"What trouble could a washed up nobody with an empty title possibly cause. The point Hisui and I actually went back and forth on was how severe the punishment should be. Whatever else is true, the man committed serious crimes and openly flouted the kingdom's laws, that part was never in dispute."
"So what did you two land on in the end?" It was Selene who asked, one hand draped over the back of her chair, the other lazily swirling a glass of wine, thoroughly enjoying the drama unfolding.
"Stripping his title was a given. But Hisui felt that alone would be enough. He is, after all, a descendant of one of the kingdom's founding families, and reducing him to a commoner already counts as a severe punishment in her eyes. I obviously didn't agree with that. In no version of justice should a noble breaking the law get treated any differently than a commoner doing the same. And with charges like colluding with dark guilds and smuggling banned goods into the kingdom, the man's crimes were more than enough to warrant execution ten times over. So we compromised. He's stripped of his title and permanently exiled, banned for life from ever setting foot in Fiore again. Whether any enemies come looking for him after that is no longer our concern."
Hearing the verdict, none of the women looked particularly satisfied. Irene, in particular, didn't hold back.
"That little Queen's approach is still far too soft, if you ask me. If it were up to me, I'd have had him publicly executed, made an example of him to put the fear into every other lawless noble in the kingdom."
That comment drew immediate agreement from the three hardliners of the group: Selene, Mirajane, and Brandish. Erza, however, pushed back against the idea.
"I understand Hisui well enough by now. She's genuinely kind and softhearted, that's simply not the kind of person she is. If I had to guess why she's holding back, it's because she only just took the throne and is worried that anything too harsh might stir up resentment among the nobility so early on. But give her time. Once she's fully settled the kingdom's internal affairs and secured her grip on the military, she'll absolutely start dealing with those disobedient nobles properly."
"There it is." Kabe snapped his fingers and nodded approvingly at Erza. "That's exactly it. I've read the same thing in Hisui's intentions myself, which is why I haven't pushed for faster reforms. Erza, I have to say, your political instincts are sharper than I expected, sharper than someone who's spent decades sitting on a throne, honestly."
Irene's brow shot up, and she shot Kabe a distinctly unimpressed look.
"Was I wrong, though? With someone like you as her ultimate trump card and backing, she could throw every rule out the window and just steamroll through every single problem with brute force."
Perhaps from spending too long in the Alvarez Empire, Irene had picked up a habit of solving everything through overwhelming force. Kabe rubbed at his temple, wondering for the first time whether he himself was actually being too conservative about all this.
"That logic's not wrong, exactly, but Hisui has her own pride too, being Queen and all. If she leans on me, her husband, to fix every single problem for her, doesn't that make her look completely incapable? There are times I need to think about how she'd feel about it too. Better to let her handle things herself for now. If it genuinely gets beyond her, that's when I step in as the last resort, and not a moment before."
Then, shameless as ever, he flashed a grin and added, "So? Don't you all think your man's actually a pretty thoughtful, considerate guy who really looks out for how you're all feeling?"
"Tch~"
Every woman at the table rolled her eyes at him in perfect unison, expressions dripping with disdain.
Lucy, sitting somewhat awkwardly amid this crowd, could neither bring herself to laugh at Kabe nor find any way to insert herself into the conversation. After all, casually critiquing the Queen and debating her governing style was a bit far out of reach for a brand new mage who'd only just joined the guild and was, on top of that, drowning in debt.
Kabe, entirely unbothered by the collective disdain aimed his way, figured he'd just make the rounds room to room tonight and remind each of them exactly what he brought to the table. His gaze swept down the long table and landed on Lucy, who looked a bit out of place among the group. Something occurred to him, and he spoke up.
"Oh, right, Lucy, you probably don't know this yet, but strictly speaking, Hisui's actually your junior in the same field."
"Junior? Her Majesty the Queen?!"
Lucy's head spun for a moment, feeling like she'd just heard something straight out of a fairy tale.
"Mm hm. Her Celestial Spirit Magic was taught to her by your mother, after all. She's always been deeply grateful for that. If you get the chance, you should write your father and have him invite her over sometime, maybe pay a visit to Layla's memorial while she's there."
He paused for a moment, then added quietly, "Oh, and one more thing, tell your Uncle Jude to ease off on his dealings with the local nobility. Your family's railroad company could easily partner with the royal family instead and secure proper investment that way."
Lucy: !!!
"I, I understand. I'll make sure to pass that along to the person in charge."