different from what she expected and perhaps was already expected greeted her.
“I know that from your highness’s perspective, he will be seen as a terrible person who is not worth dealing with. I understand. Because in reality he is a bad person. It would be even more so since this incident has clearly condemned him as a scum of the human race. but.”
“….”
“A person’s heart doesn’t always work out the way you think.”
Even if he knows my heart and openly uses it, even if he does something that is cruel to anyone, Saerin continues to love the man who first recognized her worth.
It was of the blind kind, like a bird just hatched from an egg, recognizing the first object it sees as its mother and following it.
“For me, it is a long way off to find a new owner to follow. “I have one master.”
If someone sees you loving a piece of trash called the Duke and working for him, you too will be tied to the same piece of trash. I know very well that I will be criticized along with the Duke.
It’s okay though.
The duke is a great man who cannot go to good places, so in order to meet him, I have no choice but to fall to where he is.
To love a crazy person, you have to be crazy together, and to love trash, you have to be trash together. In that sense, Saerin was already trash.
“So you gave up before you got even more tired….”
“Saying that makes me burn even more. Isn’t there a shortage of fruit and wine? There is still a lot of time left before you leave, and there is a saying in the South that there is no tree that cannot be struck ten times, so you never know.”
“People are not trees…”
Yeonhwa turned her head away, pretending not to hear the hesitant answer. She also had her own reasons for not giving up.
The alliance with Rweche is broken and the empire is in no position to support the Shan State. What can young people who are too busy taking care of themselves do? Since the re-alliance with the empire was purely out of respect for the previous emperor’s will, Yeonhwa, who had no particular expectations from the empire, was in a situation where she had to survive with only the power of the kingdom.
Therefore, in a position where she had to attract at least one more talented person, there was no way she would give up on Saerin easily.
Naturally, I changed the topic.
“Rather than that… is it okay that the attempt to improve the duke’s image backfired and led to disastrous results?”
“…Do you want an honest answer?”
“Oh my.”
That was enough of an answer. Yeonhwa closed her mouth and lightly comforted her shoulder.
Saerin bit her lip.
The Duke’s name, which he had tried to elevate to nobility, was mired in the mud. We are in a situation like Deon Hart, or even worse, and are being bitten at will.
‘If only I hadn’t made such a useless attempt.’
At least he could have been buried with the death of an ordinary nobleman.
I have ruined the one I love with my own hands. There was no way it was okay.
‘I even heard that bad rumors about the duke are spreading recently…’
Sigh.
She ended up burying her face in her hands.
***
Paul, who went out on a whim but gained nothing and was completely broken by being swayed by his opponent’s wishes, stayed in his office and brooded over his bitter defeat.
And then I realized.
“You were waiting for me to intervene.”
Dan was waiting for Paul to invade.
In order to reveal the duke’s sin, relieve Deonhart of his injustice, and further use it as a weapon of attack. Perhaps it was no coincidence that I knew in advance that the screen would appear.
Even that wasn’t all.
Paul, who heard raw rumors from the lowest places, was able to hear the rumors that slowly began to spread not long after the war of words ended.
‘They say the duke didn’t just kill Cruel Hart, he played with his head.’
‘I heard they attached a bomb to a person’s body and detonated it.’
‘I heard there was a contract with the devil.’
It’s still only in the early stages of the rumor spreading, so not many people know about it… but
it wasn’t difficult to guess the source. It must be Dan.
Cunningly, those who could present evidence were attacked in front of everyone through the screen, and those that could not be confirmed as facts due to lack of evidence or difficult to present were spread as rumors.
“Whenever you attack someone fairly with incitement and fabrication, you cowardly prepare evidence and rush at them.”
It is cowardly just to stand in front of the screen holding the truth, but it is doubly cowardly to have used propaganda and fabrication before and after that.
Paul, who had been thoroughly exploited, thought as he clenched his fists in defeat and anger.
‘If this happens, I will completely interfere with it.’
This applies to the Demon King and other demons, but especially Deon Hart and Dan will never achieve what they wish for.
***
The first thing the current Emperor of the Empire, Elpidius Dessert, saw on the screen was Deon Hart, who was sitting in the corner rather than on the platform in front.
He could hear the former princess Alethea, now the emperor, hurriedly sending someone to the top of the den, but he ground his teeth when he saw Deonhardt’s attire.
“Are you mocking the empire?”
A black uniform with gold thread embroidery that appears to be a color reversal of the uniforms worn in the Empire.
Elpidius took it as a provocation against the empire and was quietly angry, but when it was revealed that Deonhardt was a hero, Elpidius clenched his fist in a different way. Alethea, who had been watching next to him after giving the command, quietly lowered her eyes.
The target of revenge is a hero. Silence fell between the two royal families as a result of overcoming rare odds.
Prime Minister Ardal, who was doing paperwork nearby, saw this and raised an eyebrow.
I feel like something that had been difficult to understand before has become clearer with this. His eyes sank with suspicion.
“Your Majesty the Crown Prince.”
“….”
“….”
The two royals belatedly came to their senses and adjusted their expressions. That sight aggravated his suspicions even more, and Ardal’s face distorted.
Still, I guess I’ll have to check it out myself just in case. I opened my mouth slowly, hoping that it was a misunderstanding.
“I’ve been curious about this for a while…”
“….”
“Are you really… correct that you are working for the empire?”
“…You are stating the obvious.”
“Oh, I asked the wrong question. “Is it true that you two prioritize the empire over revenge?”
“….”
A heavy silence fell.
Elpidius and Aletea make eye contact and then look at Ardal. A slow voice continued, as if he was choosing his words carefully.
“If we had to be honest, we could say that he was pursuing both revenge and the empire.”
“Are you serious? “You both know that’s impossible.”
“….”
“As long as the two of you are the Emperor and Crown Prince, revenge and the safety of the empire cannot coexist. In order to get revenge, you have to give up the empire, and in order to get revenge, you have to give up revenge. So, let me ask you again.”
“….”
“Which do you give priority to, revenge or empire?”
It’s also persistent.
Alethea sighs. Elpidius quietly looked at Ardal.
I understand that Ardal, like the former general Nemeseus, is a commoner hired directly by his uncle. So, I know that I am as inflexible as I am capable.
“You… put the empire first.”
Instead of answering, I started off with another word.
Ardal frowns slightly. Elpidius continued speaking regardless.
“I know you put the Empire before yourself. So, at that time… when the Demon King’s army invaded the former capital, I also know that if the Emperor had escaped without anyone remaining, he would have personally dragged him down, cut off his head, and hung him up. “You are a human being who can do that.”
You make the country look like that and then you step out to live?
Since he cannot even take responsibility for what he has done, from Ardal’s point of view, he becomes a human being who does not deserve to be emperor and deserves to die.
“…You know me well.”
“It also includes the identification of talent to be used in the handover received from the Emperor. “You can’t swing the weapon in your hand without knowing what it is.”
Even though the Emperor knew this, he kept him by his side.
Because he is one of the few people who will kill him if he goes astray.
But Elpidius is different from Edoardo. What he needs is someone who pushes him, not someone who blocks him. A person who arrogantly considers the wrongs and wrongs of the path he is taking only becomes a hindrance.
If things continue like this, there will probably be a lot of conflict with the Prime Minister. That’s why I ask.
“If Jim answers that revenge is more important than the empire, will you take him down?”
