Chương 46: Chapter 1.46: Rules for Rulers

Unlike the first time Favius had been called into his father's office, Marcus wasn't scratching away at documents. Leaned back in his chair, he studied the boy over his steepled fingers. Favius noticed the cleaned-up desk held nothing but cups and a carafe and smiled.

"Father, you called for me?" he said, bowing his head. Marcus nodded and gestured toward the chair in front of him. Next, he poured both of them a cup of wine.

"Indeed, there is much to talk about, son. But first of all..." He raised his cup, and Favius followed the man's example.

"I must toast your success in cultivation. Two insights in quick succession at your age. If I hadn't witnessed it myself, I would believe it to be impossible." Favius tasted the wine and let the fruity astringency wash over his tongue, then nodded.

"What can I say? I have an excellent teacher." The corner of Marcus's mouth twitched upward.

"Excellent teacher indeed. But do not sell yourself short, son. Humility is a virtue of the common folk. Serran showed me how much more honey your hives produce." He put the cup of wine down and twirled a finger around a lock of his hair.

"And the soap. I must say, I'm quite fond of how it makes my hair feel." Favius grinned broadly. This. This is the first time he's not distant or assessing. Well, success and profits. Profit washes away any sins. Just like back home. Taking another sip of wine, he gestured at the senator's hair.

"Just be careful not to use the soap too often. It will make the hair brittle instead of silky." Marcus's smile widened.

"How auspicious that you should counsel moderation. Maybe this lesson will be more fruitful than I anticipated." Favius raised an eyebrow at the man, who leaned back and straightened his robes.

"You were prepared for the party by our family's dependents. Yet no good patriarch would allow every part of his heir's education to fall into the hands of others. Especially when it comes to politics." Favius nodded slowly and mirrored the man's relaxed posture.

"So tell me, Favius, how do you believe men ought to be governed?" Favius narrowed his eyes. He's friendly, but... He shuddered at the memory of the man whispering threats into his ear after he had run away in Cindrath. I can't forget that he is as powerful as he is cunning. So this is obviously a test. But a test of what? He pressed his tongue against the inside of his teeth. Does he just want to make sure that I don't simply enthusiastically embrace authoritarianism because Severin served the dictator? Or...

Favius swallowed. I haven't been educated on politics. I don't really know how the Republic works. His eyes widened. Have I been left deliberately in the dark so I don't figure out the correct answers? Well, I read the scrolls, but... The moment stretched out, and one thought chased another. But I also can't just tell him that holding elections will solve everything, after all. He recalled a political science lecture series he had enjoyed during his master's.

The conflation of democracy and elections was a very modern idea on Earth. He felt a tightness in his chest as he remembered the professor's words. Yet the professor himself was nothing but a faceless absence. I can't even recall their gender. And he remembered one thing. They had been quite vocal about how ancient political philosophers would have torn apart modern Western governance with ease. So I need to focus on the basics.

He let out a long breath and replied, "They should be governed so that the greatest possible happiness is achieved for the greatest number of people in the state." Silence settled over the room as Marcus picked up his cup and slowly swirled the wine. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Favius shifted slightly in his seat.

"A rather political answer, Favius. You talk about pursuing what is good for people, yet your definitions remain vague. Tell me, which virtue specifically should be the guiding principle to govern a polity of free men?" Favius repeated the words in his mind. God damn it. He wants something concrete. I need to give him something useful but not controversial. And him talking about a polity of free men... what about the slaves? The familiar tension settled in his stomach, but Favius clenched his fists.

This isn't the time. I'm a prepubescent political hostage. Loudly espousing abolitionism at a party for slaveholding senators is just suicide with extra steps. But still, Favius met his father's eyes.

"Freedom." Marcus raised a single eyebrow, his face revealing nothing.

"An interesting choice. Pray tell, why would freedom serve as a central principle?" Favius replied without hesitation.

"Because people want to strive and pursue their dreams. If they are unable to do so, they will not create. They will not work with diligence and dedication, because what would they gain from it?" He gestured at the wine.

"If your work will not get you what you desire, there is no incentive except doing just enough to avoid punishment." But Marcus narrowed his eyes and shook his head.

"There may be merit to what you say. Yet I would have thought, with you obtaining your second insight, the answer would have been obvious. After all, have not the gods revealed to you how vital the cardinal virtues are through your cultivation?" It was Favius's turn to narrow his eyes. The gods revealing things to me through cultivation? I just trained and meditated a lot, and the insight came to me through practice. How would the importance of the cardinal virtues have been revealed to me?

"Father..." Marcus clicked his tongue and raised a single finger.

"Did Brutus not guide you in shaping the nature of your insights with wisdom? Did not the grueling training he put you and your sisters through require courage and the temperance of the desire for pleasure? Was your search for power not driven by a want to bring your justice into the world?" Favius studied the room's ceiling before nodding.

"That... that is an interesting way to put things," he ventured.

"It's not merely that. It is by far the most common interpretation among scholars, philosophers, and priests. So now the answer to my question ought to be obvious. After all, which virtue is central among the cardinal four? Which one allowed you to proportion your effort into the ideal split between the other three that led you to obtaining a fragment of heaven?"

"Moderation," Favius murmured. He continued more slowly.

"But given that we are talking about governance, moderation doesn't quite fit. So... a balance of power, maybe?" he asked. Marcus snapped his fingers.

"Precisely, though it is commonly called stability. After all, every free farmer knows that without stable soil, no crop will grow. Without a stable foundation, his home will crumble and crush him." The senator refilled his cup and studied Favius.

"So, my son, how would you go about establishing stability within the state?" Favius's mouth twitched as he considered the issue. Stability above everything. Well, I would love to see your face, Marcus, if I described the apparatus of Soviet state security to you, but I don't think that's the stability he's talking about. Favius reached out for a stylus on his father's desk and placed it on an outstretched finger, adjusting its balance carefully.

"Maintaining stability is just like balancing the stylus," he said. For a moment, the object remained in balance.

"For the whole to remain stable..." He shifted his hand, and the stylus began tipping over. He caught it and readjusted the balance.

"All relevant forces must be represented, and through the careful establishment of rules and procedures..." He let go of the stylus again, and this time it tilted slightly before settling in near-perfect stability.

"... balance must be negotiated so that no party is dissatisfied to the degree that they would try to upturn the order of things." Marcus hummed and reached out for the stylus, accepting it from Favius. The senator idly balanced it on his own finger while Favius tried to glean anything from his expression. It was an exercise in futility. Finally, the man smiled broadly.

"That was an excellent explanation of how the Senate works, son. I do believe I shall take the liberty of using your demonstration with the stylus myself in the future." Marcus held the stylus up in one hand and raised the cup of wine with the other.

"The Senate of each city within the Republic is split between idealists..." He tipped the stylus onto the desk.

"... who sharply follow political principles..." He took a sip from the wine cup and pursed his lips, as if considering the taste.

"... and independents, who represent the influence and means of groups within the city." Favius nodded along.

"So both your Constitutionalists and Severin's Iron Phoenix faction were idealists, I assume?"

"Precisely. Both our factions represent the common poles of tradition and reform respectively. Beyond those two poles, there are senators aligned with the mercantile interests of Lirene, who are close to us Constitutionalists..." The man's lips curled in displeasure.

"... and conversely, there is the idealist faction associated with Rhexion and its extractive industries, who favored the dictator's position." Favius reflected on his father's words. Well, given that Cindrath is supreme among the three founding cities, it makes sense that the other two cities would maintain influence in Cindrath's Senate, but...

"So you're telling me that there will be five factions present at the party?" Marcus shook his head with a chuckle.

"No, no. Such a thing would not be a party, but a riot. The purpose of bringing you there is to reassure allies, and those we Constitutionalists would like to have as allies."

"You will meet the two others who lead the Constitutionalists beside me." Marcus paused for a brief moment, looking down at Favius's taloned hands before meeting his eyes.

"After all, denying the consul who has sat longest on our triumvirate and represents the Academy of Magi is not wise. After all..." Marcus smiled sourly.

"... there is a reason that she managed to claim the office of consul four times through the trials of lottery, selection, and election." Favius tilted his head, frowning at Marcus's expression.

"Why would one of the leaders of the Republic be so insistent about seeing me?" Marcus's face became a mask of suffering amusement.

"Well, son, is there a grandmother who doesn't enjoy occasionally doting on her grandchildren?"