Liberi Reader

'...After that, I went down the list, meeting with each of the students in succession.'

'Unlike Sonya, they were sent to an office by the raion walls to meet with me. Most of them were deeply afraid, too afraid to say anything to me.'

I've had enough! Your Honor, how can an imperial hearing tolerate such absurd, vile slander against an innocent noble?

His Imperial Majesty personally granted him the title of magistrate for this work. If the truth really is as Natalya described, how could he have earned such distinction?

Anyone with ears can tell this 'confession' is actually a denunciation. We cannot be led astray by rumors.

As far as I know, the zone still has a—

No matter how much you admire Pavlovich's 'managerial skills', my lord, please do not dismiss the suffering in Natalya's testimony as rumor.

Just because we're talking inside a warm hall doesn't mean you can deny that there are people outside who are cold and hungry.

If we followed your logic, how could Ursus have enjoyed prosperity for the past several centuries while there is so much suffering on Terra?

Mind your tongue, Young Zoya. The hearing respects you as the daughter of a martyr, and it is because of this trust and our pursuit of justice that we have asked you here to testify, not to besmirch the nobility!

The committee knows I'm protecting a true noble. I won't let anyone casually slander her by dismissing it as a rumor.

Preposterous—

Order!

Young Zoya, your duty is to read the testimony on behalf of Baryshnya Rostova. Only the hearing committee can determine the truth.

...I apologize, Your Honor.

If the committee only cares about the 'confession', that's the next part.

May I continue?

Remember, if you again attempt to pass judgment on any noble's views, I will no longer allow you to speak.

Proceed.

...And that is what I witnessed in the quarantine zone, Councilor. All of it.

If we just stand by and watch Pavlovich continue to do as he pleases, especially if we let them keep using heavy weaponry, it won't be long before this turns into an irreversible catastrophe.

Baryshnya Rostova, based on what you have said, you seem to hope the legislature will publicize Pavlovich's crimes, strip him of authority, and perhaps even sack him.

My only wish is to stop him.

Please forgive my directness. I have no intention of casting aspersions on the State Council, nor can I exert any influence upon it, but I can imagine how much resistance such an act will face.

Perhaps we should agree to his demands and postpone the discarding of the quarantined plate, at which point he will release the students as promised.

Do you believe him a man of his word?

No. I have absolutely zero trust in him.

And I can see that the reason you are asking me such a question is because you cannot trust him either.

Haha, very clever, very clever. Perhaps you and my daughter would get along.

My subordinates also tell me you have not done as he asked since you left the quarantine zone. His request to pressure us parents into retaining Katorga, that is.

Instead, you looked through the list of parents, and after considering our stations, situations, and temperaments, you chose me.

You believe me to be the most politically influential figure you can contact at the moment, one able to grease the right wheels.

Your assessment is correct. I figured you would see through such under-baked schemes with a glance.

However, it is only because I cannot stop thinking about my friends. They are enduring great torment within Katorga even as we speak. The danger to their lives grows every second that passes.

I know you have your concerns about my unrealistic ideas.

Which is why I dare not expect Pavlovich to face immediate punishment. But at the very least, we should strive for better treatment of the students, as well as for the removal of heavy weaponry from the area.

...I regret to say that the sitting council is most likely unable to grant your requests.

Mr. Pavlovich mentioned to me that he has the support of many noble friends on the State Council.

I believe you've left out the word 'old'. Or perhaps the military nobility.

To be quite frank with you, the rifts between Ursine noble factions can hardly be called a secret, even to the Bolívarians. You do not need to tiptoe around the subject.

Due to the recent unrest, every resolution, every regulation, who has a sharp tongue in the legislature today, who is praised by the tsar tomorrow... Everything leads to divisions by rank.

If we look at only the State Council, it boasts four hundred or so councilors, most of them from illustrious families, with outstanding achievements of their own.

The hereditary nobles living in the capital, whose family names are recorded in the Almanac of Nobility, number nearly eight hundred.

As for the reputable burghers of influence, they are innumerable. Everyone brings their own complicated stances to the table.

If things were as easy as splitting a blini in two... I do not think Ursus would find herself in this present position.

You mean to tell me...

That even some new nobles back Pavlovich. And the reason why we cannot stop him is that he has many powerful supporters.

This is why I cannot step over everyone's heads to offer you any material assistance on this matter. Not even the Chairman himself could.

To be fortunate enough to speak with you is already the greatest of assistance.

My objective will not change. If I want to actually save Sonya and all the others in the quarantine zone, I must impede Pavlovich's efforts to the fullest extent of my power.

An astute assessment, but an assessment is not enough.

When you are young, it is easy to know what you should oppose, but hard to know how to go about doing it.

What will you do, Baryshnya Rostova?

If I can find out why different people are supporting him, and get in touch with a few hidden 'friends'...

You reminded me that everyone brings their own complicated stances to the table. If you look at it from another point of view, even the old nobility, even the ones who once called him friend, can shift their stances under the right conditions.

Treating these words as a 'reminder' is rather...

Once this is all over, we must get together again. Once Elotta is done with her things, maybe...

I beg your pardon?

Nothing.

I have here a piece of information that has spread amongst a portion of the nobility, despite Chairman Witte's attempts to silence it.

His Imperial Majesty has not returned to the palace since the Winter Ball, for some reason.

......

The Chairman has been quietly dispatching investigators, but none have found any trace of him. After a process of elimination, there is only one place left he could be.

A place that is rather difficult to investigate, at the moment.

Difficult to investigate? Surely you don't mean—

His Imperial Majesty might be in the quarantine zone... somewhere even the Chairman cannot search?

Considering the current state of things, we hope to handle this as quietly as possible, lest greater chaos develop.

As for the nobles who somehow managed to hear of this news, they appear to hope this state of affairs continues. This fits with what you have told me.

...Some silent stance shifting for an exchange of benefits, or perhaps a wish to relieve the greatest source of pressure from above once and for all.

Not to mention how those who should have been deploying special measures to protect the tsar were slow to react, for some reason, at just the right time.

Which means the precise timeframe of this information is unclear, even though it would not be hard to investigate.

The important thing is, before these special measures take effect, you can continue resolving the problems your friends face, your way. But if they do take effect...

All your friends can do at that point is pray.

...What exactly are these spe—

All you need to know is that, once they are in effect, His Imperial Majesty will return to the palace safely.

......

However, I do know one more thing that might bring you comfort. Chairman Witte has already suppressed the resolution to abandon the quarantine zone. This should not change for at least a week.

Everything you have said is crucial information for us. On behalf of myself and my friends, we thank you wholeheartedly.

...In other words, a councilor divulged to Baryshnya Rostova that some of the new nobility hope His Imperial Majesty will be tortured in the quarantine zone, perhaps even murdered?

Though this hearing has approved the omission of names so as to protect the dignity of the nobility, rest assured that we will perform a thorough investigation once it is over.

No! Who is it?! Who was it who said such a deranged accusation?! I demand the witness tell us the names of these beasts IMMEDIATELY!

Drag them out of their lairs! Let us see if their gold-greedy hearts are still made of Ursine flesh!

I'm sorry, but I'm not Natalya. I have no idea who the persons mentioned in this letter might be.

But based on the following pages, she then called upon many time-honored noble mansions, but their masters were similarly unenthusiastic... You could say that they were unmoved by money.

Th-This is ridiculous! I don't care who they are, just say their names, otherwise—

Why are you stopping me?

Should I continue? Because someone gave Natalya a list of military nobles, and it's attached to the back of this letter.

The letter says that these nobles insist the tsar's disappearance is simply a rumor without even bothering to check, and that some of them wanted to use Natalya to extort the parents of the captured children...

Especially on the afternoon of December 29th, when one gentleman who wished not to be named blackmailed her—

Wait. You cannot divulge any details about these nobles.

I will conceal their names as asked, and will not pass judgment on their actions.

You cannot mention specific times or places either. Do not feign ignorance of the actual substance of my request. Tell us about this matter, and this matter only, am I clear?!

I understand, Your Honor.

After that, Natalya did manage to win the support of some parents, but most importantly, she visited the home of an important noble one day.

He is a long-time supporter of Pavlovich, and has advocated for using severe punishment to deal with law-breaking students. As long as—

...If you agree with our views, we can reduce the intensity of the fighting in the quarantine zone to a minimum.

Daughter of the House of Rostov... Please leave. If you had not described the situation as critical, I would never have anything to do with a noble of Chernobog.

This matter pertains to the tsar's safety, Your Grace. Nobody can bear the guilt of letting Ursus face a national crisis.

'National crisis'? You might not know this, girl, but there has been no shortage of madmen shouting these words on the streets of Deity Grypherburg these past few years—I am not referring to you, of course.

As for that piece of shocking news you just told me, forgive me, but I must feign ignorance. My mind is incessantly waving a red flag at me, telling me this is simply another piece of theater by those new money upstarts, orchestrated and starring themselves.

Perhaps I have misunderstood, but it seems as if you are accusing us of using His Imperial Majesty's safety as a prop piece, uncaring of the consequences if the tsar truly is in danger.

No, I simply refuse to be coerced by you, even if you are dressed as grandly as your average Grypherburg noble.

There is nothing more important these days than giving those youths with poisoned minds a proper education.

If, say, at Tsarskoye Selo—at Tsarevgrad, that rabble was not punished severely, what will become of the empire's reputation?

Your concern for your peers is understandable, and I will not pry too deeply into what guilt led you to defend that mob. Treat today's meeting as having never happened.

...I understand, Your Grace.

But believe me when I say that there will come a day that you, too, will defend that 'mob'.

Come again?

The reason why I was able to find you was because I heard from a few nobles that you and your heir have been secretly inciting the students to unrest this whole time.

Some have already obtained evidence, evidence that proves Your Grace's cellar is a base for student activities. They even managed to film them rehearsing in your garden.

Hah. A meaningless attempt. No matter how much you bluff and bluster, girl, I will not be fooled.

I did warn you, if you try and coerce me—

No, it was nothing like that!

This is all a lie... Your Honor!

Duke Treplev?

I confess, the one Natalya Rostova found was me, and I agreed to reduce arms shipments to Pavlovich.

But my daughter is innocent! She was coerced by th-those lunatics in the student organizations!

She will testify today, to bravely prove her own innocence, and expose Natalya's lies. She is the next witness.

Natalya's letter here is a confession of the dishonesty shown to Your Grace and to others.

Ursus has never afforded us opportunity, and yet, not once has Natalya betrayed anyone. She has simply made the right choices, to protect the friends she should protect.

No matter who may step up and lie at the witness stand, she is worthy of Ursus, worthy of us.

You—

Order!

We shall adjourn for a ten-minute recess.

Have the next witness make ready, parliamentarian.

Countess Vorontsova... I don't understand. This is very much not your style.

You clearly have Natalya's true testimony. If you had presented it against Zoya's, the nobles here would not have embarrassed themselves like this, at the very least.

You never spoke up once she started narrating her experience in the quarantine zone. Many of our superiors are watching you, and they are angry.

What are you waiting for?

......

As you wish.

Good, good. This way, I will have time to explain things to your mother and father. There is still time enough for everything.

Oh, such beautiful penmanship, Natashenka. Let me see if you have overlooked anything—

......

Natashenka, you...

What is this you've written? Isn't this supposed to be a confession?

It is.

I confess to all those I once cheated and deceived, and to all the suffering students who were, in turn, exploited and abandoned by them.

They were once my fellow students, even though we did not attend the same school.

We are all Ursine. We were supposed to all share the same fate.

No, no!

Oh, my child! Who made you bear such suffering? Who branded you a cheat? This was not what I wanted you to do, certainly not!

O, bozhe moi, Marsha, what... what must I do to comfort your poor daughter? No more talk of such fearful words, Natashenka! This is not your fault!

But there is always someone who must pay the price, or bear the guilt, Countess.

I have written of these people's participation, describing it as you asked me to, as well as... what stories I know. But you said this is not what I should do.

Have I laid my heart bare incorrectly? Or should I forever keep my distance from responsibility, like a child who never grows up?

You shall always be a child to us! I merely wanted to help you, like I would help any friend's family... or my own daughter.

But who needs to write such a dour confession for these ridiculous, forgivable mistakes? I do not wish to see you torment yourself so, my... Natashenka...

I understand, Countess. I really do.

Your passion and sincerity burn so bright that it often pains me when we are together. But this is not your fault.

It's just that, after meeting with far too many of noble bearing who were once out of reach, after understanding how they think and how they feel about this country, I can't help but wonder—

Before the Hippogryph Kingdom had been toppled, when the ancestors of today's Ursine nobility were still common folk, when even Igor Velikiy was just another soldier in the army.

As the Hippogryphs cracked their whips, they fearlessly threw themselves forward to shield the enslaved. This made everyone believe what flowed in their veins was the blood of honor and courage.

But if there comes a day the inheritors of such brave blood choose to trample over the oppressed and humiliated, even pick up the whips of the Hippogryphs themselves...

Will there still be people who believe in them, who want to keep their company?

And will I actually take part, and become one of them?

This is... our inherent rights—

Don't, Natashenka...

No, Countess. Please allow me to refuse, just this once.

If you were to ask me which right I wish everyone would be born with, it would certainly be...

'The right to choose'.

......

And right now, it is just like you said... 'There is still time enough for everything'.

Time enough for me to make my choice, time enough for me to decide what to bear.

There is no need.

'Even the most well-crafted of lies cannot withstand the truth you have lived'. Natashenka... has made her choice, nothing more.

But she deceived you. At least make her pay the price—

I thank your lordship for your enthusiasm. It is just that...

I am somewhat tired.