The Red Hand

Chapter 458 – Two Rulers. Two Philosophies. One Goal.

"How are you feeling, Father? You're still weakened, so please don't push yourself." Ariel asked Lockheed as a pair of maids helped dress him in his, now far too large and loose, formal attire. "I'm still against you-"

"You really do sound just like your Mother." Lockheed chuckled as the maids finished tying a few knots to make the loose-fitting clothes stay in place. He'd lost considerable muscle mass and a good amount of body weight during his long incapacitation. Most of his clothing was built for a far more muscular and fit form, and now the vast majority of his wardrobe hung off him like oversized mattress sheets, making him look like a child wearing their parent's clothing. "She used to worry like that when we were younger. Every time I so much as got a cough, she'd demand I stay in bed until I was well." He laughed, looking back fondly on those now-distant times. "I'm starting to think she just wanted an excuse to look after me."

"You're a reckless man. We have no choice but to look after you since you're unwilling to do so yourself." Ariel sighed as the two maids were excused from the room. "I understand why you wish to address the people directly. Logically, it makes sense. Your return will rekindle some hope in our people's hearts and will go a long way in keeping things calm." She said as she walked up behind him and fixed part of his cloak. "But you've only just reawoken. If not for body reinforcement magic, you wouldn't be able to walk more than a few steps. It's only natural that I'm worried about you, and it's not just me everyone in the Palace feels both a mixture of admiration and concern seeing you walking around." Demon King Lockheed was deeply admired by his subjects. His battlefield prowess easily made him the strongest member of the Demon race, but more than that, he was a compassionate and empathetic ruler. Unlike many of his predecessors, he actively sought ways to improve the common folk's lives, and even during the Spirit War, he continually made himself available to the peasantry via regular outings into the Capital. Though this put him at odds with many of the Nobility, at least from a political and ideological stand point.

When it came to his relationship with his replacement, Lockheed and Silfana fundamentally agreed on the role and responsibilities of a Monarch. He firmly believed that it was his duty to protect their lives and to do whatever he could to ensure they had a shot at a peaceful and prosperous future. However, while they both agreed on that point, Lockheed and the Vampire did not see eye to eye on matters of internal politics, and he vehemently opposed Silfana's purge of members of the Nobility in such a bloody fashion, even when those killed were hindrances to the Kingdom. Something that she saw as a necessity.

"I've rested enough." Lockheed said as he turned around and gave his Daughter a quick hug. "Despite the fact that I am no longer Demon King, I have a duty to my people. I must do what I can to guide them through these troubled times. If I must do it with a weakened body, then so be it. I will simply do what I can."

"At least one of you has the qualities of a ruler." Silfana said, interrupting the two of them as she leaned in the doorway to Lockheed's room. "It's too bad you couldn't pass those things to your child, else your Kingdom wouldn't be in the sorry state that it is." She smiled, knowing that her words would annoy both Demons.

"You-" Ariel went to rebuke the Vampire but was stopped by her Father, who simply shook his head as he interceded between them

"I taught Ariel everything she knows. She was taught to empathize with our people, to lead them." Lockheed defended her. "I will concede that perhaps my style of governance leads to some problems, and it could be said that my kindness was ultimately a weakness, but I will not stand idly by while my Daughter is insulted." He said, glaring at the Vampire with his still sunken eyes. "Ariel did a fine job in my stead. Keeping a Kingdom as decentralized as ours together after the incapacitation of its Monarch is no small feat. You of all people should understand that."

Silfana and he had spoken at length about her background, and while he vehemently disagreed with her methods, the former Demon King was forced to admit that she was more than qualified to be a ruler. Not only was she of Royal blood, but she'd led a monster Kingdom for centuries, and her intellect and general competence was of a level that he'd rarely seen before.

"Kindness can be both an asset and a weakness." Silfana said as she slowly entered the room. "It all comes down to knowing when to deploy it. My Father taught me that one should always be prepared for kindness to be returned with spite and that a Ruler should know when to balance the risk of gaining someone's gratitude with allowing a grudge to fester." She continued. "Your flaw wasn't that you showed your subjects or the Nobles of the Kingdom kindness and mercy. It was that you failed to employ harsh punishments where necessary. That your Nobility was more focused on battling each other and squabbling rather than defending the Kingdom from outside threats shows that you were too soft."

{Rivalry and animosity amongst Nobility is both a natural and often healthy part of any such system, but one must ensure that it does not undermine the foundation of the Nation. The moment they become more fixated on fucking each other over than actually doing their job is the moment purges must be enacted to straighten the fools out. Bickering and complacency like poison to any great Empire.} (Silfana)

"A Monarch is the State and should not hesitate to wield their full power to prevent such nonsense." Silfana scoffed. The Vampire detested factional politics and had no time for petty disputes. In her mind Nobility existed to serve a purpose, that purpose being the continuity of the Kingdom and working towards its prosperity. Those who failed in those roles thus forfeited their status as Nobility as the Vampire cared little for things like due process when it came to removing such counterproductive elements from her Nation.

"Perhaps that kind of mindset makes sense in the Empire, but Demonkind has never bowed to an absolute Monarch in the vain of Hadrus." Ariel commented that such a style of governance had no history with their kind. "The Demon King is elected and their control over the Kingdom does not enable the kind of rule that you seek to impose. We originated as a Confederation of equal tribes that joined together for survival."

"Yes, and that is foolish way to govern a country." Silfana said as she casually walked over to a table and inspected a golden scepter that was resting on a display. "A restrained Monarch is not a Monarch at all. What use is a Demon King when they must tiptoe around these other counterbalancing powers? Foolishness like that leads to paralysis, something that I absolutely loath."

"Our people were ruled by True Demons in the past and we swore to never again be ruled by one absolutely powerful being." Lockheed said. "Hence our splitting of the Kingdom into zones of control. Each Elector-King was granted a sizable portion of the Nation to rule with a great deal of leeway. This ensured that no one person could become strong enough to overtake the rest and the election of the Demon King ensured that power could never be consolidated in one family for too long."

{Separation of Powers I suppose would be the term. Humanity on Earth moved to something similar, and it was equally as foolish here as it is there. People always wind up bickering with each other over how the treasury should be divided and what the State can provide them. I detest such systems as they are wasteful and ineffective. Inability or unwillingness to take action is what kills a nation, and such a thing is what happens in societies like that. I'd much prefer things get done than endless discussion that ultimately goes nowhere.} (Silfana)

"L'État, c'est moi." Silfana said, quoting a famous French phrase. "In your tongue, it would translate into I am the State. It's a saying that Akagi taught me, and I've come to appreciate its succinctness." She said as she opened the glass case and began running her hand over the scepter. "The Monarch is from where all legal power flows. They may delegate that power to other bodies, but in the end, a Nation's laws and the powers it exercises all come from the Crown." She said as she lifted the golden scepter up, her face reflecting in its sheen. “Just as all political power derives from a monopoly on violence.”

"And your beliefs only lead to tyranny." Ariel hissed. "Dress it up all you like but one person having absolute power does nothing but invite suffering. But then again, I wouldn't expect an immortal Vampire to care about such things." She scoffed. "You probably believe that lives don't matter as long as they serve your goals. After all, a mortal will live for a few decades and then die anyway, so what does it matter if they're killed today since they'd eventually disappear anyway? I'm sure that's how you think."

"Ariel!" Lockheed scolded her.

"You know my words to be true, Father." Ariel continued. "She will only see our people as pawns. Pawns to be discarded the moment she sees no further use for them. That's no different from how the Demons

of old treated our ancestors!""Enough, Ariel!" Lockheed yelled, his voice louder than she'd expected. "You should not say such things based solely on conjecture and prejudice."

"She's a Vampire!" Ariel retorted. "Her kind-"

"What she is has nobearing on how she rules!" Lockheed yelled, this time louder which caught her off guard. "Did I not teach you to judge others based on their actions rather than the words others use to describe them? Are you not using the same logic that many Humans would use to demean our kind? That just because we look like we do that we are lesser beings?"

"This and that are completely different things!” Ariel protested. “And are you telling me you trust her?!?" She asked, shocked by her Father's defense of the Vampire, who was more than happy to ignore their back and forth as she continued to examine the scepter while seemingly paying them no heed.

"Ariel..." Lockheed sighed. "No, perhaps it's only because I've ruled as long as I did." He shook his head. "It's unreasonable for me to expect you to pick up on such things at your age."

"Are you saying I'm not good enough?!?" Ariel yelled louder than she'd intended.

"Have you actually sat down with Lady Silfana and had a conversation with her?" Lockheed said as his eyes bore down onto Ariel, who instinctively stepped backward under the weight of her Father's gaze. "Have you learned just what kind of ruler she is? Have you discussed that with her? Have you learned anything about her?"

"I-I've talked with her a few times, and all that I'll I've gathered from her is that she is a tyrant who tries to justify her actions by saying it's for a greater good!" Ariel stammered as she tried to answer. "She thinks that any action she takes is justified just because she believes whatever the ends are justify the means!"

{And she doesn't even consider the fact that she could be wrong!} (Ariel)

"If that's all you walked away with..." Lockheed sighed. "Then it's no wonder why she thinks so little of you." His words had no contempt, malice, or disappointment in them, but they still stung.

"Father!" Ariel yelped, not expecting to be rebuffed by him in such a manner.

"Lady Silfana, please allow my Daughter to learn from you." Lockheed turned to the Vampire as she placed the scepter back in its case. "She's a bright girl who needs direction. I can promise you that it would be worth your while to provide her some of your wisdom. I fear that I am not up to the task."

"That was already my plan." Silfana chuckled as Ariel stood completely flabbergasted the conversation.

"Learn what you can from her, Ariel." Lockheed said as he looked over at his completely stunned Daughter. "And once you do, I'd like you to consider if your opinion of Lady Silfana is based on your biases or on the truth. Take in everything she has to offer, learn from her. Once you do, I'd ask you to think again about you believe her to be."

{Perhaps Silfana was right about me and my rule. I may not agree with everything she believes in, but Silfana is nothing short of a true Ruler. Ariel is merely blinded to this fact by her preconceptions and predjudices which prevent her from understanding that Silfana, despite her nature as an immortal Vampire, is the kind of Ruler that would never callously throw her subject's lives away as she describes. I only hope that she can understand the truth and perhaps one day she may even be able to blunt some of the harsher edges of our new Vampire overlord.} (Lockheed)