Chapter 61

“You’re making such a lame plan.”

Cardan grinned as he scratched the crow’s head.

“You almost fell on your neck trying to persuade me…… Your skill of putting all the blame on me is the same as before.”

“Kkaa! Kka!”

The crow pecked Cardan’s hand, saying, “Why are you smiling when you should be offended?”

“When was I smiling?”

However, he felt the corners of his mouth slightly raised as he touched his lips reflexively.

“Kkak!”

When the crow flapped with resentment, Cardan immediately hardened his face.

“I have never done that.”

The crow sniffed at him, who was shamelessly pretending, but Cardan ignored him and reopened the letter that the last servant left behind.

It was a letter from the Prince of the East.

The cliche greeting and compliments of courtesy took half of it, but there were some sentences that stood out.

‘If given the chance, I hope to build a good relationship with the Hithronia Empire and strengthen the relationship between the two countries.’

It was not difficult to notice what the prince of the East continent demanded.

A political marriage

They know that there isn’t any women of marriageable age in the Imperial family , so they suggested it with the thought of a powerful noble family in mind.

There must be a lot of young ladies who want to marry the prince, but he didn’t know why Erina’s face, who was happy to hear the news of the prince’s visit in the East, kept coming to mind.

The letter crumpled mercilessly from Cardan’s hand.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

He’s unsure whether he’s talking about the prince or to himself.

“Kka!”

At the crow’s call, Cardan escaped his thoughts.

“Kka?”

The crow tilted its head and pulled Cardan’s sleeve with one foot.

He seemed to be really seriously worried.

He laughed then got angry. He’s asking if he’s sick.

“What a load of crap.”

Cardan dismissed it briefly, but did not feel better.

After a moment of thought, Cardan took out a piece of paper and wrote down an address.

***

The busy days continued.

In addition to the state affairs that I was originally in charge of as prime minister, I also did the preparations for the entertainment for the prince of the East and my asylum.

Even ten bodies were not enough.

Fortunately, unlike before, I have quite a few people to help me.

In addition to Knoxus and the maid whom I told all the plans for my asylum, the duke’s employees who had business around the East continent followed my instructions without complaining.

“As the Duke ordered, we sought a mercenary guild with a lot of experience at the sea and signed a contract.”

Knoxus finished reporting by submitting a contract.

“Great job. How’s the food supply going?”

The question was directed to the deacon from the duke’s and began to report.

“We placed orders mainly for dry food that doesn’t easily spoil.”

“Yeah, how’s it going?”

It was the most important part.

There was no point in leaving if I couldn’t carry all my huge assets to the East continent.

“We started packing the heirlooms of the Duke.”

“Yes, go ahead.”

I fixed my monocle. I don’t like them very much.

(t/n: she’s referring to the heirlooms)

Portraits of ancestors I don’t even know.

No matter how much I think about it, I didn’t think anyone would buy a portrait of my grandfather, even if I took it to the East continent.

In other words, it is a heavy burden, and it does not make money.

However, I nodded roughly because I couldn’t tell him to throw out pictures of my family all of a sudden, including my grandfather, grandmother, and cousins.

The quick-witted maid hurriedly added.

“The heirloom includes a necklace of 1,000 diamonds that has been handed down from generation to generation, as well as an ostrich egg-sized unshaved sapphire, and pearls called Sea Tears.”

“Oh! Yes, keep every heirloom well. It’s better to move it with me. It’s such a precious thing.”

“All right, duke.”

I laughed with satisfaction.

“Yes, I look forward to next week’s report.”

I sent a butler and a maid to organize the documents, and the attendant of the imperial palace knocked on the door of the office.

“His Majesty called me here to discuss the reception of the Prince of the Eastern Continent.”

When I received the letter given by the servant, I found an address written on it. I thought I was familiar with it, as it was the dressing room I visited last time.

“Will you go?”

Knoxus asked cautiously.

I sighed and crumpled up the paper.

“Didn’t I tell you that over and over again? If my boss tells me to, I have to.”

“Then I’ll take you.”

“Yeah. I think the two of you got close during the slave house operation. I’d rather come with me.”

I sighed again.

It would be a rough atmosphere if I was left alone with Cardan.

Come to think of it, the last time he made me recklessly eat steak was a kind of bullying. For example, food violence… …

Anyway, having Knoxus with me is the best I can do to lighten up the atmosphere.

***

“Did you call, Your Majesty?”

I greeted the gentleman in a splendid manner.

Cardan, who was leaning wonderfully against the sofa, said without taking his eyes off the catalog he was looking at.

“You came with a hump.”

I thought they had become close, but they didn’t seem to be.

“Haha, do you mean Knoxus?”

Don’t you usually get closer when you work together? I smiled naturally, cursing Cardan’s broken social sense on the inside.

“I thought it would be nice to have at least one more person to look at my clothes, so I brought him.”

Only then did Cardan take his eyes off the catalog and look up and down at the Knoxus.

“Yeah, if you get the outfits that catch the eye of your lover, you can make a good choice.”

“Ha ha. As expected, you have a brilliant mind.”

At Cardan’s beckoning, the dressing room owner, Madame Rosette, began to display mannequins dressed in all kinds of costumes.

“As the Duke has decided to be in charge of entertaining the Prince of the East, she should show her dignity as a representative of our Hithronian Empire.”

“…….”

“So I put in a custom order.”

“……a battle suit, you mean?”

The clothes worn by about a dozen mannequins brought by Madame Rosette gave off a fierce atmosphere.

The angled shoulder pad, the design that falls on a knife-like line more than a military uniform, and various metal fittings that seem to cut off anyone just by brushing against it.

I gulped down.

“Is there a problem?”

Cardan raised his eyebrows.

There’s a problem! There’s is! It is not enough to please the prince by whining to accept me as a refugee, but how can I curry favor in such an outfit to make a head start? It would be fortunate that such outfits would not be misunderstood as a declaration of war.

I decided to take courage because I thought I wouldn’t be able to afford my own house in the East continent at all if this continues.

“Haha, in the name of peace and harmony between the two countries, I was thinking  of a calm or a bright dress rather than such a dress, but is there a deep meaning behind His Majesty’s opinion that this humble servant missed?”

“Peace and harmony.”

Cardan rubbed his temples gently with one hand.

“You seem to have forgotten, but until last year, you immediately rejected the Eastern continent’s proposal for an alliance, calling the Eastern continent a country of barbarians. What’s with the change of heart?”

“Haha, hahaha.”

There was certainly such a record in the Duke of Baloa’s diary.

But I can’t just give up.

And now I’m quite used to cleaning up the dung that the Duke of Baloa had packed.

“I just thought it was right to seek an alliance with the East for the nation’s interest even now.”

Cardan’s red eyes twinkled deftly.

“Why do you think so?”

I was sure he was up to something.

When I couldn’t answer right away, he waved his hand tiredly at me.

“You can speak comfortably. You don’t have to worry about me hitting the Duke’s neck right away with my dirty temper.”

Huh? It was a very familiar line somewhere.

Suddenly, I remembered a conversation I had with Count Linoa.

‘Your Majesty may change his mind tomorrow and my neck may fall off.’

‘Don’t you know it well? Your Majesty’s temper.’

However, I couldn’t ask if he had overheard our conversation, and I bent down while wiping the sweat that started to come out of my palm on my pants.

“I have never hesitated to tell Your Majesty anything, as you are a generous and understanding emperor.”

“…….”

“To add my humble opinion this time, I think the time has come to strengthen diplomatic relations with the East continent as the surrounding kingdoms’ behavior is unusual these days.”

All for my successful asylum, of course.

“It’s also an opportunity to implement a new foreign policy, so the outfit is a little…… I wonder if we can replace it with a mild and bright one. What do you think, Your Majesty?”

Cardan, who listened to my persuasion silently, stood up with a soft movement.

“What makes you think this uniform is not gentle and not bright?”

Cardan, who fluttered to the mannequin, caught the hem of the first uniform.

It’s a perfect outfit to cause misunderstanding for the crime of harming the prince even with just one of those loose metal fittings!

I suppressed the urge to scream.

“My view of fashion is no match for Your Majesty, but wouldn’t metal decorations seem rather intimidating……?”

Knoxus took my side.

“I think so, too. When I first saw it, I thought there were several daggers on the dress.”

Cardan tilted his head.

“I came up with it and designed it myself, do you doubt my eyes?”

I almost shut my mouth.

Why did you design this? Is it an unconscious expression that you want to chop me up with this many knives?

“I knew it!”

Frightened, I quickly clapped my hands.

“As soon as I saw it, the aura was unusual, but it was your work! This suit is perfect for broadening the dignity and authority of the empire.”

I glanced at Cardan. No matter how hard I try to make this look good, I wouldn’t be able to appear in front of the prince of the East continent.

“……ha, but for the sake of harmony and peace…….”

“This dress is perfect.”

Cardan, who smiled with satisfaction, winked at the designers.

“Go on, help the duke to her dress.”

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