I had to ask, “Why did you make these kinds of people your lovers?”
Amethyst would one day build the Tower and gather all the abandoned people from across the universe. The children sacrificed by religious fanaticism, the warriors who died in an unreasonable disaster, the woman whose life was incarcerated in an undefeatable phenomenon... She was going to bring these abandoned, ruined lives to the Tower and offer them a new world.
She built the Tower for all the victims in the universe.
So then, why did she have killers as her lovers? I looked at Viscountess Amethyst, who smiled at me.
“What do you mean by ‘these kinds of people?’” Amethyst asked.
“These women have committed grave crimes. One whipped a child to death, another ate people, and one of them started a war that killed countless civilians. Why do you love them? Why do you let them keep their nobility? You will eventually build that Tower. You’re so close to being omnipotent, so why not punish them?”
“You’re a very kind person.”
“Those who climb the Tower with you will be very happy.”
I tilted my head in confusion, but she didn’t elaborate further. Instead, she sat down in a chair and looked straight ahead. I followed her gaze and continued to watch as the fight escalated.
“Recommending someone who isn’t even twenty years old to dukedom is a joke!”
The conservative faction’s Countess Towerfang Tiger—who had a lion’s mane haircut—seemed irritated.
“Viscountess Amethyst is eighteen. Eighteen! It doesn’t matter how many rebellions or dragon kingdoms she has ended. There is an undeniable hierarchy in this kingdom.”
This time, a noble from Amethyst’s faction spoke, but only after deeply inhaling a puff from her hookah.
“I see. Countess Towerfang Tiger is right. I couldn’t understand why the rebels over the past decades were growing stronger day by day, let alone being subdued... I feel like my eyes are wide open now that I’ve listened to her. While an eighteen-year-old child was fighting against the rebels, great nobles like Countess Towerfang Tiger were making sure the kingdom would be in order. Thanks to nobles like her, I know why the kingdom has prospered until now.”
The nobles of Amethyst’s faction chuckled.
“You’re right. I was blaming myself for putting all the burden on a young girl, but I should have criticized her for daring to accomplish deeds during a war.”
“That’s right. If our faction leader hadn’t stepped forward, two hundred thousand people would have been killed subduing the Gold Dragon again. No, millions of citizens would still be suffering if the Red Fingernails hadn’t been defeated. She has protected the lives of hundreds of thousands of soldiers and the safety of millions of people, but why should it mean anything? She’s still only eighteen years old. Giving her dukedom is nonsense.”
“You’re right. Countess Towerfang Tiger’s benevolence is truly beautiful. She cares about the kingdom’s order!”
Amethyst’s lovers launched waves of attacks. Marchioness Snowhite Rabbit, the child killer, was looking around cautiously. While Viscountess Pure Sacrednoir, the gluttonous cannibal, backed up her colleagues, Viscountess Great Prawn Pearl chuckled blatantly. Their reactions varied, but they all supported Amethyst.
“Ha...” Towerfang Tiger’s face darkened, probably because she felt humiliated to lose the argument. “The courtesan’s dogs do have quite a bark.”
The lounge fell silent. The nobles who had leisurely ridiculed the countess so far all turned cold, their smiles disappearing from their faces. Only anger burned in their eyes.
“What do you think?” Amethyst whispered in my ear, quietly enough so only I could hear her. “Isn’t it funny? All the people who take my side are killers, like you said. They’re sinners, but look. Look at their faces.”
Amethyst sat up on the chair’s armrest. “They’re in pain. Calling me a courtesan is an insult, but she isn’t really wrong. I’ve bewitched countless nobles and royals with my music, dance, and sweet words; hence, I am a courtesan. Even so, Countess Towerfang Tiger was being polite. People on the streets call me a prostitute. Look, Mr. Gong-Ja.”
Amethyst gently tugged at my sleeve. Even though she wasn’t really pulling with force, I bent down until my shoulder was on the same level as her face.
Amethyst added, “One of them whipped a child to death, the one next to her feasted on humans, and the general over there slaughtered civilians. However, they’re all hurt because I was called a courtesan. It’s so funny.”
Amethyst interlocked her arm with mine. It felt like a snake crawling up my body. “The kingdom has hundreds of volumes of law codes. According to specific laws, the sins of criminals can be measured and used to hold them accountable. It’s an annoying amount of work, but the sentences are easy to carry out. If I wish, I can have all those criminals executed right away. What should I do, Mr. Gong-Ja? Should I kill them all?”
The snake smiled, her purple eyes sparkling under her long eyelids. “Yes. You think that’s too harsh, don’t you? You’re kind and think it’s too harsh to kill even those who have done wrong. That’s the impression you’re giving me. Because of who you are, you’re completely different from me.”
“There is no way that simply killing them is too much.”
Amethyst grabbed my chin and forced me to look at the noble with hair as white as a rabbit’s—Marchioness Snowhite. She was anxiously looking around at the people from multiple factions.
“Marchioness Snowhite Rabbit murdered a child when she was a child herself. The marquisate delivered the settlement money to the bereaved family. One side is a prestigious noble family in the capital, and the other one is an ordinary citizen family. They called it settlement money, but well, it’s actually more like an ultimatum, right?”
That sounded about right.
“The criminal was a minor at the time. In addition to that, she’s a noble and has even settled with the victim’s family. In this case, the sentence that Marchioness Snowhite Rabbit receives is... well? The harshest one would be taking away her nobility. To your surprise, that is the harshest punishment guaranteed by law,” Amethyst said playfully.
“On the other hand, the bereaved family is ruined. Unlike noble families, common families are devastated surprisingly easily. There were three of them in the family—the granddaughter, grandfather, and grandmother. The granddaughter who Marchioness Snowhite murdered was the grandparents’ only descendant.
“Do you understand, Mr. Kim Gong-Ja? The family is done for. It’s ruined and broken. What is the use of receiving hundreds of gold for settlement money? Can you assemble a child’s broken body with gold? It’s possible to meet a kind, fair judge who will majestically follow the kingdom’s great and dignified law so that Marchioness Snowhite Rabbit will miraculously lose her marquisate. But will it resolve all the resentment of the bereaved family?”
“A sinner ruined them. Even if you kill the sinner, the grudge and resentment won’t go away. Think about it. One winter day, your granddaughter dies on the snowfield because one noble whipped her back until her flesh was bared and her spine was crushed. Would a single death be enough to end the resentment?”
“Then what should be done?”
I understood what Amethyst was saying. It was similar to the problem I had contemplated when I took in the Constellation Murderer.
For the people who had already committed sins, sometimes, their victims were still out there. How could their ruined lives be compensated? Even someone like the Black Witch had dipped her hands in blood countless times, and I was her friend. I had yet to find an answer to whether that was the right thing to do and what to do if it wasn’t.
“Pain,” the master of the Tower answered. “Pain is the only answer.”
She stroked my locks. “For the last six years, the grandparents had to endure the pain of losing their granddaughter and will still have to spend the rest of their lives with the pain of never seeing her again. Returning exactly the same pain to the sinner is how this world’s law should be, and that is what I wish to establish in the kingdom.”
Amethyst talked as if she were a senior giving advice to her beloved junior, but her purple eyes had something magical about them, making her kind consideration seem like an evil curse. That was probably why Amethyst also seemed like a devil tempting a passerby.
“I’ll rebuild this kingdom under the law of suffering, but it won’t end just with the kingdom. Next will be this entire world, and then all the other worlds I will see and walk on. The Tower is a way to do that.”
I was speechless for a moment. “Is that possible?”
“There are two ways to make the impossible possible. One is to go crazy. All you have to do is lose your mind and make the impossible possible in your delusion.”
Amethyst giggled. “Be the person in power. Power is something you possess and dominate. I bewitched six duchesses, seduced one queen, and captured three dragon emperors.”
She raised one finger. “I did that only to become the most powerful person in the world.”
She tapped the armrest of her chair twice. Prompted by the sound, the women who had been glaring at Towerfang Tiger stopped what they were doing and forgot what they wanted to say. At the signal from their master, they all turned their heads.
The same was true for the opposing faction. At first, they kept talking, but when everyone from the other side turned their gazes at once, they couldn’t help but feel that something was off. Thus, the nobles of the other faction also turned to look at Amethyst.
As all the nobles were transfixed on one person, the servants stopped serving drinks, and the performers paused as they were selecting the next song. They all looked at Amethyst.
Thirteen seconds. That was all it took for the hundreds of humans in the giant lounge to look at Amethyst. The fierce shouting, subtle sarcasm, and cold anger evaporated in an instant.
Silence hung in the air.
With hundreds of eyes on her, Amethyst said, “Dear fellow nobles, you have come to the lounge to rest, but you’re engaging in heated discussions even here. I can’t hide how proud I am to be a member of the kingdom, but I’m worried that the assembly won’t be paying you overtime. You can’t be working overtime when you aren’t getting paid.
“I believe we rested enough. Go back to the conference hall and resume your work,” Amethyst stated, using my shoulder as a cane to prop herself up.
The nobles belonging to Amethyst’s faction also stood up, leaving behind the glasses they had been sipping on regardless of the amount of beverage left in them. The nobles gathered around Amethyst without a moment of hesitation. It was a truly bizarre scene, considering that each and every one of them possessed power that was incomparable to a commoner’s.
Amethyst grabbed my wrist and offered a bright smile. “Now, Mr. Gong-Ja, I’ll show you a miracle tonight.”