༺ I Don’t Need a Guillotine for My Revolution ༻
Written by – 카르카손
Translated by – Mara Sov
༺ Revolutionary Period – The Conspiracy ༻
Christine’s younger brother, Louis De Aquitaine was sitting on the sofa, reading a book about magic.
Well, to be precise, the boy was simply flipping through the pages while he was sitting on the sofa.
“……This isn’t good. Even if this is some form of backlash against the radicals, it’s a bit exaggerated.”
He could hear the voice of his sister, Christine De Aquitaine, who stood in the center of the room.
“But My Lady the Countess, to propose free distribution of land and equal voting rights regardless of property……Both the wealthy moderates and us, who are of noble birth, cannot agree to such an absurd proposal from the radicals.”
Baron Charon, his sister’s most trusted vassal argumented.
“Indeed, if such proposals were to be accepted in the National Assembly, it would bring us no good. However, there were other bills worth considering.”
Unable to concentrate on his book, Louis sighed as he looked toward his sister and Baron Charon, who were engrossed in their conversation.
“The radicals still represent the majority of votes in the Assembly. We may have joined hands with the moderates, but if we just keep negating all of their bills and proposals, it will only allow their resentment to fester, while also angering most citizens.”
“Cough-. Then perhaps……”
“Both the moderates and the nobles on our side need to adjust our goals. We have to achieve a minimum level of cooperation to appease the radicals, which will make it easier to control the Assembly later.”
“Understood, My Lady. I shall make the necessary arrangements.”
“Please do. You may take your leave now.”
Before leaving the room, the Baron glanced at Louis, who quickly turned his head back to his book.
After the Baron left, Louis turned his gaze toward his sister once more, noticing that she was reading and signing a mountain of documents under the gaze of her attentive deep-black eyes.
His sister went through the documents with a machine-like focus, and she either didn’t notice him or simply pretended not, while the pile of documents continued to decrease at an absurd speed.
Now at 11 years old, Louis had no choice but to become a precocious child.
When he was 8, his childhood was destroyed in a single night as his mother was executed before his eyes under his sister’s command.
Ever since that night, everyone’s treatment of him changed.
To the vassals, he was no more than a stain.
Louis, of course, understood their reasons, as seeing him might make them remember his mother, who killed the previous Count and almost killed the Countess.
But even though he understood them, this didn’t make the task of enduring their burning gazes any easier.
After following his sister to the Capital, he didn’t have to face those stares all that much, but even the servants here were content in forgetting he even existed.
While solitude was more bearable than hatred, Louis had grown up with all the affection a child could want, so the young boy found it difficult to endure this loneliness.
That’s why Louis spent most of his time in his sister’s office.
She didn’t fuss over him, nor seemed to react negatively if he ever said something.
Ironically, he seemed to be more at ease in the presence of the woman who had killed his mother, since she never looked at him as the son of a treacherous woman, but simply as the boy – Louis.
Louis gave up trying to understand the book, as he simply stared at his sister.
At the age of 21, his sister had become a beautiful woman even to his eyes.
Though she wore the bare minimum adornments – as befitting of a lady of her standing – she always used black dresses, akin to mourning clothes, and spent all her time working.
Louis sighed as he watched Christine’s deep-black eyes, akin to a bottomless abyss, tirelessly shift from one document to another.
The Christine before that day wasn’t like this.
Even though she always worked hard, she was warm, taking time to read something to him or even indulge in a hobby of her fancy.
Now those warm eyes had become cold, lifeless. And even her smile transformed into a fake one.
When his mother was killed, Louis hardly understood anything, but as the years passed, he began to understand just what had transpired on that dreadful night – Thanks to the efforts of the vassals, who were always happy to ‘teach’ him the grim details.
He was aware that they must have done this to ensure he harbored no hatred towards his sister. After all, his mother did something unforgivable, even to his eyes, something deserving of death.
Louis understood all of that.
However, Yvonne was his mother, she loved him, and because of this, Louis would never be able to completely erase his resentment towards his sister. Because emotions were something that reason could not control.
……But.
If only his sister lived a bit more like a human being. Or at least if she had mistreated him in any form, then perhaps, maybe, Louis could have hated her enough to plot some sort of revenge.
But those lifeless eyes had not a single speck of anger towards him. She continued to live as if she was a machine.
Displeased with such a sorry sight, Louis rose from his seat and called for his sister.
“Sister.”
There, briefly, a small ember of life flickered inside those cold black orbs, but it was quickly extinguished as Christine lifted her face to look at him.
With one of her usual smiles, she said.
“What is it, Louis?”
Louis hesitated for a moment.
Even though different wombs birthed them, they shared the same blood, and as such, the boy was unusually intelligent for his age.
That’s why when he understood the situation, he decided to not hate his sister just because she executed his mother.
But the young boy still couldn’t understand what his sister wanted from him at all.
The vassals all hated his very existence, but they couldn’t lift a finger against him, Probably because of his sister’s orders.
But why?
Ever since that day, this simple question has been nagging at him, but he never voiced it.
Noble titles and businesses are generally inherited by men.
That’s why despite having a sister who was 10 years older than him, and who demonstrated an incredible competence in handling the family business, he was still considered as the true heir.
And when Yvonne and her associates were executed, Christine became the Countess, and because of this, Louis’s mere existence was a threat to her authority.
Why did you spare me?
Why do you still treat me as your brother?
“……I wish to learn magic.”
But what came out of his mouth weren’t the questions he was dying to ask, but something very different, Christine looked towards the book in his hand and nodded.
“I see. Would you like to study abroad in Holland then?”
“……Yes.”
Holland.
It was located to the north of Francia, and northwest of Germania, and it was the kingdom where the greatest human mages have gathered.
Upon hearing his interest in magic, his sister immediately invited a mage from Holland to assess Louis’s aptitude and bought him a grimoire containing some basic spells as a gift.
“Good. They say you have a talent for this, so I’ll look into it.”
Most magicians in Francia were merely commoners with a pitiful aptitude. They were nothing compared to the true mages of Holland.
That’s why both nobles and the wealthy mostly learned magic in Holland.
Even so, he didn’t expect to hear an answer from her this quickly. She didn’t hesitate to grant him his wish.
Many thoughts swirled in his mind, but in the end, the boy uttered only a single sentence.
“Thank you, Sister.”
This time, Christine’s smile was warm.
Just like she used to smile back then.
Seeing such a smile once more made Louis fidget with the brooch on his chest for no apparent reason.
“Is it still awkward?”
“N-No, it’s not like that……”
“Good. Then make sure to wear it. Always.”
“Yes……”
The brooch was an artifact enchanted with a protective spell, commissioned by his sister directly from the Magical Kingdom.
Louis fiddled with the brooch, feeling the faint magic the object seemed to emanate. The boy wasn’t sure why he was given such a priceless gift, when he was but a good-for-nothing, a mere worthless son of a traitorous wench, that no one would miss if he died.
He looked at his sister’s dress, which as always, was deep black. Funnily enough, his sister didn’t wear any sort of jewelry whatsoever.
When his sister gifted him the brooch, he thought the other one would be hers, but he was mistaken.
“……It’s getting late. I’ll take my leave now, Sister.”
Still, he had received permission to study abroad. At least then he wouldn’t have to deal with the gazes of others.
“I see. Sleep well, Louis.”
Just as he was about to leave her office, Louis glanced back for a moment.
He may have gotten what he wanted, but what about his sister?
Her eyes, which seemed to be a little lively during their talk, returned into being two cold orbs submerged in an endless abyss.
Louis thought wandered towards the man his sister gave the other brooch to.
The Marquis – Pierre De Lafayette.
Louis found it distasteful, but aside from him, the Marquis was the only person who could make Christine behave like a normal human being.
…If you’re going to live like this, then please sister, at least be happy by his side.
Because I’d rather feel jealousy than mourn what you have become.
Louis etched those words in his heart as he left his sister’s office.
–
Lumiere – Capital of the Republic.
Within a secret club frequented by the radicals, several members have gathered around Senator Saint Just.
“Those accursed capitalists and nobles are manipulating the Assembly….What terrible times are we living in.”
Just as Christine feared, despite being the majority within the National Assembly, the radicals were filled with dissatisfaction for not being able to continue with their agenda.
“If it weren’t for the collusion of those filthy moderates and nobles, this Republic could have moved into a more positive and reformative direction!”
“The fact that most conscious men are enlisting in the army is also a problem. With most of the vote-able men in the front, who would have imagined that the people would praise the nobles just because they are handing them cheap bread for free! What has become of Lumiere, the heart of our revolution!?”
Saint Just studied his compatriots before speaking.
“We need to take action.”
“What would you propose……?”
“The bond between those blue-bloods and the moderates isn’t all that strong. If we can deal with the heart, their feeble cooperation will crumble like a sand-castle.”
Saint Just eyed his fellow councilors as he continued.
“These filthy schemers are tarnishing the ideals of our revolution. If we’re not careful, Francia will regress back to the grim days of the old regime.”
A sense of urgency spread to all. This was their most feared nightmare.
“Unfortunately, we have no suitable way to deal with them at the present, so we are forced to take a radical approach.”
“……Are you suggesting terrorism?”
Whispers and murmurs were heard, but Saint seemed unperturbed by them.
“We must be resolved to do everything within our reach for the Republic. Even if we need to assassinate the cause of the problem.”
“Tsk-. Nonsense, their leader, Marquis Lafayette is a powerful Knight. How could we even dispose of him……?”
“The Marquis may be their leader in name, with his political influence and his military might. However there is currently an individual far more dangerous than him, that we have allowed to freely spread its claws in the capital of our Republic.”
After a grave silence, one man spoke up.
“Are you seriously suggesting the assassination of the Countess of Aquitaine? That evil seductress?”
The Evil Seductress. Lafayette’s whore. Witch of Aquitaine. Bloody Countess.
There were a myriad of derogatory names given to that woman, by those of the Radical party. The mere mention of her already caused some faces within the club to stiffen.
“Indeed. Unlike the others, that woman is capable of exploring the capitalist’s methods while winning the hearts of the people. She is far more dangerous than the Marquis.”
“As you say, without that woman, the alliance of the moderates and nobles will crumble.”
“That filthy witch….She’s been corrupting our countryman left and right with that tongue of hers……”
“Does she think everyone will be swayed by her money?!”
As those within the club seemed to agree with him, Saint Just was about to conclude his speech with a smile, when one of his comrades spoke.
“Councilor Jidor won’t approve of this plan.”
Saint Just recalled the man he once admired, the man who was once the leader of their faction and his face hardened. After a few seconds, he managed to articulate his thoughts.
“You are correct. He won’t approve of this. Everyone here knows that I admire his integrity and commitment to our cause, but take a look at our current situation.
Sometimes, certain matters cannot be solved by the law or by being just.”
Saint Just looked at every councilor present, his gaze was of hardened steel as he spoke in a fanatic tone.
“Comrades! If we truly wish to stand for the principles of our revolution, then we must be ready to dirty our hands. It is none other than us, the true patriots of the Republic, who must accept this burden!”
TL Note:
OMG Fucking Holland
Of course it would holland
wtf
This is the single most stupid shit I’ve seen all day, and believe I see a lot of stupid shit, hell I even looked in the mirror today!
