How to Live as a Tyrant’s Spoiled Brat Chapter 200

(200)

Cornell looked at the members of her faction with a clever glint in her almond eyes.

Some legislators wanted to invest the money that was beginning to pour into her streets, some wanted to deal with the building guilds, some wanted to learn the ropes of redevelopment, and some simply admired the man who was Connell.

They were staunch faction members who struck different balances between their greed as lawmakers and their respect for humanity, and who believed that they could achieve their goals together with the sixteen girls.

“I will give a speech of support. Of course, everyone will agree, but what is important is unanimity. It would be a shame if His Holiness did not get unanimous approval for the first bill of the Holy Father.”

Her eyes evaluated her enemies as rats and her subordinates as wolves.

Cornell raised his hand from his semicircle of seats and began his final address of approval.

“We are being invaded now.”

The voice of a sixteen-year-old girl echoed brightly within the dome.

“The enemies are beyond counting in number and strength, and our allies are torn apart.”

The members of parliament, whether commoners, clergy, governors or courtiers, understood what she meant.

Cornell was talking about the fight against the encroachers.

“I have seen the enemies with my own eyes. They are crawling out from the bottom where you have not paid attention and do not want to pay attention, and they will gradually rise and eventually overflow.”

The one-legged orphan girl with a cane also had the look of a disabled veteran.

“Even if it is to drive out those enemies, you do not want to step into this dirty, smelly mud.”

The congressional heralds and reporters held their breath.

The reporters wrote down her speech, wielding their quills like madmen.

It is a time when citizens, regardless of wealth, are angry.

'A dirty, smelly swamp.'

If it had been any other congressman, not Cornell, who had said something like that, he might have been beaten in the street.

“I understand. If people lived not chasing the light but also looking back at the shadows, places like slums would never have been created in the first place.”

But, Cornell continued, speaking with a sigh.

“There were people there who reached out.”

She raised one hand and pointed to a hundred priests and members of parliament.

“The church cleansed us of our filth, filled our hungry bellies, and gave us the courage to rise again.”

Of course, there was no one among the members of this assembly who did not know that these high-ranking clergy lived lives as luxurious as the nobility of the court, and that they were tycoons who had never walked the streets on their own feet, let alone lived in a slum in their entire lives.

Even Cornell, who was giving the speech, felt a sense of disgust inside.

But form was as important as substance.

“The Church of Light wishes to share that courage throughout the empire and across the continent.”

Cornell shouted, his eyes wide open.

“If you can’t get into this quagmire yourself, at least help the noble ones who are willing to get into it!”

It was a loud and clear cry, full of the passion and experience of a politician who had been through many hardships.

“… … This concludes my speech in support of the bill proposed by His Majesty the Argos. I hope that the members will understand that I became emotional in the middle of it.”

Cornell sat down and closed his eyes for a moment.

'Your Majesty. What are you planning to do?'

In her view, this was a total self-inflicted wound.

She also heard a message from Marcus's messenger while introducing the slum redevelopment project to the great lords.

Since the church was the one who initiated it, the court nobles and the members of the Governor-General's Council could not easily reject it.

“Let’s begin voting.”

500 votes in favor. 0 votes against. 0 abstentions.

The court nobles all agreed.

It was unanimous.

The number of votes from local nobles, who are counted separately, also exceeded half.

Now the Church could intervene in the erosion-related experiments and judge the royal family and nobles by canon law.

Probably the number one would be Valencian.

But despite the achievement of a long-awaited goal, confusion rather than joy appeared on the faces of the clergy.

“What is going on?”

“It is a law created to keep the imperial family in check… … .”

A murmur spread among the clerical deputies and the common deputies bribed by the aristocratic coalition, as if a rock had been thrown into a pond.

“Huh.”

Looking at that smile, Cornell saw the big-time courtier who had been unable to catch her until now wink at her.

The court nobleman wore a platinum ring with a yellow gem set into it.

Cornell felt a shock as if he had been hit in the back of the head.

'They also received a request… … Then why?'

I couldn't figure out what Valencian was thinking.

* * *

“No. I don’t understand why everyone thinks His Highness the Grand Duke would be against this.”

"The palace," Rudy said with a shrug.

Trying to stop the laughter from flowing out.

“You’re saying that the Gwangmyeong Church will manage the erosion-related experiments and research, and if a problem arises, you’ll send a paladin, and have a priest stationed in the workshop from the beginning to prevent any potential problems from occurring? Of course, Sereraji might not like it.”

She was sitting across from Tentia, drinking tea.

It was the car that Valencian gave me.

“Is that… how it is?”

A look of doubt appeared on Tentia's face.

The red eyes swung left and right in different directions.

For a moment, she finally gave in.

“Well, if you think about it, it’s just impossible for the royal family to do this.”

“That’s right. Is the empire a bit large? That’s what His Majesty said. Because the administrative power is lacking, they can’t even expand their direct territories, and they are tearing up the existing governor-general territories and distributing them to the nobles. It’s also impossible for the imperial family to create a continent-wide surveillance system.”

Rudy continued, counting on his fingers.

“This is something that costs a lot of money, requires a lot of manpower, and is an infringement on autonomy, so all the great lords will rise up. But the church is making a law and saying it will be done for free, so there is no reason for me to oppose it. That’s what I said.”

Tentia nodded.

“So that’s why you weren’t so keen on protecting the boy. You had to use the presence of the eroder as an excuse to push through the bill.”

For a moment, a look of anxiety and doubt appeared on her face.

Three days ago, Valencian entered the camp of the noble coalition and had not yet come out.

'Your Majesty! This Tentia will save you from the serpents' nest.'

Tentia was about to rush out to the east gate and rescue Valencianus, but Rudy stopped her.

“I hate to admit it, but the Church is ultimately bound to act according to the will of the people. If the entire population of the capital wants His Majesty to be burned at the stake, how could the Church hesitate?”

It was a judgment as sharp as swordsmanship.

It was a point that could be captured because it was Tentia, a devout believer.

“Perhaps we could reach an agreement that would involve lifelong confinement in a cloistered monastery instead of burning at the stake. That way, the church could owe you a debt of gratitude, since they saved your life.”

Rudy shook his head slightly, not so much to be rude.

“Sir, if Lord Valen moves the nobles of the court, and adds the votes of the clergy and the governor’s councilors, that’s 300 votes.”

"yes."

“The clerical councilors will agree anyway. In other words, this is a showdown between the commoners bribed by Marquis Marcus and the court nobles requested by Lord Valen.”

There was a reason why Rudy expressed it as a confrontation that wasn't a duel.

“Both sides agreed, so why should the church listen to Marcus?”

“!”

“The consent of the commoners is only meaningful when the court nobles are against it. In a unanimous vote, it doesn’t matter who or why they consented. The church received nothing from Marcus.”

Tentia finally stood up from her seat.

“A reversible sign. In the end, public opinion is… … .”

His manly face showed the determination of a knight ready to die.

Rudy shook his head and poured tea into Tentia's cup again.

Watching her hands tremble, Tentia realized that Rudy was afraid too.

In her gentle face and green eyes, there was the pride of a living servant girl.

“As long as I don’t die, that’s all that matters,” he said.

Tentia frowned.

“!”

“Valen is now eighteen. He will be twenty-three after five years in the cloistered monastery. You know, sir. A wandering knight who has too many enemies from too many duels deliberately commits a small offense, and then hides in the monastery for three years to reflect on his actions before coming out.”

"then."

“You said that people’s anger cools down and evaporates easily. It’s just as hard to stay angry as it is to stay happy. Of course, you said that there are many people who hate Valen like crazy. There are even people who want to kill him.”

Tentia gritted her teeth.

'Kill', these were words that as a knight escort I could never ignore.

“And you said that none of it mattered.”

Tentia let out a sigh, and Rudy continued.

“Everyone should run out into the street, do whatever they can to kill me, and try to climb over the palace walls and end up getting their throats cut off… … As long as that doesn’t happen, that’s fine. Let them kill as much as they want. No matter how much of a bastard I am, I won’t punish them for thinking about it.”

A thousand emotions passed across Rudy's face as he spoke.

Tentia sat down and asked.

“When did you hear that?”

“It was the morning I went out to catch the eroder.”

* * *

I sat across from Marcus and had tea.

I usually enjoy wine more than tea, but today the tea flavor was sweet.

“Marquis Marcus. Your strategy was established when I cried and begged to live before His Majesty.”

From the moment I returned a year and a half ago, I had no intention of being loved.

I am the capital's number one scoundrel, Valencianus, and originally I was ahead of Jaerilis in the line of succession.

“I think it was a good strategy. I have to watch out for His Majesty above me and the people below me. If I had cared even a little bit about my people, I wouldn’t have come out like this.”

But since there is a Serenade, the discontent of the subjects does not target the entire imperial family.

It wouldn't be a bad idea to live and train in a monastery for a few years.

“But I thought it was a worthwhile deal if I could just save his life. He’s a sword master who lives for hundreds of years, and he doesn’t forget those who sacrificed themselves for him.”

This oath of loyalty will determine the next hundreds of years.

“If only I could win the heart of the world’s greatest swordsman, magician, and most powerful man in the world with just a few twists and turns.”

I was willing to sacrifice this much.

So I made a lot of mistakes.

They chased people out, drove them out, controlled them, and even hid the existence of the real invaders.

Because of this, many casualties occurred.

'Kill that bastard Valencian!'

'Kill the Encroacher Valencianus!'

I heard all the voices that resented me.

In that voice, I could clearly hear the joy that I was the eroder and that I would soon be executed.

I deserved that much hatred because I stabbed someone in the chest and set them on fire for my own purpose.

He smiled leisurely and put the teacup down hard.

Crispy.

An expensive porcelain teacup shattered, sending shards flying into Marcus' face.

“Well. The law has been made, the parliament has been decapitated, the ivory tower has been silenced from the beginning, and the church has achieved its goal. Now all that remains is your noble union. No. It’s a bit much to even call it ‘you.’”

When calming someone down, you must speak precisely, and when irritating someone, you must speak very precisely.

“Cariosa was waiting for her chance, and Severic was just tied up politically by you. You won’t be happy about being played by those who are not your equals. Congratulations. You have now become enemies with the Northern Prince. The two Sword Masters are now enemies.”

Marcus's face hardened.

I laughed happily.

He laughed as if he owned the whole world.

“You probably didn’t really intend to move the army. But you pressured us with the atmosphere that you might move the army! I think that card can’t be used anymore. So-.”

Then Marcus cut me off.

“Sometimes, when I’m working on something, it gets out of my hands. It’s a situation where we join hands because our positions are aligned, but one side gets what they want first and then backs out.”

It's a very annoying situation.

“Originally, once you join hands, you go together because you’re afraid of the other person’s retaliation… … but that other person had no intention of retaliation in the first place. To put it simply… … “

I interrupted Marcus again.

“It’s ruined.”

Marcus let out a deep sigh, unable to deny it.

“I think I have three options left.”

I asked, laughing theatrically.

“Three?”

“You could run away to your territory. There’s no way around it. You’ve barely managed to get an oath of loyalty and the empire is starting to stabilize, so it wouldn’t be easy to immediately form a large expeditionary force and come all the way to my territory.”

“Not bad. What about the second one?”

“I bow down before Your Majesty and beg for my life.”

I asked, slowly raising my voice.

“Then what about the third?”

Marcus seemed to notice this and his eyes lit up.

“It seems that the anger of the people has reached a peak where they are ready to annihilate His Majesty and tear Him to pieces.”

"ah."

He smiled coolly and placed his hand on the sack of Estoc.

“I wonder if you could get the right to strike first from the Emperor on the condition that he doesn’t grind you to death and throw you among his subjects.”

I asked, my pupils opening vertically.

“Do you think you can do it?”

Marcus answered.

“Shall we check?”