The Reiwight Kingdom was a land driven by three royal houses—the Asamud, the Seibool, and the Dargrin—alongside the Korin Religion. Because the Korin Religion held the power to appoint the kings of these three houses, the hierarchy was clear: the church stood above, and the royals knelt below. This was a reality that had remained unchanged for centuries.
Yet, I harbored a desire to challenge that status quo. While the three royal houses were the ones who actually ensured the stable operation of the state, the Korin Religion did little more than grant official recognition to the monarchs. Despite that, they insisted on meddling in every significant matter of state. Conversely, the royal families were barred from uttering a single word regarding the personnel or inner workings of the church; those were matters decided strictly behind closed doors.
The system was functional for the moment, but if a malicious individual ever rose to lead the Korin Religion, the three royal houses would be utterly destroyed. I could not allow such a precarious situation to persist. I wanted to somehow sever the ties between the Reiwight Kingdom and the Korin Religion. Such were the ambitions I held as the Prime Minister of the Dargrin Royal Family and close aide to King Rafus.
I did not view the church as an enemy, per se. I simply believed that, as a religious institution, they should maintain a healthy distance from the gears of government.
However, cutting that cord was no simple feat. Long history stood in the way. Furthermore, the Korin Religion was frustratingly light on flaws. They had no obvious weaknesses. No matter how much I investigated, I found nothing—or perhaps it was more accurate to say I was not permitted to find anything. Consequently, the true depths of the church remained a mystery to outsiders. Everyone knew of the existence of a paramount figure called the Sovereign, but the Korin Religion had been founded thousands of years ago. There was no way the man sitting in that seat today was the original founder. Was the name merely a title passed down?
The church also boasted numerous independent organizations: the Korin Religion Knight Division, the Mardiluk Holy Knight Division, the Marde Company, the Gala Mercenary Unit, the Mundo Principality, and the Paula Orchestra. These groups operated outside the kingdom's chain of command, answering only to the church. These were just the ones known to the public; I was certain there were many more hidden in the shadows.
The woman supervising all of these was High Priest Fouche—the notorious, unscrupulous "Castle Wall" of the Korin Religion. As its guardian, she was a woman of immense martial skill who commanded vast military forces. She was not someone I could hope to defeat through sheer force. My dream of separation was a project that would likely take centuries, requiring small, incremental steps from my successors long after I was gone. It was not an act of cowardice; it was pragmatism. Honestly, I would have settled for the royal families simply being granted a fraction more authority.
It was during these ruminations that the Korin Religion finally showed an opening. They sent a young man named Alfred Machio. Ostensibly, they wanted him to study abroad, so the church requested that the three kings permit his residency. It was a rare petition from the church, and the kings, eager to put the religion in their debt, readily agreed. I supported the decision as well.
However, the fact that Fouche herself acted as his direct guardian raised alarms. Was he a high-ranking official within the church? Or perhaps a relative of someone even more important? Regardless, I saw an opportunity to bring him into our orbit. I arranged for the daughters of influential nobles from the three royal houses to approach him. Surely, he would fall for at least one of them.
Fouche, however, warned me in no uncertain terms to cease such maneuvers. She did not use flowery diplomatic language; she was blunt. Even when I reminded her of my status as Prime Minister, she did not blink. She told me to pull the girls away immediately, or the country would be destroyed. I tried to stand my ground, but the look in her eyes suggested she was not joking. When I asked if a dragon would come for him if something happened, she simply said it would be something similar. It made no sense to me.
Then, Alfred got into a confrontation with the princes of the three royal families. I was not there to witness it, but apparently, the princes had laughed at something the boy said. Since it was an official gathering, Alfred had remained silent, but Fouche did not hesitate. She seized two of the princes in her right hand and the third in her left, literally choking them. While holding them like that, she told the kings that if they intended to protect their sons, they should prepare to abdicate.
I hoped Fouche's son or her subordinates would stop her, and for a moment, it looked like they would try. Then, the "Conscience of the Korin Religion," Chief Priest-warrior O'Brien, arrived. I thought he would oppose her, but he turned out to be on her side. He claimed that being a Village Head was a noble profession—which was fine—but then he tied up the princes and started preparing to behead them. The guards were too terrified of Fouche and O'Brien to intervene.
I looked to Alfred to stop them, but the church staff had already ushered him away. I looked to the kings, but they were already weeping and begging for a final moment to say goodbye to their sons before their "eternal parting." They were giving up too easily!
Finally, a high-ranking youth from the church arrived and stopped Fouche and O'Brien. He was slender with long hair, and though I did not know his name, I was eternally grateful to him. However, he insisted that the matter would not be settled until the princes apologized.
I conducted my own investigation before letting the princes bow their heads. It turned out they had laughed at Alfred's dream of becoming a "Village Head," calling it a "lowly ambition." I lined them up and tore into them. I asked if they were fools for picking a fight with a guest of the church. I asked who they thought they were to judge anyone's ambitions when they themselves had no experience. Did they think becoming a king was the only "high" ambition? I told them to go back to the basics and study again.
They looked at me with resentful eyes, but I told them they could do what they liked with me if they ever actually became kings—which seemed unlikely now. The current kings were not just going to lower their rank in the succession; they were likely going to disinherit them entirely. I told them that if they wanted any hope of salvation, they had to offer a sincere apology to Alfred.
The kings were still leaning toward disinheritance, though I managed to convince them to postpone the final decision. The princes were still children, after all. Mistakes made while they were young could be managed; mistakes made after they took the throne would be fatal.
In the end, this whole incident only served to make the prospect of separating church and state even more impossible. It was a massive headache.
Noble girls: "Lord Alfred is so wonderful!" Fouche: "I believe I told you to stop that." Prime Minister: "If he stands out that much, this is the natural result. It isn't my fault."