episode_0593

“I am grateful that His Highness the Prince is concerned about the development of our territory, but I am not sure if we can receive such favor from Prince Panosroenvaltoria without any reason.”

-We’ve been getting along fine, pretending not to know each other, so why are you suddenly interfering? I’m not interested, so get out.

“I just want to give a chance to those who have been hidden by the shadow of the moon and have not been seen yet. The support of the royal family is always open.”

-It’s just because of Seraphine that we couldn’t contact each other, and since the imperial support project can’t be done without going through them anyway, just accept it.

“Thank you for your kind words, but I think it would be better for Marquis Pablo to take this great opportunity. Our loyalty to the Empire is no less than that of Marquis Pablo, but isn’t it the Marquis Pablo’s family that has served the 2nd Prince of Panosroenbaltoria for a long time?”

-Just play with your little dog and don’t worry about it. I’m not loyal to you like he is, I’m loyal to the empire, so wake up and do your thing.

“There’s nothing to worry about. Isn’t the original business all about cooperation? If the Blackwood estates increase on the trade route, there will be more merchants coming and going, and in the end, it’s also for the benefit of Marquis Pablo. He’s a man who knows the practical side, so you’ll like it too. ”

-The money is copied, but you refuse it? Unlike you, Pablo is more intelligent.

“We have no doubts about that either, but Marquis Pablo… .”

… The conversation isn’t over. It’s already been two hours.

If things continued like this, it seemed like they would just be arguing all the way to dinner. And if the conversation went on for too long, it would only be at the advantage for the second prince, who had a lot of experience with this.

Ethan is using his own expressions to defend himself, but the 2nd Prince must have had countless experiences like this. It would be nearly impossible to defeat the 2nd Prince simply with words.

Of course, if you oppose the Second Prince’s business too directly, problems will arise on the other side, so this kind of roundabout conversation keeps happening. It was a battle that became boring just by watching from the side.

‘Cheer up, Ethan. Don’t give in to the Second Prince and hold on.’

It would be best if you could just reject it outright, but at the very least, if you could postpone the schedule by saying that you would ‘review’ the business plan, that would be sufficient.

In the meantime, if you contact Seraphine and tell her that this and that happened and ask her to resolve it, the 2nd prince will become quiet again. Since he failed to contact her once, if he gets caught the second time, he will end up in a confrontation with Seraphine and won’t be able to move easily.

“I agree with the words of His Highness the Second Prince of Panosroenvaltoria, but the Blackwood Estate has long enjoyed a stable life with autonomy within the estate.

There was some friction at first when the Auguste Margrave’s company, which had already been verified several times, came in. Fortunately, my wife was close to the Auguste Margrave’s successor, so it was only a minor issue, but I am worried that it will affect the same royal family. ”

Now that I think about it, there was something like that. Was it the incident where Auguste Trading Company bought too much of Blackwood’s specialty wine, causing the price within the territory to skyrocket?

It was fortunate that I was able to quickly contact the West Gate with the emergency contact telegram I had received in preparation for such a situation. If Lee Ji hadn’t returned with all the liquor from other territories, it would have taken much longer for Auguste’s company to settle down in the territory.

“Hmm, did something like that happen?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Then, since you have experience dealing with it once, you can do better. Maybe Marquis Pablo should learn how to operate trade routes from you, haha.”

“Ha, hahaha… .”

… How can I get this annoying guy out of my territory?

In the tense atmosphere, only the soulless laughter of men filled the living room.

As I was starting to feel dizzy at the thought that I might have to listen to this conversation for several more hours, the Second Prince’s gaze suddenly turned to me, whom he had been avoiding.

“By the way, the Duchess doesn’t seem to have much to say. Should I take that to mean you agree with my opinion?”

“… As a young lady who lacks knowledge, my job is to just obediently follow my father’s decisions.”

“You have a great attitude, but you seem too humble. I heard that you also played a significant role in the subjugation of the Demon King as a member of the warrior party.”

“It didn’t play a huge role. The rumors were just exaggerated. ”

“Even so, that doesn’t change the fact that you were active in the warrior party. In that sense, I would also like to hear your opinion on what kind of objective benefits my proposal would bring to the Blackwood Estate.”

“… … .”

Why is this kid suddenly talking to me again?

It seems like it’ll take a long time for Ethan to break through, so are you trying to turn it towards me somehow?

‘If you beat around the bush and talk about it, you’ll end up nitpicking.’

Even if it was a little direct, I had no choice but to cut off the conversation completely so that it wouldn’t continue. I didn’t have the confidence to hide my true feelings and talk for as long as Ethan did.

“If our territory becomes a transit point on the eastern trade route as you propose, can you help us reorganize the territory of the Marquis of Pablo?”

“Of course, from the beginning, the road was planned to be maintained to a level where a carriage could pass.”

“It’s a carriage generation… It’s a really wide road.”

“… … ?”

The second prince looked at me with a questioning expression as I spoke with deliberate hesitation.

Since it was awkward to change my words at this point, I just blurted out to him the first thing that came to my mind.

“The Prince’s words are indeed an attractive suggestion, but I am worried that such a wide road might not be used for other purposes. Even if they are upper carriages, they usually move in a single file, and unless there is a special problem, it is not common for many people to move at once. ”

-Why are you widening the road so uselessly? Are you trying to start a war now?

“… … .”

“… … .”

Perhaps because my words were a bit too direct, the second prince looked at me with a blank expression.

But what can I do? In the first place, I don’t have the level of education to speak properly like them. And I don’t have the confidence to do WWE like those two people, passing around the beans here and there.

I just thought it would be best to express that I had no intention of talking before it got any longer.

⁎⁎⁎

Perhaps because what I said was a little shocking, the second prince continued his journey to Marquis Pablo’s territory a little more hurriedly.

If things had gone as planned, we would have even cancelled our original plan to stay one night at your house.

“I think I have to go now because something urgent came up. I’ll stop by again next time I have something to do.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. When I see you again, I will take extra care of you.”

Please go away and never come back again.

The second prince was accompanied by a magnificent procession, riding in an imperial carriage and on a carpet with imperial patterns on the way there.

I think it’s fortunate that he backed down more easily than I expected, but I’m also worried that something I said might cause problems.

“Is that okay? Did I speak too loudly?”

“No, you did well. From the beginning, you were the type of person who would back down if you said something like that.”

“Surely the prince isn’t trying to use this as an excuse to start a real war, right?”

“At least there are no hostile territories around Blackwood, and the Marquisate of Pablo will not necessarily have to start a war where they will suffer losses. The Imperial Army is held tightly by the First Princess, so there will be no support from there.”

“… Well, that’s fortunate.”

As I said before, the 1st Princess Victoria doesn’t have much skill in politics or networking, aside from the military, so there’s no chance she’ll cooperate with the 2nd Prince. Knowing that, the 2nd Prince won’t do anything to put the 1st Princess in debt.

And as Ethan said, Marquis Pablo is also a person who pursues practicality, so he will try to avoid meaningless territory wars. In any case, it is also beneficial for him to be attached to the Second Prince.

‘If by any chance the army comes, I can just wipe them all out with Mana Blast…’

Oh, no. I think this is a bit too much.

If you hit them once, you can break their spirit and make them surrender right away, but you’ll end up creating a lot of unnecessary resentment in the process.

Since we have the asymmetrical force of the warriors on our side, Seraphine will dispatch the Gyeomjyo Segi if necessary. With just the guy, Ethan, and Silena, we can subdue most forces while minimizing casualties.

“Rather, I survived because Lilith told me so. I was running out of excuses and that was the limit.”

“Thank you for your hard work, Ethan.”

“The prince will have a headache too. Since it didn’t come out of my mouth, I can’t respond directly, and she’s still a ‘potential’ duchess. But I can’t ignore it, since Lilith is my wife.”

In the end, it seems like things worked out well, so I guess that’s a good thing. With this, the Second Prince will not have to interfere with the Blackwood family.

“Dietmeyer, could you please sprinkle some salt in front of the gate?”

“… Is this some kind of sorcery?”

Dietmeyer, with a puzzled expression, sprinkles salt on the spot where the prince’s carriage was.

It was about two hours later that he returned with Seraphine’s letter.

“The Second Prince will approach you under the pretext of a business plan. Since I don’t have time to go to Blackwood right now, I’ll tell you how to refuse. First,… .”

… but I missed the chance to use it so it became meaningless.