"Your Majesty, you mustn't!"
"Our gap with Snezhnaya is—"
The moment Rowan spoke, Jean and the Knights of Favonius stood to oppose him.
They'd already harbored grievances about Rowan's sudden accession; now that he was "making trouble," they naturally questioned his decision.
If he hadn't been named by Barbatos himself, some of them might already be plotting to "cleanse the court."
"Captain Jean, you may step back."
"Let me ask you—faced with the Fatui's bullying and arrogance, what have you done?"
Rowan knew these words would draw resistance,
especially from Jean's dovish faction.
To protect Mondstadt, she had yielded again and again, refusing to start a war with Snezhnaya and the Fatui.
With most of Mondstadt's fighting strength absent, victory seemed impossible.
So she compromised. But all that compromise had earned was the Fatui's relentless advance, again and again.
Jean knew perfectly well that, if the Fatui kept pressing like this, a fierce clash was inevitable.
But she felt powerless. Mondstadt was too weak.
She could only give ground. If Rowan pushed things now, he'd just hand the Fatui a pretext for war.
So she had to stop him.
Yet when Rowan's rebuke fell, Jean fell silent.
The squad captains, stirred to anger moments ago, also fell silent.
"So. You all understand."
"And what did your endless forbearance buy you?"
"Only the Fatui growing ever more brazen—why, just recently they even proposed 'taking over your city defenses.'"
"Are you not ashamed?"
Standing before the throne, Rowan swept the hall with a cold gaze.
Whoever his eyes touched lowered their head in shame.
In the entire chamber, only little Klee—who understood none of it—could still meet his eyes.
Even Rosaria looked away.
Rowan's voice rose.
"Where is Mondstadt's will to resist? Your constant yielding only convinces the Fatui you're easy prey."
"They're already about to sit on Mondstadt's head and—well, you know. And you tell me we can't declare war?"
"Jean Gunnhildr—where is your clan's spirit of defiance, buried in your bones?"
"Is yielding all you know?"
"You make me ashamed. Have you forgotten how Barbatos and the Three Houses overthrew the tyrant Decarabian?"
At that, Jean's face flushed scarlet—not with shyness, but with shame.
Yes. Once, when they had nothing, they'd dared to rise against Decarabian.
And now, under the Fatui's repeated oppression, they lacked the courage to resist.
They had indeed grown soft. Centuries of peace had blunted Mondstadters' will.
Even as Acting Grand Master, Jean dared not start a war on her own.
She knew once blades were drawn, the streets would run red.
And Mondstadt would likely lose—so she had to stop it.
Jean stepped forward, knelt on one knee, and was about to speak—
Rowan raised a hand and stopped her.
"Jean, be silent."
"Barbatos made me the Knight-King, and I will free Mondstadt from Snezhnaya and the Fatui."
"Whether you agree or not, I will act."
"You may all withdraw."
At Rowan's decree, Jean and the others traded looks—then withdrew, helpless.
Mondstadt had to break before it could be remade. The Fatui had to be driven out.
Otherwise, who knew what they would do next?
Eula's own legend quest had made it clear: the Fatui's target was never just the Gnosis. They coveted Mondstadt's rich land as well.
Their collusion with Schubert, that Mondstadt traitor, was part of their plan.
They just didn't realize Schubert was a halfwit.
The Traveler infiltrated him without his knowing, and in the end he dragged Eula down—and the Lawrence name with her.
An idiot who ruins more than he accomplishes.
"Are you truly going this far?"
"Rowan, isn't this too reckless?"
Once the chamber was empty, Venti appeared by the throne, worry plain on his face.
Declaring war on the Fatui this fast—wasn't it too much?
"Heh—"
"Venti, you must understand: Mondstadt is at a critical moment. We must fight the Fatui."
"We must make Snezhnaya and the Fatui understand that Mondstadt is not to be bullied."
"Only then will they treat Mondstadt as an equal."
"Otherwise they'll go on as they did days ago—arrogant, never treating Mondstadters as people."
Over the past month, Rowan had seen the Fatui's swagger in Mondstadt with his own eyes.
They were a hair's breadth from treating Mondstadters like slaves.
If they weren't driven out, Mondstadt would become a Snezhnayan appendage sooner or later.
"You still don't have to move this fast."
"Can't you take it step by step?"
Venti understood his meaning—but this was too abrupt.
Did he have to start with something this big? Venti's poor heart couldn't take it.
"No. In troubled times, use heavy measures. Break, then build."
"If Jean comes to you, repeat me verbatim:"
"If my plan succeeds, Snezhnaya won't dare act as they do now."
"I give you my word—victory or a martyr's end."
Rowan spoke with solemn gravity. Venti stared at him for a long while, then nodded, resigned.
"Very well. But please, refine your plan. You can still go more slowly."
With that, Venti drifted away as a wisp of wind.
The next morning.
At first light,
the Knights of Favonius deployed in force, encircling the Goth Grand Hotel—commanded by Captains Kaeya and Eula.
After conferring the night before, they found no flaw in Rowan's words. If this continued,
it wasn't impossible that Mondstadt would be erased.
Even if, for Barbatos' sake, the Tsaritsa wouldn't go that far, Mondstadt would still have to lower its head to Fatui and Snezhnayans alike.
So when Jean told them Barbatos fully endorsed Rowan's move, they marched at dawn and surrounded the hotel.
Meanwhile,
the notice boards in front of the Anemo God's Plaza carried two proclamations:
that Mondstadt was entering a state of war with Snezhnaya,
and that governance of Mondstadt now rested with the Knight-King, Rowan Galehart.
If Barbatos approved Rowan's course, they would follow.
"Fatui inside, hear this: by decree of the Knight-King, as of this day, Mondstadt and Snezhnaya are at war."
"You have one hour to vacate the Goth Grand Hotel and leave Mondstadt City—or face summary execution!"
(End of Chapter)
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