TFCMD~09

Chapter 9

Lauren glanced at Astor, seated across from her.

As thanks for finding and returning her jewelry, Astor had asked her to teach him about administration. True to his word, the two of them now spent their evenings in something resembling lessons.

Though calling them lessons might have been generous.

Most nights, they simply revisited political and economic incidents that had once stirred discussion across the Empire.

As expected from a commander famous throughout the military, Astor was quick-witted and frighteningly sharp. His reputation as a soldier was clearly not exaggerated.

Still, replacing the mindset of a lifelong soldier with that of a lord seemed far more difficult than either of them had expected.

“You really don’t need to be that harsh.”

A sigh slipped into Lauren’s voice.

Astor lowered his eyes to the paper he had been reading. It contained an old report about several farmers who had stolen money and supplies meant for their lord.

Lauren had asked him what punishment he thought appropriate.

His answer?

Confiscate their property and imprison them.

And her reaction had been exactly this.

Too harsh?

From the perspective of military law, his answer was correct. Then what exactly was he supposed to do? Military law was all he had ever known.

“Did you read this part?”

Lauren’s slender finger tapped a section of the article.

Astor’s gaze followed her fingertip.

After rereading it, he nodded.

Golden hair shifted softly with the motion.

His green eyes rolled back toward her.

“In summary?”

“They committed the crime because the taxes were too high to survive on… and because they had critically ill family members.”

Lauren nodded.

The article rambled through witness statements and explanations, but that was the heart of it.

“I’m not a soldier, so I can’t say for sure, but under military law, your answer is probably right. But those farmers aren’t soldiers.”

She leaned slightly forward.

“You have to look at why this happened. A lord’s responsibility is making sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Astor reread the article.

Then—

“Ah.”

His eyes brightened briefly.

“Lower the taxes and help care for the sick.”

“Correct.”

Lauren smiled warmly.

“The things a lord should do are exactly those things.”

The soft curve of her eyes made the smile gentler.

For some reason, Lauren was good at handling him.

She waited until he reached answers himself.

She praised generously.

She was, Astor realized, a very good teacher.

“But something feels strange.”

“What does?”

“I thought Imperial law set tax rates fairly low. Then why would people steal because taxes are too high?”

Astor leaned back in his chair, arms crossed.

A small crease formed between his brows.

A good question.

Lauren had assumed he only knew military regulations, but apparently he had been studying Imperial law on his own.

She nodded approvingly.

“There’s also regional law. Lords can adjust tax rates however they want.”

She flipped to the second page of the article.

Just as Astor had expected, the local lord confiscated the farmer’s property and imprisoned him.

But people exhausted from crushing taxes had finally stopped enduring.

A village representative walked for days to reach the Imperial Palace.

The Emperor—who proudly called himself protector of the people—personally listened to their pleas.

And then came the Emperor’s Iron Hammer.

The Iron Hammer, the Emperor’s personal knight order, moved immediately.

They surrounded the lord’s estate.

The imprisoned farmers were released.

The lord was dragged before the people and forced to kneel.

The commander of the Iron Hammer publicly announced the Emperor’s decree:

The lord had abused his authority, raised taxes unfairly, and oppressed his people.

His title was stripped.

His lands confiscated.

The Emperor then appointed the commander as temporary lord and granted the territory several years of tax exemption.

The people cried tears of joy.

Across the Empire, everyone praised the Emperor’s wisdom and generosity.

The second page detailed the entire event.

Astor narrowed his eyes as he read.

“That happened when I was in military academy.”

His voice was low.

“I remember because the Iron Hammer rarely moved.”

He sounded displeased.

Lauren tilted her head.

Why?

Their eyes met.

Astor twisted his lips into his usual crooked smile.

Lauren suddenly remembered the first time she had met him in this estate.

It was the same smile.

Yet somehow…

His eyes seemed softer now.

No.

That had to be her imagination.

Before he could notice her staring, she hurriedly spoke.

“They rarely move? But they answer directly to the Emperor. I heard they earned enormous achievements during the war.”

“Achievements can be arranged.”

The bitterness in his voice silenced her.

Astor and his army had fought at the front lines.

But Astor had inherited his ducal title before adulthood and possessed no political backing.

Most of his soldiers were commoners.

They had nearly lost recognition for their accomplishments.

The one who prevented it—

Had been Lauren’s father.

“I have a duchy and lands. I’d survive either way.”

Astor spoke quietly.

“But my men’s lives depended on merit.”

His eyes lowered.

“Not being able to reward those who fought beside me… it was miserable.”

He had even planned to spend his own fortune compensating them.

Lauren stared at him blankly.

He was smiling at her.

Still bitter.

Still sharp.

But unlike any smile she had ever seen from him before.

“If not for Baron Sias, I wouldn’t even have been able to properly repay the people who risked their lives beside me.”

His voice softened.

“I owe your father a debt I can never repay.”

Lauren lowered her head.

That gratitude wasn’t meant for her.

But her father was gone.

She couldn’t pass on those words anymore.

The grief she had deliberately ignored rushed back all at once.

No.

Not now.

She breathed slowly.

Changed the subject.

“…What about what you said earlier? About the Iron Hammer.”

She looked up.

“Are you saying they stole someone else’s achievements too?”

Astor gave a small laugh and shrugged.

That alone was answer enough.

Lauren frowned deeply.

“Seriously?”

“I have no reason to lie.”

She knew he wasn’t someone who lied.

The question had escaped before she could stop it.

The Iron Hammer were the Emperor’s personal knights.

Their commander and vice commander had gained enormous territories.

Noble sons had earned titles.

Promotions.

Glory.

But if that glory belonged to others—

Then what exactly had those who fought and bled on the front lines been fighting for?

Astor stood.

He pulled a bottle from the cabinet.

Filled a glass.

Drank it in one go.

Lauren could only watch.

He poured another glass and moved to the window.

Outside, stars were beginning to appear.

He drew in a slow breath.

His shoulders rose and fell heavily.

“Pathetic, isn’t it?”

His voice drifted toward the night outside.

“I should’ve fought back.”

A pause.

“But I didn’t know how.”

He stared through the glass.

“I tried supporting my people with my own money.”

His fingers tightened around the glass.

“I couldn’t give them honor. But I wanted them to live easier lives.”

For commoners with no military lineage—

There was only one reason to go to war.

To survive.

Honor meant little.

Lauren quietly watched his back.

Maybe he simply lacked the method.

Maybe—

He and her father weren’t so different.

He wanted his people comfortable.

He didn’t want to see them suffer.

That was why he had been willing to empty his fortune.

Unlike other nobles.

The Sias family had ruled only a small territory.

Perhaps because of that, Lauren had grown up close to its people.

She played with village children.

Attended school with them.

In Sias territory, even commoners could study if they wished.

Her father’s assistant in the capital had been a commoner too.

She only learned much later that other territories weren’t like that.

In relatives’ lands, she saw people unable to read.

People with talent they would never use.

People praised lords simply because they weren’t starving.

Her world had shattered then.

That was why she chose to learn governance.

The children she grew up with.

Teachers who greeted her warmly.

Market vendors who slipped sweets into her hands.

Farmers who pressed fruit into her arms until she could barely carry it.

The territory had been poor.

Yet she had never felt deprived.

Because of them.

Because of the people labeled commoners.

Her father always said:

The Sias family ruled not because they were superior.

Only because they were luckier.

Nobles and commoners were simply people given different names.

And a lord’s duty—

Was protecting their smiles.

Astor’s desire to reward his people, even at personal cost—

Was no different from her father.

No different from her.

Lauren’s expression darkened.

In every future she had imagined—

She had been Lady of Sias.

Marriage had never mattered.

She had never imagined herself as anything else.

But now—

She was here.

Beside Astor.

After her parents died suddenly, her uncle stole her title.

The man had never once acted like a lord.

Even during the short time she lived there, all they cared about was erasing the previous lord’s memory.

Never governing.

Never protecting.

How was her territory now?

How were her people?

Only now—

Far too late—

Lauren finally wondered.