"Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are."
— The Prince, Niccolo Machiavelli {1}
Ram Raghav
The hall was filled with clamor of applause as thousands of cameras flickering like coordinated fireworks.
The splendor of the event only magnified the irony of it all.
I stood at the podium with a golden memorial in my hands carved with the words:
The Greatest President of All time of India.
It was the title bestowed upon my shoulders by the people. They were similar people who never sawed strings I pulled to guide them like pawns.
I give a humble smile.
With the perfect combination of humility and genuine pride while I curled my lips.
They thought of me as their hero, as the architect of their prosperity.
『How naïve.』
The podium's microphone sputtered while I leaned forward.
「In this great nation—」
I began the speech as my voice filled with sincerity.
「We rise and fall together. And together will forge a future brighter than any star—」
I spoke of various topics covering rights, new policies, schemes that'll help the poor, advancement of technology and the artistic sectors like anime, manga and light novels industries.
I want to bring the Anime Industry in india!
After that it was a Q & A section for me to answer with the reporters.
It was the time to talk a little and listen more.
『I don't want to expose my thoughts…』
One reporter in front of the podium started to ask questions for me which I use leverage for propaganda. Like an artist I'd smoothly answer them without losing any calmness.
「Mr. Raghav, what do you attributed to success to?」
I feigned a chuckle as I shook my head.
「My success?」
I started.
「I'm not claiming that it's mine. I owe everything to the people of this nation who support me from the beginning of through the election up to now. Their faith, resilience and so on —it's been my guiding light in my political career. I wanted to fulfill their hopes towards me.」
A lie.
Of course.
My true success came from a different route: foresight, manipulation and strategic crushing my enemies.
But they didn't need to know that.
「Sir, there have been certain criticisms about peculiar policies during your tenure. How to you respond to that?」
「Criticism is the cornerstone of democracy—」
I said with my warm and accepting tone.
「It keeps them accountable and governments honest and accountable to the citizens. I've always welcomed constructive feedback as for its for dialogue or in action that we grow stronger.」
To be honest,
All critique had been neutralized. Some may be discredited publicly, others were financially ruined, and a few… vanished.
But
This isn't time to explain about these matters.
「What's your greatest regret during your presidency?」
I sighed regrettably.
Letting my expression soften with the weight of leadership visible on the slumps of my shoulders.
「I regretted that I'd less time to spend with my precious family and lives that are forgotten in the pursuit of progression. Yet I believe that history would judge those decisions necessary for the greater goods.」
Sacrifices.
That word has always worked on them.
It evoked a shared sense of burden with absolving me of accounting while making them feel complicit in the cost.
They asked me more questions regarding my past, family, new ventures and future plans.
I easily answered them without letting a clue out.
The event continued on but my mind drifted towards other things.
The applause, adoration, envy, hatred, lust and endless charade —it was a theatre I built from brick to brick over the decades with my bare hands.
Beneath the facade.
Behind every smile.
I was always calculating ahead of others.
They saw me was an actor who actually the role of a fool to utmost perfection but none them knew the depth of my mind…
Each word I spoke was potential red hearings planted to fruition in their hearts to obtain loyalty, obedience and most of all — trust.
『And they thought I was their loyal dog. How bizarre.』
I stepped away from the podium while I was bowing my head slightly.
Applause swelled as the act of humility worked. They believed what they wanted to believe—that I was one of them.
As the ceremony concluded… I allowed myself a moment of solitude backstage.
I traced the edges of the memorial with my hands with the weight of it a reminder of how far I'd come .
In this world, true success comes to those who are willing to gamble they've in order to reach that position – reaching to power is easiest but the maintenance of power is the most crucial aspect for attainment of long term success.
Many forget this aspect of power.
Since it's a fickle thing.
You must be extra conscious of both aspects of power.
If you want to rise to power, you must be careful of these two aspects of power.
My mind wandered a bit.
Back to the days when I was just a boy…
Even though I was from a well off family…
I came from Hell…
It was filled with pain.
Not because of the hardship I'd endured.
This hardship was crucible for me in which I learned the art of deception.
From childhood onwards I learned how to manipulate people.
To me they are just pawns in the game I'd win in the end.
From that Hell I gained everything I need for the future.
Then period of highschool came which I endear the most.
I honed my skills from day to night, practicing hard not forget it.
Every friendship was a transaction.
Every person was a stepping stone to me.
I played the role of obedient student as the morst promising young leader while secretly pulling strings that shaped my future.
I remember the first time I realized the power of appearances. It wasn't enough to be intelligent; I had to appear noble.
A fool could become a king if he played the role convincingly enough.
And I was no fool.
As my mind snapped back to the present moment I made a whisper under my breath.
『I'm the ultimate mastermind and I'll play the game to the end.』
The echoes of applause lingered back to my mind as I walked out of the building.
『I was the perfect villain hidden in plain sight.』
They worshiped me while unaware of the monster lurking beneath the persona…
The game was far from over
Author's Note:
{1} Excerpt from famous political philosophical from the Renaissance author Niccolo Machiavelli. As the chapters increase there will be more quotes from the books I referred in the past and current.
{2} "Fun Fact": This is a short story actually I'd written way back in 2021. I never taught it would be a series. I edited the original work to light novel style format.