CHAPTER 750: CHAPTER 750: THE RESPONSIBILITY OF ROYALTY

They then slowly grew their numbers and tried to convince more people to join them.

As more nobles rallied to their cause over the years, the group’s influence grew stronger. Their ultimate goal was to place Sebastian on the throne, believing his rule would enable them to enact the reforms they envisioned for Crux.

However, the Ruela Household remained formidable, maintaining significant power despite the increasing number of the revolutionaries.

Queen Trista had managed to gather to her side the most powerful households in Crux. Thus, even with Alba Household on the revolutionary’s side along with other nobles, they still could not defeat the Ruela Household.

They had gone as far as trying to assassinate Queen Trista to lessen the Ruela Household’s influence but all their attempts had failed as she remained vigilant and adept at foiling their plots.

After all, Queen Trista was wary since she was one to plot and had continuously tried several attempts to assassinate the twins. Thus, she was prepared for such things.

In one of their attempts to dethrone Queen Trista and make a coup to seize the throne while the King was in Medeus with the twins, the revolutionary group lost the lives of a lot of their members.

The repeated failures led many in the revolutionary group to despair, echoing the sentiments of others who believed their cause to be hopeless.

Recognizing the seeming futility of their efforts, Jacob and Emily, now leaders from the commoners’ side, urged Sebastian and Seraphina to abandon their troubled homeland for a chance at a better future in a foreign kingdom.

The Alba Household and sympathetic nobles supported this suggestion, fearing further loss of lives and determined not to lose Sebastian and Seraphina as well or more of their people.

Sebastian and Seraphina confronted the stark reality that slavery was deeply ingrained in Crux’s culture, making meaningful change seem insurmountable.

Perhaps, it was indeed too soon for Crux as their father had said.

After all, even among the commoners, resignation to servitude was widespread, with many aspiring only to serve wealthy masters in the hope of a marginally better life.

A lot of commoners had resigned themselves to the role they were given in the society and did not question it. They already considered themselves very lucky if they were only hit several times by their master. And extremely lucky when they never got hit by their masters.

They endured mistreatment as a normal part of their existence, considering themselves fortunate if spared from severe punishment.

They lacked the desire for change because they perceived their circumstances as normal. To them, the hardships they endured were simply part of how the world operated.

The idea of living a life where choices were theirs to make seemed like an unattainable fantasy. Consequently, they resigned themselves to their fate and made no effort to pursue a different reality.

Seraphina and Sebastian thought that making the people aware a different and better reality existed would make them desire for it.

Many were indeed moved when they learned of the truth and joined the revolutionary group.

However, a significant number did not want to take any more risks and wanted to maintain the status quo because they already worked so hard to attain the meager comforts they had and were unwilling to risk losing it.

Meanwhile, there were those who got furious and bitter and did not wish for change to happen because they had already suffered so much and they did not want other people to have better experiences than they did.

It was another cruel reality that Sebastian and Seraphina had to face.

Disappointed and blaming themselves for the lives that were lost, the twins agreed to leave Crux. They asked their father to at least allow them to marry to a foreign kingdom of their choosing that did not have slavery.

Their father agreed and promised to allow them to take as many people as they want with them as their "slaves" when they leave. Those were the people whom they wanted to save from Crux like Emily and Jacob.

However, just when they were set on giving up, the issue with Crux having illegally acquired Prudencian slaves was exposed.

Having been to Medeus and knowing how even the most powerful kingdoms in Eliora feared the might of Valeria, Sebastian and Seraphina’s resolve to leave was shattered.

Despite their father’s encouragement to expedite their marriage plans and depart from Crux, Seraphina and Sebastian were torn.

They knew it was the nobles’ fault for procuring Prudencian slaves but they couldn’t bear to abandon their people in the face of this critical situation, even though they blamed the nobles for the illegal slavery trade.

Since they knew what slavery was like in their kingdom, they felt a deep empathy for the innocent people caught up in these injustices and all the common people in Crux that would become collateral damage due to this conflict.

Therefore, Seraphina, Sebastian, and the revolutionary group kept a close watch on the issue and intensified their efforts to gather information about the Prudencians in Crux.

"The information we have gathered so far is what we have to trade with Your Majesty," Princess Seraphina concluded, signaling their readiness to negotiate with Arabella for assistance in their cause and likewise inform her of what she needed to know.

Arabella, Alwin, and Rendell were astounded by the depth and detail of Seraphina’s story.

{Did she fabricate this tale? Is it a ploy to sway us?} Alwin questioned, his skepticism evident as Arabella sensed his thoughts.

{No, she’s telling the truth.} Arabella responded firmly, convinced of Seraphina’s sincerity.

{I see. Then that’s good. The information they have gathered might be related to the location of the Prudencians we were not able to find.} Alwin’s relief was palpable, delighted that Seraphina had not come with ill intentions towards Arabella or Valeria.

Arabella shared the sentiment, acknowledging the potential significance of Seraphina’s gathered intelligence in locating the missing Prudencians.

The possibility of this information aiding their efforts to bring home the Prudencians weighed heavily on her mind.