**Chapter 131: The Situation**
The middle-aged swordsman fell silent for two seconds.
Then, he suddenly lifted his head, his bloodshot eyes glaring furiously at Victoria, his face losing control in an instant. Gritting his teeth, he said, “Your Majesty the Queen, what did you just say? I didn’t quite catch that! Are you suggesting that I—”
Before he could finish, Rect, standing by the side, unsheathed his sword with a dramatic “clang.”
“Prince Bart! Lower your head!”
Startled by the shout, Bart, the middle-aged swordsman, instinctively reached for the longsword at his waist.
“Do you dare—!”
Swish!
Rect moved like lightning, and in the next moment, the tightly gripped sword was already hovering at Bart’s neck.
At that moment, Bart was half-kneeling on the ground. His right hand had reached for his waist but dared not make another move.
Rect wore a cold smile, slowly applying pressure with the blade.
“Lower, your, head. Don’t make me say it for a third time.”
The sharp edge pressed against his skin like it was just a breath away from slicing through, making Bart’s breathing become heavy. Slowly, his head began to lower.
I wasn’t sure if it was sweat or saliva sliding down his cheek and seeping into the carpet beneath him.
Seeing this made my bl**d boil a little.
But before I understood the situation, I best not speak carelessly.
I hated this kind of scenario, and I didn’t want to be dragged into it.
“If there’s another incident, don’t blame my sword for being merciless.”
Rect spoke, his serious tone indicating he was definitely not joking.
“…Your Majesty, is this really your stance?” After a moment, Bart replied.
His voice was exceptionally low, and I could sense the suppressed fury within it.
At this moment, Victoria, who had been quietly observing everything as if it had nothing to do with her, finally set her wine glass down.
She waved at Rect, who then stepped back, sheathing his sword.
“My stance depends on your attitude,” Victoria said softly. “If you’re here to solve a problem, then I’ve already told you how. Captain Bart, do you have anything else to discuss?”
“Method? What kind of method is this!? You’re trying to dismiss them, Your Majesty! You can’t do this! Those Iron Guards are warriors with families! Innocent wives and children, elderly parents! They need to support their families! If you do this, how will they survive… Are you asking them to d*e?!”
Bart’s shout was filled with righteous indignation as if he had suffered some great injustice, looking just like a loyal man who genuinely cared for his subordinates.
I frowned and directed my gaze towards her side profile.
Victoria maintained a calm expression, completely unfazed by Bart’s rhetoric.
“Why would able-bodied people d*e?” she replied leisurely. “If Captain Bart feels guilty, he could opt for voluntary military pay. The Clive Family is wealthy enough; supporting twenty thousand Iron Guards for a few years should be no problem.”
This seemingly joking remark further provoked Bart’s anger.
“Your Majesty, are you still messing with me at a time like this!? Twenty thousand? How can the Clive Family afford that!?”
“Oh?” Victoria looked at him with a half-smile. “You can’t afford it?”
Upon hearing this, Bart’s head drooped even lower… but still, he didn’t dare raise it again.
“What do you mean by that?” he asked in a deep voice.
“Just as you understand it, Captain Bart,” Victoria said. “In the past ten years, how much military pay has the treasury allocated for the Iron Guards, and how much of that actually reached their hands… Adding it all up is rather dull and disheartening. If the number were smaller, I’d let you go. But now, the Clive Family continues expanding the Iron Guard’s ranks—do I need to be even clearer?”
“You…” The middle-aged swordsman turned red in the face. “That’s absurd! Your Majesty, you’re slandering us!”
“You know whether you’re being slandered or not,” Victoria replied with a nonchalant tone as if discussing something trivial. “Rather than wasting time chatting with me, you’d be better off going back and discussing with your brother, the finance minister, about which units to dissolve. The decision needs to be made soon; otherwise, half of next month’s military pay will be borne by the Clive Family… The Royal City will not harbor parasites.”
“Parasites?!” Bart’s breathing became more labored. “The Iron Guards are the warriors protecting the Royal City—they—”
“Captain Bart, save your dramatic acts; they’re too pathetic,” Victoria sighed. “The guards outside are members of the Royal City defense forces; internal governance is handled by the arbitration office, and the Church Knights eradicate mountain bandits. Captain Bart, the Iron Guards wear the finest armor, but aside from ham and beer, tell me, what exactly have you defended?”
Her calm words, devoid of any emotional undertones, left Bart speechless.
The atmosphere turned quiet, quiet enough that it felt like the air itself had frozen.
Glug, glug.
The only sound was Victoria pouring wine into her glass. She then lifted her delicate, fragile hand, grasped the stem of the glass, and gently swirled it.
I glanced at her refreshingly beautiful profile for a moment, then turned to look at Treck nearby, who shrugged at me.
As I observed their words and expressions, I finally put the puzzle pieces together.
When I returned, I had seen those shiny-armored guards at Mansion 2; they were the Iron Guards. This middle-aged swordsman in front of me was their leader.
These Iron Guards seemed like mere freeloader soldiers, doing nothing and serving as a completely redundant force for the Royal City and the entire realm of Ethanbel. Moreover, from Victoria’s attitude, it was clear they weren’t under the Royal Palace’s command—at least, they wouldn’t heed the Queen’s orders.
They answered to this middle-aged swordsman, or rather, to the Clive Family, yet their sustenance came from the Royal City’s treasury.
This army consisted of twenty thousand men.
I figured that number was greater than the combined forces of the Sword of Kanli and the Royal City defense army. Furthermore, the Clive Family held the financial power of Ethanbel.
These individuals were lining their pockets under the guise of authority, while the cost was borne by the entire country… and they were continuously expanding their “private army.” It was all too obvious what they wanted. What Victoria was currently doing was cutting off part of their power to prevent the situation from deteriorating further.
I didn’t know how things had gotten so out of hand, nor did I know how many nobles like this existed in the Royal City.
All I knew was that if this continued, these people would one day devour this prosperous nation.
Having figured all this out, I now looked at the middle-aged swordsman with a hint of disgust.
It was precisely because of people like him that the Royal City had become so corrupt, giving rise to characters like Alex…
After a while, he finally spoke.
“Your Majesty, why do you have to say things… so harshly? This way, neither of us has an escape route. Is this what you want?”
His words laid everything bare, but Victoria merely shot him a glance and didn’t respond.
She slowly savored the wine in her glass.
Bart waited for a moment, not hearing the Queen’s response, so he let out a cold laugh.
“In that case, I must remind you,” his tone had lost its previous emotional fervor. He was no longer acting drunk, though he still dared not raise his head. “All the military pay and equipment for the Iron Guards is borne entirely by the Royal Treasury. This regulation was established by your mother, the former Regent Empress. Before the Queen makes any changes, should you not consult her?”
Upon hearing this, I sensed Victoria’s gaze growing colder.
Holding her wine glass, she fixed her icy stare on the half-kneeling Bart, her face as frigid as frost.
“I am the Queen, and I don’t need to seek her opinion,” she replied.
“Is that so…” Bart paused before swiftly changing his tone, “I wonder if the Queen’s confidence comes from that black-haired Miss nearby?”
My heart skipped a beat, and my mind started racing.
Bart’s words rang a bell.
Thinking it over, what could be Victoria’s purpose for coming to my courtyard? If she did it on purpose…
She knew Bart would come today and guessed that I would take advantage of my day off to return here, so she was waiting. After entering the house, she found an excuse for Rect to bring dinner, then was “accidentally” discovered, luring him here.
Previously, she even made a statement like “sitting with me is a disdain for royal authority.” She knew that if she said that, I would inevitably go against her and insist on sitting on the sofa. This way, our equal status was practically cemented.
It was only the second time we had met, and she had completely figured out my temperament. This woman… is terrifyingly clever.
She had an uncanny grasp of human nature, meticulously leading things in the direction she desired through what seemed like inconsequential calculations. Moreover, with Rect emphasizing to him that “Her Majesty the Queen has important matters to discuss,” I guessed that the middle-aged swordsman must have thought the Queen had already secured an alliance with the Valen Empire, and I was the royal princess sent for royal negotiations.
As for what was specifically being discussed? Let him guess. The deeper his suspicion, the greater his anxiety.
Was I being used as a tool or a shield? There was no way I’d let him have that!
So I quickly spoke up, “It has nothing to do with me.”
“It has nothing to do with her.”
One was soft and sweet, the other cold and clear.
Two sentences came out simultaneously from me and Victoria.
I looked at her in surprise, meeting those calm, golden eyes.
Confused, I furrowed my brow.
“I am just here for other matters with this young lady,” Victoria said, turning back, “Captain Bart, this matter is settled; take your people back.”
As soon as she finished speaking, I heard another uproar outside the courtyard, accompanied by chaotic footsteps approaching the mansion.
“Is Viki here… Why did she change to Mansion 3?”
“She’s the Queen; whatever she says goes. She can change wherever she wants…”
“This child… too willful! Decades of rules can just be changed like that; what kind of order is that!”
I saw Victoria’s hand slightly halt in mid-sip.
“Hah.” Bart chuckled lightly. “Your Majesty, did you draw your conclusion a bit too soon?”
