kscans

Chapter 83 - A Foreign Palace and the Little One

"You’re disinheriting Dīvadatta?!"

Informed so suddenly, the First Consort was aghast.

"Yes. He is doing an adequate job, but that is all. He has no notable achievements or talents. The retainers, too, are loud in their calls for Masahad to be made Crown Prince. I intend to make the healthy and popular Masahad the Crown Prince. Do you have any objections?"

With that, the king told the First Consort to prepare herself and left the room. Trembling with rage, the First Consort glared at the door through which the king had disappeared. Her eyes glowed dimly with a dangerous light.

..........I will not let that happen!!

She had feared such a situation. She had schemed to do away with Masahad somehow. Fortunately, many flocked to Dīvadatta, the current Crown Prince. With their cooperation, most things had gone well.

And yet, while she was biding her time, the situation had begun to change drastically.

The king’s command was absolute. That is why he had spoken of disinheritance, never thinking that the First Consort would oppose it.

Without a doubt, he had assumed she would kneel in submission.

But she was more foolish than the king had thought. He had surely not considered, not even as much as a drop of soup spilled from a spoon, that she, who could only see what was right in front of her, would bare her fangs at the king.

And so, to bury the talk of disinheritance in darkness, the First Consort plotted the king’s assassination.

"How could you... How could you do such a thing, mother!!"

Hearing the story, Dīvadatta stood there, stunned. Shigyaku was a capital crime, no matter the reason. It included not just the third degree of kinship, but the entire clan. Naturally, that included Dīvadatta and the others.

The setting was the coronation ceremony.

With all the major nobles gathered, a great incident was brought to light. Trapped in an inescapable pitfall, the First Consort had lost all color in her face and hung her head. The nobles who had likely abetted her were also bound and kneeling before the royal guards.

Among the relatives of the princes who had just escaped death by a hair’s breadth, it was discovered that some were also involved, and the executioner’s rope once again grazed their chins.

Masahad, seeing the situation grow so large and unmanageable, was tormented by anguish.

After closing his eyes tightly for a moment, he murmured the answer he had reached.

"The royal family will not be included in the joint punishment. Only those whose guilt is clearly confirmed will be beheaded."

The hall stirred, zawari, and the murmur spread out like a great ripple.

"Such a lenient measure!! This is shigyaku, you know?! You must pass a much stricter sentence!!"

An old man raised his voice, and the nobles nodded slightly as if in agreement. But Masahad silenced them with a sharp glance and opened his mouth gravely.

"Have you forgotten the Imperial Decree? I will not permit a royal to be deposed without just cause. ...Instead, I permit joint punishment for the others. Eradicate them to the last man."

Ahh, so that’s how he’s going to play it.

The Little One looked up at the sky.

It was a passable answer for a monarch. However, it was a failing grade for a statesman. Should I say something, or should I not? These were the old customs of Islam, which would make Machiavelli flee barefoot. A world where killing one’s children and siblings was commonplace. Strangers were not even worth considering.

It would be difficult to change this all at once. It could also become a seed that sows unnecessary conflict.

I suppose I’ll just have to hope for their future.

The Little One chose silence.

Their worldviews were different. The Little One’s sense of justice did not apply to everything, and this world had its own justice.

But the Little One was greedy, so she would not simply overlook it.

She lightly opened her fan, cleared her throat, and drew the gazes of Masahad and the others.

"In that case, might I be permitted to take the criminals?"

"Huh?"

"What did you say?"

Dīvadatta was dumbfounded, and Masahad’s eyes widened.

"Of course, I do not mean all of them. Please punish the clearly guilty. But if you are to execute the rest through joint liability, would you not give them to my country? We are always in need of more serfs."

As the girl chuckled, kufuri, the people around her looked at her as if she were something strange. To them, the girl who declared she wanted criminals as serfs looked like an incomprehensible monster. True, they were criminals awaiting execution. But they wanted to protect their minimum dignity. To debase them as slaves should not be allowed.

The people murmured, zawazawa.

Masahad looked suspiciously at the smug girl and opened his mouth.

She had saved his life. It was thanks to her that he had been able to ascend the throne. So, Masahad wanted to grant her wish, if she so desired. However, Masahad also thought the same as those around him. That even criminals should not be disgraced before their death.

It was the selfish sentiment of the elite. Had the Little One heard it, she would have turned up her nose in a grand display of scorn.

"I cannot permit that. You say something outrageous."

Looking sharply at Masahad, who was growling with a face like he had swallowed a bitter bug, the Little One’s eyes glittered.

A signal bee was flying in the sky above the hall.

Just in time!!

At that moment, the military police guarding the gate burst in with a great clatter. They stumbled and fell, kneeling in the center of the hall in a fluster.

"I have a report!! There is an army before the royal palace...!! A crimson banner with gold thread, it is the Frontier army!!"

"What?!"

In the flustered Masahad’s line of sight, the girl’s lips curved into a bewitching smile, niiii. A smile filled with a pleasure unimaginable from her childlike appearance. As a shiver ran down Masahad’s spine, zokuri, the military police’s report reached his ears.

"Their numbers are around twenty thousand! Our army was scattered, and it appears they have marched all the way to the royal capital!!"

As the military policeman shouted, Dīvadatta murmured, "Ah."

"Come to think of it, I did receive a report that they were dispatching an army. ...I left it to the feudal lords and my mother."

The report reached the Crown Prince, but not Masahad.

If only I had known, I would have done something!!

A time lag had occurred between one connected to the king and one who was not.

"Shall we not talk? This is not a bad proposition for Donautil, you know."

"...And if I refuse?"

"By force♪"

A smile as radiant as a flower.

With no other choice, Masahad arranged for a meeting.

Unbeknownst to them, amidst the murmuring nobles, there was one old man whose eyes were wide with terror.

"To think it would actually come to this..."

The general had had an audience with the Little One a few days ago.

She was a small child, just as the rumors said, but the perceptive light that colored her eyes possessed a depth that belied her age. Not befitting her years.

The veteran old general, who had seen through her at a glance, asked the Little One the reason for the Frontier army gathering at the Donautil border.

"That is insurance."

"Insurance?"

After stressing that the old man must keep it a secret, the Little One spoke in a steady voice.

She said that Masahad would probably ascend the throne.

The old man’s eyes widened, and the Little One smiled wryly.

"Crown Prince Dīvadatta will surely realize it. That as king, he can freely abdicate the throne. And that his only chance to do so is at the coronation ceremony."

Masahad, having been granted the throne, would surely abolish the wicked custom of killing his brothers.

"I see... That is something we would also wish for. We are grateful."

"But it does not end there."

The girl’s face turned serious.

Seeing her expression, the general felt a bad premonition and held his breath.

According to her, there was no telling what the enraged First Consort and her faction might do. So, she intended to expose the consort’s crimes at the same time to seal off their rebellion.

It was then that the old general first learned of the shigyaku, and he clenched his back teeth so hard a sound could be heard.

That woman!! How could she!! Tearing her limb from limb would not be enough!!

While the old man trembled with anger, the Little One let out a small sigh.

"If that happens, there will be many casualties due to joint punishment, won’t there? If Masahad-dono makes a good decision, this will end as a needless worry, but I do not think it will go so smoothly."

In this world, joint punishment was the norm. It was not uncommon to take advantage of it to debase and eradicate political enemies.

"That is what the insurance is for. If it comes to it, I was thinking of using military force to snatch away the young people and children at least♪"

The girl said she had summoned the army to save those who would be sacrificed by joint punishment.

"But I believe it will likely work out through discussions. You need not worry."

The old general, his fighting spirit drained by the girl’s bright smile, had taken his leave, but as the one responsible for national defense, he could not overlook it. She called it insurance, but there was no guarantee she would not use that insurance.

Thus, the general had sent a large army to the border, but from the military policeman’s state, it seemed it had been meaningless.

All that was left was to entrust it to King Masahad.

To think that things would turn out exactly as that girl had said.

The general felt an indescribable terror towards the child who seemed to see the future.

Masahad-sama, I beg of you. That is a person you must not make an enemy of.

While the general prayed, the world’s first international summit was about to take place.