This world did not even have books resembling The Prince or Legalist thought.
People possessed an especially simple-minded mentality. Their standard for a monarch was basically the same as for an ordinary person: goodness.
Not only kings—even the Saintess was the same.
The Saintess from several decades ago truly had been kind, but her kindness had allowed the Empire's library archives to be looted clean.
Take the king of the Demi-human Kingdom, Lilim's father. He too was kind—but how was he kind?
When facing the Rebel Army, he saw them as pitiable people and accepted their surrender, yet failed to solve the actual problems, leading the Rebel Army to rise again.
He wanted reform, but cared too much about his reputation and could not bring himself to be ruthless enough.
Lilim herself was the same. It would be false to say her heart was not kind, but she truly was foolish—foolishly kind.
Was it wrong for someone to be kind-hearted?
No, it was not.
But one absolutely could not let good intentions make a mess of things. Sometimes, a monarch had to do bad things to make things better.
A famous science-fiction novel illustrated this very point.
In that novel, the originally qualified leaders were not particularly kind-hearted. They were ruthless enough that, when facing aliens, they could ensure humanity's survival—and even give it a chance to win!
And what happened?
The people elected an unqualified leader. Her so-called kindness harmed everyone!
So which side were the war criminals?
Did those people understand?
They did not. They believed the people truly fighting for humanity were war criminals!
That novel began in a modern setting before moving into a future setting.
Lynn would never be like that Soft-hearted Ruthless Person, agreeing to a kind-hearted girl's foolish request just because she was