#50
“We spent a long time considering whether the state should or should not take responsibility for an individual’s misfortune. In conclusion, we believe that in a monarchy, the royal family must take responsibility for both the happiness and misfortune of the people. The king is often called the parent of the subjects. Just as parents care for and nurture their children’s lives, so must the king. Our opinion is that as the royal family holds power, they should look after each subject’s life.”
Up to this point, it was exactly as we had first discussed. The teacher seemed to have expected this, wearing a slightly bored expression. An ordinary person would have cut their words short or watched the teacher’s reaction under such pressure, but Iria didn’t.
After all, this wasn’t what we really wanted to say.
“However, no matter how much we think about it, as senior Rikin said, it’s unreasonable for the royal family to take responsibility for everything. Also, if the royal family manages everything, there’s the disadvantage that state power can invade the private sphere of individuals. Moreover, it’s realistically difficult for the royal family to take responsibility for each individual.”
Among ourselves, we had even said it was impossible, but the moment we expressed it that way, we would be immediately arrested. We could be accused of daring to doubt royal authority. You have no idea how much Rikin and I had to persuade Iria and Persis to change that one word. The two seemed unwilling to concede until the end, but fortunately, they modified the word as we wanted.
“So we made some assumptions. What means could fill the gaps left by the royal family? Since nobles also take orders from the royal family, we wondered if there were other means that could take responsibility for individuals’ misfortunes besides them.”
In a way, this might have sounded like straying far from the topic. But in fact, the answer was hidden in the very topic the teacher had assigned. The subject of the teacher’s assignment was ‘Should the state take responsibility for individual misfortune or not.’ The teacher had never once specifically referred to the ‘royal family.’ It was we who had been pondering whether the royal family should take responsibility for individual misfortune within a monarchical system.
Persis was the one who later pointed this out. He said that in politics, even the choice of a single word is important, and the teacher wouldn’t have given us the topic without thought. I had been half-skeptical of his words, but seeing the teacher’s expression now showing more interest than before, it seemed he was right.
“We needed a new way to take responsibility for individual misfortune. Then we discovered an unexpected example close by. The student council president of this school creates a student council to listen to students’ difficulties and works to help them. What we focused on was how this student council president is selected.”
This was something completely natural where I used to live, but thinking about it in terms of this country’s social structure, this school was quite revolutionary.
Not only does it provide equal education without distinguishing between nobles and commoners, but the teachers also aren’t swayed by the students’ status. Additionally, this school has a student council representing the students, with a student council president elected through voting once a year.
Imagine that—a form of selecting a leader through voting in a monarchical state.
“The student council president is selected through a voting process. In other words, individuals choose someone to protect them once a year. We thought that perhaps this school itself could be an opportunity for us to create a new method.”
Using the ‘student council’ as an example, Iria described the advantages and disadvantages of selecting a leader through voting. In a way, it was an absurd suggestion, but these points were presented by none other than Iria and Persis. Who wouldn’t be convinced? Most of the students were staring at Iria as if half-entranced. Even some children from noble families were nodding along with Iria’s words.
Because it was such a sensitive issue, Iria led the presentation from beginning to end in a suggestive format, proposing that this could be one approach. If she had simply proclaimed that her assertion was correct, the students in this class would have continued to oppose her.
“To broaden our perspective, I suggest we learn more about this system and experiment with it. That’s all.”
Iria concluded her presentation. Throughout her speech, Iria never once looked at the paper she had brought out. It seems she had memorized the content we had discussed many times.
After the presentation, we could have taken questions, but we had agreed beforehand not to offer to take questions until the teacher suggested it. Even if we somehow avoided it, the moment a question related to royal authority came up, we would be guilty of treason. It would be useless to deny it.
The teacher seemed to understand this and didn’t point out the various flaws in the presentation. Nodding, the teacher opened his mouth.
“Not perfect, but the experiment you just mentioned is worth trying. Creating a small society out of the school and running it as an experiment. Not bad. Did the four of you come up with this together?”
“Persis came up with the initial idea, and we developed it through discussion.”
Since the idea came from a member of the royal family, no one would dare criticize it now. Now, if only this conversation would flow to its end naturally. In truth, the teacher’s evaluation wasn’t very important. Through the presentation, Iria and Persis had grown closer, and the presentation had concluded without problems. While the process wasn’t entirely to my liking, the result wasn’t bad.
“Would the four of you like to present this topic at the upcoming seminar?”
If only the teacher hadn’t made this suggestion.
“It’s a seminar that nobles attend, and since this is such an interesting proposal, I think it would be good to showcase it to others.”
Does this teacher really want to be taken away by the royal family? Or is he using Persis as a shield to express his own views? It seems more like the latter. He’s a good teacher, but he teaches political science. There’s no way a person involved in politics wouldn’t exploit something.
Iria must have also understood this fact. She couldn’t immediately accept the teacher’s proposal and kept her mouth tightly shut. In fact, this wasn’t a bad opportunity for Iria. Originally, she was a royal from another country who was half a hostage, so unless she committed a major crime, there was no chance of her being expelled from this country.
The problem was Persis. It seemed extremely dangerous for a member of the royal family to make such a proposal. Moreover, he was one of the heirs to the throne. As he hadn’t yet renounced his claim to the throne, it wouldn’t be strange if his life was threatened at any time.
It couldn’t be helped. Going to the seminar would mean more time for Persis and Iria to be together, but I couldn’t put Persis in danger.
“Teacher, that proposal…”
“Yes, I understand.”
Just as I was about to open my mouth to refuse, Persis, who was sitting at the back of the classroom, spoke up.
“I wanted to investigate this in more detail as well. Let’s do that.”
I was surprised and turned to look at Persis. Without batting an eye, Persis accepted the teacher’s proposal.
For others, it might have been a trivial suggestion, but not for Persis. Every action he took was connected to political maneuvering. That was the position he was in. Rikin also seemed to want to dissuade Persis, but he couldn’t directly contradict Persis’s words in this setting.
Rikin and Persis were close friends but also in a lord-vassal relationship. He could advise Persis, but blocking his actions outright would be difficult even for him.
In the end, we agreed to proceed with the seminar. It didn’t seem to be a large seminar, but the mere fact that Persis would attend would undoubtedly become a topic of conversation.
After sending Iria back to her seat, the teacher added some of his own opinions to the content we had presented. As soon as the long class ended, I got up from my seat and quickly stood in front of Persis. Persis, who was preparing to leave the classroom, widened his eyes at my sudden approach. He didn’t seem to have expected me to approach him first.
“Can we talk for a moment?”
I had never blamed Persis when he came to our house without permission as a child, when he held onto me and ran around the palace without asking for my opinion, or when he suddenly told me not to be his playmate anymore.
I had only given him advice or explained that he shouldn’t do it next time, without getting angry or sternly telling him not to do it.
But now it was different. For the first time, I wanted to blame Persis.
“Don’t you have the next class?”
“There’s still time. Let’s talk.”
I firmly stated once more. I couldn’t watch Persis drag himself into dangerous situations like this.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
