Henrietta thought she could use the pain from bashing her head against the boulder to overcome the butterflies in her stomach. And as it turned out, the idea worked effectively.
Her shyness around Vaan quickly disappeared due to the pain overwhelming it.
But more importantly, the pain reminded her of her aching and exhausted body during the holy war against Gehenna three hundred years ago.
Compared to those desperate and trying times, her current challenge was nothing.
"Sorry about that. There were some unfamiliar feelings getting in my way," Henrietta vaguely explained with indifference before suggesting, "Shall we talk about something serious now?"
"Of course," Vaan casually agreed.
Once Henrietta received Vaan's agreement, she calmly nodded. They were bound to meet due to issues with the kingdom.
Fortunately, neither side seemed to bear any hostilities toward the other; they were off to a good start.
"You must understand that right now, you hold the kingdom's greatest authority and military might. People will follow your words over mine. This puts me, the current ruler, in a very awkward position," Henrietta coolly mentioned.
"While I won't condemn you for what you have done. In fact, I should commend you and reward you generously for the supremacist witch faction in their place and repelling the empire's invasion. You have solved two major issues this kingdom faced."
"Still, I have to ask. What do you intend to do with this kingdom after holding all that power?" Henrietta asked shortly after, sincerely seeking Vaan's honest answer.
"That is indeed a good question," Vaan uttered before asking himself with a mischievous smile, "What do I intend to do with the kingdom, I wonder?"
"Should I liberate the oppressed men and enslave the witches, letting them have a taste of their own medicine? Or should I leave things as they are, depraved and stagnant as they have been until now?"
Vaan made terrible suggestions as he studied Henrietta's briefly tensed-up expression before he softly chuckled.
"In fact, I care not for any of the hatred and discrimination between these two sides; they have nothing to do with me. The men and witches can continue to hate and discriminate against one another for all I care – is what I would like to say, of course."
"However, the truth is I cannot ignore this kingdom's failing society when it is what stands between this world and the next. For my people, I don't want this kingdom or Pangea itself to fall to Gehenna."
"So, here is what I intend to do – I will keep the slavery system. However, every man that was defaulted into slavery will be freed. Not only will they become free men, but I will also grant all men equal rights to knowledge and learning."
"I will not deprive witches of their land, but the supremacist witches must fork out half their wealth to construct a new district for men to develop their talents. In the future, men and women will compete fairly for benefits; there will be no oppression or killing."
"Those who break the law, regardless of their status, will be punished according to the severity of their crime. Light punishments will include loss of property and imprisonment. More serious cases will be the abolishment of cultivation or the death sentence."
"And in the most extreme case, the entire family will be executed," Vaan declared.
Henrietta was immediately flabbergasted.
She only wanted to know how Vaan would treat the people in the kingdom. She didn't expect him to explain everything to her in detail.
No, more important, why was he explaining everything in detail to her?
Was he expecting her to handle the reforms for him?
He didn't intend to do it himself?
When Henrietta realized that may very well be the case, the corners of her lips couldn't help but twitch.
In their present situation, they were practically both rulers of the kingdom. And yet, neither of them wanted to be tied down by the management responsibilities and work.
They both wanted something done and expected others to carry it out for them.
Nevertheless, given Vaan's power and capability, it didn't make any sense to tie him behind a desk full of paperwork, even if Henrietta knew he would excel at it.
However, she wasn't willing for the same reason, albeit without the latter part.
'This won't do,' Henrietta thought.
'Whether it is Vaan or I, we should be focusing on training to increase our power. That would be the best way to prepare for the seven Great Devils of Gehenna. I should appoint a prime minister to handle the kingdom's affairs.'
'Right! A prime minister is what we need!'
After Henrietta realized what they needed, she memorized Vaan's reform ideas in order to pass them on to her newly appointed prime minister when she found one later.
Nevertheless, there were a few points that made her frown.
"Aren't some of these punishments too harsh? If we try to implement these reforms, I'm afraid the witches won't agree and may even revolt…" Henrietta stated.
However, she quickly realized how foolish her words were.
After all, Vaan had absolute control over the witches living within the capital, thanks to the Oath of Magic, which he forced them to swear.
"Revolt… That is only an idea when people think they have a chance of succeeding. If the governing force is weak, people will naturally try to revolt against an outrageous reform," Vaan calmly stated.
"However, they wouldn't even dare to accommodate the thought if the governing force is absolute. If you want order, you must be strict with the law. These harsh punishments aren't just to scare the people; they must be enforced to establish the absoluteness of the law."
"Only then will it differ people from breaking them," Vaan said.
He understood human nature very well. Humans could be very lawless if they were given the chance. If people didn't fear the consequences or could get away with breaking the law, then they were more likely and willing to break it.
The law was a joke if it could not be enforced.
"You gave the supremacist witches too much freedom and weren't strict enough. That's why they were too lawless and didn't fully respect you. In other words, you let yourself become a pushover," Vaan casually said.
His words stabbed right into Henrietta's sore spot and made her feel ashamed. Still, Henrietta didn't argue.
"I won't deny it," Henrietta admitted.
Although the queen's position wasn't something she wanted as it was shoved onto her, it was also true that she didn't manage the kingdom well.
"Anyway, eliminating the oppression of men and enforcing the law is only the first step to leading the kingdom in the right direction," Vaan mentioned.
"This kingdom's potential growth won't be fully shown unless men and women can compete fairly yet competitively. Up until now, it had only shown a quarter of its potential due to the oppression of men and the lavish depravity of witches."
"That's why it was necessary to remove them," Vaan stated.
"Right," Henrietta fully agreed.
She was like a docile bird listening to the whispers of a wise sage, unaware that she had fallen back into Vaan's rhythm.
'What the hell are you doing, Henrietta? Why are you just listening to him preach like a student and her teacher? Don't forget about the demands! Marriage and dual practice! Ask him now!' Henrietta's master suddenly barked.
'Ugh… I can't do it, Master. It's not proper. This is my friend's man. I must seek her permission first,' Henrietta stated.
'You… Haiz, whatever. Do as you wish,' Henrietta's master sighed with resignation due to Henrietta's stubbornness.
However, she also couldn't help but admire and respect Henrietta's principles.
At the very least, she knew Henrietta was someone who repaid kindness with kindness. She didn't have to worry about her disciple breaking her promise to help her rebuild a new body once she gained sufficient power and materials.
'Thank you, Master,' Henrietta smiled at her master's understanding.
Meanwhile, Vaan read Henrietta's expressions and understood she was most likely conversing with someone in her mind again.
He thought it was a good opportunity to bring it up.
However, he suddenly frowned upon detecting subtle changes to the surrounding space near Gehenna's Gateway.
As such, he shifted his attention to investigate the anomaly.
At the same time, Henrietta and her master also noticed something wrong, albeit slightly slower than Vaan, especially Henrietta.
Henrietta only realized something was wrong after seeing Vaan's behavior.
Nevertheless, as Vaan stared at Gehenna's Gateway, his frown deepened.
Although Gehenna's Gateway was a dimensional crack that continued to expand over time, the growth has always been consistent.
As such, the surrounding space had always been, more or less, stable—at least until now.
Vaan could sense the surrounding space destabilizing as it twisted and shook—No, pulsated. The surrounding space was pulsating!
At first, it only happened around Gehenna's Gateway. But very quickly, it spread to the rest of the world.
'A spacequake?' Vaan's eyes flickered with a serious glint as he shifted his gaze to the skies.
He realized the source of spatial destabilization wasn't caused by Gehenna's Gateway but something else beyond their atmosphere.
However, the surrounding space around Gehenna's Gateway was the first to be affected due to its low stability and disintegration.
"This… could become a problem," Vaan uttered.
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