Seyzo II was crazy. He was a mad man, and people were scared of him because he was unpredictable.

  Even a king shouldn’t take others’ land away without a good reason. Sungjin took away the heroes’ land because all of them were traitors who were standing on the Blood Ruler, Riad’s side, who became his prisoner after his victory.

  There was a lot of resistance although Sungjin had a good reason, so naturally, Seyzo II shouldn’t do something without having a reason to do so.

  But the mad king didn’t care. And since no one was trying to rise against him, nobody could say anything about it.

  “Leave now.”


  “Yes, Your Highness.”


  Count Satirus had no choice but to leave while Eustasia tried to hide the smile on her face.

  “Your Highness. Who would you like to assign the development of your new hunting ground?”


  “Do you have a recommendation?”


  “Nobody could be good enough in your eyes, Your Highness.”


  “I know.”


  “However, it is such humble work that doesn’t suit you, so maybe Marquis Gariel would be a suitable person to do it.”


  “Good. I will follow your advice.”


  “Thank you, Your Highness. May I leave now?”


  “Sure. A war is coming, get ready.”


  “Yes, Your Highness.”


  Right after her meeting with the king, Eustasia went to meet Marquis Gariel.

  Marquis Gariel was on her side, and he was happy to hear that Eustasia helped him to get the job to build king’s new hunting ground on Mountain Angril.

  “Hahahaha. I wanted to see the look on Count Satirus’ face. Too bad I missed it.”


  “It was quite a scene.”


  “I will give you half of the profit.”


  “I just made a suggestion. The king thought highly of your abilities.”


  “Haha. Don’t be modest and take my offer.”


  “If you say so…… I will take it.”


  Both were happy with the result. They could make a lot of money by changing a few numbers on the book. It was a typical way of corruption, however, Eustasia didn’t look ashamed.

  “Let’s keep our good relationship for a long time.”


  “Sure. If I get a promotion, I will remember your support.”


  “Hahaha. You are generous to say so.”


  After her meeting with Marquis Gariel, she headed to her mansion.

  She laid her tired body down and closed her eyes.

  I just stopped the king from harming too many people.

  The innocent people killed by the king would be cremated. And she was able to save many people from harm because unlike Mountain Egrel where ten thousand people were living, Mountain Angril was the private land of Count Satirus.

  Moreover, she gave the job to her ally and got some money. Politics were real, and in reality, she needed money.

  She needed allies to get rid of Count Satirus.

  And she needed money to take care of the people because the king wouldn’t do anything for them.

  It was easier to tell the king the truth and to live a life of integrity; being an upright knight was not a difficult task. But if she tried to do so, she couldn’t protect anyone from the king or keep her country going.

  She had to become messy in order to fight against the corrupted treacherous people.

  She had to hide her loyalty to the king so that she could lead him toward a Merciful Rulership because people would see that as a weakness.

  That was her way of stopping the king from making more mistakes.

  A wicked witch. An ass-kisser. A leader of partisan politics. An embezzler of the national treasury.

  There was nothing she wouldn’t do. That was her way to be loyal to her country.

  Sungjin and Ereka. This is me. What would you say now?

  She wondered what her friend Ereka, who was in danger while she was trying to pursue her dream with integrity, would think of her.

  What about Sungjin, who was supporting Ereka. What would he think of her?

  But whatever they would say didn’t really matter to Eustasia. She was not pursuing a noble dream itself. She wanted to protect as many people as possible from her king’s tyranny and make her king be as merciful as possible.

  So Sungjin and Ereka had a different goal from her. She had to stop them in their next fight.

  * * *