Carriages with curtains emblazoned with the Rose emblem rolled over the thick snow on the road, beginning to return to the capital Metzl Castle one after another.

The people’s mood presented a polarization.

When the King’s commissioners first arrived in the counties, the civilians were as numb as a pool of stagnant water while the nobles busied themselves in preparing banquets and gifts for their reception. But when they left, the situation changed completely. The nobles gritted their teeth with hatred as they glared at the back of the carriages, but at the same time they also felt fear. Whereas on the other hand, the commoners watched the carriages leave with reluctance, a glimmer of hope rising in their hearts.

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

This time, would it work? Would it change for the better?

They hoped that the King’s wrath could bring a little warmth to pitiful, suffering people like them while burning his enemies——even if that was not the King’s intention.

A kernel of hope began to burn in the people’s hearts. For the first time, civilians were looking forward to the convening of the parliament more than the nobles.

The King’s black wings brought back a thick pile of documents, and the King summoned his advisors and officials. The officials who thought they could spend a comfortable winter had no choice but to leave the embrace of their beautiful lovers and rush off to the palace.

This was probably the worst winter for these officials.

What they were faced with was investigation reports that were so thick that they could be piled up to the ceiling. After sitting down, one would be immediately submerged in paper and the whole sky seemed to be full of flying documents…..The King gave them half a month to sort out the results of these investigations and compile them into a detailed and complete national tax and civil administration booklet.

Holy Lord! Was this something humans could do?

Tax officials, clerks, statisticians…..They all let out desperate moans when they got this order from the King. A few of them could not reconcile with the matter at first, thinking that the King was only joking, but reality showed them that the King was not joking with them at all.

The people who participated in the compilation were arranged to live together in the Rose Palace, and the guards of the palace told them politely, “Gentlemen, when you have finished your work, then you can leave. Before that, please make yourself at home in the palace.”

The dark period of working overtime began, the extent of which was comparable to the lords exploiting their serfs.

Someone refused to give up, and tentatively asked the guards of the palace if he could go out to relax. If he didn’t go to see his lover, he might never be allowed to step into her room again.

The guard shook his hand with deep sympathy, so sincere that he nearly seemed to tear up in the next second: “Too right you are, sir. My beautiful Miss Lisa is also waiting for me, if I allow you to take even half a step out of the palace, Miss Lisa could only go see me at my tombstone!”

At the end, he also sincerely asked, “Being in the same situation, you can understand me, right?”

Officials: …..Alright then, such a rogue with no sense of a knight’s chivalry was indeed the style of their Majesty.

They could only accept their fate.

During this period of time, the Master of the Households often ran back and forth between the officials and the King, constantly conveying the King’s will to the officials. He was known to be very amiable to others, but now when the officials heard the footsteps of the Master of the Households, they would reflexively feel their scalp go numb——because it only heralded what harsh requirements the King had put forward next.

“Such a truly terrible way of recording.”

While the officials were in the middle of great distress, the King had already begun to read through the completed parts of the compilation in his office. Occasionally he would also critique their work mercilessly.

The Duke of Buckingham sat opposite the King. He glanced sideways at the unprecedentedly neat and clear tax records and chose to remain silent in the end.

——It was winter, and there was nothing wrong with exercising the fingers on occasion.

The King ridiculed the tax records in a harsh and cutting tone while flipping through it quickly. During this period of time, his workload even surpassed those of the compiling officials as the King had to personally examine and approve each of the compiled parts, and when encountering ambiguities, he would throw it back and have them start over.

The King added the item “reform system” to his long-term plan. Oh, and there was also a need for further education for these court officials.

May the Holy Lord bless the court officials. One hoped that they were strong enough.

“What are you worried about? Your Majesty.”

The Duke of Buckingham noticed that the King did not immediately call the Head of the Households to come in after closing the tax records. The workload of the Duke of Buckingham during this period was also not small. He, the King and the advisory team had to analyze suitable candidates for the county lords based on these investigations.

“Five Port Alliance.”

The King replied.

The Five Port Alliance had special privileges, and their taxation fell under a separate system. The scope of the King’s investigation did not include the autonomous cities of the Five Port Alliance.

It was not difficult to guess just how many pounds of money slipped past the King’s pocket every year.

However, it was not because of this that the King thought of the Five Port Alliance at this time.

——It was because of the Black Death.

According to the information obtained from the Devil, Legrand was not the only country where the Black Death would show up in. Now that maritime shipping was a prosperous industry, maritime travel had also become an important way for the spread of the Black Death. If the customs could not be effectively controlled, then even if the Devil could solve the plague in Legrand in some way, the Black Death might still break out in Legrand again soon.

Even if not for the title of “Uncrowned King”, the King must still completely resolve the issue presented by the Five Port Alliance before the Black Death arrived.

The King sighed.

“Hold a parliamentary meeting.”

The King put down the tax records, having passed his review. He quietly looked out the window.

The Duke of Buckingham followed the King’s gaze and saw the land of Legrand covered with snow. The Duke sighed with gratification and other conflicted emotions in his heart:

How heavy was the burden of a country? This was a no-question answer, because only the person who wore that crown knew.

Not the crown worn on the head, but in the heart.

And people who wore the crown in their hearts disdained to speak out on how heavy the burden was.

“Follow your will, Your Majesty.”

The Duke of Buckingham said.

………………

When October was about to end, following the custom, the King issued a summoning order to the entire territory of Legrand. [1]

But what was different from the past was that the scale of this meeting was unprecedented. A total of nearly a thousand representatives had obtained the qualifications to participate. In addition to the regular local nobles, there was also the addition of representatives of the free citizens in cities and towns. Compared with the representatives of the free citizens who were allowed to participate in the parliamentary meeting, the representatives of the royal family of Ingres who were also qualified to participate were not so conspicuous.

In addition, as a special member of Legrand, the Five Port Alliance also had its own representative.

The Five Port Alliance had been too quiet during this period, but this quietness was the same as the King’s stance of non-commitment, both hinting at something unusual.

Finally, the representatives of the Five Port Alliance set off from the port of Koszoya.

On an unobtrusive little note, there was an addition of a low-key young man to the delegation.

Drifting winter snow enveloped the skies of the Legrand Empire, and people began to gather in the capital.

Tension, excitement, anxiety…..All kinds of emotions were surging under the ice of the empire, and only the one who was on the throne knew best the true purpose of this meeting.

The largest parliamentary meeting in the history of the Legrand Empire was to be held soon.

………………

“What a truly big gesture, my dear Majesty.”

A letter made of a material that was difficult to discern was unfolded by a pale and slender hand, and the Devil quickly scanned the content on it. He sighed.

A crow quietly perched on the black withered tree in front of the Devil. It had dark red eyes and cawed in seeming response when it heard the Devil’s words.

“Shut up, Mela.”

The Devil scolded without hesitation.

The crow known as “Mela” ignored his scolding and continued to caw at him, its tone harsh and short and urgent.

“Alright, alright, what’s the use of urging me?”

The Devil raised his hand, and the letter went up in flames in mid-air, turning into specks of ash, and then the specks scattered and turned into black, bizarrely beautiful butterflies.

“The Decree hangs over the earth, separating heaven and earth from hell…..The time has not come, we must wait.”

Perhaps it was the “Decree” mentioned in the Devil’s words that worked, and the crow calmed down.

The black butterflies danced slowly in the air as they flew forward.

The Devil raised his head. He looked at everything in front of him and sighed quietly: “…..You say, if I go in now, will those Lords work together to hunt me down?”

In front of the Devil stood the terrifying gates of Purgatory. The door seemed to be made up of the gathering of blood and dark colors, the vague sound of sorrowful crying welling out from behind it, like thousands of souls shattering or like thousands of evil spirits laughing nastily. An ancient text was inscribed on the side of the door:

From then on, I entered that miserable city.

From then on, I entered the abyss of pain.

From then on, I entered the crowd consigned to eternal damnation. [2]

Below were two lines of words that were scratched away with a blade by a person——let us call them a person for now——and were unable to make any sense of.

Immediately followed by:

Before me, there was nothing but eternity.

I exist along with heaven and earth; I live forever. [3]

“I hope no one will be guarding behind the door.” The Devil murmured, but his expression did not appear nervous at all, and even vaguely revealed a hint of expectation, “Know that I am here to clean the palace for His Majesty. Ai…..This is really a trivial, troublesome but sweet job.”

The crow cawed out angrily again.

“Oh, sorry, I forgot that you can’t serve His Majesty at the moment.”

The Devil apologized pretentiously, but his smile showed a hint of wanton impudence.

The crow flew up angrily, flapping its wings around the Devil, with the intention of pecking out the Devil’s eyes…..but it only stopped at intention.

Just as the Lords of Hell gritted their teeth with hatred for this guy, but still none of them truly wanted to really provoke him, the crow also cautiously drew a line in its heart to prevent itself from crossing the line and angering the Devil.

Because…..

In the whole of Hell, this guy was a complete lunatic.

“The thousand year kingdom is coming, and He told the seven angels to come down to the world with bugle horns in their hands. The rivers will turn into a sea of ​​blood, and the plague will swim to the mainland with the dead fishes…..”

The Devil gently hummed the ancient sacred hymn, stepping on the bones of unknown creatures as he walked forward. The huge gates of Purgatory stood before him, an ancient taboo blocking the connection between the human world and Hell.

“The seven calamities of the apocalypse will bring about the final judgment.”

The crow watched as the Devil stepped inside casually.

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

AN: The most domineering and unreasonable Party A in history——Your Majesty the King.

The history of blood and tears of the court officials is now online √

[1] In accordance with the meeting procedures during the Edward III period, the parliament must be convened in the name of the king, and a calling order must be issued in advance.

[2][3] Quoting from Dante’s “The Divine Comedy”, the following setting for Hell will be adjusted to a certain extent based on various aspects of the material.

If you would like to show some ♡  then please consider supporting this translator! ლ(⌒εー)ლ

Prev