Can I build an Empire that will stand the test of time, and a bureaucracy which can run the country without the need for a talented ruler at the helm? Jircniv wondered.
“That would be very difficult. After all, Your Majesty has changed the Empire by his absolute power, and you cannot administer the country in the ways the old Emperors did.”
“Varmilinen, your job is to find a way to achieve my aims. Of course I possess absolute power; all the Emperors of the past labored to concentrate the powers of the nation in their office. However, even if I am such a supreme being, it would be wrong to micromanage the affairs of state. If that happened, then what use would bureaucrats be? Perhaps you’ve misplaced your head.”
“At the very least, he would not have left it in the Imperial Magic Caster Academy, Your Majesty.”
Those words were spoken by Fluder Paradyne, one of the senior members of the Imperial Magical Academy and also the highest-ranking member of the Ministry of Magic. The implication was that his academy would not have raised such a fool.
“Haha, yes, you’re right, gramps,”
Jircniv coughed softly, and with that, the mood inside the carriage turned serious.
“In my generation, the Empire has returned to its youth, like a newborn child. We will cast out that which is old and rotted and replace it with the new. As Varmilinen said, I will have to work hard until the Empire matures, but if it never grows, that would be disastrous. In the future, I will only define general goals for the Empire, and the officials under me will help make those goals a reality.”
A country ruled by a single man was weak. Jircniv was abundantly clear on that point.
Roune lowered his head, whose hair was greying and thin in contrast to his age, and awaited his Emperor’s command.
“The Emperor of the next generation… speaking of which, did Your Majesty have a child with that one?”
Jircniv instantly knew who Baziwood meant by “that one”. After all, Baziwood knew that Jircniv was particularly fond of one of the concubines.
Jircniv’s paramours were selected for their looks or their parents’ status, but one woman among them ignored those criteria. This woman had been chosen for her intellect, rather than for her appearance or her breeding. Thus, she was allowed to discuss politics with Jircniv ―though not in public and only in bed― and she was the only woman he allowed to do so.
At first, he had not intended to take her as a concubine at all, but things had ended up like this at her own insistence.
Jircniv, however, would have been happy if she had become his empress consort.
“No, that isn’t what she desires. She went so far as to say, ‘Looks are a treasure you are born with, and to those who occupy the upper echelons of society, they are an important trait. One can compensate for a lack of intellect with hard work or excellent subordinates, but looks cannot be changed.’ or something like that.”
“Won’t Your Majesty’s bloodline alone will ensure that any child of your union will be pleasant to look upon? Well, it’s true that any of your subordinates would be happier to receive orders from a good-looking Emperor.”
“Is that how it really is?”
Jircniv had no superiors and had no way of relating to this situation. On his part, he would use a capable person regardless of how ugly they were, and even give them a key position if needed.
“At the very least, it would be better than having to look at some toad. After all, wouldn’t Your Majesty prefer the woman shaking her hips on top of you to be a beautiful one?”
“…I suppose so, yes. Well, it’s not like I don’t get where you’re coming from, but… is that really the case?”
Jircniv cricked his neck. Something was amiss, but he wasn’t sure what it was.
“Then, in that case, who would Your Majesty take as his wife?”
Fluder’s question made Jircniv furrow his brows.
“Well, if I had to choose between marrying someone from within the country or outside the country, I would have to go with the latter. There are no benefits to marrying a native, so, who to marry from outside the Empire… well, there’s that unreadable woman that fellow recommended.”
Fluder stroked his beard.
“Princess Renner, is it?”
Jircniv furrowed his brows again.
The third princess of the Re-Estize Kingdom ― Renner Theiere Chardon ryle Vaiself.
She was known as the “Golden Princess”, and her looks and reputation matched her nickname, but for several years she had ranked number one on Jircniv’s list of women he despised the most. In contrast, the kind of woman he most preferred would be someone like Mayor Kabelia, who
administered the city of Peibart in the City-States.
“I have no idea what that woman is thinking. After hearing about her actions, it’s almost as if she failed because she wanted to fail.”
Although Jircniv thought that such people should not exist, he recognized that humans were strange and complex enough that he could not rule out the possibility of such cases. Then, if she truly did plan to fail from the start, what was she planning? The more he tried to understand Renner’s way of thinking, the more he felt like like he was being tangled in a spider’s web. It was a thoroughly unpleasant feeling.
“…If only someone could help me get rid of that nauseating woman.”
“We will hire Ijaniya right away, if that’s what his Majesty desires.”
“Ijaniya” was a group of assassins that took on the name of one of the Thirteen Heroes for themselves. They were based between the northeast corner of the Empire and the City-State Alliance, and they were adept at using unusual methods. Although he had tried to bring them under their wing as a black ops department, they had not responded to the Empire’s overtures.
“Enough of that, we need that woman’s revolutionary insights. It’s better to let her live rather than to kill her…Hm. Did that woman take this development into account as well?”
“Could anyone have planned that far ahead?”
“As if,” Jircniv said, but even as he gave that answer, he had to admit that it was a possibility.
Renner’s words had been transmitted to Jircniv through their spies in the Kingdom. The policies she proposed were such that Jircniv could not help but admire them. The fact that those policies had then been quietly adopted by the Empire was a ringing endorsement of their practicality.
It would be a bad thing for the Empire if anything happened to her.
The timing of Renner’s suggestions to the Kingdom made him wonder if she had anticipated the Empire’s movements. If that was true, it meant that Renner could predict the Empire’s plans without any reliable sources from within.
As a result, even Jircniv, who coveted the Warrior-Captain Gazef’s strength for the Empire, could not bring himself to desire her.