The Romantic Trials Of A Transmigrated Empress

Chapter 385: On this, he was determined.

Sigrid was not yet convinced and Roland could see that. "Do you like my father’s idea?"

"I am not against it." She answered, without looking up. "And I say this knowing that my family will stand against it. Nobles with armies are a threat to the crown. When they unite, they are just as powerful as we are." She popped a slice of berry in her mouth, grimacing at the extra sweetness. "We should consider centralizing power."

Roland let go of her hand and grabbed a hold of a spoon. "Sigrid, the idea is attractive and warrants great thought but empires are run on reality. The reality is that noble houses without private armies are houses without teeth. They become commoners with titles and lose their abilities to be pillars of defense for the empire."

Sigrid thought about the democratic world she had come from. Power was in the hands of the president and there was one army. Everyone else was a commoner, rich or connected.

She tilted her head, curious. "Do you want to know why I am in support of the idea more than why I am against it?"

Roland flipped his hand upwards for a second, "Color me intrigued."

"Before your father took the throne, there was a war and he was losing. In order to win, he went to your mother’s family and groveled at the feet of your grandfather for help." She dropped the fork and picked up a slice of pizza by hand. "Grovelled Roland. Maybe I should repeat it one more time. Grovelled.

He knelt and begged the De-Kensington’s to send their army to overwhelm his brothers and in return, he would marry your mother, make her queen and make the house of De-Kensington powerful.

But the act of being forced to kneel before another man and beg stayed with him. He hated your grandfather, your mother and inevitably you and your brothers that have De-Kensington blood."

could have done to him that was so bad that he denied us his affection and presence, the answer was that he knelt at the feet of our

"Yes," She confirmed.

disbelief. "So he blames us for what

"Yes." She confirmed again.

Galen laughed.

late. Places where lawlessness thrives. Sometimes, we even have small insurrections that go nowhere because they are stopped in time. This is because privately trained knights of noble families nearby stop them.

as most were

the point home. "Nobles earn their titles by making contributions to the empire. Many of these houses have been spines in war. When the royal treasury is empty, they fund the

grandfather’s reign, the royal army was centralized here in the capital and in boarder towns. The outer keeps? They were guarded by household knights, If not for them, we would

had not yet bothered to bite into it. With a frown, she asked, "Doesn’t it ever worry you that they will turn their swords

that every man that sits on the throne has. Sometimes, I wake up at night, go out and stand in a watchtower and look out at the city wondering which nobles are sitting together

way of leadership and it invites real disaster. Be honest, my father lost the loyalty of the Thorin house when he forced your grandfather to hand over his military power

Mauve gasped.

servant dropped

and forth between the couple. He could not tell if they were fighting or having a civilized

a fork on a plate, "Noble houses are deterrents. Without deterrents, outside forces grow bold. Rebellion isn’t born from strength--it breeds in weakness and