Chapter 218 - The Golden Rule (2)

2

We stepped into the Grand Assembly Hall.

With every measured step Viscountess Ja Sujeong took, dozens of nobles followed behind her. No one spoke amid the overlapping footsteps.

Like elite soldiers on the eve of their final battle.

"..."

The moment we entered the Grand Assembly Hall, my breath caught.

The nobles of the other factions who had already arrived all turned toward us at once.

Some glared with fury.

Some stared with jealousy.

Some gazed up at her, steeped in admiration and longing.

If there were a hundred emotions in the world, a hundred different gazes were directed at Viscountess Ja Sujeong.

"I hope you've all been well. It seemed the session would be resuming soon."

Viscountess Ja Sujeong smiled with easy composure.

"I've come with the members of my faction. Are we too late?"

Silence.

No one could answer.

But she did not seem to have expected an answer in the first place. Beaming, she made her own way to her seat.

"What are you doing, Adviser?"

As she walked, she looked back at me.

"Pardon?"

"Your seat is right beside mine. Hurry along. Surely you don't mean to leave the place beside me cold and empty."

Ah.

'She's being considerate because my memories have grown hazy.'

I bowed my head and quietly followed her.

Only as I approached my assigned seat did I begin to take in the Grand Assembly Hall.

It was very different from the [assembly] I was familiar with.

For one thing, it formed a complete circle rather than a semicircle. It resembled the Colosseum. A throne stood planted like a pillar at the very center, surrounded by the seats of the noble assembly members.

But the strangest feature was something else.

'... Water?'

Yes. Water flowed through the hall.

Channels ran beneath the seats. Anyone sitting down had no choice but to immerse their feet. The channels spread through the assembly like a spiderweb, flowing on and down until they finally reached a drain installed at the throne.

"It's amniotic water. There we go."

Viscountess Ja Sujeong took off her leather boots and sat down. Looking around, I saw the other nobles removing their shoes as if accustomed to it.

"Amniotic water?"

"Yes. Amniotic water. There's an enormous lake beneath the royal capital. Water is drawn up from it and channeled throughout the city, but the first place it passes through is here: the Grand Assembly Hall of the Platinum Tower."

I followed the others' example and removed my shoes.

"Does it have some significance?"

"Several meanings, and several uses. We make laws in the assembly, and laws make the kingdom. In a sense, the kingdom is born right here. [Always remember that we are giving birth to the kingdom.] That's why it's called amniotic water."

I removed my socks as well and dipped my feet into the channel. Warm water rippled between my toes.

"It's warm..."

"Yes, because it's winter now. In summer, it's cool. It also regulates the temperature of this vast chamber."

"That's fascinating."

"Besides the temperature, the color of the water changes according to the gravity of the matter under discussion. For example, if the assembly resolves to subjugate the Dragon Kingdom, the amniotic water turns red as blood. The channels flowing throughout the capital turn red as well. It tells the people that an emergency is upon us."

"Oh."

"In short, the people use water that has washed over the nobles' toes in their daily lives. Apparently, that fact gives a tiny minority of nobles and subjects a certain fetishistic satisfaction. Practical in all sorts of ways, isn't it?"

No, that was a bit much.

Seeing my look of disgust, Viscountess Ja Sujeong chuckled.

"Mr. Kim Gongja. You're not acting at all like Adviser Eternal River right now."

"Pardon?"

"My adviser never makes that face. It might be entertaining if your identity were exposed, but the session takes priority for now. I'd appreciate it if you were careful not to let anyone notice."

Hmm.

"How does this Eternal River person... speak?"

"Oh? You don't remember?"

"No, my memories are a little hazy. Even the amniotic water feels like something I'm seeing for the first time."

"Hmm."

Her eyes curved in a smile.

"Well, it's simple. Generally polite. Mostly expressionless. Speak in formal, declarative sentences, as though indifferent to worldly affairs, and you'll have Adviser Eternal River's tone."

I drew my brows together.

"... Do you mean like this?"

"Good. Though not quite perfect."

She rested her chin on her hand and watched me.

"Just a little more expressionless, and you'll have it exactly. My adviser truly places no value on anything in this world."

"No value on anything in this world..."

"Yes. Whether individual people, the populace, or the kingdom itself, she values none of them. The only beings who carry any weight in her heart are me and her daughter. Everything else is merely meaningless noise."

"..."

Suddenly, I remembered the information magic marked out by this body's original owner.

She had written the following about Viscountess Ja Sujeong.

+

My master.

My heart.

My blood.

Everything in this world.

+

My heart thumped.

For some reason, recalling that note sent an ache through my chest.

Viscountess Ja Sujeong was watching me with interest.

"You're rather good at acting with your face. Have you ever studied acting?"

"... I have. During my climb up the Tower, I had an opportunity to devote myself to theater."

"You're surprisingly versatile, Mr. Kim Gongja. Right now, you're very much like Adviser Eternal River."

The smile in her eyes deepened.

"From now on, would you mind if I kept calling you [Adviser] instead of Mr. Kim Gongja?"

Why?

My heart thumped again.

"..."

I was merely meeting her eyes, yet my chest felt tight. Fog gathered in my head, just as it had immediately after I possessed this body in the trauma world.

Fortunately, a voice called my attention back just before the fog swallowed me entirely.

"His Majesty the King!"

The session resumed.

3

As soon as the session began, the nobles of the other factions launched wave after wave of attacks at Viscountess Ja Sujeong.

The first to open fire was Count Fang-Tower Tiger, who had been sizing up his opportunity since we were in the lounge.

"Viscountess Ja Sujeong has privately taken rebels into her service. And not merely Red Nails. The Assembly of Stone, Rebel Stone, Crooked Evil, Heavenly God, Heart. Every band of rebels that has caused unrest of late has become her subordinate. A noble with such a record cannot be recommended for a ducal title."

Hundreds of nobles watched Count Fang-Tower Tiger. The kingdom's monarch, too, allowed the count to speak without a word.

It was less a session than a hearing into Viscountess Ja Sujeong.

"Even now, it would be right to arrest the traitors sheltering beneath Viscountess Ja Sujeong's protection and punish them for their crimes. If she is a loyal servant of the kingdom, she will naturally cooperate. Will you not, Viscountess? Unless you harbor treasonous intentions, why else would you shelter traitors?"

"Count, all the children I took into my service are people I captured alive."

Viscountess Ja Sujeong countered with a smile.

"Prisoners captured on the battlefield become the commander's property. What is the problem with my disposing of my property as I please?"

"Even if they are traitors who turned their blades against the kingdom?"

"Objects are not guilty of crimes. A skilled warrior's sword has drunk the blood of dozens, even hundreds. Yet no one blames the sword. The warrior, perhaps. I have merely collected swords that have drunk rather a lot of blood."

"Are you calling living people objects?"

"Yes."

"..."

"As I said, they're my property. If you don't like it, you should have captured them yourself. Or abolish slavery."

"Oh, that's right," she added, blinking innocently.

"There are a great many slaves in your county, aren't there? It's rather unfortunate when a territory's finances depend on a slave economy. Why didn't you modernize your territory's economy long ago?"

"How dare you dictate how a comital house is run..."

"It's precisely the same. The prisoners I captured are also my private property. I don't know what right you have to interfere in my household's affairs. Wouldn't respecting one another's boundaries be better for both of us?"

Count Fang-Tower Tiger clenched his teeth.

"... And what if the crime was committed not by your property, but by a living person in their own right?"

"Hmm?"

"Your Majesty."

Count Fang-Tower Tiger turned toward the throne.

"I humbly beg leave to address Your Majesty."

"Speak."

"Creating a new ducal title is a matter of such gravity that precedents are scarce even in the kingdom's two-thousand-year history. It therefore demands an equally rigorous procedure, and I believe an examination of the candidate's moral qualifications is essential."

The Sun King listened to the count in silence.

He had not left his palace for the past sixty years. Those who did not work achieved no success, and those without success held no authority. The Sun King had no authority.

And the nobles did not respect those without authority.

"I have received several deeply troubling reports regarding Viscountess Ja Sujeong's moral character."

"..."

"Thus, if Your Majesty grants permission, I wish to summon witnesses before this assembly."

The Sun King turned to look at Viscountess Ja Sujeong.

His gaze asked what she wished him to do.

Ja Sujeong smiled as though telling him not to worry about anything.

"... Permission granted."

"Your Majesty's grace is boundless."

The witnesses prepared in advance entered the assembly one after another.

The first to step into the amniotic water was a neatly dressed old man.

Count Fang-Tower Tiger questioned him.

"Witness, what is your name?"

"Namseok, my lord."

"What is your status, and where are you from?"

"I am a free commoner. Forty-one years ago, I came from the barony of Death-Omen Star and settled in the royal capital."

"Namseok, you have set foot in this chamber despite being a mere commoner. The royal grace bestowed upon you is no small thing."

The old man knelt and pressed his forehead to the floor.

"I am unworthy of His Majesty's boundless grace."

"You circulated a petition among the nobles, claiming you had suffered an injustice, did you not?"

"When I lost my only granddaughter, it felt as though my world had collapsed. I dared take up my lowly brush and scrawl a few words scarcely worthy of the name, sullying your noble eyes."

"..."

At those words, I turned my head.

In the seat beside me, Marchioness Snow Rabbit's face had gone deathly pale.

"It is sad that you lost your granddaughter. But whether a life ends is decided by Heaven. Surely you are not the only commoner to have lost family, Namseok. What injustice so aggrieved you that you circulated a petition?"

"The ending of a lowly commoner's life is as natural as the cutting of a nameless weed. Yet my granddaughter was not taken by Heaven, and so I plead for redress."

"Oh, dear."

Count Fang-Tower Tiger spoke as though he were a benevolent ruler.

"How did your granddaughter die?"

"My granddaughter was whipped to death by a person called Snow Rabbit."

The amniotic water stirred.

"Snow Rabbit? That name sounds familiar. Do you know that person's status?"

"Six years ago, when my granddaughter died, I knew her only as Lady Snow Rabbit."

"Wouldn't Lady Snow Rabbit be Her Ladyship the Marchioness, seated over there now?"

The nobles looked at Marchioness Snow Rabbit.

Now, not only was her face deathly pale, but her entire body was trembling.

"Marchioness."

"Yes...?"

"This commoner says his granddaughter died after you whipped her. Six years ago. Is this true?"

"Ah, well. I-I..."

At that moment, Viscountess Ja Sujeong rose.

Water splashed beneath her feet as she stood.

"Your Majesty."

"Speak."

"The house of Marchioness Snow Rabbit rests under my protection. My house is its liege house, and hers is a vassal house. Therefore, I should rightly bear the reprimand for the crimes committed by my subordinate. I submit that it is improper for Count Fang-Tower Tiger to interrogate my vassal."

"... What does the count think?"

"Viscountess Ja Sujeong is most gracious. I, too, would prefer to question her rather than Marchioness Snow Rabbit."

Count Fang-Tower Tiger looked triumphant, as though that was exactly the response he had been seeking.

"Viscountess."

"Yes, Count."

"Did you already know what the marchioness had done?"

"I did."

The amniotic water stirred again.

"Since when?"

"I already knew when I accepted Marchioness Snow Rabbit as my vassal. She confessed it to me herself."

"Then you mean you accepted her despite knowing her crime?"

"That would be correct."

BANG!

Count Fang-Tower Tiger slammed his fist on the desk.

"Why? The marchioness whipped a young commoner to death. How could you have the gall to accept such a brutal noble into your service?"

Viscountess Ja Sujeong smiled.

Looking at that smile made my chest churn with terrible unease.

"I don't know whether you're aware... but back then, the young lady was infamous for running wild. The foolish young lady, the moronic young lady, the brainless young lady... She lived surrounded by every sort of ridicule. After meeting her, I decided I ought to raise this child properly."

"Raise her properly?"

"Her upbringing in her family amounted to abuse."

Marchioness Snow Rabbit flinched, her shoulders shaking.

"Her grandfather, Marquess White-Browed Rabbit, was a genius. In the worst sense of the word. He could not understand anyone less intelligent than himself, and he made no attempt to understand his granddaughter, who was not as clever as he was. Reproaches. Verbal assaults. Abuse. Marchioness Snow Rabbit's childhood was stained by her grandfather's malicious contempt."

Count Fang-Tower Tiger furrowed his brows.

"And? Are you saying we should forgive her because she deserves pity too?"

"No."

Viscountess Ja Sujeong covered her mouth with her sleeve and giggled.

"Had she been left alone, Marchioness Snow Rabbit would have lived forever as the [Brainless Young Lady]. Without ever regretting her crimes, without a chance to reproach herself, she would have met an easy death at the hands of an assassin sent by someone."

"..."

"I don't think that's quite right."

"What isn't right about..."

"I took Marchioness Snow Rabbit on a journey for a fortnight."

Viscountess Ja Sujeong spoke in a lilting voice.

As though reminiscing about a happy past.

"I showed reality to a young lady who had never so much as wet her hands with work in her life. I forced her to experience the lives of commoners who cannot eat unless they work, and I forced her to understand the reality of the world outside, where even those who work struggle to eat. Thanks to that, Marchioness Snow Rabbit realized that, however unhappy she might be, hers was [bearable unhappiness]."

"..."

"And I gave her lessons regularly. Sometimes I took her to the northern port to see the merchants' daily lives. At other times, I dragged her along to suppress bandits, showing her the sight of people's lives being smashed apart."

Viscountess Ja Sujeong's breath was red.

Like a priest intoxicated by something, she murmured softly, her words colored by her hot breath.

"Do you understand? Marchioness Snow Rabbit is still only fifteen. Fifteen, yet she has already experienced the deaths of the lowborn, of merchants, and of bandits. I dare assure you that she will become one of the twelve finest rulers in this kingdom."

"Ha."

Count Fang-Tower Tiger sneered.

"I wondered what you were getting at. So you're saying we should cover up the stains of her past because she will become a fine stateswoman. Viscountess, with such a rotten mindset..."

"You really don't understand anything, Count."

"What?"

"What does it matter whether she becomes a fine stateswoman? What matters is that, even after becoming such a splendid noble, she will still have committed a wrong in her past that [can never be undone]."

Viscountess Ja Sujeong's breathing grew heated.

"Do you understand? The finer a person Marchioness Snow Rabbit becomes, the more unhappy she will be."

"..."

"However justly she governs, however many of her people's lives she soothes, Marchioness Snow Rabbit can never consider herself a good person. Of course she can't. The fact that she killed a child will never change."

Viscountess Ja Sujeong brought her hands neatly together.

As though praying to something.

"I will raise Marchioness Snow Rabbit into the finest noble in the kingdom. And I will make her grow into the unhappiest noble in the kingdom. With each passing day, unhappiness will dye her. Self-reproach and self-loathing will mingle, surely coloring her face."

"..."

"Count, imagine the marchioness after that transformation. Imagine how unhappiness will stain the air with every gesture of her hand, how her past will trail along in her shadow with every step. Please, picture it. What do you think?"

Viscountess Ja Sujeong was smiling radiantly, like a saintess.

"Isn't she lovable?"