"This is an outrage!" she called out, finding it hard to believe the king would do something like this.
"Is this true, your Majesty?" she asked, "It seems to me that Senator Hinabi just wants someone to take the blame with him!" she said, knowing the king as a man of integrity who wouldn't lie in this situation.
Every other leader in the hall stayed silent as Subaru spoke. She was regarded by most as the "hyper-authentic" politician, always ready to speak out whenever she noticed something off going on within the governing body and was never afraid of calling out anyone with the slightest hint of dishonesty -- including the king.
She was also a skilled orator and debater, which is why the corrupt politicians never spoke back at her or interrupted her when she spoke, like she is doing now.
But knowing her, the king took a deep breath and, instead of making false accusations, simply took responsibility for what was revealed and said,
"It is not an accusation, because he's right." "He may have come up with the idea, but I'm the one who listened and approved of it without involving the rest of the Senate."
Senator Subaru's eyes widened in surprise, and she became speechless all of a sudden. She was not expecting such a response from him, and neither was the rest of the Senate—both his supporters and those who tolerated him.
The murmuring in the hall continued, so the king had to say something before things got out of hand.
He knew he had to take a firm position on this and could not get defensive over it. After all, he had good intentions, and though they might get misunderstood, it would not change the fact that he did the right thing.
So he told them,
"The reason I chose to keep it secret from everyone was that it was a sensitive matter, as some of you know. So I made the call to keep it secret, to maintain stability within the governing body throughout the process of preparation, and only reveal it when necessary.
"Why?" asked Senator Kohana. "Because you don't trust us?"
"Because I do," replied the king, "I trust that some members of this governing body would want to twist the resources of the project to quench their endless thirst for power." So I made the tough call to keep it confidential, by all means necessary.
This caused even more murmuring among the nobles and senators, as the king was openly implying that the senate was corrupt.
"Surely you don't accuse us of being corrupt, your Majesty?" asked Senator Kohana, wanting to get a clear opposing accusation from the king as it would give his rule a bad outlook to the rest of the Senate.
This was because Senator Kohana was known as a philanthropist and was beloved by the people of the kingdom, who were unaware of his corrupt nature. Members of the Senate were barely aware of his secret corrupt practices because he endeavored to keep his righteous persona active at all times.
So the open accusation of such a philanthropic figure would make him lose the trust of the masses as well as that of the Senate, including those that supported him.
But the king couldn't care less about the opinions of those beneath him and cared the most about his integrity.
"It is not an accusation, Senator Kohana; it is a fact." "Or do you identify yourself with such people?" he asked.
"No," replied Senator Kohana, without a valid rebuttal,
"No, I do not."
"Good! "Then I suppose you are not corrupt then," he said with a sarcastic smile.
Then the king looked at the rest of them as if waiting for another opposition,
"Does anybody else have something to say?" he asked, to no response.
Then he said,
"Regarding the fate of the Arutimetsu, they will be going back to obscurity after their open reveal to the public, and we shall instead focus on strengthening the Elite class of the Sukunaku to prevent us from deploying the Arutimetsu soon," he said to the murmuring of the senate.
Then Sir Masanori spoke up in concern,
"Pardon me, your Majesty." But you seem not to like having the Arutimetsu around. If you recall, they saved our city from destruction and might be useful soon, as I believe this won't be the last attempt from the Zion Empire to destroy the kingdom.
Then the king replied, knowing the Senate wouldn't let this go without an explanation,
"I will openly reveal them to the public once to make sure they get the credit they deserve for saving the kingdom from destruction. But when all is said and done, the fact is that the Arutimetsu is an overpowered squad of Elite operatives capable of destroying the kingdom in the snap of a finger.
... Power can be seductive, and even I am not immune to its influence. That is why I suggest we keep this at bay until further notice and instead utilize the power of the Sukunaku as we always have.
From the reaction he got, it was clear that at least most of the Senate was in support of this, and it pleased him that he would not have to convince a lot of them about it.
So the King said,
"Very well then, let us get to the next matter at hand."
He took the scroll again to look at the agenda set before him and said,
"Now we have to address the issues surrounding the memorial celebration." "At first, I thought it would be best to just compensate the people and cancel all the festivities to instead focus on rebuilding and restoring everything damaged and lost during the invasion," he said, and then continued,
"But I believe we could use the celebrations to earn the people's trust and loyalty amid the troubles of the invasion."
"And how do you suggest we pull that off, your Majesty?" asked Senator Subaru in curiosity.
The king replied,
"I suggest we publicly tell the story of how the Kristos Basilica was not destroyed throughout the time of the invasion. People in this kingdom generally don't take things like this as coincidental, so the news of how the statue of Kristos protected his church from a falling meteor would serve as a testimony that God is still on our side and is pleased that we survived.
Senator Hinabi nodded his head in agreement as he thought about it.
"Wow, I have never thought about it that way before. "It is truly astonishing!"
"I agree," said Senator Subaru with a smile on her face. "It fills me with joy even as I speak."
The king nodded.
"I'm glad you feel that way, Senator, and I'm sure the people would feel the same way as well."
"I have no doubts," she replied joyfully.
"Is there anyone in opposition to this?" asked the king, and nobody replied, but all gave looks of approval instead.
"Then it is settled," he said before looking back at the meeting's agenda,
"And that sums up all the matters at hand presently... and in the absence of further contributions,..." Thank you all for attending this meeting. Enjoy the festivities...
......
[Author's Note: This concludes the first volume of this project. I would love to use this chance to thank everyone who has supported me thus far. I love you all, and God bless you.
I can't believe that I have completed a whole volume of literature for the first time! It feels like a dream come true. So if you have come this far, I'd love it if you left a review, voted, and commented on how this novel has spoken to you so far.
I hope you lend me your support so this work gets more exposure by commenting, reviewing, and voting, as I need it to keep going.
I have a lot of exciting things planned for the next volume, so until then, I love you all and take care...