Chapter 251. Childhood Friend – Calluses
In the 43rd year of Abram de Lognum’s reign.
The citizens of Nevis were witnessing a historic moment.
A massive execution platform had been erected in the square in front of the royal palace. It was designed to prevent mobs from storming it and to ensure that everyone in the square could see clearly. Measuring 40 meters wide and 1.5 meters high, it was more of a colossal stage than an execution platform.
The citizens of Nevis could hardly believe their eyes. The king of Orun, Abram de Lognum, and even the revered royals were bound for execution. The sight of dozens of royals with ropes around their necks reminded onlookers of a slave auction, leaving them stunned.
During the execution, Marquis Drageen’s spokesperson took the stage to publicly expose the crimes of the Lognum royal family.
He denounced the Lognum family for enjoying power as the representative house of Orun while failing to fulfill their responsibilities. He accused them of oppressing innocent natives and imposing high taxes on the nobility and commoners for their luxury. There was no opportunity for a rebuttal.
Publicly, it was announced by Marquis Drageen’s spokesperson, known as the leader of the reform:
“Therefore, we, Marquis Ebeny Drageen and Northern Border Lord, Count Soarel Demetri Ogerton and Mage Executor, Chief Justice Bokali, Chamberlain Rothschild, Treasurer Guanin… (abbreviated) …Commander of Nevis’ defense, Count Sapia, and Lev Bizan, the General representing the native population and acting wartime commander, hereby sentence King Abram de Lognum and the Lognum royals, including Prince Aeton de Lognum, to execution.”
Blood splattered over the dazed citizens. The old king’s head rolled.
The same fate awaited Prince Aeton de Lognum, who had undergone the coming-of-age ceremony last year, but a gruesome scene unfolded. As the executioner who skillfully beheaded the king was replaced for a break, a mishap occurred.
“Eek!”
The citizens screamed as the axe of the new executioner missed and cleaved into the prince’s shoulder.
Beheading a royal, especially a prince, was a monumental task.
Under the watchful eyes of Nevis’ citizens, the clumsy executioner lifted the trembling axe again. It took five strikes to finally separate the prince’s head from his body. Several royals in the back wet themselves in terror. Among them were children.
There were many royals bearing the Lognum name. Many had already married off or formed separate branches, necessitating a decision on how far the executions should extend.
Lev, emerging as the de facto leader of the reformists, mercifully declared,
“We will only execute royals residing in the palace and male royals within eight degrees of kinship to the king. Women married into domestic noble families will be spared, provided their respective noble houses vouch for them. The same applies to those abroad. Children under 12 will be executed only if they are within six degrees of kinship to Abram de Lognum. Fortunately, there is only one child under four years old. That child should be adopted by a noble family. Moreover, royals over 65, regardless of gender, will be spared even if they reside in the palace. We will provide a small house outside the city and assign guards to watch over them.”
He spared a significant number of royals.
Though it would have been beneficial to eradicate them entirely to strengthen royal authority, he deemed it unnecessary to be so harsh.
Killing those too distantly related would upset associated noble families, and it was necessary to consider public sentiment by sparing the elderly and children. However, children too closely related to the king could not be spared.
Even this decision affected over 100 people. The execution platform in front of the palace was stained red.
Nobles who had followed Princes Aeton and Algeo de Lognum also could not escape execution.
Among those executed were many nobles allied with the princes, including Count Geogis Jermin. Some nobles who had rebelled in Nevis and surrendered were also executed, including Count Taradin Amus, a leader of the rebellion.
These were nobles who had excessively oppressed native slaves. Unable to execute all of them, a thorough investigation led to select examples being made.
Lev showed clemency here as well.
Only the heads and heirs of the offending noble families were executed; the rest of their households were spared. In the past, they would have been sold as slaves, but henceforth, slavery would no longer exist in Orun. Their properties were confiscated, and they were exiled from Nevis.
After about a week of purges, the kingdom’s administrative officials, who had been unable to work, returned to their posts. Various positions were distributed among reformist nobles as Orun Kingdom prepared to establish a new dynasty.
There was a mountain of tasks ahead.
Drawing from his experience with the beggar siblings, Lev appropriately distributed the tasks. He delegated minor responsibilities to Baron Guanin, Viscount Bokali, Count Sapia, and Baron Rothschild, while he himself seized the crucial military power. He also didn’t neglect to secure the Lognum family’s wealth.
However, this process was far from smooth.
Unlike Leanne de Yeriel, who was a legitimate royal with solid legitimacy, Lev faced significant resistance because he was a commoner.
Even among the reformists, opinions were divided. Many nobles initially dismissed the idea of Lev ascending the throne as a cruel joke, but eventually, they reacted with astonishment and displeasure.
“Wasn’t Marquis Drageen supposed to take the throne?” they asked, both surprised and displeased.
With a mountain of tasks to tackle and discontent brewing among the nobles who were supposed to run the government, Marquis Drageen made a suggestion to Lev. He believed Lev was a suitable candidate for the throne.
“Your status seems to be the issue, Lev. I have a solution. If you become a noble first, it should resolve the problem.”
“…With no king, who can bestow a noble title upon me?”
“There is another way,” continued Marquis Drageen.
“You can marry Lady Harriet Guidan. She’s residing at the Marquis Guidan’s estate, so you must have already met her. She had a troubling experience a couple of years ago, and her mind hasn’t been stable since, but she was a virtuous and beautiful child. I believe her mind will recover if you cherish her.”
Marquis Drageen probably mentioned this purely out of a desire to care for the family of his deceased friend. With the Marquis of Guidan deceased, the Guidan household was being managed by Sierra, the Marquess Guidan.
But this arrangement couldn’t last forever.
Although Marquess Sierra Guidan’s last name changed upon marriage, she was from another noble family. Meanwhile, Harriet, who stared blankly out the window, couldn’t inherit the family. Her brother, Havni Guidan, who was supposed to be the heir, had died long ago.
So, if Lev, who was to ascend the throne, married Harriet and had two sons with her…
One would inherit the throne, and the other would become the Marquis Guidan. As royals, the Guidan family might even be elevated to a duchy.
It seemed like a good solution for everyone. However, Lev closed his eyes tightly, feeling his breath quicken.
She ended up that way because of me.
The Marquis of Guidan also died helping me after falling for my deceit.
Lev was speechless, feeling the weight of his returning karma. Yet, there was some merit to Marquis Drageen’s suggestion…
Achievement: The Man Who Melted Harriet Guidan’s Heart – Earned mild affection from Harriet Guidan.
– “I believe her mind will recover if you cherish her, Lev.”
This was indeed a possibility. Just persuading the Marquis of Guidan and meeting her once had already made the once blank Harriet mobile.
‘God, please…’
Lev decided to hold off on answering. He had no choice. “I’ve already mentioned it to the Marquess. She seems quite fond of you,” Marquis Drageen urged. Lev responded that he would consider it.
On the way back to the Marquis Guidan’s estate, Lev, riding a lavish carriage, was tormented. The gilded decorations seemed to speak to him.
– Are you happy with your success? Do you feel good?
– You’ve made it, Lev Bizan. A beautiful, dim-witted wife will bring you the throne. Absolutely.
Lev stopped the carriage. After retching, he returned to the estate, which was bustling despite his wishes.
“Hey, isn’t that Lady Ban Bizan and Sir Ruben Bizan?”
“Stop. I’m having a tough time right now.”
“Why?”
“I can’t see my father anywhere. The villagers said he left, but…”
“Ha ha. Don’t worry too much. There are plenty of people who haven’t joined up yet. He’ll be here soon.”
“…I guess?”
“Oh! Captain, you’re back!”
It was Ban and Ruben Bizan. As knights, Lev’s apprentices saluted them energetically.
Their skills didn’t merit knighthood. They were still far from deserving it.
However, under the guise of needing to bolster their ranks, Lev made them knights of the Third Order, and his apprentices were genuinely delighted.
In this world, this wasn’t considered a flaw.
In these moderately corrupt times, what was seen as integrity could be viewed as inflexibility. The ability to look out for those around you was a skill, and it was necessary. Lev nodded, accepting their salutes, but felt more troubled as he entered the mansion.
“Try this. Aunt Sierra taught me how to make it… How is it?”
Lena Einarr was feeding a crushed cookie to Leo Dexter. Watching the stronger-than-average Lena cook in his current state of mind was unbearable.
Even those guys became knights…
“Hey! Where are you going? You should try this too.”
It was a mess.
Both the cookies and the current situation.
Forcing a smile (with Leo Dexter glaring at him from behind), Lev stuffed the bitter and burnt-tasting cookie into his mouth. Despite knowing that Lev would ascend to the throne, Lena didn’t change how she treated him.
“It’s all thanks to my husband, right?”
Lev went to meet the Marquess.
He wasn’t going to complain about the salt in the cookies instead of sugar. Waiting for the lady, who was caring for Harriet, he spoke.
“…I apologize for speaking out of turn, but Marquis Drageen mentioned something to me.”
“…Did he now? He mentioned marrying my daughter, right? It came up in conversation, so don’t mind it too much. And in fact…”
The Marquess trailed off.
In truth, she never saw this young man as a son-in-law. He was an extraordinary young man who would soon be king, and he had helped awaken her and her daughter, but she treated Lev like a son.
Achievement: The Man Who Melted Sierra Guidan’s Heart – Earned mild affection from Sierra Guidan.
Had her son been alive, he’d be about Lev’s age. They looked similar in build and appearance, though her son, taking after his father, would have been taller. Lev’s average height reminded her of her son as a child.
Then Lev spoke.
“Instead… Marquess, would it be alright if I became your daughter’s brother?”
Adoption. It was the best he could think of. The dynasty would become the Guidan dynasty, not the Bizan dynasty, but the name didn’t matter.
Harriet Guidan.
He would stay by her side as a brother. Living to ease the tragedy of the woman who stared blankly at him through the door.
This seemed the only way to protect his feelings for Leah, ascend the throne, complete the childhood friend scenario, and atone for his karma.
Marquess Sierra Guidan smiled warmly. “But… I already have a father and mother,” she said, pulling him into a tight embrace.
Was this a heartwarming ending?
Lev Guidan, from then on, moved between his mother’s mansion and the royal palace, preparing for his coronation. The end was near. Occasionally, as promised to Count Ogerton, he would visit the count’s mansion to be a test subject for the Aura Blade research.
The experiments were simple. He just had to repeatedly activate and deactivate the Aura Blade.
Count Ogerton was consumed by madness.
He believed this research would open a new horizon in magic and paid no attention to his six-year-old son.
And so, the days passed.
Then, one ordinary morning, just as autumn had begun…
“Ta-da~! Egg pudding!”
“Oh! Our Lena finally made dessert. Looks tasty. Hey, if you’re done with your meal… Huh? What’s wrong?”
“It’s a bit wobbly, isn’t it? The weather isn’t cold enough yet, so I couldn’t perfect the shape. But it should taste alright.”
A notification popped up, obscuring the table and the terrible pudding. Lev forgot to breathe as he looked at Lena Einar in despair.
[Congratulations!]
[Lena’s dream has come true.]
[True Ending 1/2: Receive Lena’s blessing!]
The egg pudding Lena had brought was more like water than pudding.
What should have been a solid, sweet treat, hardened by the combination of sugar and nutritious milk, was ruined by an overwhelming amount of salt. It hadn’t been cooked properly on a low flame, so it was a complete disaster. Yet, Lena Einar was holding it up naturally, with hands that had lost their calluses.
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