Side Story – 2 Years Later (3)

“Your Highness, we are deeply moved by your concern for the development of our territory. However, I’m not sure if we can accept such generosity from His Highness Phanos Loen Baltoria, the Second Prince, without any reason.”

-We’ve been pretending not to know each other all this time, so why are you suddenly butting in? We’re not interested, so piss off.

“I simply wish to give opportunities to those obscured by the shadows of the moonlight. The imperial support is always open, you see.”

-The only reason I didn’t make contact was because of Seraphine. And anyway, imperial support projects can’t proceed without going through me, so just accept it obediently.

“We appreciate your words, but such a wonderful opportunity should rightfully go to Marquis Pablo. While our loyalty to the empire is no less than his, hasn’t the Pablo family served Your Highness Phanos Loen Baltoria far longer?”

-Just go play with your lapdog and leave us alone. Unlike him, my loyalty isn’t to you but to the empire, so wake up.

“No need to worry. Business is ultimately about mutual cooperation, isn’t it? If the Blackwood territory expands along the trade route, more merchants will come and go, which will ultimately benefit Marquis Pablo as well. That man understands practical benefits-he’d surely approve.”

-Money breeds money-are you really going to refuse this? Pablo’s got a working brain, unlike you.

“We don’t doubt that, but Marquis Pablo is…”

…This conversation isn’t ending. It’s already been two hours.

At this rate, we’ll just be arguing over dinner. And the longer this drags on, the more the Second Prince, with his vast experience, will have the upper hand.

Ethan is doing his best to defend with whatever indirect expressions he can muster, but the Second Prince has been through countless negotiations like this. Out-talking him is practically impossible.

Of course, outright rejecting the Second Prince’s proposal would cause problems elsewhere, so this roundabout verbal sparring keeps going. Watching from the sidelines is already exhausting.

‘Hang in there, Ethan. Don’t lose to the Second Prince-hold your ground.’

A complete rejection would be ideal, but at the very least, delaying it with a “we’ll review the proposal” would be enough.

In the meantime, we can contact Seraphine and explain the situation so she can handle it. After one failed attempt, the Second Prince won’t move recklessly again, knowing it could lead to conflict with Seraphine.

“While I agree with Your Highness Phanos Loen Baltoria’s words, the Blackwood territory has long maintained stability through autonomy within its borders.

Even when the August Border Count’s merchant group entered our territory after multiple verifications, there were some initial frictions. Thankfully, my wife had a personal connection with the August heir, so it ended as a minor issue. But I worry about causing similar disturbances to the imperial family.”

Oh right, that did happen. The August merchant group bought up so much of the Blackwood specialty wine that prices within the territory skyrocketed.

Thank goodness we had emergency carrier pigeons ready for situations like this. If Lizzie hadn’t hauled in wine from other territories, the August merchants would’ve taken much longer to settle in.

“Hmm, I see.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Then you already have experience handling such matters-you should be even better at it now. Perhaps Marquis Pablo should learn trade route management from you, haha.”

“Ha, hahaha…”

…How do we get this annoying bastard out of our territory?

The tense atmosphere is only filled with the hollow laughter of men.

Just the thought of enduring this for several more hours makes my head spin-until suddenly, the Second Prince’s gaze, which had been ignoring me, turns my way.

“By the way, the Duchess seems unusually quiet. Should I take that as approval of my proposal?”

“…As a lady of modest knowledge, my duty is simply to follow my husband’s decisions quietly.”

“A commendable attitude, though perhaps too humble. I’ve heard you played a significant role in the Hero’s Party during the Demon King subjugation.”

“Not significant enough. The rumors are exaggerated.”

“Even so, the fact remains that you were active in the Hero’s Party. In that sense, I’d like to hear your objective opinion on how my proposal could benefit the Blackwood territory.”

“……”

Why the hell is this bastard suddenly targeting me now?

Since Ethan is proving difficult to crack, is he trying to redirect the conversation toward me?

‘If I try to dance around it, he’ll just twist my words.’

I have no choice but to cut it off decisively, even if it’s a bit blunt. I don’t have Ethan’s skill for hiding my true thoughts in long-winded speeches.

“If our territory were to become a midway stop on the eastern trade route as Your Highness suggests, would you also improve the roads leading to Marquis Pablo’s domain?”

“Of course. From the start, I planned to widen the roads enough for three carriages to pass side by side.”

“Three carriages… That’s quite a wide road.”

“……?”

The Second Prince looks at me with a puzzled expression as I deliberately drag out my words.

Since it’s too awkward to backtrack now, I just say the first thing that comes to mind.

“While Your Highness’s proposal is certainly appealing, I can’t help but worry whether such a wide road might be used for other purposes. Merchant caravans usually travel in single file, and there aren’t many situations where large groups need to move simultaneously unless there’s a special reason.”

-Why the hell are you making the roads unnecessarily wide? Are you planning a war or something?

“……”

“……”

Both Ethan and the Second Prince stare at me with stunned expressions-maybe I was a little too direct.

But what else could I do? I don’t have the refined speech skills they do. I’m not about to engage in verbal WWE like them.

I figured it was best to make it clear I wasn’t interested before things dragged on.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Whether my words were too shocking or not, the Second Prince hastily resumed his journey to Marquis Pablo’s domain.

He even canceled his original plan to stay overnight at our estate.

“An urgent matter has come up-I must take my leave now. I’ll visit again when the opportunity arises.”

“Of course, Your Highness. Next time, we’ll ensure you’re even more comfortable.”

Just go. And never come back.

The Second Prince departed in a grand procession, riding a lavish imperial carriage adorned with the royal insignia.

It’s a relief he left without much fuss, but I can’t help worrying if my words might cause trouble later.

“Was that okay? Did I speak too harshly?”

“No, you did well. That was the minimum needed to make someone like him back off.”

“You don’t think the Prince would use this as an excuse to start a territorial war, do you?”

“There are no hostile territories around Blackwood, and Marquis Pablo wouldn’t wage a losing war. The imperial military is tightly controlled by the First Princess, so no support would come from there either.”

“…That’s a relief, then.”

As mentioned earlier, the First Princess Victoria has little political or diplomatic skill, making collaboration with the Second Prince unlikely. Knowing this, the Second Prince wouldn’t risk owing her any favors.

And as Ethan said, Marquis Pablo is pragmatic-he’d avoid meaningless conflicts. He’s only allied with the Second Prince for his own benefit.

‘If an army does attack, I could just wipe them out with a Mana Blast…’

Ah, no. That might be crossing a line.

One strike would shatter morale and force a surrender, but the resentment from that would be too much.

At least we have the Hero as an asymmetrical advantage-if needed, Seraphine would surely send Gyeotmwa Josyegigot. With him, Ethan, and Silena, we could suppress most forces with minimal casualties.

“Actually, Lilith, you saved me by speaking up. I was running out of excuses.”

“You worked hard, Ethan.”

“The Prince must be annoyed too. Since the words didn’t come from me, he can’t retaliate openly, and you’re still technically a ‘provisional’ Duchess. But he can’t ignore you either since you’re my wife.”

In the end, it worked out. The Second Prince won’t interfere with the Blackwood family anymore.

“Dietmeyer, could you sprinkle some salt at the front gate?”

“…Is this some kind of curse ritual?”

Despite his confusion, Dietmeyer soon scatters salt where the Prince’s carriage had been.

About two hours later, he returns with a letter from Seraphine.

「The Second Prince will approach you under the guise of a business proposal. Since I can’t visit Blackwood right now, I’ll tell you how to refuse. First…」

…Too late now. We already missed the perfect timing.