The Martial Unity

She gazed at him in silence with a complicated expression.

Rui huffed. “Speak freely. I’m not going to punish you for impudence or insolence towards royalty, or whatever. I’ve made you an offer for a position that generally requires great trust and harmony between us. If you can’t speak your mind freely, then there was no point in ever having made the offer in the first place.”

She heaved a deep breath as she felt her nerves tingle.

But she resolved herself, nonetheless.

Countless thoughts flooded her mind, but there was one that surfaced above all of them. One that demanded clarification more than any other.

“If you truly do intend to ascend upon the throne for real this time, then… what is your vision for the nation?”

She moved to the heart of the issue.

She could overlook everything else, including her emotions of resentment for him within her. But if his vision was incompatible with that of the Emperor of Harmony’s, then there was simply no question.

“I haven’t fleshed it out yet,” Rui admitted. “I made this decision a few hours ago. I haven’t thought about governance since the last throne war, so I’m actually quite rusty on these matters. Still, my vision does have a principle at its core.”

He directed a deep, serious gaze at her.

“To turn my power into the power of the people and the nation.”

She winced slightly at those words. It was such an abstract and ambiguous principle that she didn’t know what to make of it.

“Could you elaborate?” she asked plainly.

Rui’s expression contorted with thought. “…Power is necessary for prosperity. Laws, policy, governance, these are ultimately a framework of incentives and disincentives that encourage certain behaviors and discourage others in people to produce certain outcomes. However, for these frameworks to work, they need to be enforced.”

He turned towards her with a pointed gaze. “They need to be enforced with power. The more complex they are, the more power they require to be enforced. You can be the most spectacular statesman, on par with my late father, but if you do not have the ability to enforce this framework, then it is meaningless. In other words, consolidation of power is fundamentally necessary for modern prosperity as we know it.”

Royal Secretary Claris understood what he was trying to convey. “And you are the most powerful man in the world with innately consolidated power that can never be taken away with you.”

“My power within this continent is absolute.” Rui nodded. “If I become Emperor, then it is possible for me to enforce frameworks beyond our wildest fathoming. Frameworks that even my father was not strong enough to enforce.”

He directed a knowing gaze at her. “I’m sure he has confided in you many fantastical ideas with great potential, only to abandon them because even he, with all his power, did not have enough left to add new dimensions to the frameworks that exist in Kandria and Panama. He didn’t have enough power, but…”

Rui’s eyes sharpened with determination. “…but I do.”

The air grew heavy under the weight of his emotions as Secretary Claris found it difficult to breathe, prompting Rui to restrain himself.

“Sorry about that…” He glanced at his translucent form. “I have mastered this body for combat, but not for interpersonal dynamics; it has proven to be challenging.”

“Do you… intend to enforce laws yourself?” She raised an eyebrow of skepticism. “Indeed, you are powerful, but the nature of your power is that it is too concentrated for you to enforce a framework that stretches a nation. Unless you are willing to teleport across Kandria all day, every day, I’m not seeing how this works.”

Rui’s expression grew complicated. “As I said, I haven’t fleshed it out yet. It’s a concept that I have confidence in. But I will need some statesmen to help flesh this out with their knowledge of governance and power. And I will need to flesh it out by the time I announce my bid. At the same time, I want to earn the support of the stakeholders of Kandria before ascending the throne, so I need to speak to all of them. All of this stuff requires a secretary, and so…”

He gestured to her. “That brings us back to you.”

Her expression grew complicated. “…What you have described is very different from your old policy platform. Previously, you endorsed your father’s way of doing things. What has changed? Why can’t you simply continue what His Majesty was doing?”

Rui shook his head. “I am not my father. If you hoped I would follow in his path, then you’d better reject my offer right now, because that is not going to happen. I have not abandoned my ambition as a Martial Artist. I simply intend to use the burdens of responsibility to push me to have more power and use my power to fulfill my responsibilities.”

He directed a pointed gaze at her. “Make up your mind quickly, we don’t have time. I could get someone else, but you are highly competent and trustworthy, given that my father chose you. You are an insider to the Kandrian government and domestic Kandrian politics, which is something that I really need right now.”

She clenched her fists as her expression grew conflicted.

She stole a glance at him.

Indeed, he conveyed deep seriousness, but she found it hard to overcome her impression of him, one of incorrigible irresponsibility. The countless times he had made a mess of some sort, whether it was during the East Panamic War, where he insisted on taking deathly risks, or during the Era of Darkness, where he almost committed accidental genocide in several nations and fought their Sages.

She needed more.

And Rui gave it to her.

“I know you don’t like me,” he added with a calm tone. “I don’t particularly care about that. You have an opportunity not only to protect my father’s legacy by serving me, but also to fulfill the full extent of his vision that nobody except I can do. You have probably been confided in with ideas, plans, and projects that nobody else has heard of. I will have you spill all of my father’s brilliance and share with me, so that I may bring his ideas to life.”

Her eyes widened with shock.

Indeed, she had only been motivated by a strong desire to protect the legacy of the Emperor of Harmony, but not once had she fathomed being able to propagate his vision after his death.

She closed her eyes, heaving a deep breath.

She made a decision.

“I, Claris Sorency, swear to serve Your Highness as the Royal Secretary for the rest of my life.”