The situation wrapped up faster than I thought. As the new powers of the empire, the people cheered for us passionately and the Citizen Revolutionary Group shouted while honoring today’s victory. As Oscar mentioned, the victory belonged to the people. Of course, I had a slightly different opinion, but I couldn’t spoil their opinions. Making the majority of the people think that they had done this revolution themselves was the goal.

‘That’s the best thing to do...’

I couldn’t help but nod with satisfaction.

Right after, they brought out a guillotine, and the people yelled to cut off the heads of the traitors, but the executives of the Citizen Revolutionary Group, the nobles, and especially Charlotte didn’t want to do something so barbaric. They had to be dealt with according to the law, and in a humane and democratic way at that. Basically, they had to be judged fairly on the outside. Naturally, this trial would proceed the way the new powers wanted it to proceed, but it was important to give them hope that their outcome could be different. Whether they lost their heads today or a few days later, the result would be the same. The important part was who would get executed and who would get to toast to it.

‘Being on the winning side is sweet.’

Nothing could be done about Charlia and the emperor, but the majority of the nobles were about to lose their heads. This was actually the positive part of this revolution. With Charlia at the center, this was our chance to get rid of all the incompetent trash all at once, and I was certain that even Charlotte wouldn’t be able to go against this suggestion. There would be some blood, but the nobles preying upon the citizens would undeniably be gone.

There were some cities where the revolution was still ongoing, but they would probably be done at either dawn or tomorrow morning. Since we had completely removed the lump of cancer in the empire, it was a win-win situation for everyone, and despite drinking cheap alcohol, I was actually enjoying this situation more than anyone else.

Lee Ji-Hye quietly sat next to me, and she couldn’t stop smiling. As such, I assumed she had the same thought as me.

“You look like you’re in a good mood.” Lee Ji-Hye pointed out.

“I’m not in a bad mood,” I said.

“Oppa,” she called out.

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry for doing this while you’re having fun, but can we talk about work real quick? There are a few things that have to be taken care of right now,” she replied.

“Of course, noona,” I answered.

“Hm… First is an issue regarding the grain and goods stored in the castle storage,” she started.

“Check the important ones separately and store them. You can do whatever you want with the rest of them. Categorize them by items and store the items you think will really help us…” I ordered.

“Hm… Then, I’ll keep the goods and items stored in the castle storage like you said and open the grain to the public. I don’t think it’s a bad idea to be drunk on our victory. I think we’ll still have some left, though…” she explained.

“Then give some of them to the nobles. I’m sure the west and southern nobles have a lot stored up, so they won’t lack any of those. By the way, what’s the situation like outside? Has everything been taken care of?” I asked.

“They're moving the corpses. I thought we took care of it pretty quickly, but more people died than I thought,” she answered.

“Nothing we can do about that. The knights and mages from the castle aren’t idiots, but it’s a relief that Hee-Ra noona took care of Victor Hart. If it weren’t for her, the situation would have been more difficult to handle. Even if that old man was at the frontline, I can’t imagine him attacking the citizens, but he’s still one of the people representing the empire,” I told her.

“You’re right...”

“Ah. And bury all the dead in the national cemetery, noona. Get rid of all the unnecessary spaces in the castle and create a national cemetery in the corner for the fighters of democracy. Don’t forget to create a grave for Arkimo and Barkdeku, as well. For the important figures, create a large tombstone or something,” I ordered.

“That’s going to be really difficult… Aren’t you giving me too much work? I’m busy enough…” she complained.

“I’m busy with my own work as well,” I said.

“Are you sure? You don’t seem like it… That’s not something a person who’s drinking leisurely should be saying,” she pointed out.

“This is all part of having a social life. After some time passes, I’m going to become officially busy. In this kind of situation, the end is more difficult than the beginning,” I explained.

There were many things I had to take care of. I tried to reduce the damage to the properties as much as possible, but since the citizens in the entire empire had stood up, the damage was too great and expensive to handle. We could cover it with my personal assets, the resources stockpiled in the castle, and donations from the Vatican, but for the cities where their production facilities were destroyed, the issue was more serious than I thought. The fact that the useful knights were killed was a problem as well. When thinking about the resources it would take to train one knight, the damage was great.

There were citizens who were killed with swords and others who were completely scorched, as we couldn’t protect them from the spells. However, the ones who were in a worse situation than them were the emperor and the soldiers who rebelled against the goddess. They couldn’t get on the last train, and they died so horribly it was making me feel nauseous. Their deaths proved that the people were really furious.

Of course, some foreigners died as well. It was an unavoidable sacrifice because they had to face famous knights and mages, but none of the Eight Seats died. Galoshik of Lindel and Lim Ri-Dan survived as well.

If the sight of the emperor running away wasn’t shown live, the battle might have lasted a bit longer, and there could have been more damage. This kind of internal strife was bound to get fixed over time. This kind of issue that wasn’t really an issue was an external issue that arose from internal issues.

‘The Republic, Union of Kingdoms, and Kingdom of Others.’

We managed to stop external forces from participating in the revolution and from attacking during the chaotic situation, but the power of the Holy Empire was basically nonexistent in our current situation. Everyone was interested in what the Union of Kingdoms thought about this revolution, how the Republic would react to the change in power, and whether the Others would send an envoy.

It was a big blow for the continent— it was a blow enough to shake the continent’s boring political scene. However, I had no idea whether it had a positive or a negative effect.

When I unknowingly looked away, I saw Lee Ji-Hye getting up from her seat. I was sure she had her own business to handle, but the sudden appearance of a guest may have caused her to walk away.

“Did something happen, Miss Charlotte?” I asked the guest.

She looked angry, and she had to be tipsy because she was holding a glass of alcohol.

“Can we move somewhere quieter?” she asked.

Naturally, I was worried when I heard her drunk voice, but I gladly agreed. Jung Ha-Yan was keeping an eye on me anyway, and since Park Deok-Gu was looking out for me, I was safe.

‘I don’t think this woman will suddenly take out a sword.’

I thought that maybe she would hit the back of my head really hard, but I was certain she wouldn’t do anything like that.

“Sure, let’s do that,” I agreed.

It was up to the gentleman to escort a lady in a party like this. When I quietly extended my hand out, she grabbed my hand uncomfortably. Like the handshake from last time, she must have felt emotional because my hand started hurting. When we started walking and opened the large door, I saw a balcony where we could talk. Charlotte sat down on one side, and I sat down as well.

‘She won’t push me off here, right?’

When I thought about what I had done, I started to have scary thoughts. However, I didn’t think she lured me out here to kill me when she started whispering.

“Why did you let me live?” Charlotte asked.

It felt like she called me out in the middle of the night to talk to me. I was bored anyway, so I didn’t mind keeping her company. Obviously, I didn't know how to answer that question, but I could give her a vague answer.

‘Kim Hyun-Sung told me to keep you alive.’

I couldn’t tell her that...

“The reason is similar to what you told me before, Miss Charlotte. At the time, you said you needed someone who cared about the public’s opinion. Haha. That’s why and there’s no reason to pretend. Ah, I guess you can say that’s the answer to your question, so I’ll change my answer. I have no reason to pretend around you,” I answered.

“You have no reason to pretend…” she repeated.

“We’re comrades who only cared about the revolution. Of course, our methods were kind of different, but in the end, the result was more than what we wanted. The people won, and the existing powers lost their powers,” I added.

“And new powers had taken over those positions. You and the people in your faction.” Charlotte pointed out.

“You seem to resent me, but I’ll just overlook it. Even if this revolution ended up being a bloodless revolution, a new power will eventually take over those positions, and it’s something inevitable. The nobles under your command aren’t by your side because they share the same dream as you. Of course, there are probably one or two people who wanted to make the same dreams come true, but the majority of the nobles in your faction won’t choose to give up their powers,” I explained.

This was a fact, and she had to have agreed with me because she looked at me quietly.

“Possessing the power to move the people is no different from drugs. I don’t know about virtuous idealists like you, but I’m certain the majority of the nobles will agree with me,” I continued.

“So that’s why you killed the people. Many citizens and innocent soldiers had to die because of that power you call drugs,” she commented.

“I’m not the one who killed them. I just fought for what they wanted. Yeah, I’m pretty sure the people will like it if you told them that the fighter of democracies’ honorable sacrifice was meaningless,” I sarcastically added.

“They didn’t die because of the value they wanted. You basically brainwashed the people. You released fabricated information and pressured them before driving them to the edge.” Charlotte pointed out.

“The nobles and the imperial family are at fault, not me. I fabricated some of the information, but what you saw through the goddess’ mirror was the truth, Miss Charlotte,” I said.

“There was no need… There was no need to do that!” Charlotte shouted.

The table on the balcony cracked when she slammed her hand on it. I thought she was only decent at swordsmanship, so I was kind of scared to see that side of hers. However, it wasn’t like I had nothing to say. I knew exactly what Charlotte wanted, but if I tried to refute her words, I wouldn’t be able to.

“If an honorable revolution did happen just like you wanted… do you really think it’ll be any different from our current situation? I guarantee that the situation could have gotten worse, but it wouldn’t have gotten any better,” I told her.

“We wouldn’t have to shed so much blood, at the very least. No, more than that, we wouldn’t have to face so many issues. We could have protected the production facilities we had, and we could have stopped the external forces while maintaining our military force. The Union of Kingdoms wouldn’t feel alienated either, and many citizens wouldn’t have to lose their families,” she argued.

“I agree with your opinion. We could have minimized the damage, but we couldn’t have avoided it completely. The important part was that the people themselves decided to rise up and shed their own blood. If you interfered, the people of this land would have lived passively. If they face this kind of situation next time, they won’t move because they’ll think people like you would help them,” I explained.

“You’re jumping to conclusions,” she commented.

“I’m not, Miss Charlotte. You may not know it, but it has already been proven by the history of foreigners. Humans are a race that won’t realize anything unless they learn. It applies to both the ruler and the subjects. The subjects would have to drag out the ruler with their own hands without the help of people like you. They have to try killing their king. And that’s what we learned from history, Miss Charlotte,” I said.

“Humans aren’t that dumb. I don’t know what you think about humans, but—”

“No, humans are idiots. They don’t live life looking upon ideals like you do. I’m certain there are humans who just can’t realize it on their own, but they will realize it after learning a lesson, and that’s why this will be helpful to them. We did shed a lot of blood, but this will be a great lesson for them. After this, the rulers will fear the people and the people will remember the fact that they can bring down their leader and cut off their heads. Charlotte, you previously mentioned that you needed someone who cared about the public’s opinion and even though this isn’t a complete revolution, I believe the result I had created will have better effects than any other revolution. I’m a conscientious person, and I don’t steal from the people. This victory will be remembered as the people’s victory rather than mine, so this history will remain in their hearts forever,” I clarified.

Charlotte continued speaking after listening to my words. I was sure she wanted to refute me, but if this conversation continued, it would feel like she was revealing everything about herself.

When I stood up quietly, she spoke cautiously, “I… I have one last… question!”

“Yes?” I asked. It seemed I wasn’t the only one who thought that this debate was pointless.

“You… the land of the foreigners…”

“Yes, the people of that land have sovereignty on the outside,” I answered.

“Is that place… is that place…” Charlotte hesitantly muttered.

“Ah, I think I know what you’re asking. Well… I think this is the only thing I can tell you,” I started.

“...”

“Here or there, those with vested interests act the same way,” I said.

I didn’t want to destroy the dream of the girl who believed in Santa Claus, but the reality was harsh. Charlotte’s head drooped. When I left her, I saw Jung Ha-Yan and Kasugano Yuno who had come out to see me. Everyone was spending time in their own way. It made me think of many things, but like always, time would help me forget about everything. Some would share their happiness with others in their own way while others would dwell on their regrets. It was the same as usual and just like that, time slowly passed.