Chapter 85: The Knight Gives a Counseling (4)

“Those curs are genuinely trying to climb up, huh?”

Crack-!

The fountain pen in the hand of the noble crown princess—whose dazzling silver hair danced in the wind—broke. It was something that the crown princess would use, so it was specially made with the best materials available to humans. In other words, its durability was no joke. The fact that it broke so easily just showed that the crown princess wasn’t just some weak woman wearing a fancy crown.

“What a shame. That fountain pen was pretty good… Please try to control your strength, Princess. It isn’t like you want to brag about the fact that you grew up eating elixir three times a day to me, right?”

“Impertinent. A proper butler would worry about his master’s hand first and foremost.”

“If you’re just an ordinary young lady, Princess, I would. But, I know that there’s nothing more foolish than worrying about you. Hehehe.”

“…Impertinent.”

Tsk!

After clicking her tongue and expressing her dissatisfaction verbally, Isis Pendragon took a sip of her cold tea while throwing the pieces of the broken fountain pen to the floor.

“This lady’s anger still hasn’t subsided.”

“Hehehe, I see you really are angry towards them Princess.”

“These rascals keep provoking this lady, how could she not be angry towards them?!”

“…You need to watch what you’re saying, Princess. If you make such an outrageous remark toward the ‘guild’ in public, you’ll get in trouble.”

“Nonsense.”

Isis let out a contemptuous snort.

The lowly bastards she was showing her full contempt for was none other than the [Guild Union].

Those dirty little rats!

The Guild Union, along with the [Nobles’ Council], the [Merchant Association], and the [Mercenary Union], were the four factions that supported the kingdom.

Even though it didn’t have the honor, authority, and prestige of the Nobles’ Council, the wealth and ability to control the flow of money like the Merchant Association had, or the strength of an independent warlord organization like the Mercenary Union had…

“…The guild is still a force with the largest number of personnel in this kingdom—no, on the entire continent, Princess. If you’re trying to mess with them, you’ll most likely lose the ‘public’s affection’. Please keep that in mind.”

“Do you think this lady did not know that? How dare you try to lecture this lady!”

“Just consider it advice of a worried old butler, hehe.”

“…Hmph.”

Such a thing was the reason why currently, she was all barks and no bite.

Even though Isis looked at her butler with a dissatisfied face and wished to give him a hard time so badly, she knew that it would be her who’d get into trouble if she actually raised her hand. Therefore, she decided to be patient.

Besides, she knew that all capable people had a certain amount of arrogance in them.

…How could this lady not know about that? Hmph.

Nevertheless, a monarch had to acknowledge things that had to be acknowledged. So, Isis cooled her head before mulling over Albert’s words that were neither advice or nagging.

In order to catch an annoying rat, one has to understand its habits.

Knowing the ‘enemy’ was the core of the strategy to bring down the enemy.

She ceased her anger and instead, complained in her head without mincing her words.

…It’s at times like this that this lady resents the previous king.

Her frustration towards the previous king wasn’t unfounded.

What was the reason that the guild’s power grew in the royal capital in the first place?

It was because the previous king gave them such power. That was the starting point for the guild’s full-scale expansion in the kingdom as a whole.

Before he died, the previous king left out a word…

-If the power of the nobles and merchants grows too much, I am concerned that the power of the vested interests will also grow as much, and as a consequence, the people’s cries grow louder. If the powerless cannot speak out their mind properly, and only the rich can, how can we be considered as a proper kingdom? So let’s raise the voices of the people, and make them able to stand up against the existing vested interests! Hence, we need a force that exists for the people! The guild! We will strengthen their influence and power, so that if the nobles and merchants’ wickedness grows, the more tightly they’ll unite in order to bring them down.

Thinking about it now, it was such a terrifying vision.

The existing vested interests. The former king had already foreseen that the lives of the people would become miserable as the nobles and merchants became more brazen and dirty.

In fact, they had already witnessed it directly during the war that happened a few years ago, during the war that completely ignored the people’s complaints. It was clear that ignoring such a problem would only invite an uncontrollable disaster.

Britain was ruined because of that.

The reason why Britain, Pendragon’s long-time enemy, was ruined, wasn’t only because Pendragon beat them during the war, that was only a part of it. In fact, what Pendragon had done was just touching the already imbalanced scale, tilting the scale to their favor and allowing them to subjugate Britain. That kingdom had already been ruined before the war.

They had been ruined by their own hands. Or at least, that was how Isis wanted to evaluate it.

…It was ridiculous.

Even though they were defeated, that kingdom still possessed the largest granary and resources in the Southern Continent. They definitely had the potential and means to recover. However, none of their people wanted to rebuild their kingdom, and instead chose to abandon them.

As for why things turned out that way, Isis suspected that this was the result of them repeatedly raising taxes and prices to increase their own wealth without thinking about their own people. Those actions cost them their people’s trust.

Although, because of that, after Pendragon won the war, population inflow and integration became relatively easy. From Pendragon’s perspective, this foolishness of their enemies was something they were grateful for.

Of course, there were some people who tried to rebel, but that was another story.

In any case, this series of events served as a great lesson for Isis.

A monarch alone doesn’t make a kingdom, people too. The moment the people lose their trust towards the kingdom is the moment when the kingdom will truly collapse…

Lack of trust is the start of a nation’s downfall…

That was why, to avoid such a thing, smooth communication with the guild was necessary. Even though they were a group of dirty rats, she had to acknowledge that they represented the voices of the powerless people.

It was just…

“Even so, I can understand why you’re angry at them, Princess. They, indeed, had crossed the line. I never expected that they’d start a backroom deal with the Great Nobles.”

“Stupid rats. It’s too late for them to start taking sides.”

When ‘favor’ began to be considered as ‘right’, [a crack] would gradually begin to appear.

Isis hardened her expression, clicking her tongue as she glanced at the documents again. No matter how many times she was looking at it, the unpleasant feeling just refused to leave her heart.

“‘It has been confirmed that the nobles and other members of the upper-class have been engaged in secret meetings,’ huh…? Those shallow bastards. Are they thinking about getting their hands on now that they are full?”

“I believe they just wish to exert a strong influence on the kingdom rather than looking for power. In other words, these dogs mistook themselves as wolves as they got bigger.”

“…What an interesting situation we have right now.”

Isis felt a hint of laughter in Albert’s words, which was already dripping with sarcasm. No matter how she looked at it, it seemed like he was enjoying watching the collusion between the nobles and the guild.

And as she had expected…

“Watching a fight is always fun.”

“…”

The [superhuman] who was wearing the mask of a butler didn’t seem to care much about things like the struggle for power or the birth of a new warlord.

Well, it was only natural. After all, in his eyes, all of their actions were…

Meaningless… Like sand castles that could collapse at any time…

…In any case, even though he was an excellent butler, Isis had to admit that he was someone who was extremely difficult to handle.

“Haa…”

Isis let out a sigh, tossing her neatly combed hair back. The combination of bad news, current situation and her lack of justification made her head hurt. She wanted to make a move on the guild and punish them already, but she couldn’t even figure out what they were up to right now. The only thing she knew was that they were plotting something with the nobles, the merchants and so on, but the details completely eluded her.

In a lot of ways, it was a pain in her neck, and this would definitely become the cause of her working overtime for the time being.

“Isn’t the hardship of youth the privilege of youth? Please be strong.”

“…This lady is already forty this year.”

“To use the words that Sir Lee Han sometimes says, you are still in the prime of your youth, Princess.”

“…”

“And, as a royalty, you can’t talk about your age as if you’re a normal human. You can only brag about being old after you reach your 150th birthday.”

“Hmm…”

…Is he trying to tell this lady to just shut up and keep working until she turns 100…?

Isis’ thoughts were cut off short as at that moment…

Knock-! Knock-!

“Princess! I’m here!”

“…You’re supposed to wait for me to answer before entering the door.”

“Ah, that’s right! I’ll go out again and wait!”

“…Forget it.”

Isis let out a sigh. She knew that if she were to reprimand this woman any further, she’d just be needlessly hurting her jaws.

She then turned to look at the woman, a maid who was wearing a bright expression, before rubbing her forehead. Her head had been hurting, but it was hurting for a different reason now.

This maid was none other than Leila Winter, her maid that she had given the task of taking care of her stepbrother. Although, according to what she had heard, rather than taking care of him, she had been ruining his house in every way possible.

However, such trivial matters were not something Isis cared about. What she cared about was the fact that the maid was here.

“This lady trusted your sincerity and assigned you to her stepbrother, so why are you here in the palace? Do you think this lady’s order is something trivial?”

How could she forget her duty and stroll around in the palace like this?

Well, Isis wasn’t really scolding her because she was mad at her for real. She was just doing it out of a habit. Besides, she knew more than anyone that scolding this maid was just a fool’s errand. That was why, her scolding was just a way for her to express her curiosity.

After hearing the princess’ words, Leila opened her mouth. Her bright eyes shone as she did.

“It’s nothing much, Princess! I came because Sir Knight asked me to convey something!”

“…That kid?”

“Yes!”

“Hmm.”

Speaking of her stepbrother, he rarely tried to convey messages to her. He’d occasionally send some letters to her, but conveying messages directly like this was an extremely rare occasion.

It sounds ominous…

Little did she know…

“The knight said, ‘I’m gonna have a fight with the guild, so help me clean up the mess!’. Also, he said you can just make up any excuse you like, Princess!”

“…”

That the ominous feeling she felt was right on the money. Once again, the princess had to place her hand on her forehead.

“Hahaha! Sir Lee Han is indeed the best! He will probably solve your worries in a single breath, Princess! Hahaha!”

“Stop laughing! This is a serious situation!”

“How could I stop after hearing such pleasant news? Watching him is always fun because he always exceeds our expectations!”

“Stop talking nonsense.”

“…Hmm. But, Princess, on the contrary to your words…”

“…”

“Your face suggested that you’re also having fun right now.”

“…”

─Indeed. She was extremely satisfied by this development—which was quite the rare feeling for her to have.

Meanwhile, the knight who had confidently asked the crown princess of a powerhouse kingdom to clean up the mess he would make was…

“If you dare to lie to me even once, I’ll cut off your neck. So, be smart.”

“…”

Threatening the life of the leader of the Guild Union.

“Ha…”

The union leader was dumbfounded and couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.

In front of his eyes, he could see a knight who was exerting his ominous spirit to its fullest, his subordinates who were lying around—who knows if they were dead or alive—along with remnants of doors, desks, and flooring that scattered around the place. Oh, also a hatchet that was struck firmly on his table.

He was in a dilemma.

If there was a crisis where he couldn’t even run away from, this would be it. He couldn’t even look the knight in the face.

Fuck, fuck…! A crazy bastard caught me…!

…Because he was too afraid to.

That day was the day when Simon, the leader of Guild Union, found out that there was something scarier than a ghost. A human who was holding an axe with a murderous glare in his eyes.