Chapter 30: The Dawn of Law

“What happened here?”

Chloe’s throat had not fully recovered, leaving her voice raspy, as if she were battling a severe cold. Her vocal cords still stung with every word she uttered.

In front of the castle, dozens of soldiers lay scattered across the ground. Their blood, still fresh, had yet to dry completely, staining the surrounding flora a vivid crimson.

Soldiers were already clearing the battlefield, and upon seeing Chloe and her companions approach, they promptly saluted.

Chloe then spotted Lucia standing at the castle gates.

Lucia’s white dress was already stained crimson. A delicate streak of blood marred her face, yet she stood with her hands clasped before her skirt, a serene smile gracing her lips.

“Welcome back, everyone.”

“Lucia, what happened?”

Xina rode directly towards Lucia, carefully navigating around the bodies strewn across the ground.

“Sir Rurik led soldiers into the castle and harbored ill intentions towards me,” Lucia explained, her smile unwavering. “Fortunately, Lord Alexei had left some soldiers behind, allowing me to defeat them.”

Chloe’s gaze swept over the soldiers. Their faces were etched with lingering fear, hardly the expressions of men who had just won a victory. Some even deliberately kept their distance from Lucia, suggesting she had truly unleashed her power.

Alice sighed, her prediction once again proving accurate. “And Rurik?” she inquired.

“Oh, him…” Lucia’s smile deepened. “He and his knights have already been confined to the dungeon.”

“He’ll have company soon enough.” Alice unceremoniously tossed Mosin from her horse, where he had been bound. He landed on the ground, coiling into a ball and writhing like a worm.

Xina helped Chloe dismount. Lucia’s gaze fell upon Chloe’s injured throat, and her smile instantly vanished.

“Mo… Lady Chloe! What happened to you?”

“It’s nothing, just a minor injury.”

Xina gently stroked Chloe’s silver hair. “Baron Mosin Bruen’s archers shot her in the throat,” she told Lucia. “It was only thanks to Alexei’s healing magic that she was brought back from the brink of death.”

‘Such magic didn’t truly exist, but if they hadn’t claimed it, Xina and the others would have questioned Chloe’s humanity.’ Lucia, deep in thought, nodded slowly.

“Alexei? Oh, you mean Elder Alice?”

Xina immediately realized she had let something slip. How could a mere territorial bishop possess such magic? She waved her hands dismissively.

Chloe, however, had no doubt that Lucia already knew Alice’s true identity. Alice approached from behind, dragging Mosin along, before unceremoniously dropping him before Lucia.

“Imprison him as well.”

“Mercy!” Mosin shrieked loudly.

“To dare harm Lady Chloe… I will ensure you are ‘attended to’ most thoroughly.”

Lucia watched Mosin with a sweet smile. His eyes rolled back into his head, and he promptly fainted once more.

“There is one more matter, my ladies,” Lucia inquired. “How do you wish to dispose of Mosin and Rurik?”

‘Dispose of them?’ Chloe recalled her past in the game. She had always been remarkably lenient with rebellious vassals, usually content with merely stripping them of their titles.

At her harshest, she had only ever taken the traitor’s wife and daughters into her harem, never truly eradicating the traitor himself.

‘For Mosin and Rurik, perhaps taking their wives and daughters as well… No, this isn’t a game!’

“Hang them all,” Alice suggested coldly. Even the usually kind Xina nodded repeatedly in agreement.

Chloe broke into a cold sweat, turning her gaze to Lucia, who wore an expression of clear disgust.

“Just hang the two of them,” Lucia stated. “Spare the soldiers; they were merely following orders, after all.”

“Why?” Xina exclaimed in surprise. “One of them nearly shot you dead!”

“Lady Xina is correct,” Lucia replied. “If it were up to me, I would send every last one of them to the gallows. Every single one of their hands is stained.”

“No, Lucia,” Chloe began, “if I ordered you to harm the old, the weak, or the infirm, would you comply?”

“Of course,” Lucia responded respectfully. “Your word is an absolute command.”

“Then it is the same for the soldiers,” Chloe stated firmly. “Naturally, I don’t intend to let them go unpunished. They will serve three years of penal labor—rebuilding Pearbrook Village.”

“Little Chloe is truly benevolent,” Xina remarked. “Other lords inflict a thousand tortures even upon erring servants, yet you show such clemency to these enemies.”

Chloe, being a modern woman, found the simplistic and brutal legal perspectives of this ancient era unacceptable.

‘Hmm, wait, laws?’

“Alice, are there any existing laws in the world right now?”

Alice pondered for a moment before replying, “No… The Empire once had a complete legal system, but it has since been replaced by a complicated tangle of local and customary laws.”

“What if we implemented a set of laws in Avros?” Chloe proposed. “And judged Mosin and Rurik fairly according to those laws?”

Alice raised an eyebrow slightly, while Lucia tilted her head in confusion. “Forgive me, Lady Chloe,” she asked, “but I don’t understand. What’s the point of doing that? Their fate will still be death, regardless.”

“If I were to execute them directly,” Chloe asserted, “I would be no different from any other lord. What should determine their life or death is not a person, nor a god, but the law itself.”

Once they were lawfully punished, it would serve as a stark warning to other vassals. Moreover, the law could extend to other aspects of civilian life, thereby alleviating the current administrative chaos to the greatest extent possible.

“To speak of law in these dark ages, you must be mad,” Alice sighed. “But if you are truly determined to do this, I can offer what help I can.”

She nodded. “Imperial law is all stored within my mind. We can use it as a foundation to compile our own legal code. Give me two days, and I can draft a simple one.”

“Alice, I could kiss you!”

Chloe embraced Alice tightly. A blush spread across Alice’s face, yet because Chloe was injured, she felt too awkward to push her away.

“Don’t hug me, it’s disgusting.”

“Chloe is so cunning! I want to hug Alice too!” Xina declared, also embracing Alice. Alice’s petite frame was thus forced to bear the weight of two people.

“Pardon the interruption, my ladies, I have returned.”

Chloe and Xina simultaneously released her. Alice, gasping for air, hurried into the castle, eager to put distance between herself and the two women.

Xiao Nuoqi approached, accompanied by Miko and Jack. Chloe had sent him to find the siblings’ parents, but judging by their expressions, it seemed he hadn’t succeeded… or perhaps the outcome was even worse? Yet, their faces didn’t suggest that either.

“Any discoveries?” Chloe asked, her voice still hoarse.

“According to the guards, they were rescued by Baron Olga Bryan and should now be within the Eledis Empire’s borders.”

“Baron Olga truly sees things through to the end,” Chloe said with a sigh of resignation. “I’m sorry we couldn’t rescue your parents.”

“It’s alright, as long as they’re alive,” Miko replied. “If anything, we should be apologizing to you.”

Miko bowed deeply, her loose-fitting clothes unable to withstand such a sweeping motion. From Chloe’s perspective, it was rather revealing.

‘Is exposing one’s chest a requirement for apologizing?’