Chapter 337 — Whose Neck the Noose Fits
Blade of Dawn · Page 2 of 3
Gaodai paused there and turned his head to Ropenny Glan. "The pride of the nobility still shackled his vision, so he never truly looked at the lowliest commoners. He never understood their thoughts, their outlook, their logic. He simply assumed they would comprehend this great cause just as he did. His intent in giving the people land and so many rights was to let them live well—but to the common folk below, this was merely another 'bestowal' by lofty nobles. If a lord can bestow, so can another; if a lord's favors can be taken, so can another's."
Ropenny murmured to herself, "...How could they think that way..."
"And why should they not? Was that not how things had gone for centuries past? Thunder and rain alike were the nobles' bounty; the lowly need not think, only bear it in silence—that is what a society ruled by nobles taught them for hundreds of years," Gaoyun gave a soft snort. "So I daresay that when they were incited to storm the castle, they felt not the slightest guilt. And afterward, when the reckoning came and you sent them to the gallows, they felt not the slightest sense of injustice either!"
The study fell quiet. For a long while, none of the three—Ropenny, Gaoyang, Amber—spoke.
It was several minutes before the viscountess broke the silence. "So you came here to talk about all this with me? To make me understand how a disaster that broke out years ago actually came about?"
Gao Ji smiled faintly and shook his head slightly. "I only came to see a friend I had never met."
He meant Patty, though Ropenny Glan would surely take it as Viscount Roman. It did not matter either way.
Gaoyang turned again and studied the Viscount Roman Glan smiling in the portrait with genuine care.
As he had thought before, this world did not revolve around him, a single transmigrator.
There would always be those who awakened, always those who did things that defied convention—like the wild mage who had delved into the nature of magic decades ago, and like Viscount Roman Glan, who had launched his reforms ten years past.
That upheaval had failed. From lack of experience, from a narrow field of vision, from fetters on thought, Roman Glan's new policies lasted only a few short years before collapsing. He himself was branded with every manner of infamy, turned into the textbook example of a man cursed by demons. Had the noble order not needed to preserve its own dignity, Viscount Roman's fate would have been far worse. And his brief upheaval became the solo performance of a romantic utopian reformer—understood by none, and not even worth recording.
But a pioneer had existed all the same. Before Gaoyang rose from his coffin, there had truly been such a pioneer.
That was why Gaoyang had come here, and why he had said so much to Ropenny Glan.
His original purpose had simply been to confirm the existence of Patty Glan, to confirm whether this land had also been tainted by the Sleepers. But after Amber investigated the events that had befallen the Glan viscountcy years ago, he had changed his plans a little on the spot.
He withdrew his gaze and gave Viscountess Ropenny a slight nod. "My lady, if you truly wish to hang the murderers who killed your husband, then you should put the noose away carefully, and wait for the right moment to fit it around the right neck."
Viscountess Ropenny looked quietly into Gaosong's eyes. "But I fear I have no such noose."
Gaoyang met her gaze for a moment, and the corners of his mouth lifted slightly. "That works out well. I do."
Then, without waiting for her reply, he went on. "May I go and see Patty?"
"Of course," Ropenny Glan nodded. "She has always admired you."
"Then I must not keep my little admirer waiting too long," Gaorong rose to his feet. "Take me to her."
Led by the viscountess, Gaoyang and Amber came to the door of little Patty's room.