Chapter 70

• The three major changes in just a year in Mondealté Kingdom were written in their history: one, the massacre of the royal family before, two, the change of regime, and three, the abdication of King Xaimarius and hence King Xarius’ taking over of the throne.
• As the new ruler, he had made a few changes, forceful in its nature, to be specific. First was that he sanctioned the court officials to pay ten percent more tax than they used to. Second, tax collectors were asked to pay three hundred percent once they were caught and proven exploiting and corrupting people’s income. In this case, there were already three that were caught red-handed during his tenure as king. Third, all officials were ordered to give stocks of food from their storage to the community where ordinary people experienced food shortages due to flood or drought. Fourth, he forced the court officials to enlist their militia in the Fronduro Army. Thus, he had not only experienced one or two assassination attempts but several, while the defenders in the north were preoccupied in battling against the barbarians.
• As soon as the king heard about what happened to the Commander-in-Chief and where his wife went, he immediately left the palace to go to Daramir’s estate. He was right outside the old general’s room when he heard what he said to Ril’m. He could hardly believe what he had just heard.