LUCIA

Chapter 58 The Capital's High Society

It was a late evening gathering done to avoid people's gazes. Every single member in this secret gathering was an influential figure in society. Most likely, it would be very hard for this group of people to be able to gather in secret again.

Crown Prince Kwiz, Duke Taran, Duke Ramis, Marquis Philip and Marquis DeKhan. Excluding the Crown Prince, all four were Gong and if one were to add up all the territories they governed individually, they were high-ranking influential nobles that governed half of the country.

"So, what is Taran Gong's view on this?"

Hugo thought about Kwiz's question for a moment before speaking.

"War will happen. It is just a matter of time. Therefore, the anti-forces certainly needs to be cleaned up."

"Mmm..."

They all hummed thoughtfully. There was no one here that didn't know that even though it was said the war had ended, it was closer to being a ceasefire.

The Southwest Allied Forces were defeated in the war and were paying dearly for it because they had to pay many reparations for the war.

Unable to bear the heavy tax, rebellions rose all over, civil wars broke out, some countries were overthrown and dynasties were changed. Except from war, there was no other way to escape their current predicament.

"I agree with Ramis Gong's idea of leaving them to grow in strength for the time being." (Hugo)

"What is the problem with just dealing with them from the start?"(?)

"Instead of snapping the branches, pull it out from the roots. If dealt with a half-measure, hidden enemies could emerge later, during the war."(Hugo)

This was a place to discuss how to handle the so-called, anti-Imperial forces, which was basically the Crown Prince's half-brothers.

Duke Taran and Duke Ramis were of the opinion to leave them for now and deal with them later but the two Marquis' were of the opinion that it was cleaner to just clear them out now.

Both sides had reason to it so Kwiz was pondering it over.

"If Taran Gong is making the decision, would you leave it alone for now?"

"No. If I am making the decision, I will deal with it now."

Hn? They all turned their gazes to Hugo, signaling they didn't understand his meaning.

"Why have your words changed? I thought you wanted to pull it up from the roots and not handle it sloppily."

"That is playing by the books but I am not Crown Prince. I can't stand annoying things buzzing around me. It suits me more to start killing everything."

"...Ah. Is that so."

Kwiz suddenly remembered how the Duke of Taran handled the northern lords that betrayed him over a year ago. Close to 1,000 people died.

Even the King who tolerated and stayed out of northern affairs showed significant discomfort at the time. Even without knowing the details, there was no doubt that the previous King had received an enormous gift to block his mouth back then. After all, the incident had fizzled out as though nothing happened.

"If they crawl up later, you can just kill them again. Even if they are dealt with right now, I will not object. But I am confident to kill them all, disregarding the aftermath. Isn't that what troubles Your Highness, Crown Prince?"

Kwiz looked disinclined. It seemed like having a complete understanding of the Taran Duke who thought of people's lives like insects would forever be impossible. But whenever this extremity surfaced, Kwiz felt strangely relieved.