12. Beyond Good and Evil (15)

"Perhaps the populace believes in the existence of absolute evil and absolute good, but for people like us and your lordship, justice and evil are merely other names for victors and losers. History and virtue are blank notebooks left for the victors to write upon; whatever the victor writes down after absolute triumph will never be condemned. If condemnation occurs, it only means that victory has not been achieved, or that it wasn't thorough enough."

The Duke of Marlboro shifted his gaze from the street outside the floor-to-ceiling window back to the reception room, looking at the solemn expressions of the visitors.

"People—both the elites and the masses—want to see a clear outcome. The empire's stability and the establishment of the republic are largely due to the demonstration of such outcomes."

The empire showed the overwhelming military might of the Emperor and the imperial army, while the republic demonstrated an opposing voice amid the empire's wave sweeping the world.