The Descent of Empress Magistratus Mia with her Arbitrary Judgements… Finally
“Huh? Uhhh… Hmm. Hm hm hm. I, uh, see…”
Mia tried not to look like she didn’t know what was going on, but she was really scared.
Yeep! What is even happening?
The sudden change in the talk gave her whiplash. She was smart enough to realize that what Lorenz had said had completely changed the way things were going. This was no longer a hearing to find out if Lorenz and Citrina were guilty or not. There was no real wrongdoing. They hadn’t killed anyone directly. Instead, they had been keeping the Serpents away from important people. If there was anything they were due, it was praise, not punishment.
Still, this was a test. And there was still the question of blame. The question now is whether or not children should be held responsible for the crimes of their parents. Should he and Citrina, as members of his cursed clan, have to pay for what their ancestors did in the past?
She would be in a very awkward position. After all, The First Tearmoon Emperor was the one who put this cursed weight on the Yellowmoons; thereby forcing every generation after him to serve the evil Chaos Serpents. If the Yellowmoons were thieves, then the first ruler was the most crooked person ever. If Lorenz and Citrina were guilty because they were related to plotters, then Mia… Well, she came from the same family as the main criminal.
She was no longer just an observer who was happy to sit in the gallery with juice and snacks and watch. She was right in the middle of the courtroom! This was not the time to dream about being an Empress Magistratus and swinging a hammer.
I thought I was just supposed to watch. How did I get to be the one on trial? Hnnngh, what stupid ideas our ancestors had!
After she had a mental rant about the first emperor, she pushed herself to think, because her next step now required a lot of caution. Even if she wanted them to get a good flogging, she couldn’t give them a harsh term because whatever punishment she gave them would come back to her. A Serpent would probably step in if someone made that kind of careless choice. They would almost certainly start talking about how Mia should get the same punishment as the Yellowmoons.
So, they won’t be flogged. Not that she would have wanted to do it anyway. The better, and trickier, question was how far she should go in the other way. They couldn’t get away with nothing, but that wasn’t really a choice either. Her own view was that sins passed down through the generations should go choke on a mushroom.
She didn’t care what her ancestors did, and she wanted to tell Citrina and her father that. But the situation wouldn’t let her. Since she might have been involved in the situation, if she gave them a quick and easy pardon, it could be seen as a way to save her own skin. Again, making bad decisions, the Serpent would get involved, and so on.
Ugh, Serpents are so stupid! They’re making a big deal out of this.
The cruel smile she had just seen on Barbara’s face was proof enough.
She also felt Sion, Keithwood, and Monica’s intensely focused looks on her back. They were all eager to hear her decision. A half-baked decision would almost certainly lead to a lot of complaints.
There was no room for mistakes. She needed a great answer, one that everyone would at least be able to deal with, if not like. She needed it right away. The only problem was…
This one is very tough… Hnnngghhh…
Her mind wasn’t in the game. Still, she didn’t stop. To save Citrina and, more importantly, to make sure she doesn’t accidentally damage herself. She thought and thought, and just when she thought she was going to pass out from thinking so much, the spirit of Empress Magistratus Mia came down again. She spoke with the wise knowledge she had.
“You have made your case, Duke Lorenz Etoile Yellowmoon, and I’ve heard it.”
The spiritually charged Mia held up her “hammer of justice” in one hand…
“So, basically, what you’re saying is that neither you nor Rina have ever done the job yourselves. Hm, hm. I see. Very fascinating. If that’s the case…”
On the other hand, he put the chisel of justice against the problem with care. Then, she started to slowly chip away at it, hoping to find a middle ground that everyone could agree on. Stroke by nervous stroke, she felt its roughness like a sculptor who was forced to do surgery.
“Please, Your Highness,” asked Barbara, who was upset. “You’re not really going to believe the crap they’re saying, are you?”
Mia didn’t care what she said and kept the talk going with the utmost care. She thought that Lorenz didn’t have much reason to lie. Even if he was able to trick her for a while, it would only put off his downfall. It would also hurt how people thought of him, which could put him in an even worse situation in the future. Therefore…
“Just to be sure, Ludwig, I want you to ask Bisset about the people he sent abroad and try to get in touch with them.”
“It’s already been done, Your Majesty. The messengers are already on the way.”
“Are they? Good. Your foresight is amazing as always.”
Since proof was on the way, she chose to wait to decide if Lorenz’s claims were true for now.
“If Rina and Lorenz haven’t done anything wrong,” she stated, “then I don’t think either one of them is guilty.”
That part was easy. They weren’t guilty if they hadn’t done it. Then came the hard part.
“But I don’t think it’s easy to say that the House of Yellowmoon and, by extension, Lord Yellowmoon, are completely innocent.”
What the Yellowmoon House had done had really and tragically ruined families and lives. If something bad had happened, the Yellowmoons couldn’t be found completely innocent. Therefore…
“You are the Duke of Yellowmoon, Lorenz. As its leader, I think you should be responsible for what your House does. Because of this…”
She stopped. In the quiet that followed, she closed her eyes and thought about what to say with the air of a sculptor judging the quality of a work that was almost done. Then, she picked up her hammer and chisel of justice and started chipping away at it again, this time with all the ease and confidence of a nervous chipmunk, hoping to finally shape it into something that would make everyone happy.
“I believe,” she said in a respectful way, “that you should make every effort to do everything in your power to save and protect those who have been hurt by the Chaos Serpents to make up for what the House of Yellowmoon has done to them.”
Which sounded like a very noble and moral thing to say, but when you looked more closely, all she really wanted from Lorenz was a goal. Take note of the phrases “make every effort” and “do everything in your power,” which sound more like New Year’s resolutions than a courtroom decision. In other words, she gave him the “things didn’t work out, but I tried my best” excuse.
The good thing about this deal was that it was a two-way street—whatever she told Lorenz, she also did to herself. So, if someone tried to blame her for what the first ruler did, she could just throw up her hands and say, “I tried my best to make things better, honest! But this is the best I could do!”
“Also, be sure to finish your atonement while you are still alive. Under no circumstances should you let your daughter carry shoulder any guilt. I’ll say it again: under no circumstances should Rina be burdened.”
She said it twice because it was important, maybe the most important thing especially in future defense for herself. Even if the guilt of the first ruler could be passed down through the generations, it should stop with the current emperor. His poor daughter shouldn’t have to deal with that crap at all.
So, after a lot of careful work, the self-serving compromise verdict she made stood tall like a golden statue of Mia, shining with egotistical pride for all to see. Behold! The weight of justice is in the statue’s right hand! And a bunch of sweets to its left! Which was a sign of wisdom! Probably!
Then she made her best move, the finishing touch that gave its eyes their bright, light-beaming life.
“The first emperor—or rather, my ancestors—have put you through a lot of trouble over the long history of our empire. But the days of being bound by old deals are over.”
She then said very clearly, “The old cursed oath between my family and yours, Duke Yellowmoon, is officially over as of right now! I, Mia Luna Tearmoon, say it so!”
Her brave voice could be heard all over to the courtyard. As it went away, she let out the kind of sigh that people do when they feel like they’ve done a great job. Now, she wouldn’t be tied to anything crazy the Yellowmoons did in the future. They could kill as many people as they wanted, and she wouldn’t lose any sleep over it.
Phew… Now I can finally stop worrying…
As soon as she took a breath of relief, Lorenz looked at her with eyes filled with tears of gratefulness.
