The Soul Reborn: From Silence to Sovereignty Chapter 53

Chapter 53: For the Sake of Tomorrow

The grand hall of the archduchy has never been used like this before. At the far end of the hall sat a long rectangular table with two opposing forces.

On one side sat the nobles, and on the other, a group of carefully chosen commoners. Blacksmiths, farmers, merchants, bakers, and nearly every trade we could think of were represented.

I stood at the center, wearing what was probably the biggest grin I’ve ever had, both judge and instigator of the scene unfolding before me.

After I had replied to Noah’s previous letter, I thought it would be interesting to get some of the highest-profile nobles and hardest-working commoners together. What’s the worst that could happen?

Livia stood at my side, perfectly straight, giving the impression that she was looming over me. I knew better. That was simply the way she carried herself. Kellan and Bors flanked me like sentinels, each one staring down the room with quiet intensity.

It was silent; all you could hear was the occasional cough and someone who breathed way too hard for their own good.

“I’ve brought you all here today because I’m tired of hearing whispers and complaints from both sides of the city without a single solution offered.”

Some nobles already looked like they regretted coming, but I don’t really care and just smiled at them.

“Today, you’ll face each other directly and speak freely. No matter your status, no one will be looked down on in my presence. Nobles, if you believe commoners are lazy and ungrateful, say it. Commoners, if you think nobles are out of touch and useless, say that too. But I expect the truth—not vague, roundabout speeches.”

A murmur rippled through the room. “Most importantly, I want to see some progress.”

Then it began.

A young noblewoman attempted to justify a recent tax hike, only for a merchant to scowl and accuse her of draining the market dry for festival decorations.

“You paid for fireworks while my neighbor couldn’t even feed her son,” the man spat.

That line landed like a slap.

Another noble spoke up. “How do you expect us to maintain the roads or fortify the city when you lowly people try to evade every other levy?”

The back and forth got heavy with shouting, accusations, and even some tears. In my opinion, the second you try to fight someone with tears, you’ve already lost. Not a very good negotiator.

Some nobles revealed just how clueless they truly were when it came to actually running a large land like Coldmere. Others were definitely just cruel.

I sat back, quietly amused as they yelled at each other, surprised the commoners didn’t back down despite facing such high-ranking individuals. Maybe my presence gave them courage. After all, they do call me a saintess.

What really mattered was seeing how these people acted when put on the spot. When in a heated debate, you’re more likely to let something slip than in a more controlled atmosphere.

Livia fed me some sweets as we watched this show as if it were some play, much better than the one I saw in the south.

They were talking about hunger, insecurity, misused funds, pride, and a lot of fear, even though they weren’t backing down. On their faces, especially the commoners… they were always thinking twice before saying something.

The nobles, on the other hand, would keep glancing my way to see if I would reprimand them for saying something condescending.

At one point, a gruff farmer stood and glared at a smug viscount across from him.

“You speak of honor, titles, and bloodlines,” he growled. “But does that make someone a true noble? Try digging graves during plague season when even the church refuses the dead. Try standing guard on a snowy wall while your children cry themselves to sleep from hunger, wondering if they’ll ever see their father again.”

After his words, the room fell into silence. Even the nobles didn’t have anything logical to combat his words.

After a solid forty or fifty minutes of back and forth where there was more yelling than finding any common ground, I decided to speak.

“Quiet!” Livia yelled for me after I tapped her arm. I stood from my chair as her voice cut through the room, getting the attention of all those in attendance.

Watching everyone in the room recoil at Livia’s voice, nobles included, was nothing short of glorious. They looked like schoolchildren who had just been scolded by their teacher.

I exhaled slowly, adjusting my posture, letting the stillness sink in before I spoke. Only the commoner side would hold my gaze as I scanned through all those present. The nobles would always slightly turn away.

“Alright… Let’s try something different.”

The whole room took a sudden deep breath.

I pointed to the first noble on the right side of the long table. He was a man in his forties, wearing a feathered hat far too colorful for his personality. His stiff mustache curled as if in constant disapproval of everything around him.

“You,” I said while pointing. “And you…” I turned to the commoner directly across from him, a woman in a simple linen dress, sun-tanned skin, and calloused hands, probably a field laborer. “Only the two of you have the floor.”

I gave a sharp nod. “Tell me why exactly you can’t coexist.”

There was a long pause…

The noble cleared his throat, eyes flicking around the room before finally landing on the woman across from him.

“I… well… It’s not that I hate commoners,” he said, visibly uncomfortable with the spotlight now on him with no one allowed to back him up. ”But… order must be maintained. The structure of society is built on hierarchy; people must know their place.”

I noticed almost every noble nodding their head in agreement.

“And,” he added quickly, “if we give them too much ground, we risk chaos or even an uprising.” Then he looked in my direction. “You don’t want something like that, right, Archduchess?”

I met his gaze with cold eyes but said nothing, leaving his question unanswered and giving the woman a chance to respond.

She started speaking with a lot of emotion in her voice.

“My husband died in a coal mine tunnel owned by your cousin. He was crushed because the support beams had become rotted and no one wanted to pay for replacements. Do you know what I got for my pain and suffering from losing my husband?”

He flinched.

“A few silver coins—wouldn’t you consider something like that an insult?” She spat to the side. “That’s all my husband was worth, but now what am I supposed to do with my five children?”

She held up her hand before the nobleman was about to speak. “They said it was his fault; he should’ve watched where he was digging.”

The room was riveted by this woman’s story, all listening carefully.

She leaned forward with her hands planted on the table, her voice flat. “I don’t want your title or land. I just want to walk through this city without wondering if my son will die working for you tomorrow. That’s why I can’t coexist with men like you.”

Before the noble could speak, I stopped him as I stood up slowly and clapped once.

“Now that,” I said with a grin, “was honesty.”

I turned my gaze across the room. “The question wasn’t who’s right. It was why you think it’s impossible to live side by side because the truth is… you can.”

My boots sent echoes across the room as I paced, thinking of my next words. “But… as long as nobles treat their titles like shields instead of responsibilities and commoners believe every noble is a heartless leech, we’re stuck in this toxic cycle.”

I rubbed my belly as a smile started to crack on my face, thinking of the day I will finally get to hold her, but this world needs real change first.

“This will not be the North that my daughter will grow up in.”

Gasps rippled across the room… Some are just now realizing the pregnancy rumors were true.

“If you want to fight for something, do it against corruption or injustice. Don’t waste your energy punching sideways when the true enemy is the rot that’s been eating away in Coldmere for far too long.”

I turned to my guards. “We’re done here; there’s nothing else I will learn from this gathering. But let it be known… this won’t be the last public forum. Speak now, or forever stay irrelevant.”

Then I strode from the room, chin held high, robes flowing behind me. I flopped unceremoniously onto the couch once we stepped into mine and Noah’s chambers.

I couldn’t help but let out a loud groan as I took in the soft texture of the cushions, letting the weight of the day melt away. “Ughhh… Livia, I swear… they’re all stupid; that’s the key problem.”

Livia sat across from me, legs crossed, perfectly composed. “You handled them well, regardless.”

I waved her off. “That might be true, but I was still annoyed with both sides. The real problem is that none of them have a proper education. They’ve been taught to bow, to posture, to speak in circles, but nothing of real value when it comes to the things that truly matter.”

“Most nobles receive formal tutors.” Livia commented.

“They’re taught things that serve no real purpose, just enough to keep them in place,” I snapped, rubbing my temple. “Where I came from, we had a twelve-year mandatory education system starting at the age of five. It covered reading, writing, math, science, biology, and even subjects like ethics."

Most nobles desperately need the latter. Imagine a class of nobles taking a class for ethics; it would be amusing. I’ve also heard in the past the scholars of this world think that gods are what control most things in nature. I don’t know if any of that is true, but I can’t help calling bullshit.

Livia had a curious expression at my words, obviously thinking hard about what I had just said. The flicker of intrigue sparked in her eyes.

“It wasn’t perfect,” I added, “but it worked. People could think, debate, and see the world for what it was. They understood systems instead of clinging to superstition. Here, it’s the blind leading the blind, or even worse, the stupid leading the stupid.” I couldn’t help but chuckle at my own wording.

Livia’s lips quivered slightly, but she made no attempt to interrupt one of my normal monologues.

I let out a slow breath and stared up at the ornate ceiling. “If we truly want to change anything, the first real step isn’t something physical like plumbing or trade routes. It begins with education, raising it to a level that actually provides results. It will be widespread, mandatory, and accessible to everyone.”

“Who would teach?” Livia asked.

“Maybe… I’ll just do it myself,” I said, half-joking, half-serious, “at least in the beginning. Write some actual textbooks from my memory that talk about real knowledge instead of the crap noble society pushes down your throat. Like how the body works, solve equations, and critical thinking skills that these people desperately need.”

I was an above-average student while I attended school, and I have a solid grasp of most subjects. Certainly more than anything I’ve seen from the people in this world.

 “Textbooks by the Archduchess,” Livia mused. “That would be… unexpected.”

“Exactly,” I grinned. “But maybe also unavoidable. I can’t keep giving speeches and hoping they’ll suddenly become smarter. We need some structure and truth. My next course of action should be starting a school.”

Livia raised an eyebrow. “Will anyone be able to attend?”

“Of course, being nobility doesn’t automatically make someone more capable of higher learning than anyone else. It’s time people understood that true superiority comes from knowledge, not from what you’re born into.”

Now, what would a school like this even be called? Would it be too egotistical to name it after myself? Does it really matter what people think if I’m the one who created it?

“What about…” I grinned, barely able to contain the spark of enthusiasm on my face, “The Seraphina School of Education?”

Livia blinked a few times in silence as I waited impatiently for her response.

Then her brows furrowed ever so slightly. “You’re going to name the school after yourself?”

“Of course,” I said, throwing an arm dramatically across the couch. “If I’m going to drag this world out of the Stone Age, I deserve at least some recognition. Imagine it, Livia… etched in stone over the entrance: Seraphina’s School for the Enlightened. Sounds regal, right?”

I saw it on her face; she was intrigued by the thought, but it was Livia, after all, and she liked to get me back for all the small ways I annoy her during the day. Her lips were clearly fighting a smile.

Sitting up a little straighter, I said, “We could build the first one just inside the fortress entrance, so commoners have easy access. They’ll be more willing to attend than the stuck-up nobles anyway, who will probably refuse to let their children go at all.”

I paused, letting it all sink in.

“This can be the first of many. Once we prove the school actually works, we can expand across Coldmere and create more, placing at least one in every city from the mountains to the coast. They’ll learn, grow, and become better people because of the Saintess Seraphina, hehe.”

Livia shook her head, but this time her smile wasn’t hidden. “You’re planning to take over the world through books?”

“Also stylish uniforms, don’t forget that!”

She leaned back in her chair, her tone teasing but sincere. “You just might really pull that off.”

“Oh… I will.” I pressed my palms together like a villain in a drama, “Today the North, but tomorrow… global intellectual domination.”

We both laughed. It was something I desperately needed with what was currently going on in Coldmere and Noah out fighting some war against monsters.

But even in my jest, I knew this idea had real possibilities.

The number of books I’ve found in this world is surprisingly limited. It’s honestly amazing how little those scholars seem to be doing with their time; I don’t mean that in a good way. What are they actually doing to advance research or technology?

I will create a world where nobles aren’t the only ones with access to education, bringing them onto a more level playing field with everyone else. That should foster an atmosphere where true growth can finally thrive.

The future wasn’t something I intended to protect only for my daughter. I wanted a world that would flourish more than ever before because that’s a world Lyra can truly enjoy and shine in.