Saint Justin appeared to be slightly apprehensive. "Your majesty, if I may ask, why are you so adamant on ensuring this girl doesn’t die?"
The Emperor paused. Something flashed in his mind. Anger. Pure rage.
Words that forever haunted him from that day onwards. Why do you oppress us? Why can you live in peace while we must die in suffering? Xavier felt a shiver run up his spine as he tried to compose himself. Clearing his throat, he skirted around answering the question.
"Because it is the right thing to do, Justin," he said. "The court decides what justice is to be delivered on a person. Whether or not they deserve death— they should always be tried."
"I see." Justin nodded his head. "I apologize for my questions. I may be a Saint, but I am not perfect. I simply wanted to understand your perspective, your majesty."
Xavier waved a hand dismissively. "There’s no need to apologize. And do call me by my name for once."
"I don’t believe that would be possible, your majesty."
He snorted. "Fine." He shook his head, then his eyes glinted. "But if you can at least do me another favor— there’s another reason why I came to see you."
Justin looked at him inquisitively. "And that is?"
Emperor Xavier smiled slyly. "I require some assistance for a meeting later on…"
Truth be told, while Xavier was probably the most important single person in the world, he sometimes felt like he was also the most powerless. As Emperor, he was supposed to hold the supreme power over the entire continent of Soli. And yet, he often found his hands tied whenever the Church or the nobility objected to a course of action he proposed.
It was exemplified in the current scene. The Grand Inquisitor stood in defiance against him, trying to force him to let the Church deal with the Fiend’s daughter and Saintess Lilith— it was their responsibility after all!
"Emperor Xavier, while I understand your logic, I would like to dispute your claim that the Church is overspending its resources. I can assure you that our Inquisitors are perfectly capable of handling this Abomination problem while dealing with these heretics in another continent. If you would just leave this minor problem to me and take care of more pressing matters—"
And past that greedy man seeking to only increase his power were the masses of greedy men and women trying to only increase their wealth and influence. Most of them could not care less about this issue. In fact, they probably would not have even gathered here if they weren’t asked to by the man leading them
The main heir to the Corinna Dukedom brought a hand down to the table, protesting Xavier’s decision while riling up his supporters. Well, they were only supporters in the sense that they saw this as an easy opportunity to cozy up with the man who wanted to protect his family’s reputation for when he became the Duke.
"Your majesty, this girl can not be allowed to live. She is the daughter of the Fiend! Such a vile, evil creature must be slain at once! No need for trial. No need for leniency. The safety of the entire Empire depends on it!"
Such were the objections Xavier often heard. And while such objections would typically force him to comply with their demands, Xavier instead found himself standing his ground. Because for today, he had allies.
To his left stood the Archbishop and Saint Justin. The Archbishop came at Justin’s request— which in turn came from Xavier’s request. While the Church was probably the most powerful institution within the Holy Xan Empire— it was not a united institution. The powers at the top of the Church were split between the Archbishop and the Grand Inquisitor.
And while Justin was a Saint, he did come from a noble family. He might not be the heir to his house, but he was still certainly influential within it. And it wasn’t just a regular noble family— it was the Livius Dukedom. So with these two equalizing powers to the opposition, Xavier managed to pass his decree:
The Fiend’s daughter is to be brought back to Xanderia alive, where she will then face trial for any crimes or acts of heresy she may have committed. Saintess Lilith will be accompanied by a retinue of Holy Knights to accomplish this mission.
It was not much, but Xavier felt content. Perhaps he could have tried to do more to ensure the girl wasn’t unfairly killed— but too much would have raised some questions. Questions he would not be able to answer.
But he did his good deed. He was not a monster— many people within the Holy Xan Empire and the Church recognize that indiscriminately killing heretics was not right. It took a while, but that was why he overturned his mother’s law that dictated all heretics— noble or commoner— were to be executed for violating Holy Law.
Small acts. But eventually, Xavier hoped it would accumulate. That maybe actual change could be brought forth— that heresy wasn’t treated as the most evil thing in the world to be killed for, but to be renounced and forgiven.
He just hoped that this girl— whoever she was— would somehow know that he was trying to help her. And him sparing her life would not come back to bite him in the future.
Author’s Note:
Thank you all for reading!
I hope you enjoy the story thus far. I am aware that Melas started to act a bit too brusquely in Part Two of the book, and that was entirely intentional. I wanted to emphasize the consequences of what she had experienced in Book One.
Oftentimes, characters who experience trauma brush it off rather quickly. I did
