Killing Two Birds with One Stone
by Afuhfuihgs
Luna’s father, Ruinen-nim, didn’t look too pleased with Bella’s visit. And it was understandable, considering the last time Bella visited the Grace family, it was to apologize for bullying Luna.
Even if he received a sincere apology and valuable treasures from Bella, it’s only natural for a parent to dislike someone who tormented their child. However, Ruinen-nim was a noble. A noble who could set aside emotions and act politically.
Ruinen-nim let out a short sigh and said to the maid.
,,…Escort Her Imperial Highness to the family head’s room. Bring out tea and desserts again. I’m sorry, but let’s postpone our conversation for another time.”
Having already received an apology, bringing it up again would be against noble etiquette. Moreover, Bella was the Crown Princess, the heir to the Emperor. No matter what, he couldn’t afford to treat the Crown Princess’s visit lightly.
I was just grateful to Bella for giving me an escape from the awkward situation. I tried not to show my joy and was about to get up with a regretful expression, but the maid muttered in a flustered voice.
,,That, well….”
,,Is there another problem?”
,,Her Imperial Highness didn’t come to see the family head-nim, but to see your guest, Ross-nim….”
As the maid trailed off, Ruinen-nim looked at me with a flustered expression. His eyes seemed to ask if I knew why the Crown Princess had come, and unsure how to answer, I plopped my slightly raised butt back onto the chair and closed my mouth.
,,…Looks like I should have made myself scarce.”
As Ruinen-nim rose from his seat with an awkward smile, the door opened with a knock. It was Ian, Bella’s sturdy-built bodyguard, who opened the door.
The maid bowed deeply and left the family head’s room, and Bella, striding confidently into the room, gave Ruinen-nim a light nod before approaching me.
,,I apologize for barging in without the family head’s permission.”
,,It’s alright. More importantly, what’s the urgent matter…?”
,,Someone made me impatient.”
As she said that, Bella placed her hand on my shoulder. I looked at her with a puzzled expression, and Bella, meeting my eyes, gave a soft smile and spoke in a voice that was unusually pretty.
,,I wanted to give it to you as soon as possible, so I came all the way here.”
With that, Bella took something out of her pocket and held it out to me. It was a golden bookmark-like object with a red tassel at the end. It was something I had never seen before, so I couldn’t help but give Bella a bewildered look.
Seeing my eyes asking for an explanation, the perceptive Bella opened her mouth with a gentle smile.
,,It’s an identity plate specially made by the Imperial Archmage. Anywhere, you’ll be recognized as having the same status as royalty. It includes proof of identity, as well as special authority to issue orders to the capital’s guards and the Imperial Knights.”
With those words and a gesture urging me to take it quickly, I accepted the identity plate without realizing it. I felt dazed. Why would she suddenly give me something like this? No, did she come all the way to the East just to give me this? There must be a reason hidden that I don’t know about.
,,Why are you giving this to me…?”
,,Because I want to make you my person, of course.”
I shot her a ‘what the hell are you talking about’ look, careful not to let Ruinen-nim notice, and Bella let out a small sigh between her lips.
,,I figured it would be a huge loss if I didn’t recruit a talented student like you as my own person in advance. You’ve repeatedly rejected my offers, but I won’t give up. I’m convinced that you’ll be a great help to me if I become Emperor.”
From Ruinen-nim’s blind spot, Bella extended only her middle finger downwards from her clenched hand. Noticing that Bella’s actions were an act, I decided to cooperate, though I didn’t know why.
Stroking the golden identity plate Bella had given me with a bitter expression, I spoke in a voice that sounded tired of a clingy woman.
,,…So this was a bribe.”
,,No, this is too shabby to be a Crown Princess’s bribe. The real bribe is separate.”
Saying that, Bella pulled a chair from the desk next to her and sat down beside me. It was as if she had sprayed perfume, the room was filled with a refreshing floral scent.
,,If you want to move someone, the basic thing is to target their surroundings, right?”
With that, Bella gestured, and Ian, who had been waiting by the door, handed Bella some documents. Bella turned the documents so that Ruinen-nim could see them and placed them on the desk.
Ruinen-nim, after examining the documents, looked at Bella with sharp eyes.
,,This is….”
,,It’s a plan for the improved portal to be newly installed in Starfallen. We also plan to build additional portal stations that can come directly from the North and South.”
At Bella’s words, Ruinen-nim wore a serious expression. It wasn’t just about the number of portals increasing. There would be additional direct portals to Starfallen from the North and South.
Even with a direct portal connected to the capital, the East, which belonged to the outskirts of the continent, was able to develop greatly and gain significant benefits. Ruinen-nim had already finished calculating how much benefit the newly added portal station would bring to the city.
,,There are no separate investments, and even the tax rate is quite low. And… is it really true that the rights to the newly constructed portal station below this will be transferred to the Grace family?”
At Ruinen-nim’s words, I also looked at Bella in surprise. At this point, it was no different from openly pushing me as her person. Bella smiled without any change in expression at our gaze.
,,I know that I asked for forgiveness last time, but I haven’t been completely forgiven. You can’t forgive me for tormenting your beloved daughter with just a few treasures. This is a gift from me, hoping to be sincerely forgiven by the Grace family and to remain on good terms for a long time.”
After saying that, Bella turned her head towards me and added.
,,I thought that I had to do this so that Ross would forgive me and become my person.”
Seeing Bella winking with eyes that Ruinen-nim couldn’t see, I scratched my forehead without a word.
,,I’ll try to be forgiven by Luna and become a good older sister.”
Ruinen-nim, with an incredulous look, checked the documents once again and let out a small “Heo.” before sighing.
,,It’s too big of a gift to not forgive. You gave us valuable gifts before, and now you’ve given us such a big gift… If you have a good relationship with Luna, our Grace family will be with Her Imperial Highness.”
,,That’s the answer I wanted to hear. Then, can I have a moment to talk with Ross alone?”
,,Of course. I’ll also go and talk about this with my family for a moment.”
Ruinen-nim, who got up from his seat with a happy face, approached me and patted me on the shoulder with a clearing of his throat.
,,Ahem, let’s talk again later. Son-in-law.”
Ruinen-nim, looking at me with a satisfied face and nodding, left the family head’s room. I felt like a storm had swept through, so I leaned back in my chair and let out a tired sigh.
,,…Please explain what kind of act this was.”
I didn’t even know that Bella would come here, and I hadn’t heard anything about the golden identity plate and the portal. Asking for the reason behind her incomprehensible actions, Bella shrugged as if it was nothing.
,,What else could it be? It’s Operation Proposal.”
,,…Huh?”
I thought I had heard some nonsense for a moment and asked back with a dumbfounded face, and Bella, stopping her act of being a kind and gentle girl, frowned and answered with a sigh.
,,Haa. You went on a trip with Kane and didn’t even bother to return, heading straight to the East, so I rushed all the way here to help you, didn’t I?”
,,You came to help me?”
,,Do you really think I came because I missed you that much?”
I scratched my head at Bella’s glare, looking displeased. Bella gestured, and Ian, who was standing next to the door, handed Bella another document.
,,It’s a plan that I made with Raellan and Eunice. Today’s sudden visit was to make the Grace family realize that you’re a talent that the Crown Princess is so eager to have that she’s restless, and to help you gain favor by getting a big benefit thanks to Ross. It worked perfectly, son-in-law.”
Bella, who burst into laughter, handed me the document. The thick document that Bella handed me had [Ross’s Proposal Operation♥] written largely on it.
,,This is….”
,,That’s a fake made by Eunice. The next page is our real plan.”
At those words, I turned the document over, and a new title appeared.
[Eastern Alliance Reorganization Plan]
,,I didn’t act today with the thought of simply helping your proposal. It was just a bonus. A few years later, when the eastern border collapses, we’ll use the large portals of the portal station additionally installed to gain the Grace family’s forgiveness and Ross’s favor. It’s a plan to quickly gather the knights scattered across the continents to the East.”
After checking the contents of the document, I couldn’t help but nod in admiration. When the three strategists of the world combined their minds, a win-win result was achieved.
Thanks to Bella’s visit, I, who didn’t have much to show off to Ruinen-nim, had my image changed to a talent that the Crown Princess was so eager to have that she came to visit in person, and I even gained favor by giving Luna’s family a huge benefit.
What was even more surprising was that it wasn’t the whole plan, but just a facade to hide the real thing.
The real goal was to gather the soldiers scattered across the continent to the East when the eastern border collapsed, in order to stop the demons’ advance.
The plan was to minimize civilian casualties by stopping the demons’ advance in the East, and in the meantime, Roel would make contact with the Demon King.
As I swept my face with a dazed expression at the strategists’ competence, Bella leaned back in her chair with a perfect smile and spoke in an arrogant posture.
,,Obtaining multiple results with one plan. That is the condition of an excellent strategist.”
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