Chapter 132
Chapter 132: The Hot-Headed Big Bro Enters the Chat
***
The voices outside the courtyard grew closer and closer.
Victoria's face turned cold as she glanced at Bart for a moment, then said to Lecter, "Keep them outside."
Lecter lowered his head in acknowledgment, turned, and walked toward the door.
He reached into a cloth pouch at his waist and pulled out something shaped a bit like a bird, it looked like some kind of whistle, and pressed it between his lips the moment he stepped outside.
Two clear, melodic warbler cries rang out, one short and one long. Immediately after, the sound of a gentle wind passed by the window.
Someone came tumbling down from the rooftop with a rustle, judging by the sound, at least 3 people. Ghostly silhouettes flickered past the window and vanished in an instant, moving fast, yet I still caught a glimpse of the gleaming Sword Emblems on their shoulders.
Something inside me sneered.
All that talk about "the Sword of Kanri aren't anyone's bodyguards, they are warriors of Isenbell"... tch. Hypocrite politicians.
A commotion broke out outside right away.
"Her Majesty the Queen is in the middle of an important discussion. You may not enter."
"What is the meaning of this?!"
"Sword of Kanri! How dare you obstruct the royal family! Have you thrown away your warrior's honor and duty altogether?!"
"Move aside!"
"We are following orders. My apologies, Your Highness." That was Lecter's voice.
"Damn you... you have no right to do this! Even your very own Queen has to call me uncle with the utmost respect when she sees me!"
"Vicky—!" A woman's voice called out, shrill and grating. "Let us in! Your aunt has something to say to you!"
Inside the mansion, Victoria's face remained perfectly calm, completely unmoved.
Bart's lowered face was buried in shadow, I could just barely make out the slight upward curve of his lips.
"Your Majesty..." he weighed his words carefully, then said, "Over these past years, it's true that resentment has been building among the common folk in the lower districts of Isenbell, and I understand your urgent desire to change the current state of affairs. But resorting to such aggressive measures will turn what was originally a simple matter into something far more complicated. You see, the Clive family, the nobles who have devoted themselves to serving Isenbell, your uncle, your aunt, the other members of the royal family, even your own mother... all of our interests are bound together. So why do something like this... that makes everyone unhappy?"
He said all of this in a deeply earnest tone, every bit the elder lecturing a junior.
"You are still young. There are many things you do not yet understand, and making mistakes is perfectly normal, we can all appreciate that. But this matter... it truly cannot be handled this way. It puts all of us in a very difficult position. Your uncle, your mother, and the other nobles of the royal family, they have always discussed affairs directly with the Finance Minister. But the treasury manager decree effectively strips the Finance Minister of his authority to release funds, and that is genuinely troublesome... If it actually gets implemented, the one who will be most put out is you, Your Majesty. You are an intelligent person, surely you understand this. Don't you?"
Bart poured out his earnest persuasions, and Victoria simply listened in silence. Only after he had finished did she nod with a look of apparent sincerity.
"I suppose you have a point."
She extended her left hand, palm open, holding her slender pale fingers flat before her eyes as though admiring some rare treasure, turning them over and back again.
After a good while, she finally spoke: "But the royal city treasury is running tight right now. The remaining Kanri coins are under 10 million, and for all its outward appearance of prosperity, Isenbell is buried in debt. Just the annual interest on what's owed to the bank alone runs to a million... Commander Bart, what do you suggest we do?"
It seemed Victoria was willing to give a little ground.
Hearing her say that, Bart got so excited he forgot his manners and jerked his head up abruptly.
"Your Majesty, if you're willing to hear me out, I actually have a good solution."
"Go on."
I furrowed my brow and shifted my gaze to Victoria's flawless profile.
She naturally paid me no attention.
Bart's voice reached my ears, full of confidence: "Actually... this problem is easy to solve. Your Majesty, think about it. For decades, ever since the War of the Roses, Isenbell has been at peace. No war, no suffering, not even the monsters from the Abyss have ever reached this side. The people have lived comfortable lives, perhaps a little too comfortable."
"But those are just commoners. Once commoners get too comfortable, they inevitably start getting ideas of their own. And if they get ideas, they become trouble for us, we can't allow that. So the simplest fix is to raise their taxes, find every possible way to increase the burden on their daily lives, and give them no time to breathe. That way, the commoners naturally won't have the headspace to think about all that nonsense, they'll have no choice but to keep their heads down and work. And with more tax revenue, the stockpile in the royal city treasury will naturally grow... doesn't that solve the problem right there? What do you think, Your Majesty?"
Bart looked at Victoria, his eyes full of anticipation.
"Mm."
Victoria responded with a light sound, her manner appearing almost indifferent.
Unable to read the young queen's thoughts, Bart considered for a moment and pressed on. "This would also be a good thing for the royal city's future development, beneficial for all of us. It not only solves the kingdom's financial strain, but also effectively suppresses the commoners from doing anything foolish. A classic two-birds-one-stone solution, a perfect plan, really! So why wouldn't we do it? Right, Your Majesty?"
Victoria fell silent for a moment... then slowly nodded.
"That doesn't sound bad," she said.
My eyes went wide, staring at her in complete disbelief.
Victoria's expression didn't ripple. Those stunning golden eyes were absolutely still.
"You didn't come up with this yourself, did you." She asked quietly, like a puppet with no emotion at all.
"Haha!" Bart let out a dry laugh at that. "I don't have that kind of mind... To be honest with you, this was actually the result of a joint discussion between Duke Rexus and your mother."
"Is that so..."
Victoria tilted her head slightly upward, and her soft golden hair slid from her shoulder with the movement, fanning out in loose strands across the sofa.
Her gaze grew distant, as though veiled in a layer of fog, and then she murmured almost to herself: "Where there is oppression, there is resistance... if they raised the blades in their hands... what would we do then?"
"Your Majesty, you're giving the commoners far too much credit. Resistance? Do they dare?" Bart waved it off without a care and said with a smile, "They wouldn't dare. They've lived in comfort for too long, the commoners have long forgotten how to hold a blade. But our Iron Guard are strong and well-equipped. If we really ran into some fool who didn't know better, it would just be a matter of killing a few people... Honestly, I'd welcome that kind of situation sooner rather than later. Kill enough of them, and the rest will fall in line."
"Your Majesty, you must understand, we... you are the one who sets the rules of the game. You are a noble existence. And they are nothing but lowly commoners. Whatever we give them, they have to take it."
As he said this, Bart turned his gaze toward me.
"I'm sure this distinguished young lady understands the joy of it too, doesn't she?"
...He seemed almost cheerfully teasing me.
He probably figured that since I was royalty from the Valen Empire, I would naturally share his worldview.
Nobility exploiting the commoners. The natural order of things, right?
Go screw yourself.
I could put up with you smashing my front gate. I could put up with you dirtying my carpet. I could put up with you bringing a whole crowd of your kind to make a scene in my courtyard.
Those were small things. I'm not from Isenbell, I don't particularly want to get tangled up in their affairs.
But right now, I want to hit someone.
Some people, simply because they were born into privilege, think themselves superior to everyone else, treating people like livestock to trample at will while they sit back and reap the rewards.
Suppressing the anger burning in my chest, I turned my gaze once again to the ice-cold beauty sitting to the side, her face completely expressionless.
"Victoria." I called her name softly.
I wanted to see shock on her face. Fury. Or disbelief.
I didn't see any of it.
Victoria was calm, still that composed, inscrutable look, giving nothing away about what she was truly thinking.
The sounds of the argument outside grew louder.
I was getting irritated, starting to weigh whether to politely ask them to leave or just go ahead and make my point the hard way. Right then, Victoria spoke again.
"The people outside, let them in."
Bart's expression lit up with joy. "Yes! Your Majesty!"
He strode out the door. The spacious living room now had only the two of us left.
Victoria picked up her wine glass again. This time she didn't take a small sip like before, she tilted her head back and drained the remaining wine in one go.
"Victoria." I said to her, face cold. "I have no right... to interfere in anything. And I understand... the position you're in."
"But if you give in, I'll lose all respect for you."
Victoria simply gave me a light glance and said nothing in reply.
Not long after, Bart led several lavishly dressed people inside. The moment they walked in, the portly middle-aged man at the front started hollering.
"Vicky, you sure know how to put on airs! Keeping your uncle standing outside for so long, what's the meaning of that, huh? What is your problem?!"
The noblewoman walking beside him quickly tried to soothe him. "Will you keep it down..."
The middle-aged man showed no sign of reining it in. He strutted in with that big belly of his, shouting across the room at us the whole way. "A Queen who acts recklessly on a whim! What good does angering the Clive family do for our royal house?! Revoke the decree, right now!"
"Your Highness, please calm down." Bart jumped in to smooth things over. "I believe after our little conversation just now, Her Majesty has already come to understand where things stand, isn't that right? Young people make mistakes sometimes, just like her father, the late king we all respected. That's alright, as long as you can correct it, that's what matters... Your Majesty, why don't you have another word with your uncle?"
Victoria set down her wine glass.
"There's nothing to talk about."
Her expression frosted over. She rose from her seat and took two steps toward Bart.
"Your Majesty, you—"
Before he could finish, Victoria grabbed him by the chest plate.
Riiip—
That slender, delicate fist, carrying a shriek of splitting wind, slammed into Bart's stunned face before the eyes of everyone in the room.
BOOM!
CRASH—!
A violent wind swept through and overturned the tea table and chairs. Everyone's hair, Lecter included, flew into wild chaos all at once, the flesh on their faces rippling from the shockwave.
Crack.
The sound of Bart's nose bridge shattering.
His body shot backward like a rocket, slammed into the wall behind him with a heavy thud, then slowly slid to the ground, silent, head drooping down.
For a moment, the mansion fell completely silent.
Drip. Drip.
Crimson blood poured from Bart's face, staining the carpet beneath him red.