An advisor is extremely unhappy with their powerful monarch for letting two people who attacked them go. The advisor believes those people should be executed, made examples of to ward off future attacks and assassination attempts. The monarch disagrees.
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This dialogue prompt has been in my folders for a while now:
"They were not enemies. They were coerced and hired by my enemies."
"You are a Royal! Being soft does not befit you!"
"...Tell me, does elegance befit a Royal?"
"Of course!"
"And do I lack elegance?"
"Never! I only - "
"Then trust my judgement. Kindness is not inelegant."
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The Monarch would have liked to avoid this conversation. But their Advisor was practically frothing at the mouth.
"They were not enemies. They were coerced and hired by my enemies," they said softly, probably hoping that by remaining calm their Advisor would calm down too.
"You are a Royal, Your Majesty! Being soft does not befit you! The people and your enemies will see you as weak!" The Advisor was fit to be tied! How could their Monarch be so lenient? "Even killing them on the spot with Your Majesty's own power would have been better than letting them go!"
They had already heard whispers in the palace questioning whether the Monarch was so weak and naive. And while the Advisor might have loved to throw those ungrateful gossipers in the dungeon for a few days, knowing their Monarch would not approve of it meant that all they could do was verbally flay those ingrates.
Their Monarch sighed, as though the Advisor was the one being unreasonable. (The nerve!)
"And how will that benefit me?" The Monarch asked quietly.
"It would send a message! It would warn off would-be assassins. It would show you as strong in front of your people, to your enemies."
"...I see. And, doing this, it would ensure no future assassins would try again?"
"Well - At least for a time, yes!
"How much time?"
"That...I can't say for sure...but - "
"And if I do this," the Monarch interrupted, tone still quiet and level, "if I had executed them, with my own power perhaps, killing them for all to see...Or perhaps if I had had them imprisoned, to be publicly executed at a later date. Or maybe even sentenced to be maimed, two or more of their limbs cut off before throwing them out to probably die a slow death hours or days later...Or perhaps tying them up and feeding them to hungry hounds for all to watch...Or maybe just flogging them till they are completely scarred or gone insane with the pain."
The Advisor knew they were growing paler as their Monarch spoke. The first two options had had the Advisor nodding, but the Monarch had gone on, speaking of more and more possible punishments...And while all of them were within the powers of the Monarch of the land, well within the laws...they...
The Monarch was just watching the Advisor now, waiting for a response. And all right, the Advisor understood what they were getting at, but still.
"...It doesn't have to be...like that," they acquiesced. "If you had killed them in retaliation...or had sentenced them to execution, it would have been done in a...merciful way."
"...You're saying I should have killed them to be merciful."
The Advisor winced, but tried to rally. "It's just...It would have cemented your power, Your Majesty. Would have showcased you were not to be trifled with, not to be crossed."
"So you're saying it would be a show of strength?" they asked, blandly.
"Well...yes."
"And this show of strength, it would ensure I would never have to prove such a thing again? For as long as I rule?"
"I mean...nothing is forever!"
"...So, I should take their lives - a permanent decision for the ones I choose to kill - for the temporary benefit of showcasing my strength? For the unreliable possibility that it might keep future assassins quiet?"
The Advisor floundered. They knew what their Monarch was getting at but...how else were they going to quiet the gossip-mongers? How else would they maintain respect? How else would their Monarch seem as intimidating as a Royal of their country should?
Their Monarch sighed when the Advisor didn't speak. And a tenseness, an edge, that the Advisor hadn't noticed at all till now, left their Monarch's stance and features.
Oh...How could they have thought their Monarch was perfectly calm all this time?
The Advisor averted their gaze, running out of solid-sounding arguments. For now. "Still...Your Majesty, why must you care for those who would seek to harm you?"
Another sigh. The Advisor did not like these sighs at all.
"Advisor...I have already told you: They were coerced and hired."
"Even so! I assure you they would not have regretted anything if they had succeeded. You are the Monarch of their land, yet they care only for themselves!"
Yet another sigh, and the Advisor's hands curled into fists.
"That is hardly fair," countered the Monarch gently, "People will want to safeguard their own lives and those of their own. It is natural. Patriotism and loyalty to the Crown is all well and good, in theory. But it is not realistic. And it is not the first instinct..."
Well. The Advisor knew that they would definitely put the Monarch first.
But...the Monarch also understood where the Advisor was coming from, even if they did not agree with them.
"...Tell me, does elegance befit a Royal?"
The Advisor blinked, turning back to the Monarch. "Of course!" he replied, wondering at the tangent. "It is one of the cornerstones of being a Royal!"
"And honor?"
"Undoubtedly!"
"And do I lack a Royal's elegance?"
The Advisor reeled back, aghast. "Never! I only..."
"Then trust my judgment. Being kind is not inelegant. Having empathy is not dishonorable." The Monarch smiled. "And being soft is not a weakness."
