A few days later, Lydia and Loui decided to visit a part of the kingdom that few nobles ever dared to see.
The slums of the capital.
The streets were narrow and muddy. The houses, built from rotting wood and cracked stone, looked ready to collapse at any moment. Barefoot children ran through the alleyways while adults tried to survive by selling small trinkets or begging for coins.
Lydia took it all in without a word.
"So this is how the people live..." she murmured.
Loui's hands closed into fists.
"The king would never set foot here."
As they walked, a very thin boy with torn clothes and a dirt-streaked face approached them.
His eyes were red from crying.
"Sir... ma'am... please..."
Loui crouched down to the child's level.
"What happened?"
The boy wiped his tears on his sleeve.
"Can you buy medicine for my sister? She's very sick. The nun is taking care of her at the church, but they don't have any medicine."
His voice trembled.
"I don't want her to die..."
Lydia pressed a hand to her chest.
"What's your name?"
"Tomás."
"How old are you?"
"Eight."
Loui placed a hand on the boy's shoulder.
"Take us to her."
The boy nodded and took off running through the alleyways.
After a few minutes, they arrived at a small chapel.
The building was plain — worn walls, a roof that let the rain in.
A single nun tended to the sick.
Beside her, only five novices did what little they could.
When she saw the visitors, the nun bowed her head.
"Welcome. Please forgive us for the simplicity."
Lydia looked around.
Orphans lay on makeshift pallets. Elderly men and women sat hunched and frail. Children burned with fever.
There was no food.
No blankets.
No medicine.
Loui stepped toward the nun.
"How much do you need?"
The woman lowered her eyes.
"Any help would be a blessing."
The marquess answered without hesitation.
"I won't be buying just one medicine."
Everyone looked at him, surprised.
"I'm going to stock this chapel with enough supplies that no one ever has to choose who gets treated first."
The nun's eyes filled with tears.
"My lord..."
Lydia moved among the children.
A little girl was splitting a hard piece of bread with two others.
Lydia drew a slow breath.
"There are so many orphans going hungry."
She looked at Loui.
"We need to buy food."
He nodded.
"Yes."
Lydia turned back to the nun.
"Organize the distribution yourselves. The church knows better than anyone which families truly need it."
The nun pressed her hands to her chest.
"May the Sun Goddess and the Moon God bless you both."
As they left the chapel, Lydia spoke quietly.
"Now I understand why the people have lost hope."
Loui looked back once more at the small chapel.
"Then we'll give it back to them."
That day, they both understood that taking the throne was no longer just a plan for revenge.
It was a promise — to change the lives of those the kingdom had forgotten.