Chapter 220
Stagnant water always rots. When a name acquires authority, parasites bloom beneath its shadow like poisonous mushrooms, each eager to feast on the spoils. That is simply human nature.
The Gennen Society.
Within the imperial regular army, they were now a private clique wielding enormous factional power and influence. Not that they openly traded on Maximilian's name, or brazenly committed corruption by impersonating his prestige.
Yet the mere fact of having participated in the Gennen Suppression Campaign,now a page of history,the mere fact of appearing in military academy textbooks, had handed them a degree of power inside the military that far exceeded what they deserved.
,,You didn't have to do that, child.
Could Maximilian cut off the Gennen Society, a thing that had grown from him? Justine wanted to test his authority even as she meant to check it. For the imperial household. For the Empire.
,,In the end, he is Sebastian's son.
The Emperor's voice filled with a dark weight. Justine sank into deep thought. She wanted to believe in Maximilian, but she knew she could not allow herself to. She understood all too well how feeble a thing "belief" was for someone who would one day stand at the apex of the Empire,how unnecessary, how poisonous a toxin it could become.
,,Even if Maximilian were to corrupt himself and raise a banner of rebellion, he could never overcome Sebastian.