Chapter 516 - Take Me Along!

Sevenz had only asked Draco about the roses to confirm that his decision from last still stands but now he noticed something new.

Watching a series of expressions flashing past the young prince's face, he knew that something was on his friend's mind.

"Prince?" He called out to get his attention, succeeding in pulling him out of his thoughts.

Draco averted his eyes from the beautiful blue roses and turned his gaze towards the man whose features were unique in the land of Rosenhyde.

The white irises and the thick black hair had never been found in this Kingdom, proving that Sevenz was a foreigner to this land.

This caused him to conceal his appearance whenever he was outside as people staring at him like he was an abnormality was not something he appreciated.

However, he did not mind showing his true self to the people he trusted.

Outside the people who worked for him, the only others who had seen his true face were the Royal siblings, King Ophire and Prince Draco.

But now, more people had been added to that list as the entire St. Claire's household and the second son of the Tanner family had also seen his face.

However, he did not mind as they had also become people whom he trusted.

Prince Draco had already snapped out of his thoughts regarding the past generations but found that his friend was now lost in thoughts of his own.

"Where have you been these last few months?" The Prince inquired, leading their directionless conversation towards something fruitful.

Though he was aware of what the Ocular Caravans had been doing recently, he still wished to hear about it from the man seated before him.

To his surprise, Sevenz did not hide his past whereabouts and also went on to say everything that he had been doing for many months now.

"The Caravan made a large profit this time by partnering with CLOVER." He boasted of his business skills which had led him to sign the contract of becoming the official distributor of the company which had caught the attention of everyone in the noble society during recent times.

Draco raised his brow while hearing about the high praise that Sevenz had for the head of the company, someone named VC.

"Who is this person?" He tossed a question out, hoping that Sevenz would let it slip due to the momentum with which the conversation had been moving.

Sadly, his friend had not fallen for this trick as he remained tight-lipped about the true identity of the man who was also his business partner.

"Business and our friendship are separate priorities, my Prince." He reminded Draco that mixing the two was not something he was comfortable with.

The deal with CLOVER and VC was not related to Draco and hence he had no reason to know more than what the rest of the society was already aware of by now.

While the Prince had been expecting this kind of outcome, he was still disappointed that he could not gain more information from Sevenz.

Though he wished to hear more from Sevenz, he knew of the traumas his friend had faced in the past.

The reason why he separated his personal life and business was thanks to the people in his past who treated him with love and care until they got what they wished from him.

Once they fulfilled their goals, they either deserted him or would only come back when they wished for something else from him.

Draco knew of these incidents so he decided to not pursue this topic any longer lest he brought up bad memories for his friend.

Sevenz realized that he had just ended that conversation for his sake and a smile appeared on his face.

Thus, he aided his friend and diverted the topic to something else.

Now that he had already revealed what he had been doing in the past few months, he decided to talk about what he would be doing next.

"Will you be visiting your fief soon?" Sevenz inquired while rubbing his chin.

While the young boy before him was a Prince of this Kingdom, he had another identity as well.

This young prince had the blood of the Rosenhyde Royal family and the esteemed Roschester family which was one of the most prominent families in their Kingdom

This relationship made him a worthy member of the Roschester family, his mother's maiden family.

Since the Roschesters had failed to continue their lineage any further, right now, Prince Draco was the only surviving member of this great Ducal family.

Being the sole heir of his mother's maiden family brought certain responsibilities onto him which he had to fulfill.

One such responsibility was to look after the fief which belonged to his maternal grandfather who had died a long time ago.

The entire fief was being looked after by a proxy, a stand-in Fief Lord right now.

However, the stand-in had to report to the Prince each week and he would collaborate on what decisions needed to be made for the well-being of the Roschester fief and its citizens.

Occasionally, Prince Draco would visit his maternal fief to make sure that everything was running according to the instructions that he had been giving through the letters delivered by his Black shadow knights.

Last summer as well, the young prince had spent time in his maternal fief to learn the ropes of the Duchy of Roschesters.

It would only be a matter of time before he could gain control of it with the title of the Grand Duke which would be conferred to him by his brother, the King, on his sixteenth birthday.

His fourteenth birthday would be here soon and within the next two years, he would be prepared to take over the Roschester Duchy as its Fief Lord, the only Grand Duke of this Kingdom.

The visits that he had been making to this Duchy was the reason why Sevenz had inquired whether he would be going there this summer as well.

"I will head over there soon," Draco answered with a positive reply as going there was something he had already planned for a while now.

"What about you?" He then tossed the same question to his nosy friend who was asking too many questions today.

Sevenz rubbed his chin while pondering on the options that he had.

Yesterday evening, he had returned to the Capital and upon sending a letter to his best friend, Yvonne, he heard back from her soon after.

She had invited him to spend time in either the St. Claire fief or the Valente fief as a form of her gratitude for the work that he had done for her until now.

However, he had sent her another letter, rejecting her kind offer as he had other thoughts in mind.

'Her father and brother would bore holes into my face if they see me there.' He shuddered at the thought of the Earl who always gave him a stink eye each time they met.

No matter how many times he had reassured the worried father that he was not some pervert, he was still being treated like one even to this day.

This was also why he had sent a letter to the girl about his return even when he wished to meet her and relay this news to her in person.

However, the thought of meeting Earl Rutherford St. Claire and even the heir, Howard, had caused him to decide against this plan.

Thus, in the end, he could only send Tutu over there secretly.

His other plan which was to spend time traveling to new places had also been discarded thanks to his best friend.

She had repeatedly reminded him not to travel down south which made him wonder what was wrong with that place.

Nonetheless, he decided to not go anywhere close to the south as he trusted her words and cherished the fact that she had cared enough for his health.

For, just like the rest who had been warned by the little girl, even Sevenz had assumed that she was worried about his health which might deteriorate due to the high heat in the South.

Hence, he had already made up his mind about where he would be heading this summer.

"Take me along!" He announced the reason for his visit to the Prince's palace today.

Prince Draco was confused at first but recalling the questions he had asked until now, inquiring about his plans of visiting the Duchy of Roschester, he uncovered what his friend had been planning all along.

"Give me one reason why." He retorted, not bothering to give him either a positive or a negative answer.

Sevenz's lips curved into a sinister smile when he heard these words as he leaned closer to shorten the distance between them.

With the table separating them, the man gazed at his young friend before revealing the reason which he had been asked to provide.

"My men brought back some delicious snacks~" He whispered, enticing the young prince who was a secret foodie.

Just as he had expected, he found Draco gulping his saliva at the thought of the snacks that had been mentioned.

"I see…" The young prince muttered, trying to appear nonchalant about it but Sevenz knew better.

However, the young man did not expose him but waited to see what the answer to his request might be.

"My chefs will also follow me so you can order them to prepare anything you like." He sweetened the pot until the boy could no longer refuse him.

His lips curved into a triumphant grin when he saw the Prince nodding his head, accepting the request that Sevenz had made earlier, of coming along with him to visit the Roschester fief.

'Too easy!' The white-eyed man snickered after he achieved the purpose of arriving here.