Since I Don’t Know Anything About It, Shall We Break Up, Your Majesty?

Karl rose to attend the nobles’ council held at the royal palace for the first time in a while.

The makeup that Brook had paid special attention to clung heavily to his skin as if it were his own.

He carelessly wiped his cheek, which felt sticky as if pus was dripping down.

An unpleasant sensation that he just couldn’t get used to brushed against his fingertips.

‘Maria Tartien would be disgusted by this.’

As he passed through the dim corridor, his reflection appeared on the glass-like shiny floor.

Monster.

It was a miserable appearance that couldn’t be described by any other word.

Sometimes, when he wore this terrible skin for too long, Karl would wonder if this might actually be his true form.

The past reflects the present.

The narrative of the past, piling up layer by layer on top of the essence one was born with.

‘If so, this appearance must also be one of my current forms.’

The troublesome prince who survived a terrible fire…..

The gloomy and ugly appearance that such a prince would inevitably have.

To get to this position, he too had bloodied his hands countless times.

Setting traps, pulling others down, digging pitfalls…..

He had finally grasped the throne.

With this empty body that had no supporting forces.

‘You don’t know. How I came to stand in this position.’

Geril Stings died of illness.

……Really?

Karl let out a snicker and walked slowly, dragging one leg.

Due to his uneven gait, his shoe heel hit the floor in an odd rhythm.

Since he had decided to become a monster anyway, it wouldn’t be bad to become a perfect monster.

Otherwise, you bastards will come running again, trying to devour even this rotten body.

‘Only authorized people can enter the greenhouse. The Tartien family, Schultz’s secretary, and the mother and daughter who manage the greenhouse. About six people.’

The spy he had planted was now a 32-year-old man.

‘Except for the head maid and the butler, there are no long-term employees there. I heard from the head maid that they clear out people every three years.’

He got married three years ago, lost a child to illness two years ago, and a year ago, his second child caught the same disease, so he was looking for money for treatment.

‘The people managing the greenhouse are a foreign woman and her daughter, and they don’t speak our language. They speak a Northern language, but fortunately, my maternal grandmother was from that region, so I could converse with them a little.’

Karl provided a house and medical expenses for the man’s family.

In return, the man paid him with one year of his life.

One year to spend at the Tartien house.

That dangerous job.

It was something he could do because he was desperate.

Karl nonchalantly exploited the man’s desperation.

‘The husband of that mother and daughter is from Berhe. He’s a pharmacist working at another Tartien mansion, and they take care of the garden here.’

He readily shared the information he had gathered over half a year.

Although he couldn’t have obtained much information as a low-level gardener, there were quite a few useful stories.

‘I’m not sure since I only overheard it, but…..’

It meant that the weight of his desperation towards Karl was that great.

‘I heard the Duke getting angry, saying Maria Tartien has a different constitution from them. He said some medicine doesn’t work on her, and they’re having trouble. So when I carefully probed the head maid and butler, they said she takes some kind of medicine on certain days.’

‘What kind of medicine? Certain days?’

‘Nobles come to the mansion every week for a card game. I found it suspicious and sneaked a peek once….’

‘And?’

‘……No one was playing cards.’

Recalling last night’s conversation as he walked, he finally reached the small council chamber.

The voices of dozens of nobles bustled like a marketplace.

The guards, surprised by the sudden appearance of the king, bowed their heads in confusion.

“Announce me. I’m going in.”

They quickly ran inside to announce the king’s arrival.

The bustling small council chamber fell silent in an instant, as if cold water had been poured over it.

He opened the door with a crooked smile, as if pleased by the silence.

“So you were all gathered here.”

He spoke in a sharp voice, like scraping metal against his throat.

The nobles who had been murmuring stood up abruptly.

What spread across their faces was confusion and disgust.

“Y-Your Majesty, how did you……”

“No, this wasn’t scheduled……”

“We heard Your Majesty had collapsed……”

Karl calmly walked through them to the head seat.

Schultz, who had been occupying the head seat, stared at him for a while before slowly giving up his seat.

“I committed a discourtesy, not knowing Your Majesty would come.”

“It’s alright. It can happen. My future father-in-law.”

Karl chuckled darkly and plopped down in the seat.

After just a few steps, he was panting and gestured lazily for the meeting to continue.

The hesitant nobles resumed the meeting haltingly after Schultz, who had found his seat, nodded his head.

‘They’re all busy watching Schultz’s reactions.’

No one pays attention to the king’s reactions.

They’re just uncomfortable.

‘Langster, Montreese, Monchert. Hermiller, Norosa…..’

With his body heavily slumped, he sat at the head seat and met their eyes one by one like a corpse.

They were all so predictable that it wasn’t even funny.

Those who met the golden eyes glowing ominously under the rotten pigskin all turned pale and quickly averted their gaze.

Karl, who had been quietly listening to their conversation, suddenly interjected.

“……You want to impose a tax every time someone with a factory operates it? Isn’t that excessive taxation?”

When the king suddenly interrupted, the lips that had been eagerly discussing fell silent.

They were in the middle of discussing how to increase tax revenue from the bourgeoisie.

It was a topic that Karl, as both king and representative of the bourgeoisie, couldn’t help but intervene in.

“There will be a lot of backlash.”

“The taxes they paid are for the land where the factory was built, the labor costs of Levania that go into it, and the permission tax for allowing the operation of that factory.”

So they collected taxes on factory land, taxes on factory labor, taxes on factory permits, and now you want to collect taxes on factory operations as well?

“……I see. But something’s strange. As far as I know, the records of those collected taxes……. don’t seem to be in the royal palace.”

At Karl’s words, everyone bowed their heads with their mouths shut tight.

Only the Tartien family kept their heads stiffly raised and stared at him.

“Hmm. It’s really strange. If so much was collected, why is the royal operating budget so short? Hey, administrative officer. Is it correct that the taxes are gathered in the palace?”

“Th-that is……”

As Langster hesitated and stammered, Landers opened his mouth.

“You have quite a sharp insight for someone who always seems to be lying down.”

“……Landers.”

“But Your Majesty, don’t open your eyes too wide. This place is for us nobles, isn’t it?”

Landers draws the line with a slight smile.

Telling the puppet king not to interfere.

“It’s all those taxes that allow Your Majesty to lie on a comfortable bed, wear warm clothes, and pay for the medicine that goes into that pus-filled body.”

“……”

“And isn’t it the job of us court nobles to collect those taxes and ensure they are used appropriately?”

It was not words a subject should dare say to a king.

The atmosphere in the room instantly became heavy with Landers’ bold and sharp attack.

An uncomfortable, very cold silence descended.

Karl stared blankly at Landers.

Landers also looked back at Karl as if he had nothing to be afraid of.

Suddenly, Karl laughed sharply with a voice that sounded like he was scratching his throat.

“Yes, that’s right. It was all for me!”

Hahahahaha!

Karl’s bizarre laughter echoed through the conference room.

The nobles quickly lowered their gaze at the grotesque sight of their king laughing with a distorted face.