Interlude:
Reminisce
(Dole François)
“VERY WELL THEN. Does anyone object to the proposed Restoration Tax?” I asked. I waited a moment and met everyone’s eyes, but everybody seemed fully on board. “Then let’s call the session there. Gentleman, let us reconvene tomorrow.”
After I called the session to a close, the parasites who’d taken the bait and joined my provisional government left, one by one. I watched them go with emotionless eyes.
Two men came up to me. One said, “That was splendid, Master Dole!”
“Hmph. I’m simply doing what is natural, given my position. Restoration is costly. We nobles are prepared to shed our blood, sweat, and tears to overcome this trial, of course, but the common folk must shoulder their share of the burden.” I’d long since grown weary of all the vain attempts at flattery put on by these people, but I returned the man a cocksure grin all the same. I was accustomed to maintaining this farce. “I owe you two thanks, Count Ardouin, Earl Lelong. Your support for my proposal was a great help.” I didn’t even hesitate to dish out hollow gratitude.
“Oh, but of course we’d be in agreement with you, Master Dole! Why, we’ve always believed that there is no noble who has the kingdom’s future in mind better than you!”
“Yes, yes, indeed!”
Despite what they said, Count Ardouin and Earl Lelong had originally been in Marquess Achard’s camp. They simply tried to switch sides the moment Marquess Achard fell from power. Of course, I welcomed them with open arms, for they were deplorable politicians with no sense of morality or justice. All the better to fall to ruin with me.
“I do not deserve such kind words, but I thank you all the same. I shall take my leave here, if that’s all right. Oh, and thank you for your financial contributions. I shall make great use of them.”
Before I left, I made sure to thank them for their “financial contributions,” which were nothing more than bribes.
“Yes, yes, absolutely!”
“Have a swell day, Duke François!”
The two continued to flatter me as I left the assembly hall. I felt a slight pang of guilt over having used what should be sacred ground in such a manner.
I returned to my estate and sank into a chair in my study, leaning back. My fatigue was mounting. While I was fully prepared to sacrifice myself alongside the rest of the corrupt nobility, I could not risk bringing the common people down with me. Handling the aftermath of Mt. Sassal’s eruption would require everything we had to give. Rae’s warning had allowed me to make some preparations beforehand, but the damage was far greater than I’d expected.
“Hmph. Those fools. How can they so blindly support the Restoration Tax? Do they know nothing of governance?” I mumbled.
Raising taxes now, of all times, was guaranteed to invite backlash. The nobles, in their corruption, saw the common folk as nothing more than obedient slaves. I looked forward to seeing the moment they realized their foolishness.
“…Having my own daughter look at me like that was quite painful, though.”
Before the eruption, the king had ordered my daughter to investigate the aristocracy. She eventually denounced me, giving me, in the process, a look I would never forget. Seeing her ideals be betrayed had brought her to despair. I couldn’t care less about the opinions of other nobles, but to have my dear daughter look upon me with such loathing hurt.
“…But it won’t be much longer. Just a little while, Melia,” I whispered, voice filled with emotion, to the photo frame on my desk.
In truth, I had not always been such a virtuous man. It was Melia who changed me—she, who was virtuous in every way. Despite being born into the household of a marquess, she had managed to come away with a loathing for corruption in every one of its forms.
“May I have a moment of your time, Duke François?”
She had called out to me at a soirée. She didn’t cower before me or my title in the slightest, but instead, openly criticized the nobility. As someone who had never thought to consider exactly what it meant to be a noble, I was awed by her.
For some time after that, we proceeded to have debates whenever we met. Others might have found our conversations unromantic and dull, but I was having the time of my life. It wasn’t long before I proposed to her. She replied: “Will you shoulder my ideals with me?”
She was not a woman who threw the word “ideals” around lightly. To shoulder her ideals with her meant one thing and one thing alone—to stand against the corrupt bastion of the aristocracy. Was I prepared for such a thing back then? I don’t know. But I was young and had no way of knowing the hardships to come, so I said yes.
Our married life was good. I fought for our ideals on the political stage, and she did the same in high society. We were even blessed with a child, whom I named Claire.
Claire was like her mother in many ways. Not just in appearance but in other regards as well. She grew a bit spoiled because of my reckless doting, but deep down they were the same. She was strongly aware of the fact that she was a noble and was strict with herself.
Of course, Melia was also strict with herself. The world of nobility was full of fiends, but she remained ever virtuous. Perhaps too much so. She publicly denounced Marquess Achard at a time when there were many ill rumors surrounding him but none dared to publicly stand against him out of fear of his status and influence. Melia was different from the rest, however, and chose to overlook none of his wicked dealings.
And then the incident happened. The whole thing was concluded to be a carriage accident, but I knew better—it had been an assassination, plotted by House Achard. My memory of the incident itself was unclear, but I could never forget what Marquess Achard said to me when I returned to my duties.
“Ah, so you lived. Such a shame.”
Not killing him in that very moment was both my greatest regret in life and the most important decision I’d ever made. I could have used my influence to have him secretly assassinated in turn, but I chose not to. I held myself to a higher standard. Returning to being the conceited noble I once was would make everything meaningless. It would make Melia’s death meaningless. I chose not to give in to my rage.
It was only then that I truly understood the weight of the ideals Melia spoke of, and how cruel they could be.
I began to plan a different form of revenge. I decided I would purge the corrupt system of nobility as a whole. House Achard and the rest—all of it. That goal became the only thing I lived for.
Since then, I’d done much to make myself deserving of the things people whispered about me. Before I knew it, I’d become a villain to rival Marquess Achard. I committed wicked deeds but made sure I never fell into the grip of vice—though the temptation had anguished me numerous times. Now, at last, I was nearing my goal. It would take one more step… Just one more step.
“It won’t be long now, my love. We shall meet again, soon.”
As soon as I said those words, I thought better of it. Melia was virtuous and noble. A man steeped in sin, like me, was not meant for the pearly gates she’d passed through. Men like me were destined for hell.
“Ah. Perhaps I won’t be seeing you again after all, Melia.” The thought was a little…no, greatly disheartening. But I could not change my course now. I had to see things through. “At the very least…let Claire come out of this unscathed.”
I had entrusted my daughter to Rae. Rae swore she would protect her, but I couldn’t help but worry. Claire took after Melia greatly. Far too much, in fact. Would she allow herself to live on in disgrace?
“It seems I have no choice but to stake it all on you, Rae Taylor.”
Rae Taylor was an enigma of a girl who claimed to be from another world. I found that hard to believe, of course, but her achievements were undeniable. She was different somehow, and she was slowly becoming someone irreplaceable to my daughter.
Perhaps she could change the fate my Claire was headed toward?
“…I could wish for nothing more.” It was my wish that my daughter live on, not be martyred for her ideals. Seeing someone die for their ideals once was more than enough for me. “Melia… Please, protect Claire.”
Her picture smiled at me. She could not answer my request. Of course she couldn’t. But that was only a fitting punishment for a man of my sins.