Richard waved his hand, and the Emperor's personal letter disintegrated into ash.
"Do you think a naive person can be a good monarch?" Richard narrowed his eyes, his gaze falling upon the city that had been razed to the ground.
Franz shook his head firmly. "Definitely not."
"Why?" Richard wanted a reason.
"Well… back in the military academy, my classmates and instructors all liked that His Majesty was a ruthless man—ruthless with the civil servants and nobility, and ruthless with our enemies."
"If he were naive, that would just mean he wasn't ruthless enough."
"I don't know about anything else, but I do know that if the army itself thinks the Emperor is incompetent, that's a terrible and dangerous situation."
"Perhaps. But not necessarily. Some say that naive people can be the cruelest of all." Richard thought of the city that had just been destroyed. 'The Emperor must have known all about it. He might have even done it on purpose.'
