CH 154

Chapter 154 - Together in the Carrier

“Yeah, I’ve decided.”

“Where will that be?” I asked.

“The Estate of La Crehen.”

“Oh, I see… Huh?”

I became so surprised and answered in shock. The Crown Prince turned toward me. “It isn’t like you to be surprised. My aunt is there, so I was there when I was young. Or… are you curious about them too?”

Well, members of the family of the Grand Duke of LaChen, have never come to any official parties, and they were under the shadows. But that’s not why I was surprised. “I-it’s nothing, Your Highness.”

What I was thinking was that he was under a threat of assassination. If my guess is right, the only people that have no trouble succeeding to the throne after an assassination are the Grandduke and the two duke families. With that said, it was like he was going to stay at a possible enemy’s house, so how could I not be surprised? But I couldn’t show him that. The Grandduchess was his aunt and the Emperor’s sister after all.

As I suppressed my thoughts with such logic, I felt the carriage slowing down. I looked out the window and saw a village located by the riverbed. There were various crops and small houses that couldn’t be seen in the capital. The smiles of the village people made my heart warm. The village at my estate was also small and had heartwarming sights like this.

“Wow. This is so heartwarming.” The Crown Prince frowned, not understanding what I was saying. I smiled and answered, “Oh, I meant the people. They are doing their best each moment to live. I think my policies can be helpful to those people… I’m glad.”

The Crown Prince looked at me without saying a word. I tried to look away as I felt weird again. Then, I heard his beautiful voice.

“You’re so fascinating. Most nobles would consider commoners as lowly beings or ones that need sympathy… But why?”

“They’re the same people. And we help each other to live.”

“Help each other?”

“They farm the land, becoming the foundation that allows me to think of a policy. So we’re helping each other. Nothing in this land is useless. Everyone just has different roles.”

There is a reason why a butterfly hangs on a flower, and why a mole burrows into the ground. Every living being fulfills its own role. What I dreamed of was for many lives to live without facing inequality. That was the reason why I became an officer and lived as one.

“Let’s get off,” he said.

The Crown Prince became silent, seeming to have lost interest, and just looked at me without wearing any expression. I looked away and got up to get off the carriage. But-

“Sit.”

And I had to sit down because of the nutjob’s change of mind. I turned back to him, to see what was going on now, and the Crown Prince got off the carriage first and offered his hand to me.

“Get out.”

I sighed, not understanding what nonsense this was, but had to push down my lips from going up. Oh, this is strange. Why am I smiling all of a sudden?

***

While I was looking at the actual construction site, I was able to see the exact point where the embankment must be built more accurately. I was only able to find out the current was stronger as the papers didn’t share every little detail. I guess this is why the paperwork and the actual work at the site are different.