Chapter 227

We returned to the villa, and as soon as Rudi saw the state of the villa, she screamed and urged the servants on.

“We can’t have Lady Valenciaunos sleeping in a place like this! Quickly, clean everything up so that the flies don’t land!”

“It will take at least two days…”

“200% bonus for this month.”

“I miscounted by two hours.”

In no time, they dusted off everything, wiped the floor and the table, and threw away spoiled food.

Thanks to that, I was able to enjoy drinking wine just a few days after the restoration of the capital, and I indulged in luxury by asking Rudi about public opinion.

The answer she gave me was like a bolt from the blue.

“So you mean my support is spreading among the intellectuals right now?”

“Yes! People are finally starting to recognize Lady Valenciaunos’ sincerity.”

Rudi smiled brightly.

Her green eyes glimmered like a crescent moon, and her lips curved beautifully.

“Those people told me that Lady Valenciaunos should be given a position with more authority than torture.”

I felt like I wanted to sit down and cry.

In fact, I had anticipated this to some extent.

The capital had been shattered, 600,000 subjects had been pushed into tent villages, the emperor was missing, and anything could emerge from the magical realms at any moment.

The situation was too desperate to maintain the image of a bandit thoroughly.

Relief work, requisitioning, identifying infiltrators; I had to do whatever was necessary.

Although I tried to conduct relief under Jeilliris’ name and requisition under my name as much as possible, it seemed that everyone who had learned enough had figured it out.

That I was doing what was needed.

“…”

Support from the intellectuals was truly dangerous.

In fact, if we only consider legally, the throne was rightfully mine.

Jeilliris had gotten the throne by killing all the royals ahead of us in the order of succession or making them give up their claims.

The problem was that I was the elder brother among the twins.

Fortunately, she did not kill me.

So, the mere fact that I was alive posed a challenge to her legitimacy.

Before the oath of loyalty was made, if I had fled and rallied the high nobles, shouting that I would reclaim my title, I would have gained enormous support.

Of course, I would have been beaten by the spear of wrath and finished.

“Rudi. Can you schedule an audience?”

Powerholders have instincts.

They do not let threats live.

The reason I could command Marcus and the machine knights like private soldiers was that at that time, I had received very little support.

No matter how much I was her twin and building camaraderie with Jeilliris, in terms of power and authority, I had to bow my head thoroughly.

So, I went to find Jeilliris and said,

“Your Majesty. I wish to focus solely on capital affairs for a while. I will relinquish my position as the commander of the knights. It was far too heavy a position for me.”

Jeilliris swept away a mountain of documents and smiled as if she understood why I was saying this.

“You’re quite perceptive. That makes me happy.”

“I am truly grateful—”

“But… I’m also a bit disappointed.”

“?!”

I felt my breath catch.

“Did I seem so small that I could not overlook a voice like that? Was the trust I showed you so light?”

She took out a splendid teapot and prepared coffee.

The ring on her finger jingled slightly, and the coffee cup was extended towards me.

Swish.

She looked at me as if I were a mischievous little devil, and I took the cup as if drinking from a poisoned chalice.

“……That’s an outrageous statement.”

The coffee personally given by the emperor of the strongest nation in the world tasted horrifically bitter with strong acidity.

She poured herself a cup and took a sip.

“……Give it here. It is a royal command.”

Then she snatched the coffee I was drinking and poured it into the trash can under the desk.

Jeilliris slammed her desk as she scolded,

“If it tastes bad, then say so! If you’re uncomfortable, then say you’re uncomfortable! Who else do you think could hear such words from you! Do you think I would doubt you to this extent?”

Thud! Thud!

Her hand movements were light, like a child throwing a tantrum, but to someone like me who knew that just adding a little strength to that hand gesture would make it stronger than a combat hammer swung with full force, I couldn’t laugh heartily.

She called a maid to brew new coffee, took a deep sigh, and spoke in her clear voice.

“I’ve heard you’ve been pulling all-nighters like it’s eating bread for the last few months. Yes, I thought you would need a vacation too. I will take back the position of commander of the knights. For a while, focus on your work. Go around the capital at your leisure.”

I stood up with my head bowed.

“I am deeply grateful to your Majesty.”

* * *

Valenciaunos walked through the imperial palace corridor.

The sunlight draped through the wide windows cast deep shadows on the strikingly handsome face of the bandit, and the golden embellishments on his white uniform sparkled.

His red lips curved into a wicked line as if concocting something, and at that moment, another royal family member naturally stuck by his side.

“Valenciaunos. The count has been completed.”

“Good job, Hadrian. It must have been difficult.”

Hadrian trembled at the sight of Valenciaunos’ face.

The aura emanating from him was inhuman, as were the yellow eyes, raised white hair, and sculpted features; even the white gloves that appeared transparent in the sunlight felt unearthly.

“Not at all. It was just a continuation of what I had been doing for the past few months. All things considered, it was easy.”

It was a lie.

However, unlike Valenciaunos, Hadrian was skilled at lying, and on this day, Valenciaunos decided not to delve into his benevolent falsehoods.

“The population of the capital prior to the incident was about 595,000, and after the incident, it’s about 450,000. Nearly 150,000 people have died.”

Even though they were talking about the population of a sizable metropolis, the bandit’s expression did not change at all.

In his mind, the fact that the situation had only ended with this level of damage was a blessing from the gods, considering how powerful the infiltrators had been.

“The corruption spread like wildfire, executing hundreds every day…”

Hadrian trailed off.

It was Valenciaunos who had ordered the executions and operated the crematorium.

“Is the population increasing again?”

“It’s an annual event. This time of year, refugees come in the greatest numbers. Since it’s already chaotic, it’s easy for them to blend in.”

“That’s good. Is this the data I was looking for?”

Valenciaunos waved a bundle of documents.

Hadrian glanced around and nodded.

“These are the lands and buildings owned by the deceased. Normally, we would have to find an heir within five years, but due to the emergency, the deadline has been shortened, and it will be immediately reverted to the royal family.”

“When Your Majesty restored the capital, you built taller buildings, didn’t you? That should suffice for supplies, right?”

His golden eyes gleamed, and Hadrian couldn’t shake his head.

Valenciaunos laughed while fluttering the ownership documents and stepped out onto the large balcony to gaze at the capital’s landscape.

Swoosh.

The winter wind was cold, but the sky was endlessly clear, and the duke’s gaze upon the capital sparkled with some kind of desire.

“This is for us to share.”

Valenciaunos said with a sly smile.

Hadrian felt a bit confused and asked,

“…Us?”

It was uncertain whether he was trying to draw him into a conspiracy that could be exposed or if he was giving him an opportunity to accumulate wealth together.

As his blue eyes quaked, Valenciaunos smiled wider.

“This will make redevelopment easier.”

“What do you mean?”

Hadrian struggled to follow Valenciaunos’ line of thought.

“I learned a lot from this incident. The roads need to be widened, the streets must be kept clean as if they were fan blades, and illegally constructed buildings need to be demolished. Too many lives were lost and injured due to delayed evacuation.”

“Ah.”

“To proceed systematically, all of these lands and buildings must be owned by the royal family. We can’t progress if every time we want to tear something down, people come out to wail. We can’t just go around executing everyone who suffered this kind of situation too.”

“I see.”

“The construction, civil engineering, and materials guilds are probably screaming right now. Their stored goods are unsellable, but the deadline for payment is only drawing closer. We should meet and push the construction forward. That will provide jobs for those who are currently unemployed. That’s the work of administrative officers, isn’t it?”

Hadrian smiled brightly and picked up the stack of copies.

It appeared that there had been a deep misunderstanding.

“Valenciaunos! I’m sorry.”

“You haven’t done anything yet that warrants an apology. You must be tired; let’s do something and give you a ‘Spirit Pill’ next time as a reward for your hard work.”

* * *

One thing I hadn’t told Hadrian was this.

“Back then, I hadn’t done anything that needed an apology.”

I hadn’t taken the original land document just to verify.

I had suffered for the past few months, so wasn’t it natural to gather what I could?

Reverting to the royal family.

Nothing was more amusing than that.

Aside from the pension and the title as “Your Majesty,” the only royals who officially have inheritance rights are myself and Sererassie.

In practice, as a member of the royal family, I was the only one active.

Jeilliris being at the pinnacle of the royal family meant that the land documents reverted to the royal family first found their way into her hands.

And just as she had shared the Instrumentum, she had given me 35%.

“I was wondering what you were so busy with; it turns out you were plotting something like this? Didn’t you say you would rest?”

“Haha.”

“If you’re my loyal subject, you should enjoy at least this much. …Do as you wish, brother.”

“Your Majesty, what did you just say?”

“You must have misunderstood.”

Restoring that place, demolishing old buildings, consolidating land, constructing new buildings, and paving roads were all funded by tax money.

Yes.

It came from taxes, not my pension.

Being treated as a member of the royal family means having a stake in the country.

So, in a feudal society, it was no issue for the royal family to restore buildings with tax money and then gobble them up.

Of course, there was a significant difference in terminology.

Due to the abundance of concubines from the late emperor, the authority of the royal family was still at a low point.

Since I was effectively acting as Jeilliris’ subordinate, it felt as if a servant was increasing the value of his private property using the emperor’s name, authority, and money.

Therefore, paying taxes to the great Holy Emperor and having the Holy Emperor distribute that tax as a pension to the clan was completely different from the notorious bandit of the empire using tax money to build his own properties in the eyes of the people.

This angered the middle class and bourgeoisie even more than the poor and common people.

“How dare you stuff your belly with our money!”

“How dare you take my land and swallow it whole? Even building new properties with the budget for restoring the capital?”

“I will file a complaint with the High Court immediately!”

They were all people who paid a lot in taxes due to business.

I chuckled as I rode in the carriage across the avenue.

Beside me sat the head of the civil engineering and construction guild, who had officially received the commission for my land from the Minister of Territorial Affairs of the royal family.

Of course, I might have had a bit of influence in the bidding process, but I pretended to be unaware.

The guild leader had chestnut-colored bobbed hair, was an orphan, and had a prosthetic leg.

Konel opened his mouth in an unusually worried tone.

“Your Highness, isn’t it dangerous to be so openly adversarial towards the intellectuals and bourgeoisie? Among the bourgeoisie, there are members of the council and many who command vigilante groups and thugs. Of course, Your Highness wouldn’t suffer any harm, but…”

“Get to the point, Konel. What do you want to say?”

“I didn’t expect you to be so openly adversarial towards them. They were even people who supported Your Highness. I thought you were treating those on your side very well.”

I smiled faintly and sank into the back of the chair.

Yes.

They were the ones who recognized that my policies were necessary.

But I didn’t think that was the end of it.

If I hadn’t been a bandit, would people have supported me?

There’s no way they would have.

Everyone in the capital knows.

Supporting the elder brother, who is ahead in the line of succession, is bound to put the elder brother’s position at risk.

Yet, the fact that intellectuals and bourgeoisie openly spoke of supporting me meant…

“They want to screw me over, Konel.”

“Ah!”

They wanted me dead.

Of course, I didn’t believe that only they thought that way.

There must be some backers trying to plot something as they took advantage of the chaos.

It would probably be the Zahan Alliance scoundrels.

Damned merchant nobles.

They were bastards even before my return.

I need to be prepared since it seems I’ll get involved in something somehow.

First, I’ll fortify my position and create my own troops.

“Are the buildings coming up well?”

“Yes. From the looks of the frame, it seems like a workshop complex, but it doesn’t look like Your Highness will be managing it directly. Who will you give it to?”

“The Ironblood Party leader, Marcus, and Lady Sorelazie.”