Solam's words shocked Xianna. She even felt as if her entire worldview was on the verge of collapsing. She had been born into the nobility and had always naturally believed that nobles were the foundation of the world. Without nobles, who would govern the nation? Without nobles, who would protect the people? Without nobles, where would the legal basis for rule come from?
This had once been unimaginable to Xianna. Even Amn, which called itself a democratic nation, had nobles everywhere, let alone Faerûn as a whole, where the feudal lord system remained the mainstream.
This was not Xianna's fault. It was a limitation imposed upon her by the times. Besides, she had originally been raised as an ordinary person.
"Then... someone still has to manage your territories!" Xianna could not help asking. Then, as if she knew what Solam was about to say, she hurriedly cut in first. "Don't tell me about the Council of Sages and Emmanuel's council! How many people do they manage now? What about later? Doesn't your territory need to develop? Can they handle it? I've never governed any territory, but I know managing a territory cannot be handled by so few people. And your territory is so vast—once it develops, you'll need a great many officials! What are you going to use to fill that gap?"
Nobles were the foundation of rule. While that view was somewhat one-sided, under the feudal lord system, it was not wrong. Without nobles, who would manage the people? Who would collect taxes? Who would organize armies?
Xianna was afraid that Solam would stubbornly stick to his guns and ruin everything instead.
Yet Solam still did not seem to care. He drained the black tea before him, wiped his mouth, and said casually, "I can arrange examinations!"
Xianna was