The Reason for Marriage

Everyone remained silent, not knowing what Daniel meant by this. They had no idea what it would mean to make an affiliated agency independent. Daniel sensed the confusion in the room and pressed on.

“Of course, that will mean separating the judicial power from the executive power. This, in turn, puts the judicial power above the executive power.”

More murmuring, more snippets of questions. Once again, Daniel sensed the most prevalent one and answered it without being asked directly.

“It means that the Kings, aristocrats, affiliated staff, and commoners must abide by the same law.”

Daniel spoke so easily, and the nobles who attended the meeting chatted among themselves for a while, trying to work out what this would mean for them. To most, it made sense. In order not to be swept away by the Republican Revolution, to some extent; Republican ideas must be adapted to Amethan’s circumstances. Daniel’s words were ideal, in that the rational principles for the majority should take precedence over the commands of any man, but there were certainly some things that they would have to sacrifice in return. It was this sacrifice that plastered dark frowns on the faces of others. One particularly portly nobleman spoke aloud.

“Without authority, hierarchies collapse and when hierarchies collapse, chaos arises. Your Majesty, please think again about it. The commoners will climb up without really understanding the subject, and eventually, they will start to demand ridiculous rights. Is the differentiation in people not naturally given?”

Another man, bespectacled and brimming with consternation, added his thoughts. “Putting the law on top of the people can lead to the illusion that people are all the same. Human beings are a race of people who can easily forget the past and whine for more. If ignorant idiots insist on finding their right, the country will become noisy.”

All the nobles, including the Duke of Muelton, began to protest in a more united fashion. Daniel only glanced at Count Esselburn. Count Esselburn was looking at the corner of the table with frightened eyes. It was his daughter, after all, who was connected to the Judicial Affair Bureau.

“Does Medesto Kingdom ring any bells? It was a much larger and more prosperous country than ours, but it is said to be like hell on earth because of the current civil war. The revolutionary army rose and cut off all the heads of the nobles and divided their estate among those who participated in the revolution,” Daniel said calmly, “don’t you think that even the Empire could avoid the civil war that could happen to us if we didn’t sacrifice anything to prevent it? There is a limit in keeping the Republicans quiet using money.”

“But…”

Daniel glanced at his servant who was standing next to him and beckoned him forwards. The servant quickly left his post and laid out a handful of papers one by one in front of the seated aristocrats.

“I asked the Queen, who was in the Judicial Affair Bureau, to do some drafts.”

Count Esselburn felt his heart pounding hard as he read his daughters’ name on the paper in front of him. The day had come. He had been betrayed by the King. The first time he asked for Iveca to be the Queen, he was sure that the King would protect the Esselburn family. Become his shield from Duke Muelton. Historically speaking, young Kings tended to keep in check some great aristocrats who had a profound influence on their ascension to the throne.

However, the first betrayal was to exclude the Queen with the last name Esselburn from the political scene. This second betrayal, the worse of the two, was to turn Iveca into such an enemy of all the conservative aristocrats. What on earth was the King thinking of, engraving the name ‘Iveca der Esselburn’ so clearly? If he said it was led by the Judicial Affair Bureau, there would be severe opposition against him and him alone. It seemed that the name of the aristocratic Queen was brought up to keep them off his own back. He had to speak out and he did, rising from his seat.

“Your Majesty. Please consider this again. Just looking at the first Article of this Great Constitution, it doesn’t make sense already.”

“How so?” Daniel replied. He had expected Count Esselburn to be a more vocal opponent of these plans.

“No one can decide someone else’s life without going through legal procedures, right? Does this mean that the ‘who’ mentioned here includes us all?”

“Yes. If we also abide by the law, the common people will not come forward to break the law out of protest. This will even the scales and protect us. At least, it will have the legitimacy to bind any commoners who want to do so.”

“But commoners have to obey us even if it is not written in the law.”

“I like all ten clauses that our Queen has decided. This is a Royal Order. Using my right as King, I declare the Judicial Affair Bureau will be independent, and the Supreme Constitution will be formed in the next two years.”

There was silence in the conference hall. It was the first time Daniel had used a Royal Order in a meeting since his reign began. Even if it was a trivial matter, no one had ever imagined the royal order would be used to stymie all the nobles like this.

“Indeed, we will discuss and consider the content and detailed provisions during those two years, and of course, we will accept various opinions and corrections. Do not forget that Iveca also came from a noble family. She will stick to the right line and work out what makes everyone happy.”

“I agree,” came another voice. It was Count Levinain, Head of the Liberal party, who immediately responded to Daniel’s words.

“I have no idea how fortunate I am to have such a good monarch, that I do not have to fear being decapitated, like the nobles of Medesto.”