episode_0279

“You’re coming.”

Thump-thump-thump-thump-

“Is that really how you came all the way here?”

“Maybe so. “I didn’t know that what I heard only in words was true.”

Unlike the Empire, where it is normal to travel on horseback, the means of transportation used by ethnic minorities was very surprising.

First of all, what caught the eye the most was the large elephant.

The animal, which looked twice as big as a normal elephant, was suspicious enough to be a monster, but it was quietly pulling a carriage with its large size.

Other ethnic groups were moving around on ordinary-sized elephants.

“Indeed, it’s mysterious. “To tame such a large elephant and use it as a means of transportation?”

Princess Mona’s eyes sparkled as if she was happy to see with her own eyes the power of ethnic minorities.

For your information, I had already arrived at the imperial palace after receiving the call the day before.

This is because news came that a minority group would soon arrive at the imperial palace, the capital of the empire.

Princess Mona had also come to the imperial palace to welcome ethnic minorities.

“It’s so fancy over there, but I’m worried that the princess is dressed too plainly.”

A nobleman said to Princess Mona while watching the procession of ethnic minorities.

Isn’t it a meeting of ‘the princess’ and ‘the princess’?

It was a meeting where I couldn’t help but care about my appearance.

However, surprisingly, Princess Mona appeared in a simple appearance without any extravagant decorations or accessories.

The nobles were worried that Princess Mona might be pushed out by ethnic minorities because she didn’t come dressed up properly.

‘I think it’s unnecessary to worry.’

Having seen Princess Haehwa’s face, I knew that Princess Mona’s choice was the right one.

Even though she was a princess, she clearly remembered that she was wearing clothes made of animal skin, something only hunters would wear.

Therefore, for ethnic minorities, the splendor and extravagance of the empire will only emphasize a negative image.

“It’s coming out. Is that woman with short hair Princess Haehwa? “It’s not easy to tell them apart because they all wear similar clothes.”

The large elephant stopped, and a person inside the carriage opened the door and came out.

Her short hair and fairly tall height had the effect of making you tilt your head to see if she was a princess when you saw her from a distance.

In addition, he was currently wrapped tightly in a white furry cloak.

Princess Haehwa’s eyes instantly met mine.

Princess Haehwa’s gaze as she looked at me wavered, and I blinked and said hello.

“Welcome to the Empire.”

Princess Mona blocked my view.

Princess Mona walked forward first to exchange greetings with Princess Haehwa.

“nice to meet you. Princess Mona. “It’s called Haehwa.”

While Princess Mona and Princess Haehwa exchanged greetings.

I looked at the facial expressions of the ethnic minorities.

‘The expression on that side doesn’t look very good either. If it were an empire, there would be more than one thorn in its mouth.’

Of course, this side did not show an entirely favorable attitude.

Even the nobles who sided with Princess Mona had many of them with displeased expressions, perhaps because they did not like making peace with ethnic minorities.

Still, they were trying to control their facial expressions as if they had no intention of causing trouble to Princess Mona.

Interactions with ethnic minorities began with an implicit sense of disapproval of each other.

After completing the search, the two forces decided to move places.

“Are you meeting His Majesty the Emperor?”

“hmm… “If you really want to meet, we can make a space, but I’m the one in charge.”

It was not good for Princess Haehwa to meet the emperor.

Wasn’t the emperor a person who was bothered by the earnest requests of ethnic minorities to begin with?

He was not the person to control his facial expressions even when Princess Haehwa was in front of him.

“ah! okay. are you okay. “We don’t have to meet.”

Fortunately, Princess Haehwa was not disappointed about not being able to meet the emperor.

On the contrary, he seemed to like it when he said that he would not meet the emperor.

“Instead of doing this, it would be better to move.”

Princess Mona and Princess Haehwa got along better than expected.

There were stern-faced subjects around them, but the conversation between them was cheerful anyway.

‘I feel like I’m in a powder keg.’

In any case, the conversation is going well without fighting, so isn’t it okay?

“We have prepared a banquet to welcome you all. “It must have been hard to get here, so why not relax and enjoy the banquet?”

“thank you.”

Princess Mona seemed to be planning to take Princess Haehwa inside and enjoy the banquet.

Princess Haehwa and her companions moved after Princess Mona.

I was also stuck in the middle of the long line.

The banquet hall was gorgeous, the food was plentiful, and the dancers’ performance immediately caught people’s attention.

It would have been great if this banquet had continued to have a good atmosphere.

But alcohol is a problem anytime, anywhere.

Slowly, alcohol entered the scene, and the heavily intoxicated nobles began to cause accidents.

‘Honestly, this is both parties’ fault.’

Princess Mona’s nobles also had problems, but the ethnic minorities also did not do well.

Since they both started drinking while they were disapproving of each other, it was even more strange that Sadal didn’t get married.

The nobles implicitly looked down on the ethnic minorities and took an attitude of “When will you ever see something like this?”, while the ethnic minorities spoke in their own language and showed an attitude of ignoring the empire.

“What are you doing now!!”

“This person has disrespected us by talking in their own language instead of using the imperial language, princess!”

“First of all, they ignored us!”

“Haa~”

“Stop it, stop it!”

Princess Mona and Princess Haehu, who were the only ones maintaining a friendly atmosphere, also stopped their conversation due to the uproar.

Princess Mona, who thought that if she left things like this, they would only deepen their rift between each other instead of becoming closer, decided to call off the banquet.

“Everyone go back! “It’s just going to pile up pointless emotions.”

“I’m sorry, princess.”

“no. “It happened while we were drunk, so let’s not take it to heart.”

Princess Haehwa and the ethnic minorities were sent out of the banquet first, and Princess Mona spoke to the remaining nobles.

“Are you here to help me with my work, or are you here to ruin my work? If you don’t agree with me, tell me now. “I will let you go without any regrets.”

“No, princess! sorry!”

“I am very disappointed in you guys today.”

“Stop being drunk… .”

A basic aversion to ethnic minorities.

Because of the alcohol, I was no longer able to hide my disgust.

“I don’t want to be around idiots who ruin things because they can’t even control their drinking.”

The nobles were astonished as if they had completely sobered up at Princess Mona’s words.

“You’d better think about it carefully.”

Princess Mona stood up and left the banquet hall.

I got up and thought now was the right time to go out.

Anyway, there was no one among the nobles who cared about me, so I was able to easily leave the place.

“hello.”

“hmm? “You mean me?”

“yes.”

“What’s going on?”

After leaving the banquet hall and walking a short distance, a man greeted me and spoke to me.

The man had odd eyes with different colors on each side.

“Princess Haehwa wants to meet you.”

“ah.”

When I asked why she was calling me, it seemed like Princess Haehwa had some business with me.

“Of course.”

I obediently followed the man and found Princess Haehwa waiting for me on a bench near a quiet pond.

“Welcome.”

“See you again, Princess Haehwa.”

“ah… First of all, I’m sorry. “You were surprised, right?”

At the general store, we had a conversation without revealing our identities.

“no. it’s okay.”

“But I was surprised too. “I didn’t know you were a merchant.”

“How did you know I was a merchant?”

“Princess Mona told me. I offered to introduce you, but I said I didn’t need to. Actually, I was embarrassed. “I didn’t have the confidence to act like a stranger when I met you.”

Princess Haehwa was a person who knew how to readily acknowledge what she could and could not do.

“I see.”

Princess Mona probably didn’t just invite me to the banquet, but she didn’t invite me until the end and just made me sit down, so I wondered why that was, and it seemed like it was because Princess Haehwa refused.

“You own a business, so why are you running a general store in a place like that?”

“The top part is just a hobby, but running the general store is really my job.”

“… “Did I misunderstand because I’m not good at the imperial language?”

“well. It doesn’t seem like you lack the imperial language. “You are listening well.”

“Is it really about running a general store?”

“yes. “That’s my main job, and the top part is my hobby.”

“… “You are an unusual person.”

I’ve heard such stories often, so it wasn’t a new thing.

“There must be a reason why you called me like this, right?”

“… “Did you say something?”

“I didn’t say anything. “Didn’t this end with you owing me a debt that day?”

“I understood after meeting Princess Mona in person today. I was really worried for no reason. “He was a very nice person.”

“Personally, I am not saying this because she is someone I serve, but I think the only person in the empire that can be trusted is Princess Mona.”

If it weren’t for Princess Mona, ethnic minorities would have been treated poorly and humiliatingly purchased goods as if they were the right choice.

And later you found out that it was a piece of crap.

“You are very interested in us and treat us kindly. We are good at recognizing emotions. “We know whether they are friendly to us or hostile.”

“It would be the same for the empire, but Princess Haehwa and her companions didn’t seem to be very friendly towards the empire.”

Princess Haehwa became sullen at my words and her shoulders slumped.

“Because I couldn’t resolve old feelings and just kept building them up. I know it will be hard to solve, but it has to be done. It’s getting harder for us. To survive, you need the help of the empire. “If we continue to drag on old bad relationships, the only thing left is destruction.”