Chapter 4

Like that, they continued to eat again as if nothing had happened.

The king, still covered in her handkerchief, clenched his knife intermittently, and the queen, who glanced at the window several times, sometimes seemed to wipe away tears with a napkin.

It was a peaceful dining scene.

It was only after the dinner was over to some extent that the king carefully opened his mouth and brought up the main topic.

“Well,”

Should she open up the topic?

“As mentioned in the correspondence of His Majesty, the movement of the Kingdom of Esland is unusual these days. In particular, you are suffering considerable damage to the border due to friction with them. Your Majesty, what do you think?”

The king, who barely brought it up, wiped his forehead with a handkerchief.

The queen also continued to drink water as if she were nervous.

He seemed to want the emperor of the Hythronian Empire to mediate.

That’s stupid…

She clicked her tongue inside.

How can you ask Cardan, who only knows to play, to mediate between other countries? It’s not even a problem within his own empire.

When Cardan did not respond, the king opened his mouth awkwardly again.

“As it is Esland, which borders the empire, I thought His Majesty would be interested.”

The empire and the border are in contact?

Only then did the identity of “Esland,” which sounded familiar, struck her mind.

It’s the female lead’s country, right?

The very kingdom that leads the empire to its destruction.

Now, she began to look anxiously at Cardan.

Cardan wiped off his mouth with a slow but beautiful movement.

“Esland. Yeah. I’m not interested in the state of affairs of this country either. I don’t want to pay attention.”

“Let’s invite them to the banquet.”

Huh?

Cardan’s blood-red lips were slightly curled up.

“If you attend the banquet and talk candidly, the misunderstanding will soon be resolved.”

He was an emperor who talked like a flower bed.

King Taraka’s expression quickly rotted.

Of course, he tried not to show it, but it was a terrible performance, perhaps because of the lack of practice.

But she wasn’t fooled.

Cardan wasn’t really talking about it because he thought it would be okay if they all laughed together at the banquet.

No, this meant the opposite.

It means that she has to take care of it because he’s lazy!

“I see! I’m impressed by the insight of His Majesty.”

It’s up to her to clap again.

“Let’s have a banquet next spring.”

When Cardan nailed it, the king couldn’t speak anymore and roughly shook his head.

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

She narrowed her eyebrows.

A huge banquet held in spring.

It was a very familiar event.

“Duke, is there a problem?””

It was not until she made eye contact with Cardan, who asked with his eyebrows raised, that she finally remembered.

It was Cardan’s first time meeting a female character!

She almost sprayed the water she was drinking.

If water was sprayed onto the emperor’s plate, it was clear that she would be beheaded here, so she forcibly swallowed it.

“Cough cough.”

She covered her mouth with one arm, but it was already late.

Cardan’s red eyes flashed dangerously, and in an instant, a bitter musk scent was smelled and something brushed her lips.

Cardan, who gently pressed her wet lips with his thumb and removed it, smiled faintly.

“I asked if there was a problem, Duke Baloa.”

While trying to keep a straight face, she quickly rolled her head.

“At a gathering of people from all over the world, I was thinking about how to inform the whole world of the greatness of His Majesty the Emperor. Of course, it’s clear that your presence alone will lead to success. However, if there is anything I can do to help, even if it is only a small amount, I will work even if my bones turn to powder.”

She poured out words she didn’t mean, but fortunately, Cardan’s frown cleared.

“I’m looking forward to it.”

Cardan smiled and put a well-cut piece of steak on her plate.

“Duke Baloa, you’ve never disappointed me.”

Then it was Cardan who cut a piece of her steak, which she hasn’t cut yet.

‘It’s crazy.’

She felt a little uncomfortable, but the way he looked at her, she had no choice but to eat the piece of steak he has given.

“I’ve made a great disrespect.”

She bowed her head.

Thanks to the emperor who disappeared into his palace saying he was tired, it became her responsibility to see off King Taraka and the Queen naturally.

She bowed her head once again, holding out a drooping wig with one hand and the tattered fan in the other.

“I’m ashamed of myself.”

The king, still wearing the fine handkerchief, shook his head and took the wig from her hand.

She wanted to use all kinds of swear words, but was barely holding it in because of her position as a duke of the empire.

The queen also took hera fan with her trembling hands, covering her mouth.

“It’s done.”

The king took out the handkerchief roughly as he spoke coldly.

He wore the wig again, but it kept twisting when he tried to wear it without a mirror.

At this rate, it would not be surprising if the Taraka Kingdom joined hands with Esland to declare war.

She’s confused because there’s not much time left until Cardan meets the female lead.

If the timing of the collapse of the empire is faster than expected, she will be executed sooner.

As if it agrees, a crow cried from afar.

She swallowed her saliva and raised her voice by about two tones.

Her voice was infinitely soft and polite as if to sympathize with anything.

“You must be very surprised that you lost your wig and damaged your mother’s belongings in an unavoidable situation. Customer– Your Highness, Your Highness. I’m so sorry for making you upset.”

When she apologized hard, the king’s expression, which was only cold, loosened a little.

There is hope. She bent down again in a hurry.

“Once again, we are very sorry for the inconvenience. I really want to compensate you, but if there is anything you want, no, if there’s anything I can do, I can do it for you, please feel free to tell me.”

From the customer’s point of view, these people has a lot of reasons to complain.

Compensating for damage is the basics of customer service.

Fortunately, the king coughed in vain with a relaxed face, perhaps because my sincerity worked.

“Hmm. If the will of the duke is true, let me ask you one thing.”

He was a king pretending to be stern while wearing a crooked wig, but she nodded with a serious look.

“Ask me anything comfortably.”

“I’m thinking about expanding Taraka’s silk business.”

” Taraka silk business?”

She paused after hearing King Taraka’s words while thinking according to the original novel.

Wait, if it’s Taraka silk, it’s the same silk used when the male lead customized a new dress for the female lead every day.

One of the causes of bankruptcy is here.

“That’s why. I want to expand trade with the Empire. Of course, I know that our silk is not well known, so I’m very careful from the perspective of the Duke.”

It seemed that Taraka silk had not yet gained fame.

In just a few months, it is a silk that becomes a huge trend, but now it is only a domestic handicraft from a small kingdom.

“But if we solidify our trade relations with the Empire, Esland will not be able to treat us recklessly…”

King Taraka, who blurred the end of his speech, coughed again.

She nodded hard and responded.

“Yes, my Lord. Feel free to tell me anything.”

“If the craftsman is very careful about using the silk, I’m thinking of exporting it at a price close to the original cost…”

Hey.

She managed to suppress a wide smile that was about to come out and repeated the words of the king.

“You want to export Taraka silk at a price close to the cost, right?”

The king still glanced at her with anxious eyes.

“Is it going to be difficult?”

“It’s not easy, but I’ll do it for my precious customer-No, the King.”

The king, held her hand and shook it up and down as hard as he could.

“Thank you, Duke. Thank you so much.”

Fortunately, customer satisfaction seemed to be the best.

She smiled and answered in an infinitely gentle voice.

“Don’t mention it.”

She was less worried now about the male lead wasting the national treasury by importing silk for the female lead. It was all thanks to knowing the original novel.

However, it is not as if there were no difficult situations that needs to be solved even though she knew the original content.

For example, how to behave when your boss is watching his subordinate work over her shoulder.

This is not in the original.

Cardan was sitting on her office desk and looking over the documents dryly.

All she could do was to watch the documents she had been organizing until dawn the night before with her hands politely gathered in front of her.

The corners of her mouth, which had been at the same angle for an hour, began to cramp severely.

If she could, she wanted to ask.

‘Why is the emperor who is supposed to be drinking and playing from day to night, coming all the way here and picking a fight?’

Cardan, who had been roughly flipping over the documents, soon seemed to have lost interest.

“You’re still thorough with your work.”

Adding a vague word, he put the documents on the top of her head.

She took the documents.

“I’m flattered.”

Cardan took the documents as they were and put them back on her head. She couldn’t see properly because her vision was blocked, but she left it as it was because she didn’t want to offend the tyrant for no reason.

“Why did you change your mind? Why did you release Ethan?”

The languid voice was light to hear at first, but there was a subtle chill at the end.

With an unusual feeling, she grabbed the edge of the documents and looked at Cardan’s expression.

Sure enough, there was gleam in the eyes staring at her.

She realized again that Cardan’s red eyes are truly scary.

“Wasn’t it the duke who asked to kill Sir Ethan?”