As I turned around to leave, I heard the King calling me.
“Oh, I see. Two billion golds…… Yeah, damn it, I’ll give you three billion golds.”
Only then did I look back at the King with a smile.
“All right.”
I could see the King’s servants shaking their teeth* at me.
[T/N: Snarling (?)]
I can’t help it, even if they cursed me as a greedy woman, I will still do what I have to do.
It’s a contract I made at the risk of breaking my peace, so I couldn’t concede a single gold.
“This, this jewel is a dowry brought by my mother, who was the Princess of Arisbe, when she married into the Caligor family…….”
Even at first glance, the King’s hand trembled as he held out a small box containing expensive jewels and artifacts.
“If you sell all of these, it will be equivalent to three billion golds.”
“But I’ve to be sure that what you just gave me is really worth three billion golds. I can’t hand over Prince Frederick before that.”
When I spoke in an unconvinced voice, I felt the King’s people staring at me angrily for being rude.
But I didn’t budge an eye.
“I have just abandoned the Kingdom and fled, but now you aren’t even treating me like a King.”
I asked, swallowing a snort.
“Are you threatening me?”
“No, it’s not that…….”
The King’s party immediately lowered its tail.
It was funny to see that they thought my mind was twisted and worried that I might hurt their precious Prince.
I got up with a box of jewels from the King in my arms.
I was going to leave my seat as it is, but I asked the question that suddenly occurred to me.
“But why did Emperor Theodore delay leaving?”
And the answer that came back was the kind of thing I never expected.
****
My walk out of the Lord’s castle stretched out differently than usual.
I frowned as I recalled the story I had just heard inside the castle.
I heard the Emperor found someone here. A survivor of a great family named Chernicia.
I was suspicious no matter how much I thought about it.
He found a survivor of Chernicia?
At this point, here? All of a sudden?
So he’s going to use that person to reinstate the family…….
I heard he has been preparing for that, so the Emperor won’t go back right away…….
And a family reinstatement out of the blue.
Of course I didn’t believe it and snorted out loud while ignoring it blatantly.
No, I tried to ignore it.
What’s the name of the survivor?
But I ended up asking lamely.
I shouldn’t have asked.
It should have been ignored as a ridiculous rumor.
Brian Chernisia.
The moment I heard the name, my mind went blank.
It’s been the way it is ever since I left the castle.
Brian.
My youngest brother, who was mischievous but lovable.
He often teased me by saying, “I will make you marry the First Prince, Theodore, and when that happens, you can cry and complain to him about Richard O’Brian’s harassment.”
It was a name that I couldn’t call again after the family collapsed like that a decade ago. I often cried quietly because I missed even the mischievous harassment.
‘Is it really Brian?’
I put my hopes on the question that rose in my mind for a moment, and then shook my head immediately.
‘No, it can’t be Brian.’
But I kept worrying about the rumor.
It bothered me a little, a little bit.
“Yves! Did you finish your conversation with Father well? Why do you look so dark?”
As soon as I came out, I ran into Derek.
“Did you wait for me?”
“Yes, Yves. Did you enjoy the squirrel warrior performance? The kids liked it, right?”
Derek grinned shyly and chatted with me.
After looking at him for a moment, I stopped his long string of words and asked.
“Good for you, Derek. I just wanted to ask you a favor.”
“What? To me?”
Derek looked visibly surprised when I asked him for a favor.
It’s because he thought I was cold to him because he didn’t have anything that I like, and he came to ask if I needed anything every time.
“It’s my pleasure to be of service of you! Ask anything!”
“You know…….”
I pulled Derek’s ear and whispered.
Then he replied with a smile, as if it were not too difficult.
“As long as you wish.”
A few days later, rumors spread across the Kingdom of Caligor beyond Arbela.
The witch of the lake house destroyed all the evil things around Arbela with black magic.
All the magic items were destroyed and eradicated, and not a small trace was found.
The rumor spread quickly.
At this rate, it will not be long before the rumour reaches to Theodore in Caligor’s Royal Castle.