The guards all dropped to their knees at once.
Florence Ezlo also scrambled and bowed her waist.
“Glory to the Imperial House. We greet Your Highness the Prince!”
At those words, the people of the Ezlo Domain murmured loudly.
“Th-The Prince?”
“They’re calling him the Prince?”
While most were bewildered, a roughly dressed child lay flat on the ground and cried out.
“P-Prince! Please save our lady!”
Florence, flustered, called to the child.
“Jaekli...!”
But the child began wailing and clutched at the Prince’s trouser leg.
“Our lady is a good person! When my sister fell ill with the plague, she sold her clothes to buy dicine... sob...!”
Then even more people threw themselves down and pleaded.
“Every soul in Ezlo Domain knows the character of Viscount Ezlo and Lady Florence...! In tis of famine she opened her granaries for us, fasted beside us calling als a luxury, and more—!”
“When the barbarians invaded, our lord himself ca out and carried our water buckets!”
“Lady Florence cos into the village every day to check that we lack nothing!”
“What cri could she have committed? And even if she did commit one, it must have been for our sake!”
Watching the people rub their hands together and wail, Florence’s eyes reddened.
“Please, don’t do this. Stand up. I said, stand up. Grandmother, Uncle shu!”
Those of the Imperial House glanced nervously at the Prince.
“What will Your Highness have us do?”
The Prince looked at the sobbing Florence and the prostrate crowd with a strange expression. Then he let out a stifled laugh.
‘This is getting interesting.’
Just then, word spread that the Prince had erged at the gate—and the second- and third-generation mbers of House Astra made their appearance.
The Duke of Astra’s third son, Decons, ca running in a panic.
“What on earth are you lot doing!”
He shouted, and the guards flinched.
“Why haven’t you thrown every one of these ruffians into the Underground Prison?”
Startled, the guards began to move, though so hesitated, unwilling to lay hands on the emaciated peasants.
Loreina cried out sharply.
“Hurry!”
“Yes...!”
The guards began dragging the people of Ezlo Domain away.
The gateway before the gate turned into a battlefield.
The peasants wailed and scread. So resisted, forcing the guards to raise their weapons.
Florence let out a shout that was almost a scream.
“Stop this, please! Don’t attack them!”
She wept in sorrow as she stood before the people.
Then she glared at her own kin, baring her teeth.
“How can you do this? How could you! To treat these people—who traveled so far—like this!”
“What is this?”
Bastina, the Duke’s daughter, glared at Florence.
“How dare you stoop to such cowardly acts—using the peasants to escape punishnt!”
“Cowardly...?”
Florence bit her lip so hard it trembled, and the people cried out.
“Lady Florence did not use us!”
“Yes! We ca of our own accord when we heard the news!”
“You can’t lay a finger on her hair! If you an to kill Lady Florence, kill us all together!”
At that mont, footsteps sounded among the second- and third-generation Astra mbers. Out of the blood-line crowd erged Erilot Astra, a black robe draped over her shoulders.
The peasants looked at Erilot with resolute faces.
The Imperial retinue watched with interest, while the Astran kin all sighed.
Erilot was the one among the direct Astra line who best read the room.
‘They wouldn’t dare harm the people with royalty present.’
‘Public opinion is everything. If I estrange them, it will harm Daymond Jurisdiction.’
‘In the end, Florence Ezlo will walk free exactly as she is.’
Loreina and Liantin frowned in displeasure.
Erilot opened her mouth slowly.
“What are you all doing?”
At that, the guards opened their eyes wide and asked,
“Yes?”
“They’re begging to die with her. As their lord, you should grant their wish.”
“W-What...?”
Not only the peasants but even Florence Ezlo stared at her in shock.
Florence cried out,
“Ah, Your Grace!”
“This is a rebellion that’s reached the point of official enforcent. Summon the direct troops.”
“Your Grace—!!”
Florence rushed to block Erilot’s path.
“Do you really intend to slaughter every one of the hundred or so people of Ezlo Domain?!”
“Astra’s people.”
“...Yes?”
“They’re not Ezlo’s subjects but Astra’s.”
Florence’s pupils narrowed, trembling.
Erilot smiled faintly.
“They took up arms against my orders and staged a protest before the gate. If it’s not a rebellion, then what is it?”
“Arms...?”
Erilot glanced at a man holding a hoe.
“That °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° is rely a farming tool.”
“A hoe is a chunk of iron with a blade.”
“...!”
“Seize them all!”
At Erilot’s fierce command, the guards, who had been hesitating, arrested the peasants. Chaos reigned again before the gate, and Erilot watched impassively.
Envoys of the Imperial House whispered to the Prince,
“Lady Erilot Astra has let the poison spread. None of Astra’s people will now hope for Duke Daymond Astra’s succession.”
The Prince chuckled.
“She’s still just a child.”
“Yes, in these changing tis, public sentint must be prioritized above all.”
“Well, that will be for Astra’s kin to handle. As for us, we can leave with the profit from this affair.”
A cold smile curled on the Prince’s lips.
The next morning.
I sat in the Chamber of Enforcent, munching a sandwich as I activated my Blessing.
Those branch-line fools know nothing... What will happen if they file a formal complaint? Once Duke Astra intervenes, they’ll be powerless.
The people of Ezlo Domain were idiots too...
Han Jihyuk placed tea on the table and asked,
“How’s the situation?”
“The reaction exploded like I ate a sweet potato. It’s good, though—I can see everything that’s happening.”
“What are they saying?”
“It seems the branch lines intend to lodge a formal protest. They’re seizing the chance to curb the main house’s influence.”
“Wasn’t yesterday too extre? You lost all public goodwill.”
“Well, what choice was there when the people clung to the Prince begging for help?”
“You knew the Prince would step in. The Emperor is sensitive to public sentint...”
“Exactly. They’ll use this to justify sanctions against Astra.”
The Emperor established the Public Affairs Bureau.
Of course, the commoners welcod the bureau’s creation. But the nobles risked losing public favor to oppose it vocally. Because,
“The Public Affairs Bureau is a political tool.”
“Yes, Lady. It’s a device for the throne to sanction noble domains, strengthening its own influence.”
“With the people as pretext, no noble house can dare protest. It’s too righteous.”
Han Jihyuk nodded.
I grunted, propping my chin on my hand.
“The response is intense.”
When the news reached the commons, I beca the outright villain. The plaza turned chaotic. A man in the center raised his arm and shouted,
“Let us petition the Public Affairs Bureau to suspend Lady Erilot Astra’s authority!”
“Daymond Jurisdiction’s arrogance knows no bounds! They scream unity with barbarians, yet they purged every retainer for belonging to a conquered house!”
“What has Erilot Astra ever done for this estate!”
“She may have built achievents, but wasn’t it all for personal gain!”
The peasants roared.
“To the Public Affairs Bureau! Let us inform His Majesty of Lady Florence Ezlo’s injustice and protect our hero!”
It wasn’t only in Ezlo Domain. Complaints sprang up in Decons’s domain, Bastina’s domain, Valderic’s—and even in Aunt Basile’s reputedly gentle domain.
“They planned to expel the Ezlo branch before this ss.”
I clicked my tongue. Then a maid burst into my chamber.
“She’s here with a protest letter signed by the entire branch line.”
“They already got the branch’s signatures? Fast.”
I shrugged and picked up the communication stone. The recipient was Aunt Bastina, Chairwoman of the Bureau.
[Things are already chaotic enough. If it’s Bureau business, I’m out—speak with your vice-chair, your brother—]
“Aunt.”
[...What now...]
“Abdicating your chair won’t solve this.”
[Hmph. Worry about your own safety. The Palace will soon punish you.]
“And next will be you.”
[...What?]
“With the bureau established, public sentint wields even greater power. A lord who opposes it will be deposed.”
[...]
“In this estate, you’re the lord least loved by the people.”
[...]
“What do you expect to do?”
“Postpone the committee. Say you’re ill.”
[The branch’ll make more trouble. They’ll think the main house is scared.]
“Let them.”
[...You insolent...?]
“And I’d like so help from the gossip-mongers you unleashed to manipulate opinion.”
I smiled at the stone.
Sorry, Aunt, but I play a different ga in politics. Let show you how dirty a forr villain’s aide can be.
The Underground Prison.
Branch nobles visited Florence Ezlo.
Her father, Connon Ezlo, looked at his daughter with a pained expression.
“Are you all right?”
“I’m fine... but Grandmother Michel... Jaekli...!”
Florence buried her face in her father’s chest and wept.
“How could you treat the poor people that way?!”
One branch noble slapped Florence’s shoulder with a malicious laugh.
“Don’t worry. The protest letter bears every signature of our branch. We’ll have the Bureau’s backing. Now the main house will know our power!”
“And the peasants? They’ll be released too, right?”
Connon Ezlo nodded.
“I’ll make sure of it. You needn’t worry, my dear.”
“All right, Father....”
Just then, the door burst open and Erilot Astra strode in.
The branch nobles recoiled and stared.
Florence ground her teeth and glared at Erilot.
“You’ve made a grave mistake, Lady.”
“Perhaps the foolish father and daughter made it instead.”
“What did you say?!”
“You wouldn’t last a day if you shouted like that. Punishnt has only just begun.”
At those words, another branch noble narrowed his brow.
“Punishnt? We rely requested your suspension. We didn’t ask for Florence’s release. So then....”
Erilot smiled and held up a parchnt.
“The Duke has granted your request. My duties are suspended and all Astra kin powers revoked.”
The branch nobles tittered.
“Tis have changed. You can no longer flaunt your arrogance rely by blood. Lady... or should I now call you Erilot?”
Ha ha ha!
Happy laughter rang out.
Florence Ezlo even smiled in satisfaction.
“I hope you’ve learned your lesson. Never forget that a noble’s foundation is the people.”
“And speaking of which, this is my last official act.”
“My last act?”
“I decree, on behalf of the Prince, that you, Florence Ezlo, depart for the mines.”
“Is this your final revenge for taking my position?”
Erilot smiled.
“This isn’t revenge. My real revenge is having my authority suspended.”
“...Pardon?”
Hands clasped behind her back, Erilot approached Connon Ezlo.
“You were the one who told the people of Ezlo Domain that your daughter was imprisoned here, so they ca running.”
“That’s a misunderstanding.”
Connon’s posture was brazen, but his expression gave him away. ‘He loves the image of a benevolent lord.’
A truly benevolent lord wouldn’t incite the people into danger.
Erilot smiled and nodded.
“Fine. It all went your way after all.”
Florence said,
“Then don’t you dare ignore the people again.”
“? Ignore the people? Hardly. I know their power well.”
“My?”
“That’s why I regretfully had to do it.”
Erilot sighed deeply and withdrew another parchnt: the deed of trade between Prince Salvatore and Erilot.
“I intended, in exchange for doing the Imperial House a favor, to request ownership of the mines that belong to the Prince. They contain a new energy source for the Mag-rail.”
“Ah?”
“The Throne won’t give it up. So I planned another offer.”
“What is that...?”
“A new Mag-rail station. And the planned site was in Ezlo Domain.”
“...!”
Of course it was a lie. What I really sought was the Blessed Land.
‘But what if the people learn this?’
Land prices around a station skyrocket—sotis by multiples.
Erilot smiled.
“I ant to build shops around the Ezlo Domain. Yes, the nearby dukes would have profited too.”
“...!”
“...!!”
See? They’re already flustered.
“But since I’m suspended, the deal with the Prince is off. What a sha.”
“No, soone else could continue the deal...!”
“Read the contract. It’s signed ‘Erilot of House Astra.’ If I lose authority, the contract is null and void.”
Erilot waved her hand with mock regret.
“Now that that’s settled, I’ll be off traveling. What a pity for the people.”
—And so.
News of the Prince’s deal with Erilot Astra spread by gossip-mongers.
The people were stunned.
Especially those in Ezlo Domain and neighboring areas who had expected to be enriched.
“If they build the station...”
“We’ll be rich landowners...”
“So Lady Erilot locked up the people of Ezlo Domain to ensure this deal went through!”
Even the peasants who once professed love for Ezlo Domain lost their words.
“Oh dear, what has Lady Florence done...”
“She nearly interfered with the Prince’s deal and got reported to the Bureau!”
“How foolish...!!”
Now the peasants’ hostile gazes turned to Ezlo Castle.
The tables have turned.
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