Book 17: Chapter 39
From next to Mommy Elizabeth’s side, I quietly complained, “That execution method is far too cruel, is it not? I wouldn’t mind a simple pierce, but why the burning and leg snapping? It’s too cruel, isn’t it?”
Mom turned to the side to look at me with a slightly surprised look. The way she looked at me made me feel somewhat uncomfortable.
“Does Mom see me someone cruel, or does she not consider that to be cruel?” I wondered.
Mom lingered for a moment then turned back to look at the scene. With a quiet laughed, she replied, “No, Son, the execution can be overlooked. The biggest problem is the pope’s speech. He went too far with what he said. Such a provoking speech is likely to trigger the fanatical people into taking action. That’s what I’m worried about. As for the execution method, it doesn’t matter to me. I’d actually say that a little cruel would be for the better. The cruelness will remind people what the consequences of offending my dignity are. Isn’t that convenient?”
“If the new church and old church’s conflict intensifies as a result of this execution, what do we do?”
“The conflict between the two churches will undoubtedly intensify. All that they need is a spark, and this just happens to be the one that they needed. Owing to your presence, however, Mommy must suppress this matter. Mommy will resolve this matter afterwards. My current goal is to contain their rage. After you leave, Mommy will completely resolve the matter.”
“I see… But I still don’t hope that blood will be spilt. It’s not worth it to spill blood over religious matters.”
“Son, do you think you’ve seen just a small amount of blood spilt?” asked Mom, after giggling. “I thought you were no longer naïve. Son, if you want power and eternity, blood must be spilt. You should say that merely spilling blood is already a big win. The two religions wish to pass on their teachings for eternity; therefore, spilling some blood is totally worth it to them. Violence is always the simplest method to resolving things. You should be aware of that already, right?”
“I don’t like violence, though.”