Editing Tytania:Volume 3 Chapter 9 (section)

=== I ===
There was no way he could have known the name of a mere rat-thief like Alan Mahdi, yet there was a young man who posed that very same question to himself.

''“How did things come to this?”''

The young man’s name was Duke Idris Tytania. At twenty-five years of age, he served as the acting sovereign of Uraniborg. His equal competitors had either fallen or withdrawn in rapid succession, and his sole superior was currently hospitalised for medical treatment. He should have been a man of immense fortune, someone who had concentrated power upon himself without even having to exert the effort.

However, Idris was not as satisfied with the ''status quo'', as those who slandered him might have believed. He was a monarch walking on thin ice. Should the Clanner rise from his sickbed and issue a single command, Idris would be forced to bow his head and relinquish his seat as the executor of power. Furthermore, if the rebel alliance of Ariabert and Jouslain were to achieve a military victory, Idris risked losing not only his power but also his very life.

Idris summoned the Tytania executives within Uraniborg and compelled them all to swear oaths of loyalty. Moreover, he ordered the executives stationed throughout the cosmos to submit written pledges of allegiance with equal rigour.

“We pledge our absolute loyalty to His Clanner Highness of Tytania and to His Grace Duke Idris, his appointed proxy.”

They spoke such words with reverence. They recorded them in writing. Yet, they were undoubtedly capable of turning against their lords with a sneer the moment Tytania’s rule slackened and the physical force required to punish infidelity waned. After all, it was Tytania itself that had, until this day, mocked such ceremonial loyalties and asserted that might alone was the principle of dominion. It was the pride of Tytania to never rely on the loyalty of the subjugated but to maintain her hegemony through strength alone. A Tytania that depended on the power of others possessed not even a milligram of reason for being.

Idris, for his part, had no desire to become the “first Tytania to rely on the strength of others”. Furthermore, this was a conflict within Tytania itself. He could not help but remain acutely aware of the reactions of Ariabert and Jouslain.

Idris ordered the entire Tytania army to assemble at Uraniborg. Furthermore, utilising his position as the Minister of Military Affairs of the Vardana Empire, he summoned their national forces as well. Although he knew he would be unable to deploy them for any major purpose, having them gathered in numbers would at least be useful for rear-guard security and logistics. He had no luxury of leaving them idle.

''“I will not lose to someone like Ariabert. Was he not a man defeated by bandits twice? I shall crush him squarely and with dignity.”''

He possessed that much pride and spirit; however, the problem was that no one else shared his convictions. “I do not believe Lord Idris can defeat Lord Ariabert,” he could hear the whispers. At least, that was how it seemed to Idris.

One might even say that this was Idris’ true enemy. An excessive sense of competition against others sometimes caused him to underestimate his opponents, preventing him from grasping the situation objectively. Subjectivity and emotion preceded observation and analysis.

Idris’ memory was somewhat confused as to what exactly occurred immediately after the battleship ''Austra'', which Jouslain had boarded, departed from Uraniborg. While his impressions of each individual scene were vivid, their chronological order was incomplete. As Idris gazed through the transparent wall at the sight of Jouslain’s small fleet receding in a line of points of light, thinking to himself, ''“I wish he would just not come back,”'' a woman’s piercing scream stabbed at his ears.

“His Clanner Highness has been shot! Catch the criminal! It must be Jouslain!”

Idris acted on reflex. By the time he had turned around through the transparent wall, he was already holding the charged particle pistol from his waist in his right hand. Numerous figures clad in grey military uniforms swayed like a colourless wave, and shouts and screams ricocheted against his eardrums; at that moment, his senses alone could not discern what had occurred.

The screaming voice that had informed him of the situation belonged to Duchess Theresa Tytania. The Duchess, who continued to shout at a high volume, looked like a solitary opera singer. Lying on the floor beside her was Clanner Ajman. And there was the figure of a man, running away in an unnatural posture, while still pointing his gun at the Clanner. He, too, was clad in a grey military uniform…

The guards hesitated to fire. They feared that if they shot, they might inadvertently wound Tytania nobles. Watching their reaction, Idris let out a torrent of abuse:

“You useless wretches! Are you nothing but botched sculptures?!”

The fact that Idris was braver and more capable than the average man, yet lacked the respect of his soldiers, likely stemmed from such outbursts. He frequently lacked the most fundamental understanding of human interaction: that even those of low standing possessed emotions and self-respect. It was an old proverb that “nobles are ungrateful,” and it held true because he believed it was only natural for others to submit to and serve him, allowing him to remain indifferent even when he harmed or betrayed them.

Yet, at that moment, Idris acted more bravely than anyone else. He ran alone, pursuing the fleeing sniper. Several guards rushed forward from the front, striking down at the sniper with their rifle barrels. They had intended to make an arrest while keeping him alive, but instead, they were caught in the sniper’s frantic gunfire, and two men fell to the floor.

Idris caught up to him there and called for his surrender. The sniper’s muzzle began to aim directly at the centre of Idris’ chest. A fraction of a second before that could happen, Idris pulled the trigger, piercing the sniper’s face just below his right eye with a beam. The beam created a one-centimetre exit wound at the back of the sniper’s head, and blood formed a thin bridge through the air.

“Die, die, die!”

Repeated shots and rapid fire made the collapsed sniper’s body convulse. Each time a beam struck, muscles and tendons twitched reflexively, causing the sniper to lurch about. The fabric of the military uniform tore, skin burst, and scattering blood traced geometric patterns upon the floor.

“Your Grace, the terrorist is already dead. More importantly, His Clanner Highness’ wellbeing!…”

Idris finally regained his composure as a middle-aged officer with a black moustache caught him from behind. He cast the gun aside, ordered a doctor to be summoned, and rushed to the Clanner’s side.

Lying supine on the floor, Clanner Ajman was pressing a large, thick-palmed hand against his right abdomen, but he had not lost consciousness. His eyes remained bright and piercing, staring up at the far, high, domed ceiling.

“Your Clanner Highness, stay with us!”

“… Is that you, Lord Idris? What became of the culprit?”

“Do not worry. I shot him dead.”

“You killed him?”

“It was the justice he deserved.”

“I see. That is true enough. However, the dead cannot speak.”

Even the pain of his wound could not strip the irony from the Clanner’s tone. Stunned by the Clanner’s brief words, Idris looked towards where the man he had shot lay fallen. Doctors rushed to the scene, followed by a swarm of nurses and medics.

Leaving the Clanner in their care, Idris walked towards the sniper. The soldiers parted to clear a path. Looking down at the still-young sniper’s face, which was half-soaked in blood, Idris delivered a kick fuelled by rage and hatred. A dull thud brought a memory rushing back to Idris. It was the sound of the words Lady Theresa had screamed.

Glaring across the crowd of officers and soldiers, he roared:

“Do not let Lord Jouslain leave! He must question him regarding the circumstances. Bring him back!”

At that moment, Idris, of course, had not issued the order solely out of a pure judicial necessity for investigation. He was well aware of the political implications of summoning Jouslain to Uraniborg at such a critical juncture. However, in this situation, no matter who stood in Idris’ position, there would have been no other way to issue such an order.

''“I did not go out of my way to set a trap for Jouslain. If anything, he was the one who caused this trouble. If he had nothing to hide, he should have quietly complied with the summons and returned. The fact that he did not mean he is guilty.”''

Even now, he continued to think this way, though Idris was not entirely certain that Jouslain was the primary culprit behind the attempted assassination of the Clanner.

The fact that drugs were found within the body of the dissected sniper proved the existence of a conspiracy behind the scenes. Although it could no longer be confirmed, there was also an extremely high possibility that mind control had been employed.

Regarding the identity of the sniper, Captain Goldwin of the Military Police, acting under Idris’ orders, conducted a swift investigation. The sniper’s name was E. White, a first-class seaman. Since he was single and originally from the Vardana home-world, suspicions arose that he might have been an extremist loyalist to the Vardana Court. However, he had come from a very ordinary family background, and it appeared that the threads of any underlying plot did not, at the very least, lead towards the Vardana Court.

However, Idris committed that single clause to memory, viewing it as a weapon to pressure the Emperor of Vardana, Harsha&nbsp;VI. Idris’ attitude towards Harsha&nbsp;VI had always been consistently disrespectful and unfriendly, but on this occasion, it was even more severe. He forbade the Imperial family from leaving the court and tightened surveillance until the truth of the incident was uncovered and the court’s lack of involvement was proven.

“Damn that Idris, damn that Idris!”

Like a performer in a classical drama, Harsha&nbsp;VI cursed the young duke. For all his power, what else could he have done but curse?

However, amidst his cursing, Ariabert and Jouslain, far away on the planet Bargash, issued a declaration condemning Idris’ tyranny and calling for the unification of anti-Idris forces. Contained within it was a passage criticising Idris, stating that he “lacked etiquette towards the Vardana court and failed to know his place as a subject”. Harsha&nbsp;VI, who always relied on the efforts of others, felt immensely gratified by this.