If anyone else from outside the palace had seen what had just transpired, they would have thought the Queen had gone mad.
That she had lost all reason and executed a man purely on whim.
But the nobles standing there knew better.
They knew, with clenched jaws and cold fury, that this was not madness.
It was a demonstration. A spectacle. A warning.
The execution had been merely the excuse.
The true intent had been political theater—a display of absolute dominance.
Baron Vanstein, after all, was not some random courtier; he had been one of the loudest voices
supporting the coalition of the Five Noble Families. For months, he had mocked Marina's reforms in private dinners, whispered discontent in merchant halls, and even tried to rally the old guard behind him.
And now, in front of everyone, he was gone. Erased—not through trials, not through petitions, but by a single command.
