Merchant Noble is out (1/2 chapters for today)
Meeting
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A few days later, a meeting to discuss the future of the kingdom was held in a hastily arranged conference room. The attendees were Louis, the high-ranking nobles, Casablanca, Arc, Marie, and the church faction. Arc, a baron, was not normally in a position to attend such a conference, but he established his position as one of Casablanca’s entourage and was able to attend.
“Let’s begin. The restoration of this kingdom that Leo has made a mess of.” (Louis)
“Hold on a moment.” (Casablanca)
Louis declared this with a triumphant look, but Casablanca’s sharp voice interrupted. She seemed quite angry. The topic, of course, was Leo’s execution.
“Why did you execute Brother without permission? You could have at least said something to me or Marie. I was shocked to hear that he had been executed when I woke up in the morning.” (Casablanca)
It was a perfectly reasonable protest from Casablanca, but Louis’s anger flared up instantly. To him, who carried an overinflated sense of royal pride, anyone criticizing his actions was committing an act of rebellion. Moreover, it was especially irritating after Leo had told him, “Casablanca is more suited to be king”.
“I’m the king! Why should I have to get permission from you or Marie?!” (Louis)
Louis, who sounded like he was throwing a tantrum, was met with an equally angry retort from Casablanca.
“Don’t shout at me all of a sudden! It’s not about permission, it’s about proper procedure and common sense! We’re siblings after all. I met with him once before, so it’s fine, but what if I never got to see him and had to say goodbye like that?!” (Casablanca)
“It doesn’t matter! I’m the king, so you should just keep quiet and listen to what I say!” (Louis)
Standing next to Casablanca, Arc, who had been watching their argument in fear, felt as though he could hear something snapping inside Casablanca. It was only natural for her to be furious since her younger brother, whom she considered inferior, was ordering her around with such a condescending attitude.
“Oh, really?! You’re the one who ran away whenever a battle broke out, and in the end, you couldn’t even arrest our brother! You can’t do anything without your entourage!” (Casablanca)
“What did you say?!” (Louis)
Casablanca’s words struck a sore spot for Louis, who stood up with a changed expression.
“Louis-niisama, Casablanca-neesama, please calm down.” (Marie)
Just as the siblings were about to get into a physical altercation in front of the nobles, Marie hurriedly stepped in to mediate. The nobles also desperately tried to calm Louis down. Fortunately, Louis and Casablanca were seated at opposite ends of the round table. If they had been next to each other, it would have undoubtedly turned into a serious fight.
To prevent further quarrels between Louis and Casablanca whenever Louis led the meeting, one of Louis’s entourage, a marquis, was appointed to act as the facilitator.
(1) Steering the kingdom’s restoration
Though there had been confusion due to Leo’s self-proclaimed kingship, Louis still had legitimate authority. Therefore, it was unanimously decided that the system of “King Louis I, Viceroy Casablanca I” would continue as before.
(2) Aftermath
“What about the people’s dissatisfaction?” (Casablanca)
Casablanca asked.
“What do you mean?” (Louis)
“Originally, it would have been best to heap all the blame on Leo and publicly execute him as the ultimate villain. However, you went ahead and executed him on his own. So now, don’t we need a scapegoat to bear the people’s resentment?” (Casablanca)
“Are you saying I was wrong?!” (Louis)
Louis instantly exploded at being criticized for his actions. And in no time, his anger spread to Casablanca as well.
“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying! You executed him in a fit of passion, and now we’re in this situation! If we could have executed Leo publicly, it would have been a show of strength to the people!” (Casablanca)
The two of them stood up again, and those around them had to struggle to hold them back. Everyone knew that the relationship between Louis and Casablanca wasn’t great, but this was like a children’s squabble. The dignity of the kingship from the era of Zerold I had completely vanished.
“Your Majesty Louis, please calm down! And Casablanca-sama, I ask that you follow my moderation.” (Marquis)
After calming the two down, the marquis cleared his throat and spoke with a dramatic pause.
“Well, regarding that matter, how about this? There are still some of Leo’s associates left, aren’t there? If we execute them publicly, it might satisfy the people to some extent.” (Marquis)
The gazes of the surrounding nobles pierced through Arc. Indeed, Arc, who had fought across the land under Leo’s banner, was undoubtedly one of Leo’s associates. Arc had no defense.
“Like Grand Chancellor Rubell, perhaps?” (Casablanca)
The focus shifted from Arc to Casablanca, who had provided a lifeline.
“Y-yes, that’s right. Grand Chancellor Rubell conspired with Leo and brought devastation to the kingdom. We should hold him accountable and execute him.” (Marquis)
Rubell had held the position of Grand Chancellor for many years under both Zerold I and Leo. While maintaining the balance between the royal family and the nobles, he supported Zerold I’s good governance. Even during Leo’s tyranny, Rubell had tried to conduct policies that sympathized with the people to prevent the kingdom from collapsing. Even Leo, who was notoriously bad at remembering people’s names, remembered Rubell’s, which suggests that Rubell had considerable skill as a statesman.
But it couldn’t be helped. If Arc tried to defend Rubell, he would likely get caught in the crossfire as well. Arc agreed to the execution of Rubell and the other politicians from Leo’s era.
(3) Reorganization of territories and rewards
“Next, let’s move on to the reorganization of territories. First, regarding the noble households whose heads died in battle.” (Marquis)
Due to Leo’s ruthless killings, several noble houses had lost their heads. Naturally, if there was an heir, they would take over, but there were many cases where the nobles had died without children, or their heirs were still too young to inherit.
“We cannot allow such nobles to continue managing their lands. We shall confiscate them.” (Casablanca)
Casablanca responded immediately. She had no use for power figures outside of the royal family, and thus, had no need for nobles. This was her perfect opportunity to abolish as many noble families as possible.
Surprisingly, her opinion received widespread approval and was passed by the majority. Thus, any noble household whose head had died and whose heir had not yet come of age was to be abolished without exception. Even the option of adopting an heir, which would normally be allowed, was denied. Nearly ten noble households, including Arc’s old enemy, the House of Marquis Ivan, were abolished regardless of rank.
Among them was the Eastern Frontier Margrave’s territory. He fought Leo alone, his territory was destroyed, and the Margrave was killed in battle, but he still managed to win in the end, and even though he was the catalyst for Leo’s downfall, Arc felt sympathy for him being crushed. Incidentally, the credit for Leo’s defeat was no longer attributed to the Eastern Frontier Margrave but to Louis. Since the Margrave had died in battle, he couldn’t speak to defend himself.
“What shall we do about the lands of Leo and the nobles who supported him?” (Marquis)
“Of course, we’ll confiscate them. No excuses allowed.” (Casablanca)
Again, Casablanca answered immediately.
At first, the Warden Household was the only target, but as the suppression of the rebellion progressed, some minor nobles who had submitted to Leo out of fear came forward. In particular, many of the nobles near Leo’s territory had pledged their allegiance to him. Once again, nearly ten baron and viscount households were abolished.
Louis opened his mouth as if to say something to Arc. Naturally, under Casablanca’s standards, Arc, who had followed Leo’s orders, was guilty without excuse and should be stripped of his lands. However, before Louis could speak, Casablanca intervened first.
“This Baron Warden wasn’t one of Leo’s supporters. I personally asked him to spy on Leo for me. Thanks to that, we were able to arrest Leo in the end, right?” (Casablanca)
“Well, if you say so, Nee-san. Then we’ll erase the guilt of following Leo with the merit of arresting him.” (Louis)
Louis nodded without much thought. To him, it didn’t matter whether some rural baron household was abolished or remained. He probably thought he had earned some favor by agreeing with Casablanca’s claim.
Thus, the Warden Household was able to avoid being punished for its involvement with Leo, which had been Arc’s biggest concern.
(4) Compensation for damages
While Arc suppressed a relieved laugh after securing his innocence, the marquis chairing the meeting nervously raised the next topic.
“Uhm…next is the compensation for the damage suffered by the nobles…” (Marquis)
“Compensation?” (Casablanca)
In response to Casablanca’s tone, the marquis became even more hesitant.
“Of course, we understand that the entire kingdom is suffering. However, we nobles have suffered immense damage due to the chaos caused by Leo. We would like compensation for that…” (Marquis)
Arc was stunned.
Such a thing was unheard of. The nobles were demanding reparations from the king.
“What are you saying?!” (Casablanca)
Naturally, Casablanca was enraged.
“It’s not like Leo’s chaos is some kind of disaster! Not only you nobles, but I, Louis, and even Marie almost died! This is a disaster, a disaster! Or what? Are you saying it’s the responsibility of us royals?” (Casablanca)
The nobles demanded the kingdom to take responsibility in response to Casablanca’s claim that Leo’s tyranny was like a disaster. Leo was, after all, part of the royal family and had called himself the “self-proclaimed” king, so the nobles’ argument was understandable. However, Casablanca’s reluctance to hand over land to the nobles was also understandable.
The nobles who were just recently decided to be abolished such as those whose heads of the family were gone or those who had submitted to Leo. Among them, there were many who belonged to marquis or count households. Yet, the nobles did not stop the abolishment, even though they agreed with Casablanca’s claim. The reason for that has now become clear.
They were aiming for for their lands. They intended to have the kingdom seize the land and receive it as compensation. The nobles ignored Casablanca’s protest and turned to Louis with a question.
“What does His Majesty Louis think?” (??)
The nobles knew it. That Louis would approve. He wasn’t the type to refuse the opinions of his own entourage. And just as expected, Louis approved.
“I understand. It’s my responsibility for not being able to stop Leo. I will take the responsibility.” (Louis)
For Louis, as long as he could remain king, and as long as his entourage was happy, it didn’t matter to him if the land was taken by the nobles.
“As expected from Louis-sama.” (??)
“How splendid.” (??)
The nobles were overjoyed and praised Louis. On the other side of the round table, Casablanca was glaring at Louis with eyes red from rage.
Thus, most of the lands from the abolished nobles were distributed as compensation to the nobles in Louis’ entourage.
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