Talk Show Chatter with the Bar Madam (1)
In a shadowy bar tucked deep in the alleys that spread like a spider’s web through a corner of the royal capital.
An old, squat television there blazed with garish brightness, showing a beautiful man and woman waving cheerfully.
Issak paid the glowing screen no mind, leaning on the counter with both elbows as he tapped intently at his smartphone.
The bar madam, exasperated, snatched the phone from Issak’s hands.
“Keep that up and you’ll end up a vegetable.”
“Was practically half-dead just a while ago. Doesn’t feel like much of a change.”
Issak mimed tapping at the phone screen with his right hand, indifferent.
With a sigh, the madam turned her gaze to the squat old TV.
“Your lovely wife looks perfectly fine, though.”
She leaned in, muttered, peering at Issak’s deliberately detached expression with a hint of wicked amusement.
Issak stared back at her agelessly beautiful face, framed in black, wavy hair, and wordlessly took his phone from her hand.
“Make sure you say ex-wife. She’s a goddess in the clouds now, way too far above a sleazebag like me.”
“Still wearing her ring, though, isn’t she?”
As the madam said, a dazzling diamond ring glinted on Mina’s left ring finger, nestled there as if it had always belonged.
Mina, once Issak’s wife and queen of the kingdom, now leaned blissfully into the embrace of the man poised to lead a nation rising in place of the old.
That man, Lovecraft, was the very one who had held Mina in his arms, right in front of Issak, in the royal bedchamber that night.
Lovecraft’s deeply tanned, muscular frame was wrapped in a dark navy suit, his white teeth flashing in a charismatic smile.
Standing beside Mina, they were the very image of the ideal couple the nation dreamed of.
The citizens, gathered to support the upcoming parliamentary elections, waved fervently.
“A handsome face really does wonders for public approval.”
“People just wanted someone fresh. You were the king, sure, but you barely ever showed up for stuff like this. What was your last public appearance again?”
“My family’s state funeral. Thanks to that, I got real good at organizing burials.”
“Was it disease?”
“Yeah. A brutal, infectious one. Took out everyone in the royal family but me, and most of the palace’s senior retainers. The remains were too dangerous to handle, so they’re still sealed inside the mansion.”
“You should’ve shown up for some upbeat events too. Why didn’t you?”
“The people only cared about seeing Mina. Me standing next to her just dragged things down.”
“You never did stand out. Did you hear that thing about how 95% of grade schoolers thought Mina was the monarch?”
“Heard it in the meeting, yeah. That dry laughter, and then the dead silence after even that ran out, it was something else.”
Lovecraft had stood quietly behind Mina in that very meeting.
Even he, with his ever-reliable smile, had forced a strained grin toward Issak after hearing that report.
Remembering it now, Issak let out a bitter chuckle.
It hadn’t even been six months, but it already felt like ages ago.
“How does it feel, having that man take everything from you?”
“He didn’t take anything from me.”
“That sounds like sour grapes.”
“No. Lovecraft earned Mina’s trust and love. The country just came as a bonus.”
“Didn’t he take Mina-sama from you? Didn’t you lose the throne too?”
“Mina was never mine to begin with. Same goes for the throne. If anything, I was the ornament. So no, nothing was taken from me.”
Three months had passed since Issak was stabbed repeatedly in the royal bedchamber.
After barely escaping with his life, he’d stumbled naked into this bar, where the madam had hidden him ever since.
The government declared the king missing.
With Issak the only surviving royal, there was no one to step in, and the monarchy effectively ceased to function.
A sudden, jarring void opened in the seat of political power.
The situation teetered on the brink, one misstep could have led to civil war or even national fracture. Yet the people weren’t especially concerned.
The first reason. The vanished king had never left much of a mark. Whether he was around or not, it made little difference. No one missed what they’d barely noticed.
The second reason was Mina.
Even under the monarchy, she had already become the de facto center of national leadership.
In domestic affairs, her blend of integrity and calculated strength rooted out corruption and brokered wise compromises amid tangled interests, rallying the people and fueling prosperity.
On the international stage, her beauty and refined speech had outmaneuvered greasy foreign dignitaries time and again.
But what truly set Mina apart was her martial prowess.
She was the strongest swordswoman on the continent.
When threats emerged, she personally led troops into battle, her peerless swordplay forcing enemies to choose between surrender and death. Her magic, so powerful it pierced the heavens, reduced vast armies to mere swarms of ants.
Peace and prosperity had always walked hand in hand with Mina’s name. In time, the people began calling her “Goddess,” “Sword of Dawn,” honoring her with reverence bordering on worship.
As long as Mina smiled, they truly believed, the country would be safe and its people would thrive.
After Issak disappeared, Mina stepped forward without hesitation, swiftly stabilizing the political turmoil and ordering a parliamentary election.
She decreed that whoever gained the most trust in Parliament would assume control of the government as Prime Minister, acting in place of the king.
Naturally, the people assumed Mina would be the one to lead this new nation. But she refused to run, citing her role as queen.
Instead, she nominated Lovecraft, who had served faithfully at her side.
Who was Lovecraft, anyway? The people were baffled.
He was just a civil servant, no lineage, no reputation. The thought of him leading the country unsettled many.
But his healthy, approachable presence and clear, friendly words began to put their worries to rest.
The contrast between his sincerity and the former king’s shadowy detachment also worked in his favor.
Ultimately, it was Mina who made the difference.
Seeing her devotedly standing by Lovecraft, encouraging him, smiling like someone finally happy, once the media broadcast that image, the public’s doubts vanished.
That kind of smile had never once appeared while the king was around.
And if Lovecraft could make Mina that happy, surely he could be trusted. So he earned the people’s overwhelming support and became the leading candidate for Prime Minister.
On TV, Lovecraft was shown seated beside Mina in the former king’s office, passionately speaking about the upcoming election.
Even before voting began, it already felt as if both the power of the nation and its goddess belonged to Lovecraft. Almost no one questioned it.
No matter how one tried to spin it, the fact remained. Issak had been stripped of everything by Lovecraft.