Chapter 30
#30
Lucy stroked her reddened cheeks and said in a coquettish tone.
"Walter."
"Yes."
"Where did you learn to seduce people with such an indifferent face? Don't say you'll kill that bastard because I want to marry you."
"Pardon?"
"Looking like that... really. Get out quickly if you don't want to be pounced on."
Lucy, muttering incomprehensible words, waved her hand and repeatedly chased him away. Walter, who had been sitting with a bewildered face, left the room without knowing what was going on, after being threatened about whether he wanted to be kissed.
Lucy, staring at the place where he had disappeared, pulled the blanket over her head and let out a long, long sigh.
Really, after seeing that crazy Crown Prince, Walter seemed like the most wonderful man in the world.
"The enemy of His Majesty is my enemy, so I will bring you his head."
Seriously, hearing such words.
"Just hearing it makes me full."
She chuckled and touched the corners of her lips. Then, suddenly, she wondered where that almost religious loyalty came from.
Why did he choose me as his king?
Why did he vow to be loyal to me?
The question she had pushed into a corner of her heart grew in size and consumed her mind. Surely, there must be something he really liked that made him defy opposition and recommend her as king....
No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn't find the answer, as always. Lucy, looking at the ceiling, looked back at the blank space on the answer sheet and erased the question without hesitation.
Why bother being curious?
I'll find out someday as I experience it.
"I should think about something else now."
The reality of finding the answer in the place where the question was emptied surfaced.
It took quite a complicated process, but anyway, she succeeded in bringing down Kill.
Since he was a man who reigned as the shadow king among the nobles, Kill's downfall would have a significant ripple effect on the lords.
The next thing is important.
Where there are no tigers, a fox acts like a king, so someone will surely appear to take Kill's place.
Perhaps the candidates are... two people.
Whether her reign will be stable or not depends on how she trains them.
"It's time to set the second trap."
Lucy closed her eyes and carefully unfolded the scheme for the next step in her mind.
At the end of the long branch of thought, the drowsiness that she thought had receded slowly consumed her mind. The already fallen vermilion sunset gently conveyed warmth over her thin eyelids.
Before long, even breathing quietly spread gently in the room where the monologue had disappeared.
⚜ ⚜ ⚜
From a superficial point of view, most people think of war as a fight between swords. However, those who have actually experienced war assert that war is a fight between documents.
Even when establishing a plan, countless documents such as letters of understanding, letters of cooperation, proposals, and directives must be created, and after the war is over, they must spend their days punctuated by repair statements, proposals, apologies, letters of understanding again, follow-up reports, and self-criticism.
As a result, the headquarters was filled with a feast of all kinds of documents, leaving no room to set foot.
Huis, who brought the documents, saw Walter sitting at his desk and silently moving his pen, and stopped moving, thinking that he was a devilish guy for having to put another pile of documents next to him.
"Grand Commandant. Would you like a cup of tea?"
He spoke cautiously, but Walter shook his head firmly, his eyes fixed on the documents.
"It would be a disaster if you spilled it on the documents. Don't worry about it."
Huis, who had been hesitating, put the pile of documents he was holding on the desk. Huis hovered around awkwardly and opened his mouth in a dissatisfied tone.
"Isn't this a bit... unreasonable? It seems like the Grand Commandant is handling the work that the Grand Commandant should be doing."
"It can't be helped. Since Her Majesty has not yet held the coronation ceremony, we cannot appoint new officials. It's not a very difficult task, so don't worry about it."
Just reading the documents piled up on the desk would take three or four days, but he says it's not a difficult task.
He didn't know whether to call him amazing or cruel. Huis frowned, touching his chin.
"When is the real coronation ceremony supposed to take place?"
"She said that it will be held immediately after finishing the disposition of Duke Kill's territory and receiving the oaths of allegiance from the lords. If it's fast, it will probably be next month."
"Speaking of which, what happened to the Duke? Was he executed?"
Walter, who had been looking at the documents all along, raised his head.
He looked at the ceiling with eyes that were hard to tell whether they were good or bad, then shook his head slowly from side to side.
"Godel Kill has been exiled to the temple north of the royal palace."
"...The temple? Is he going to become a monk or something?"
"No. He was assigned as a cleaner."
A cleaner?
Huis stared with a gaping mouth, sending a look that he couldn't understand.
"No, wouldn't it be better to kill him than to do that? How can you reduce the Duke Kill of the world to a cleaner in that old temple? Isn't that too humiliating a punishment?"
"Humiliating? I thought it was an excessively generous punishment for a traitor... You and I have a big difference in opinion."
Huis hardened his expression at the calm voice.
Walter clasped his hands together on the desk. He rested his chin on the back of his hands and continued speaking with an indifferent face.
"I was wondering why Her Majesty made such a decision, but I think it's because there are people like you that she decided to do so. The lords value their face more than their lives. If there is anyone who challenges Her Majesty's authority, they must also be prepared to be reduced to a cleaner in the temple."
The dead are easily glorified because they leave no scandal behind.
If Kill had died, some nobles might have thought of him as a magnanimous man who rebelled against a queen without legitimacy and mourned him.
Perhaps there would be lords who would rise up again, saying that they would uphold his will.
But the fallen cannot become a symbol. Rather, they are only ridiculed as a model of negative example.
The reason Lucy didn't kill him and made him a cleaner was probably a warning to the nobles.
"What happened to the Duke's family? I'm sure you executed them, right?"
"The eldest son has been demoted to a serf. The second son, Atlind Kill, is imprisoned, saying that he will pay for his father's sins. Her Majesty said that she would decide on the treatment of Atlind Kill after the meeting today... I don't know what will happen."
Revenge begets another revenge. Therefore, there is no future trouble in exterminating all the blood relatives of the family who plotted treason.
But Lucy chose another way.
She didn't kill the Duke's successor either, so she probably won't kill Atlind Kill either.
Walter moved his clasped fingers and tapped his finger with his index finger.
Atlinde's face came to mind in the blurry vision.
A one-eyed young man of the same age as himself, with a weak and sensitive impression, completely different from Godel Kill.
What punishment will she give him?
It's almost time for the meeting anyway, so I should escort him to the prison after the meeting. I should ask what kind of punishment she will give him, using the excuse of escorting him.
Walter, recalling the meeting time, suddenly sighed and got up from his seat. He was buried in documents and didn't even know that the meeting time was near.
Walter asked Huis to organize the documents and headed to the next room where Lucy was.
⚜ ⚜ ⚜
The meeting room door opened after a long time.
It had been a full two months since Lucy presented a solution to the epidemic, and two weeks since Duke Kill's rebellion was thwarted.
The nobles' faces were filled with joy and sorrow. The nobles who had secretly supported Duke Kill were wandering around the corridor with gloomy faces, and the nobles who had recovered from their illness thanks to Lucy were admiring the new king's decision and were sitting in their seats early, waiting for her.
Vanessa Rutherford was definitely the latter.
She had not been on good terms with Duke Kill in the first place, and she had saved her daughter's life thanks to Lucy, so the new king was a worthy being to be revered. That's why she readily accepted Lucy's request to gather the lord's people without much hesitation.
Duke Whitten approached Rutherford, who was waiting for the king's entrance with a bright face, and kissed her hand.
"It's been a while, Duke Rutherford. I heard that the eldest young lady has recovered, but how is your health?"
"Yes. Thanks to your concern, she is now getting up and preparing for social activities. The child, who was on her last legs, recovered so quickly, I really don't know what to do with Her Majesty's grace."
"Since you are so impressed, Her Majesty must have proposed to join hands with you. The lord's people are not objects, but how can they be sent and received so easily? Heh heh...."
The smile on Rutherford's lips gradually faded.
She was smiling, but her tone was thorny. He was subtly criticizing the fact that Lucy and Rutherford had joined hands to defend the royal palace.
There was a hint of jealousy and displeasure in his oily tone. Rutherford raised the corners of her lips again and skillfully responded.
"How can I not step forward when she is trying to correct the order? Regardless of whether I support Her Majesty or not, I think I should give that much help to the person who saved my daughter."
"If you think so, I have nothing to say, but I think such an act, with the lives of the lord's people as collateral, deserves to be criticized."
Rutherford flared up at the word criticism and lowered her voice.
"You're saying something interesting. Her Majesty requested cooperation and promised that she would not harm any of the lord's people. Why would I play with the lives of the lord's people? I just trusted Her Majesty."
"To be fooled by such sweet talk, you've become quite lax, haven't you?"
Rutherford's eyes shone even more sharply at the mocking tone.
