1556 Pacifying Role
While she was a possibility, one prince who wasn't a possibility was Prince Rajak, the Underworld Prince.
Rui had an extremely bad opinion of them, worse than even Princess Raemina. The Underworld had already hurt his family. He couldn't imagine how bad it would be if this prince ascended the throne.
Yet this prince was the one he was least willing to antagonize. The Underworld was not constrained by things like maintaining reputation and credibility. They were far more unscrupulous and uncaring. Antagonizing this prince could genuinely put him and his family in danger.
Still, he didn't think he would be approached by this prince at all.
"Prince Raijun is also highly undesirable," Rui heaved a sigh.
He did not want to live in a nation where Martial Artists ruled over non-Martial Artists and had no limits or ramifications to the use of their power. He did not want to live in a world where ordinary people were essentially enslaved to Martial Artists in fear of their power.
However, the Martial Supremacist doctrine believed that Martial Artists should be the absolute rulers of society.
Such a world was not good for the Quarrier Orphanage.
The economic wealth of corporations, the authority of the government and the Royal Family kept the Martial Union in check and vice versa. However, if the Martial Artists gained absolute authority over the state, there would be nothing keeping them in check.
Ordinary people were bound to suffer, there was no doubt about that.
Although such a world highly benefited a Martial Senior like himself, he didn't even consider supporting the Martial Supremacist doctrine for even a millisecond. It was patently unacceptable.
That left one candidate, the one that appealed to Rui the most.
Prince Raul was easily far and away the most compelling prince out of everyone in the race as far as his political ideology went. His political ideology, as he described it, was 'people first.'
He believed that the needs and interests of the people in this nation that formed the very basis and bedrock of the nation were the most important parts of the nation. He also believed that fulfilling the needs and requirements of the people would enrich the working class, empowering the nation as a result.
However, there were shortcomings in him as well. According to the Martial Union report, his political acumen was the least out of all the princes and princesses. He wasn't incompetent by any means, but he had spent most of his life living as a commoner after his mother fell out of favor with the emperor, leaving the Royal palace.
It was only after he had formed the Kandrian Ruffians as an adolescent that he learned of his identity, and decided to leverage it to expand his little non-profit organization.
He also had accrued the least amount of monetary, political, and Martial capital. While he was not entirely lacking in this area, he was certainly behind.
However, he was extraordinarily popular amongst citizens across the entire nation. He had visited every inch and corner of the nation, using his princely identity to gather more people who were willing to join his non-profit. Everywhere he went, he earned a lot of supporters.
In the past eight years, the man had essentially become the sweetheart of the common person. He was said to be extremely charismatic and charming, with a fierce determination will, and drive that inspired others to voluntarily leave their lives and join him in his quest to change the country.
Just the sheer fact that citizens of the nation wholeheartedly supported him meant that he had the largest support base in the entire nation. This gave him power that was vastly different from that of the other princes or princesses. The sheer amount of support he had meant that him being crowned ruler would make the executive government's job a hundred times easier.
The nation would willingly support him in basically any and all endeavors smoothly, within reason of course. This allowed Prince Raul to execute things that were previously considered impossible or unfeasible.
None of the other princes or princesses could offer this. Out of all the candidates, what he offered appealed to the authorities' professional sense the most.
"Huff…"Rui heaved a sigh. "Tough…"
He was inclined to go for Prince Raul, but only if the man truly had a shot of winning the Kandrian Throne War.
'I'd need to meet him,' Rui first concluded. He was not going support someone without getting a good personal impression of them first.
It wasn't long before Julian came back home from the Ministry of Research and Development, Rui immediately secluded himself with the man.
"So?" Julian asked as he relaxed in his chair. "What is it you wanted to speak to me about?"
"It was regarding the Kandrian Throne War," Rui replied with a serious tone.
Julian heaved a tired sigh. "It doesn't appear that you brought this up for a mentally stimulating conversation. I don't have too much of an interest in this topic. Unlike you, I don't possess the power to affect it."
"If you didn't, then you would not have been approached by the Raemina Administration," Rui pointed out.
"I was approached because Her Highness is aggressively recruiting support across the government," He replied. "As the Minister of Finance, she is looking other ministries for support, and the Ministry of Research and Development just fell under that approach. It's not me in particular that she wants. While I am a valued high-level researcher, I don't possess any real political weight myself. It's just a little better if she can get a whole ministry cleanly than just the ministers."
"In that case, I want you to accept her offer," Rui replied, throwing a pointed look. "Because I don't intend to."
Julian raised an eyebrow, able to immediately understand what Rui conveying. "You want me to act as a protective guarantee for the orphanage from any reproach from her."
Rui nodded. "Out of all the princes and princesses, she and Prince Rajak are the most dangerous to reject. It's possible that just rejecting will mark us as her enemy. In her case, it would be better if you accept so that she will not do anything if I reject."
