章節 823: Damned Duchess

Reima "I don't wish to offend you, but you are a greedy and selfish man."

Tankred can barely hold himself back from leaping and attack Reima, but manages to at the thought of being beheaded... Somehow he manages to hold is tongue aswell, not wishing to be unceremoniously thrown out. Any prestige he held above the common people would be reduced to nothing if such an undignified thing happened to him.

Reima continues, "You hold no authority over Kovir and Poviss anymore, having abandoned it and hide within my city. I even asked if you wanted to be transported over to Kovir after I cleansed it of Vampires... But you stayed here instead! Choosing personal comfort over your people! Not even thinking about whether your leadership and presence would assist in the rebuilding of Kovir and Poviss.

Honestly, it baffles me how you can be so thick faced, claiming to be King over land I saved, helped rebuild, and have dedicated resources to. All the while you sit in my city, stuffing your face with food, visiting brothels, and doing nothing all day! Don't deny it, I have ways of monitoring everything that happens in my territory.

So... To round it up, I see you as unworthy of ruling a Kingdom, unworthy of the people who'd serve under you, unworthy of taking control over the resources I dedicated to the territory, and unworthy of the power you so dearly crave. I'd have immediately dismissed your very request if I'd not admired your Neutrality, even with it being mainly due to self-preservation." he finishes, glancing to Asgore.

Asgore "Tankred Thyssen, the floor is your for the final time, the decision will be given after everyone has spoken." he states.

Tankred looks down at the table he was resting his arms, his hands balled into fists and trembling in rage. "I don't believe there is much else to say, I see there is no justice here, only a "God" spouting things he knows nothing about. Personally, I see your actions as more egregious than Nilfgaard... I'll let the peasants decide what they think, as I think the outcome had been decided before I even sat down." he says, waving his hand to signal he was done talking.

Reima shakes his head, "Someone who had the largest gathering of mages in his land still refused to utterly condemn the Eternal Fire... Coward." he mutters to himself, with only Asgore close enough to hear him.

Asgore "Who would like to have the floor next? Vernon Roche or Anna Henrietta?"

Anna Henrietta immediately puts herself forwards, Roche shrugging as he considered the matter at hand relatively tame compared to the others.

Asgore nods, "Anna Henrietta, you have the floor." he calls.

Henrietta nods and stands before bowing to everyone, "I am Anna Henrietta, Duchess of Toussaint-"

Asgore coughs into his hand, "Apologies, but you're no longer the Duchess of Toussaint. Our investigations have deemed that no-one aside from yourself survived the attack... The entire duchy has been destroyed and entirely controlled by Vampires, everything else retaken by Monsters." he says, causing the woman to tear up, but managing to regain her composure soon after.

Henrietta "T-that is so..." she mutters, looking at Reima with determination, "I am here today to request your assistance in reclaiming Toussaint." she immediately holds her hands up to show Reima her palms, "I know I am in no position to ask such a thing, but I have no doubt that when you take the territory back you will want someone with experience and knowledge of the land... I am not speaking from arrogance when I say I am that someone.

My actions against you in the past were thrust upon me by the Emperor Emhyr who wished to capture Sir Geralt and his daughter Lady Cirilla. He gave me two options, assist in the ambush against you, or, wait for his armies to burn our vineyards and slaughter our people. As a just and responsible ruler, I chose what was best for the citizens of Toussaint, even if it was ultimately unforgivable." she says with a guilty look, sitting down to indicate she'd finished talking.

Roche and Tankred glanced at her with pity, as leaders of countries themselves they knew where she was coming from, and would have likely done exactly as she had...

Reima taps his armrest while looking up in down in thought, he hadn't really cared before about her circumstances, the rage he felt towards her for even daring to put Geralt and Ciri in danger trumping all other thoughts... Now that he had her in-front of him and had heard her reasons, he felt like he could empathize, even if what she did is worthy of death.

He wondered if she truly felt guilty for what she'd done, and after a moment decided to delve into her mind to see for himself... He looks into her eyes and utilizing Legilimency, he enters her mindscape, noting that while it was incredibly organized, she didn't have any mental connections.

In-fact, it seemed that Henrietta was a very emotional person, her emotions next to most of her thoughts indicating that emotion played a big part to her decision... This made it all too easy to spot the blackish-green colours of guilty, heavily littered through the place.

He also noticed the red's of rage, at having her sister murdered by the very Vampire Geralt and Ciri had supposedly captured, it wasn't as prominent as the guilt. Overall, Reima believed that if he did indeed put her in a position of power, she'd likely remain loyal... This could be confirmed with supervision or possibly an artifact that alerts him to disloyalty or betrayal.

He continues tapping his armrest, not knowing whether showing mercy and giving her control of the territory again was the right decision or not. He needed to be a firm hand, and showing mercy to someone who'd wronged he and his loved ones so much would likely send a bad message.