“No. The other regions are now operating under royal governance. Attempting to delay the inevitable would only lead to my family being ostracized further. It would be no different from exile.”
“True. Instead, your house will see greater tax revenue than ever before. Enjoy the privilege of being the last of the Great Five. If this is somehow not enough for you, then I haven’t a clue what you really want.” With a smile creeping across my face, I placed my hand on the last white king piece.
“To atone for the sin of allowing the assassination of the previous king and queen, I will relinquish my title as marquess and confine myself to my home,” Alcott said. “My son was most grateful for your kindness when I admitted my faults to him. He will serve you well, Your Majesty.”
“Fine. Tell him that he better not disappoint me.”
“I will.”
Our exchange finished, the marquess took his leave.
Alicia entered shortly thereafter. “Your Majesty, your tea’s ready!”
“Thank you, Alicia.”
I enjoyed a cup of Alicia’s delicious tea, its floral notes dancing on my tongue.
“Is anything unusual going on?” I asked.
Alicia looked upward, collecting her thoughts. “I suppose so,” she said, her tone demure. “The capital is abuzz with gossip right now.”
“How so?”
“Well, I mean…we might be invaded by another nation.”
“Ah. So the citizens are anxious.”
“They are. Everything’s going to be fine, right?”
“I see anxiety has gripped you too, Alicia. Fear not—I will protect you.”
“No, no. I meant to ask if everything with you will be fine, Your Majesty! You always push yourself too hard!”
Her reaction surprised me; I wasn’t sure what to say.
“Perhaps I ask for too much,” Alicia continued. “But you mean more to me than anyone else! So please keep yourself safe!”
Her concern brought a smile to my face. “Thank you, Alicia.” Warmth spread through the void within me. “A frown like that doesn’t suit you. Keep your spirits up, for doing so will lift mine as well.”
“Oh, Your Majesty…”
“Wipe your tears. Show me that lovely smile of yours the next time we meet.”
“A-all right. Sorry…”
Once she left the room, I finished my tea and continued to look through documents, reflecting on what I had done. Many people had died in this purge, and it was only thanks to my allies that we were able to keep greater chaos at bay.
“Coming in, Your Majesty,” came a voice at the door.
A man with gray hair and an unusually plain face entered the room, joined by Godfrey.
“It’s unusual for you both to appear at once,” I said. “Have you grown accustomed to your new face yet, Morgan?”
The man now known as Morgan smiled, his cheeks flushing. “A little. Mirrors aren’t surprising me anymore, at least.”
This man had once been Oscar Weston. He’d changed his name and appearance in exchange for being excluded from the purge.
“Excellent. Impressive work, Godfrey.”
“Heavens, I should be the one thanking you,” Godfrey replied. “You’ve inspired me to use my magic in ways I never would’ve dreamed of on my own.”
Morgan’s face had been altered through Godfrey’s magic. The head mage had never used his magic on other people before, but the need for changing Oscar’s appearance caused him to realize it might be possible. No doubt he’d thought something along the lines of, I can modify matter—aren’t humans also made up of matter? The results were quite impressive. Morgan looked nothing like Oscar, and he could now enjoy working as Gilbert’s assistant.
Anita also worked for Gilbert now, still as determined as ever to save the captured children. Our working relationship with Étoile had continued, and they sent any struggling magical children to us to keep in government custody.
“So, what brings you to me today?”
“Paperwork. I’ve got a bunch to hand off,” Morgan said.
“Ah, I see. I’ll be sure to read through it.”
“Thank you.”
He put the papers on my desk, where a mountain of documents awaited me.
“Goodness, there’s a lot,” Godfrey remarked.
“You should see his desk, or even Gilbert’s,” I replied. “My stack of documents is a cute little pile in comparison.”
Morgan sulked a bit in response. “It’s what I deserve. As the only survivor of my house, I must give my all for the sake of the kingdom.”
“Is it hard for you?” I asked him.
“I wouldn’t dare say that. This is my punishment—that is all.”
“Mm.”
“And frankly, I’m just not that great at going through documents very quickly. My apologies for not being good enough.”
“No need to apologize. Just do your best—that’s all that can be done. Gilbert’s had so many papers to sift through that he’s barely had the time to give me a basic report today.”
“The purge of the three houses affected many lives,” Morgan said. “That Your Majesty and Gilbert were able to reduce the ensuing chaos to such a degree is truly remarkable.”
“It was only possible through extensive preparation. The aftermath of having purged three political powerhouses is quite severe, but we will get through this if we keep putting in the effort.”
I then gave Morgan various orders related to regional governance. My experience with the aftermath of House Radford made this part go rather smoothly.
“I understand you must feel intimidated, but we have to finalize this as quickly as possible. Our government needs to be optimized, connected, and properly situated. If not, then we won’t be able to wage war or rescue the children.”
Morgan nodded. “Understandable, Your Majesty. Having a nation fully prepared and perfectly organized is ideal when threatened by an enemy nation.”
“Yes, but we barely have any time. As we speak, Tommy’s espionage is accelerating the mayhem unfolding in Celden.”
“The sooner Celden makes its move, the sooner we can save the children,” Godfrey said, staring up at the ceiling. “Still, it would be great if Ausgrid could breathe for a moment. Oh, what a contradictory pair of desires. I knew it’d be like this when we first formulated our plan, but it bothers me all the same.”
“We’ve gone off topic,” I said. “Godfrey, what is it you wanted to ask of me?”
“I will be away for some time during my next mission,” he replied. “I’m just here to say goodbye.”
“Ah. I doubt anything bad will happen to someone as skilled as yourself, but you have my blessing.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
“Morgan, Godfrey—if you were to learn of a method to erase magic from this world, would you do it?”
They picked up on my intentions right away.
“I see no reason to give up my magic,” Morgan said. “It is a useful tool. It is not inherently good or evil. Some may misuse the gift of magic, but it would be tragic to suppress all magic because of a few malefactors.”
His words rang true. Whether magic was used for good or evil was up to the wielder. Those who abused it were the problem, not the magic itself. Placing the weight of all that magic represented solely upon magic itself was misguided. Doing so allowed people to blame magic for their own wrongdoings.
“Personally, I think we could do without magic,” Godfrey said.
Godfrey’s stance was the opposite of Morgan’s. It was surprising to hear this from the head mage, to say the least.
“Academically, I find it fascinating, and a part of me does wish for it to exist. But magic has made society stagnant. I don’t believe we need it. All hell would break loose for a while if it vanished all at once, but things would balance out eventually. People would survive.”
Perhaps his title as head mage was precisely why his argument held so much weight. He got to the heart of the matter more sincerely than Celden ever could.
“I see. Thank you both. I greatly value your input.”
“It was no trouble, Your Majesty. Anyway, we need to get going.”
And so they left.