CH 56.2

“Do you think banning it will kill its demand? Have you ever thought of the livelihoods of the hunters and traders who are supplying them? Do you imply that old mothers and young children starve for the sake of these birds? And how about the black market that’s thriving with growing banned items? If everything can be controlled easily, I would have gone far from banning all these illegal items alive in the market and have already inspected everything under my hands. But the market is not as easy as you think. No matter how perfectly woven a net is, some fish will still escape. In the end, it could end up increasing in numbers one couldn’t manage.”

Eun-woo shut his mouth at Ikshid’s sharp words.

She felt resentful, but she had no more words to refute.

Silence fell between them. The atmosphere, which had been exciting for a while, suddenly turned dark as if it had been extinguished beneath the ground.

Ikshid did not continue his words any longer and looked at the distance with his back behind them.

But Selena, who was quietly listening to his words next to them, gently touched Ikshid’s arm and opened her mouth. It was a gentle yet kind voice.

“Still… if you release those birds now, at least a tenth of them will survive. And maybe a tenth of them will get the chance to incubate and raise their young.”

Selena’s voice was quiet enough to be heard, as usual. But the content was big enough to cover Ikshid’s words.

“Your Majesty, I know that in the fierce tug of war, there are always divided people with blue and white flags, there is anguish for the one who took on the role of weight in the middle. It’s like a decision that weighs your life, as if you had to push one of the two people hanging from both ends of a piece of plank floating in the water in order for everyone to survive. I know that people only have two hands, so when you hold someone’s hand, you have to let someone’s hand go.”

Even in the noisy marketplace, her voice seemed to resonate like a beating right in front of her ears.

“…Even the vast sea water was a small stream of water gushing out of a mountain spring at some point, and no matter how huge the rock, it will eventually be crushed into sand that will be spread on the white sandy beach, Your majesty. If Your Majesty has a will, it must be ours to sustain it. Please don’t think of it as a solitary island blocked by the sea on all sides.”

Those were words of comfort to those who had to make decisions that would change someone’s life in the face of the great flow of the times.

Hearing Selena’s deep thoughtful consolation, Eun-woo expected the crown prince’s voice to come out as if it were tight.

“That…”

But his voice was surprisingly quiet. Ikshid turned back for a moment without continuing his words. Selena took a step back, understanding him as if it was natural.

Eun-woo quietly waited for them. Tashian also kept his mouth shut heavily and stayed by her side.

Then the prince called someone in a low voice.

“… Is anyone there?”

“Yes, Your majesty.”

Eun-woo shuddered at the sound of a voice coming from somewhere. The voice of another man other than Tashian and Sir Ouns was coming from a space that could not be pointed out anywhere.

Then, Tashian, who was beside her, gently grabbed her shoulder and released it as if to be relieved. Ikshid gave him an order with a solemn voice that could not be found even after washing his eyes.

“Buy all the birds you see over there and let all of them free. Do not try to feed them yourself but release them as close to their original habitat as possible so they can find their own food.”

“Order received!”

A man with an unknown face followed Ikshid’s orders with a heavy voice.

Eun-woo felt a cold sweat running down her back.

It was the secret act of the crown prince of the country. She was relaxing because the knight, who was the head of the imperial order and the war hero of the empire, and his first subordinate were here together.

However, Eun-woo noticed that they were being protected much more safely than he thought.

Eun-woo glanced at the side where there was a birdcage number visible in the corner of a square full of people.

Then, she suddenly wondered. What would the shadow guard look like? Then, something black blocked her eyes.

Raising her head, he saw the face of Tashian. He shook his head at her with a serious expression on his face.

“No one who treads on the shadow of an imperial family member will be forgiven.”

Eun-woo took this hint as a warning not to try to check the figure of the shadow guard, who was following Ikshid’s orders.

She nodded her head cautiously. And she hurriedly turned her gaze away.

The shadow guard moved again with a heavier mind.

At that time, a group of women caught Eun-woo’s eyes appeared. They were all young girls of a very young age, wearing the same white plaid dresses as she and Selena.

Eun-woo remembered the words that Anit had told her before she started writing her ball.

〈“Lady, the virgins going to the Flora Festival are all dressed in white, regardless of their status. This is a dress I made all night long. You must wear it.〉

Eun-woo was moved by the sincerity of the elderly maid.

But there was something strange. Eun-woo frowned slightly when she saw the women in white clothes lined up as if waiting for something.

“What are those people doing over there?”

Sir Ouns, who had been quietly escorting them from behind, opened his mouth.

“Ah, you are looking at the Flora candidates.”

“Are they the candidates for Flora?”

Eun-woo once again turned her gaze to the women in white. When she heard that they were candidates for Flora rather than just ordinary women who went out to enjoy the festival, all of a sudden the girls looked extraordinary.