The voice of the majority has power that cannot be ignored.
The people are the majority.
Leaders inevitably have no choice but to look at the people's opinions. Even if they acted as they wanted, they would subside when a large number of people gathered together and raised a strong voice. There are countless precedents of people who failed to do so and ended up falling to a miserable end due to the angry public sentiment.
In other words, if you capture the public sentiment of a kingdom, it would not be impossible to control the kingdom itself.
"It was only possible because Your Majesty was a saint, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to use this method either."
The person who made the people of a country that was a vassal country but had its own monarch to praise the kKing of Shanguk smiled brightly.
The King of Shanguk, who was listening, laughed softly.
"You speak sweetly for once. People with abilities usually have unique personalities, but you are very versatile."
"Thank you for your praise."
"It is truly a pity and a waste that someone as talented as you would become obsessed with love."
"..."
Saerin closed her mouth. King Yeonhwa of Shanguk stood up and approached her.
Yeonhwa extended his hand to the person who was silent even at a close distance. His fingertips lightly lifted her lowered head.
He asked, looking straight into her trembling eyes.
"Are there still no changes to that thought?"
"...."
"This is a man who didn't look at you until the end. Just having the will to take revenge is too much."
"... Your Majesty."
"Oh, of course, I'm not stopping you from taking revenge. I just want to ask what it would be like for a person like that to completely forget about revenge and continue to work for the human world and Shanguk together with me."
"Sorry."
The shaking eyes hardened. Before first proving her abilities and working under the king, Saerin made her intentions clear to her potential superior.
'My goal is to kill Deon Hardt.'
'That is natural in the current situation...'
'No, that is not what I meant.'
'...'
Even though a commoner dared to interrupt the king, the King of Shanguk didn't say anything. He couldn't do that.
Because the eyes he met were filled with despair and were swirling around as if they had lost the world.
He knew it right away. She lost someone precious. She lost them at the hands of none other than Deon Hardt.
'I wish for the death of Deon Hardt, not in a vague sense, but sincerely, for very personal reasons. Once his death is confirmed, I will leave regardless of whether the war against the demon world is over or not.'
'...'
'I will reveal this to Your Highness in advance to avoid a sudden separation in the future. Also, I ask Your Majesty to understand and acknowledge that my number one priority is revenge... I earnestly ask this.'
She looked as if she would leave immediately if he said he would not understand.
The king immediately calculated in his head. Was it really beneficial to accept her? Which was greater: gain or loss? Her advice as an advisor will be in the direction of killing Deon Hardt. Shee'll probably give advice in a way that will help take his head, even if it means taking some damage.
This is a person who will give out advice that contains personal feelings in certain situations. Was hr ability good enough to be hired even at the cost of such losses?
'... I understand.'
There was nothing to think about.
'I will not interfere with your revenge as long as the damage to me is not too great.'
Unfortunately, Shanguk is lacking in human resources.
A country that relies on one king. Saerin's appearance was very welcome news to Yeonhwa, who was having a hard time keeping his eyes focused on many things at the same time.
What's wrong with making Deon Hardt's death a top priority? Since he has to be killed anyway, it's not that big of a loss. Rather, it can be seen as a benefit since she will faithfully help him until he dies.
Leaving after revenge? That's something he just has to go and persuade her at that time. There is plenty of time until then, so it will be enough to seduce her whenever he can.
Returning to reality, Yeonhwa saw Saerin. A bitter smile that was completely different from what he expected greeted him.
"I know that from Your Highness's perspective, he will be seen as a terrible person who is not worth dealing with. I understand. Because in reality he is a bad person. It would be even more so since this incident has clearly condemned him as a scum of the human race. But."
"..."
"A person's heart doesn't always work out the way you think."
Even if he knew her heart and openly used it, even if he did something that was cruel to anyone, Saerin continued to love the man who first recognized her worth.
It was love of the blind kind, like a bird just hatched from an egg, recognizing the first object it sees as its mother and following it.
"For me, it is a long way off to find someone new to follow. I have one master."
If someone sees you loving a piece of trash called the Duke and working for him, you too will be tied to the same piece of trash. She knew very well that she would be criticized along with the Duke.
It's okay though.
The Duke was a great man who cannot go to good places, so in order to meet him, she had no choice but to fall to where he was.
To love a crazy person, you have to be crazy together, and to love trash, you have to be trash together. In that sense, Saerin was already trash.
"So give up before you get even more tired..."
"Saying that makes me burn even more. Isn't there a shortage of fruit and wine? There is still a lot of time left before you leave, and there is a saying in the South that there is no tree that cannot be struck ten times, so you never know."
"People are not trees..."
Yeonhwa turned his head away, pretending not to hear the hesitant answer. He also had his own reasons for not giving up.
The alliance with Rweche was broken and the Empire was in no position to support Shanguk. What can young people who are too busy taking care of themselves do? Since the re-alliance with the Empire was purely out of respect for the previous emperor's will, Yeonhwa, who had no particular expectations from the Empire, was in a situation where he had to survive with only the power of the kingdom.
Therefore, in a position where he had to attract at least one more talented person, there was no way he would give up on Saerin easily.
Naturally, he changed the topic.
"Rather than that... is it okay that the attempt to improve the Duke's image backfired and led to disastrous results?"
"... Do you want an honest answer?"
"Oh my."
That was enough of an answer. Yeonhwa closed his mouth and lightly patted her shoulder. Saerin bit her lip.
The Duke's name, which she had tried to elevate to nobility, was mired in the mud. He was in a situation like Deon Hart, or even worse, and was being bitten at will.
'If only I hadn't made such a useless attempt.'
At least he could have been buried with the death of an ordinary nobleman.
She had ruined the one she loved with her own hands. There was no way it was okay.
'I even heard that bad rumors about the Duke are spreading recently...'
Sigh.
She ended up burying her face in her hands.
***
Paul, who went out on a whim but gained nothing and was completely broken by being swayed by his opponent's wishes, stayed in his office and brooded over his bitter defeat.
And then he realized.
"He was waiting for me to intervene."
Dan was waiting for Paul to invade.
In order to reveal the Duke's sin, relieve Deon Hardt of his injustice, and further use it as a weapon of attack. Perhaps it was no coincidence that he knew in advance that the screen would appear. Even that wasn't all.
Paul, who heard raw rumors from the lowest places, was able to hear the rumors that slowly began to spread not long after the war of words ended.
'They say the Duke didn't just kill Cruel Hardt, he played with his head.'
'I heard they attached a bomb to a person's body and detonated it.'
'I heard there was a contract with the Demon King.'
It was still only in the early stages of the rumor spreading, so not many people know about it... but it wasn't difficult to guess the source. It must be Dan.
Cunningly, those who could present evidence were attacked in front of everyone through the screen, and those that could not be confirmed as facts due to lack of evidence or evidence that was difficult to present were spread as rumors.
"Whenever you attack someone fairly with incitement and fabrication, you cowardly prepare evidence and rush at them."
It is cowardly just to stand in front of the screen holding the truth, but it is doubly cowardly to have used propaganda and fabrication before and after that.
Paul, who had been thoroughly exploited, thought as he clenched his fists in defeat and anger.
'If this happens, I will completely interfere with it.'
This applies to the Demon King and other demons, but especially Deon Hardt and Dan will never achieve what they wish for.
***
The first thing the current Emperor of the Empire, Elpidius Desert, saw on the screen was Deon Hardt, who was sitting in the corner rather than on the platform in front.
He could hear the former princess Aletea, now the Emperor, hurriedly sending someone to the Dan Guild, but he ground his teeth when he saw Deon Hardt's attire.
"Are you mocking the Empire?"
A black uniform with gold thread embroidery that appears to be a color reversal of the uniform worn in the Empire.
Elpidius took it as a provocation against the Empire and was quietly angry, but when it was revealed that Deon Hardt was the warrior, Elpidius clenched his fist in a different way. Aletea, who had been watching next to him after giving the command, quietly lowered her eyes.
The target of revenge was a warrior. Silence fell between the two royal families as a result of overcoming rare odds.
Prime Minister Ardal, who was doing paperwork nearby, saw this and raised an eyebrow.
He felt like something that had been difficult to understand before has become clearer with this. His eyes sank with suspicion.
"Your Majesty the Crown Prince."
"..."
"..."
The two royals belatedly came to their senses and adjusted their expressions. That sight aggravated his suspicions even more, and Ardal's face distorted.
Still, he supposed he'd just have to check it out himself just in case. He opened my mouth slowly, hoping that it was a misunderstanding.
"I've been curious about this for a while..."
"..."
"Are you really... Is it correct that you are working for the benefit of the Empire?"
"... You are stating the obvious."
"Oh, I asked the wrong question. Is it true that you two prioritize the Empire over revenge?"
"..."
A heavy silence fell.
Elpidius and Aletea made eye contact and then looked at Ardal. A slow voice continued, as if he was choosing his words carefully.
"If we had to be honest, we could say that we are pursuing both revenge and the Empire."
"Are you serious? You both know that's impossible."
"..."
"As long as the two of you are the Emperor and Crown Prince, revenge and the safety of the Empire cannot coexist. In order to get revenge, you have to give up the Empire, and in order to keep the Empire safe, you have to give up revenge. So, let me ask you again."
"..."
"Which do you give priority to, revenge or the Empire?"
He was persistent.
Aletea sighed. Elpidius quietly looked at Ardal.
He understood that Ardal, like the former general Nemeseus, was a commoner hired directly by his uncle. So, he knew that he was as inflexible as he was capable.
"You... put the Empire first."
Instead of answering, he started off with another word.
Ardal frowned slightly. Elpidius continued speaking regardless.
"I know you put the Empire before yourself. So, at that time... when the Demon King's Army invaded the former Capital, I also know that if the Emperor had escaped without anyone remaining, you would have personally dragged him down, cut off his head, and hung him up. You are a human being who can do that."
You make the country look like that and then you step out to live?
Since he cannot even take responsibility for what he has done, from Ardal's point of view, he becomes a human being who does not deserve to be Emperor and deserves to die.
"... You know me well."
"It also includes the identification of talent to be used in the handover received from the Emperor. You can't swing the weapon in your hand without knowing what it is."
Even though the Emperor knew this, he kept him by his side.
Because he was one of the few people who will kill him if he goes astray.
But Elpidius was different from Eduardo. What he needs is someone who pushes him, not someone who blocks him. A person who arrogantly considers the wrongs and rights of the path he is taking only becomes a hindrance.
If things continue like this, there will probably be a lot of conflict with the Prime Minister. That's why he asked.
"If I answer that revenge is more important than the Empire, will you take us down?"