Chapter 54: 53

“Why don’t we change the terms of the contract now? I think half of the territorial rights are too much. I am satisfied with a third.”

Tired of endless negotiations, Khalid came up with a compromise. But Renato stubbornly shook his head.

“No, you need to get a half.”

The tug-of-war on conditions was not only taking place in the conference room. Even in the drawing room, the person on the receiving side said that he should receive less, while the one giving insisted that he would give more.

“I think there is nothing wrong in Viscount Roman’s words. It’s too much.”

“It’s not too much at all. You say that the contract is only advantageous to you, your highness, but I think it’s the opposite.”

Renato seriously expressed his thoughts. He genuinely felt that this contract was more of a loss to Khalid than to him.

Marrying Renato would involve Khalid in the fight for the Empire’s throne, regardless of his will. If he won, he would have splendid glory in his hands, but if he failed, he would lose everything.

The rights to the Esteban territory felt insufficient as a reward for participating in a dangerous battle that could lead to death. So Renato originally intended to give Esteban territory to Khalid.

However, various problems would occur. No matter what happened, he could not freely hand over his country’s land to another country. Eventually, he decided to moderately hand over the rights to the territory to Khalid.

“If I could, I would have already given you the entire territory.”

“That’s a bit……”

Khalid trailed off his words, feeling burdensome just thinking about it. Renato faintly smiled at him. When Khalid offered to help him, he was happy as if having everything in this world, but when he wrote the marriage contract, many worries arose.

The biggest worry was that Khalid might be hurt as well. Just thinking that the man could be in danger because of him made Renato feel like all his blood was drained out of his body.

Fortunately, Khalid had a place to go back even if things went wrong. If the man divorced him, Khalid would become the Khan Kingdom’s grand prince again.

If Renato failed to get rid of Marquis Medus’ faction within 3 years, he would divorce Khalid and send him back to the Khan Kingdom. At that time, the rights to Esteban territory would be a great help for Khalid to re-establish his position in the kingdom.

After all, a contract between noble blood was something that even the Emperor of the Empire wouldn’t be able to touch carelessly.

Worst of all, even if Maximo became the Emperor just like in his previous life, Renato was punished as a traitor, and his territory was confiscated, Khalid’s rights would remain untouched for at least several years. Renato had calculated it that far.

Judging Maximo’s personality, the man would try to kill Khalid as well, but even the Emperor of the Empire would not be able to recklessly touch the grand prince of a kingdom. It was also more certain because they had to rely on the Khan Kingdom to defend the country’s borders.

Above all, the Khan Kingdom was a small but powerful country. How many people would want to wage war with one of the leading countries on the continent in terms of military power? Even if Maximo tried to start a war to catch Khalid, the nobles would stand up and stop him. There was no way for them to fight against the Khan Kingdom because they considered family wealth and power the most important things.

But of course, the best thing is to make sure that that kind of future won’t come.

Having assumed the worst-case scenario, Renato faintly chuckled. If he couldn’t think positively and could only have negative thoughts, the only one hurt would be him. Forcibly curling up his lips, he tried to push away the anxiety crawling in.

“I will tell Viscount Roman again later. Handing over half of the territorial rights to you was something that His Majesty the Emperor already approved of, your highness. Even the Viscount will not be able to persist until the very end.”

“Haa, seriously…… Please don’t just go anywhere and make contracts with people on your own later, Your Imperial Highness. You will be deceived.”

Unable to stop Renato, Khalid shook his head and said with a genuinely worried expression.

“I’m not like this toward other people. I’m only soft to you, your highness.”

Khalid’s eyes momentarily shook. He twitched his lips as if flustered and embarrassed, then let out a fake cough.

“I don’t think we can come to a conclusion here even if we talk amongst ourselves. Let’s leave the complicated matters to that side and talk about something else. How is your wrist?”

“Pardon? Ah.”

Renato glanced down when Khalid changed the topic to his wrist. A few days ago, after Khalid accepted his proposal, Renato was showing Khalid around the greenhouse when the man found out that his wrist was bruised because of Maximo.

‘What is that?’

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‘Pardon?’

‘Your right wrist. I think you have a bruise.’

Khalid’s expression immediately stiffened when he noticed a bruise slightly exposed under his sleeve. Even when Renato said that it was nothing, the man still rolled up his sleeve to check the bruise.

‘Just what……’

Seeing the black bruise on his white wrist, Khalid frowned. Then, he persistently asked which bastard caused this. In the end, Renato had to say that it seemed like he was bruised during his quarrel with Maximo. The handprints were so clear that he couldn’t say he just bumped against something.

‘It’s that person again.’

Hearing Renato’s explanation, Khalid grumbled in an irritated voice. The word ‘again’ caught his attention a little, but Renato couldn’t ask what it meant. It was because Khalid’s aura was so horrendous that it felt as if the man was about to storm out and grab Maximo by the neck right away.

“It’s alright. The bruise has also faded a lot.”

“Can I take a look?”

Khalid stood up, not believing Renato’s words. Then, without giving Renato time to stop him, he approached and sat down next to Renato. As a result of observing so far, Khalid could tell Renato was seriously insensitive to his pain or wounds.

The wounds were obviously serious, so why did he always think it was no big deal? After going through it a few times, he found it hard to believe Renato’s words straight away.

Unsurprisingly, when he rolled up the sleeve, the dark red bruise revealed on his wrist was not much different from a few days ago. Seeing the still clear handprints, Khalid narrowed his eyebrows. The swelling seemed to have subsided, but the bruise felt worse somehow.

“……Do you think of this as having faded a lot?”

“Uh, uhm. I mean, the color has faded a bit?”

Renato rolled his eyes when Khalid lowered his voice. It looked serious, but the pain was almost gone. That was why he said it was alright, but Khalid didn’t seem to like his answer.

“Originally, these bruises would disappear in two days…… It’s a little long this time.”

Renato glanced at Khalid, then looked down at the still dark bruise and muttered. This was something that bothered him as well.

Thanks to the unique healing power of the imperial family, Renato usually healed in a day or two from minor injuries such as cuts from paper or grass, or bruises caused by bumping against furniture like sofas or desks.

So he thought it would be the case this time too. It was a more serious bruise than usual, but in his experience so far, it should almost disappear by this point. However, the handprints left on his wrist had only slightly faded in color, and it seemed that the bruise would take at least two or three more days to completely disappear without a trace.

He had been uncertain, but this had made it clear. Whether it was because of trauma or the aftereffects of regression, he was not as healthy as he used to be. The healing speed of his wounds had also slowed down. Finally, Renato accepted the change that had occurred in his body.

“Is this also a symptom of trauma?”

After pondering for a moment, Renato carefully asked. He did his own research on post-traumatic stress disorder, but he thought that Khalid would know better than he did.

“We can’t cross out that possibility because mental problems can also cause physical problems, but…… Did you apply medicine?”

“Medicine? Do I have to apply medicine on bruises?”

When Renato asked as if this was the first time he had heard about it, Khalid frowned. Renato’s voice turned into quiet murmuring when he faced the glance with subtle reproach.

“Until now, if I just left it alone, it would have healed itself……”

“Let’s apply the medicine first.”

Letting out a small sigh, Khalid pulled out a round case from his pocket. It was an ointment he got from the military doctors just in case. Khalid opened the case with quick movements and dabbed a generous amount of ointment with his fingers.

“You may feel a little cold or itchy.”

Khalid warned in advance, then applied a thin layer of ointment. Renato’s wrist then flinched. Not paying attention to that, Khalid carefully moved his hand. He then asked a question just like passing by.

“So, are you ready to tell me your secret now?”

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