Merchant Noble is out (1/4 chapters for today)
Fire in Royal Capital
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When the university was established in Mikanda and full-scale education began, the royal capital, Horimas, was in flames. It all started with something trivial. The people who remained in the royal capital could no longer endure their harsh lives and revolted. Though it was a small riot with only about 200 participants, it quickly escalated.
The riot was swiftly suppressed by Leo’s soldiers, but during the process, a fire broke out. The flames spread with the wind, engulfing the royal capital. Leo watched the tragic disaster from the palace. Holding up a glass filled with wine, he gazed dreamily at the city streets wrapped in flames. At that moment, Kureo rushed in to make a report.
“We will begin extinguishing the fire immediately.” (Kureo)
“There’s no need to hurry.” (Leo)
“What?” (Kureo)
“It’s a beautiful sight.” (Leo)
While pouring more wine into his emptied glass, Leo turned to look at Kureo. The light of the flames streaming in through the window eerily illuminated Leo’s profile.
“You’ve heard the phrase ‘sea of fire,’ haven’t you? But have you ever seen the sea?” (Leo)
“No, I haven’t…” (Kureo)
“I have. It’s vast, so deep you can’t see the bottom, and so wide you can’t see the end. Its grandeur struck me deeply.” (Leo)
“I see…” (Kureo)
“‘Sea of fire’ is quite the phrase, isn’t it? Indeed, it’s endless, and the orange color spreads across everything. Beautiful. It’s too beautiful. But the nighttime view must be even more beautiful.” (Leo)
As Leo continued to gaze entranced by the raging flames, he suddenly nodded and raised his voice.
“I’ve decided!” (Leo)
“Hey. Don’t extinguish the fire until nightfall. Tonight, let’s have dinner with this fire. If any citizens try to put it out, kill them.” (Leo)
“Y-yes, understood.” (Kureo)
At Leo’s command, his soldiers stopped all firefighting efforts. In fact, they interfered with citizens trying to extinguish the flames, letting the fire spread unchecked. Naturally, the fire quickly spread. What started as a fire in one district spread to another, and then another.
After several hours, the eastern half of the royal capital was engulfed in flames. The displaced people fled in panic, and the citizens trying to extinguish the fire were killed. In no time, corpses piled up along the sides of the roads.
In the midst of this, a single girl ran to the palace. It was Princess Marie. She had been staying at a church ever since Leo came to the royal capital, but she could no longer bear her brother’s refusal to extinguish the fire and came to protest. When Marie arrived at the royal chamber, Leo was holding a banquet with his officials.
“Leo-niisama!” (Marie)
“Hmm? Ah, it’s the other sister, not Casablanca.” (Leo)
“It’s Marie. Please, remember my name already.” (Marie)
“What do you want?” (Leo)
“The town is burning right now. You can see it from this palace!” (Marie)
“Yeah. So what?” (Leo)
“Your soldiers are not only refusing to extinguish the fire, but they’re setting more houses on fire. Stop them immediately!” (Marie)
“Why should I?” (Leo)
As Leo calmly continued the conversation as if it were nothing, Marie’s face gradually turned pale. She felt as if she were speaking to someone from a completely different world.
“Why should you? Your soldiers are taking advantage of the fire, breaking into houses, and committing robbery and murder!” (Marie)
“Ah, I’ve ordered them to kill anyone suspicious to completely nip the bud of rebellion. I also told them they could take the valuables from the houses. It boosts their morale.” (Leo)
Marie was stunned by his unexpected response. How could he allow robbery for such a reason?
“For morale? You’re allowing robbery and murder just for that…” (Marie)
“Hey!” (Leo)
Leo’s loud voice echoed, causing Marie to flinch.
“Did you come here to lecture me? Get to the point.” (Leo)
Marie, who had never been yelled at before, was on the verge of tears. She was too scared to look at Leo’s face but still desperately pleaded.
“I-I am the princess, and as one who serves God, I beg you to stop the fire and the soldiers’ atrocities…” (Marie)
“Fine, I’ll stop.” (Leo)
“W-what?” (Marie)
As Marie involuntarily looked up, something hit her face. Leo had thrown a half-eaten piece of fruit at her.
“Did you really think I’d say that? If I were the type to stop just because you asked, I wouldn’t have started in the first place.” (Leo)
“I came to persuade you!” (Marie)
“And that’s why I’m telling you.” (Leo)
Leo said with growing irritation. The two of them were too fundamentally different to have a proper conversation.
“You can’t persuade someone just by saying no, no, no. Maybe as a princess, you’ve lived a life where everyone listened to you, but that’s not how negotiations work. If you want me to stop, present me with something in return. What’s the benefit for me to stop?” (Leo)
Marie was unable to say anything in response to Leo’s rapid-fire argument. Seeing her fall silent, Leo let out a sigh of exasperation.
“I thought you were a quiet and intelligent sister, but you’re just a dumb, silent one.” (Leo)
Marie’s heart froze, but her cheeks flushed red with humiliation. Her feelings were a jumbled mess of anger, sadness, and self-pity.
“E-excuse me.” (Marie)
“Yeah. Be careful out there.” (Leo)
As Marie tried to leave, barely suppressing her sobs, Leo casually added.
“It’s admirable that you’re trying to protect the people, but you act like it’s someone else’s problem. Watch out, or you might get assaulted yourself. My soldiers are idiots. They wouldn’t recognize the royal family crest.” (Leo)
At those words, Marie instinctively turned around. Leo and his subordinates burst into laughter, with some laughing so hard they were rolling on the floor.
“Don’t look so scared. Hey, you there, take her to the church. She’s my precious sister, after all.” (Leo)
Leo, with tears in his eyes from laughing so hard, gave the order to one of his female subordinates, while looking at Marie with utter contempt.
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