Chapter 122. Side! 2021.04.03.
Esteban could hardly concentrate on his work.
“This is the first time my child has stayed out all night like this.”
“You will be back soon, Your Majesty.”
“Maybe something happened. Send someone soon.”
The servant, who had been in and out of the Meira family more than 20 times today, turned away with tears in her eyes. However, the attendant who went out for a while also returned.
“Damn the situation. His Majesty the Emperor has returned.”
“what?”
Esteban stormed off and left. A carriage really stood in front of the castle. After a while, Mabel got out of the carriage, holding Oscar’s hand.
“may-!”
Esteban, who was about to call Mabel, hesitated. It was because he suddenly realized that he was overprotective of a child who was playing well with his friends. It could be that it’s preventing you from having fun with your friends. At that thought, Esteban hesitated and was unable to approach the children. Mabel, who found Esteban, ran first and clung to his waist.
“dad!”
“Welcome.”
“Dad, lower your head.”
Esteban was puzzled, but leaned down at Mabel’s gesture. OK. side! Isn’t it like kissing and kissing?
“…!”
At the daughter’s aggressive expression of affection, Esteban thought for a moment that this was not a dream. As Esteban froze in a daze for a moment, Mabel examined his expression.
‘As expected, daddy’s a lot of squeamish…’
I thought a kiss would be enough, but it still seemed to be lacking. But the most powerful weapon I had was a kiss, so what should I do with this?
“Dad, are you mad?”
“…hmm?”
“Your dad got mad at you for sleeping outside.”
“ah.”
As Esteban’s reaction was not clear, Mabel became serious.
“You don’t want to talk to me? I came as soon as possible because I wanted to see my father…”
Esteban hurriedly came to his senses when Mabel looked sullen.
“What are you talking about, Mabel? The time I spend talking with you is the most precious time to me.”
“Then, are you feeling better now?”
I’ve never been pissed off in the first place. I was just worried about Mabel. Esteban, who was about to nod involuntarily, paused. I pouted and got a kiss. If I pretended to be a bit more sulking, wouldn’t I be able to receive it one more time? Esteban avoided Mabel’s eyes with a deliberately stern expression.
“Are you sure it will be just one kiss?”
Mabel’s eyes narrowed.
‘I think it’s done…’
I pretended not to, but I saw the corners of my father’s mouth go up. Her lips didn’t wear out anyway, so Mabel kissed her on the other cheek as well.
“A night out isn’t too bad.”
Esteban carried Mabel with utmost satisfaction and headed for the imperial castle. Mabel’s first night-out commotion ended happily with a rich kiss from the father and daughter. Only Oscar, who watched the scene, sighed deeply.
***
Recently I have a big concern.
“Perhaps the side effects of the elixir haven’t gone away yet?”
[What do you mean by that?]
Yang Yi tilted her head and asked. I mumbled with my chin on my chin, fiddling with the hair tie Casey had picked up during this raid.
“I wondered if I would become a baby if I used my divine power to the limit again.”
I wanted to check it like a chimney, but I couldn’t take on the challenge because it took a long time. If he stays out all night again this time, he won’t be able to get away with two kisses.
‘If I go against Veron, I’ll have no choice but to keep using my strength.’
Wouldn’t it be troublesome if he became a baby every time? In addition, now I was using a lot of my strength to maintain the barrier surrounding Aidan. Considering that, the divine power that could be used was extremely limited.
[Don’t push yourself too hard, Mabel. You think you’re all grown up, but you’re still a child.]
“There’s a lot of burden on your shoulders for that.”
[There must be a reason why God chose you. Certainly.]
“That goddamn god…”
I muttered as if spitting out, and looked back at Aidan, who was standing by the door and waiting. dead pan. There are times when you can’t guess what you’re thinking. It was to the point where I wanted to look inside my head at times like that.
“Aidan. Is Casey still busy?”
“Why don’t you try contacting us?”
After the raid and kidnapping, Casey has been busy. Except for occasional visits, he would be busy handling general guild work instead of me in the imperial castle. Besides, we had a lot of things planned. Representatively, they were trying to poke the export of magic materials to neighboring countries in order to give the Devlin Empire a good shot. Of course it didn’t go well. The reason was that, unlike Devlin, where the source of supply was certain, the guild’s materials could not be traded hastily because the source was not certain.
‘In a nutshell, he doesn’t do business with our guild because he cares about Devlin.’
If you break through the first transaction once, the next will be easy, but it was quite difficult to extend your influence overseas.
“It was to bring down Devlin, but everyone is looking at Devlin.”
“It means that the reason Devlin notices is only because of the ingredients, so it’s rather good for His Majesty.”
“Is that right?”
After hearing Aidan’s words, I felt much better. Just then, I got a call from Casey. Since it was time for the meeting, I started by talking about the main topic.
“Did you find out about the fake Veneno?”
[yes. As the lady said, the amount released to the market is increasing.]
“What is the source?”
[The broker is in the middle, so it’s not easy to figure out. Is it possible to collect information with the young lady’s ability?]
What Casey was talking about was my ability to communicate with animals.
“I’ll ask the kids once, but it’s better not to expect anything. Everyone talks about what they saw.”
In fact, animals don’t make very good information gatherers. It was because what they see and hear is subjective and what they tell me is Jung-gu Heating, so it is quite difficult to filter out information from it.
[I will run hard. Will you raise your salary?]
“Incentive pay!”
[Hurray! Hang up!]
Casey hummed and cut off the communication. I tilted my head and muttered.
“What the hell is Casey doing with the money?”
“I heard that it is my dream to spend a comfortable old age.”
“How on earth are you going to spend comfortably…”
Then I thought that I might become the richest person in the empire.
***
Today, as usual, a boring meeting was held. Many agendas passed, and finally, only the last agenda remained.
“This agenda is about a territorial dispute with Langard. I think His Majesty the Emperor should know about this.”
“A load?”
I tilted my head. I was puzzled because I had never sought or asked for my opinion during a meeting.
‘Of course, there were times when I intervened and pushed my opinion.’
“Your Majesty has also given permission, so there is nothing else to say.”
Dad nodded at the words of a servant.
“okay. Since the discussion is already over. In the end, isn’t that what Mabel has to decide?”
What the hell did I have to do with the territorial dispute with Langard?
“What the hell does that have to do with Jim?”
“I don’t know if you’ll remember, but His Majesty the Emperor has a document of surrender of the Kingdom of Orphe that His Majesty Sang Sang received on his second birthday.”
At the mention of a document of surrender, I shuddered. how could i forget Didn’t I develop a gift phobia because of what I had done to be dethroned on that birthday?
“I remember.”
“Heh heh heh. Do you? Do you remember?”
The laughing servant did not seem to believe me. It’s a reaction I often experience, so I’m not angry anymore. After taking a sip of strawberry juice, I looked down at the servants.
“You said it was a territorial dispute, so you mean that the now-destroyed kingdom of Orphe and Langard subjugated the disputed territory as the territory of Ermano? Jim understood that.”
“yes? Yes Yes… that’s right.”
“Did the Langard Empire protest against that territory?”
“That’s right.”
The expression on the servant’s face, which had been smiling, became serious. The Langard Empire had been investigated earlier. Those days when there was only a plan to dethrone in my head. I had been looking for the right person to somehow pass the throne on to someone, and two of the candidates were my high-ranking cousins from Langard. Of course, I only investigated, but did not move into action.
“It is said that a delegation is coming to discuss that matter and to attend the 10th birthday banquet of His Majesty the Emperor, which will be held in a few months.”
“Then, I guess I should study the conflict zone before they arrive…”
I sighed at the thought that I had more work to do, but somehow the servants’ eyes stung me.
“Why does everyone look at Jim like that?”
“Isn’t the future of the empire very bright?”
When my grandfather smiled proudly at me, the rest of the servants clapped their hands and laughed. Among them, only my smile was awkward.
***
One day, the visit of the Langard delegation was completely decided. If the delegation were to come, it was natural that a welcome banquet would be held, so they had to prepare. Dad, as always, entrusted the banquet preparations to Duke Donovan.
‘It’s a divorced relationship, but they’re secretly close.’
At the official event held the other day, I entered at the same time as my dad, so this time we accepted Oscar’s insistence that he be our partner, and we prepared the banquet together. After looking at Oscar’s nervous face for some reason, I opened the door to the drawing room.
“Lord Donovan!”
“Meet Your Majesty the Emperor. It looks like we haven’t seen each other in a long time.”
“Yes. Jim wants to see Prince Donovan more often, but that’s a pity.”
Duke Donovan was a parliamentary aristocrat who occupied a seat in Parliament, but he was notorious for not appearing. Opinions were divided as to why. It’s because she doesn’t like seeing the face of her ex-husband, Hwang Sang-je Esteban, or that she’s a lofty person who isn’t bound by such petty honor. Of course, it was all just rumors and speculation, so nothing was clarified.
“Thank you again, Lord Donovan.”
“It is an honor to serve Your Majesty.”
Duke Donovan nodded with a sullen face, and his gaze turned to Oscar, who was next to me.
“Oscar. You seem to have grown taller I need to re-measure.”
“Yes mother.”
Oscar lowered his head with a slightly nervous expression. Oscar, of course, did not make eye contact with Duke Donovan. I saw Duke Donovan staring at Oscar like that.
‘Oscar is overly nervous and Duke Donovan is overly aloof.’
Today’s difficulties caught between the stark hats were expected. We sat side by side on the sofa that the attendant had put away beforehand. All the furniture on the other side had been removed, so there was plenty of room for clothes.
“It seemed that there was no need to escort His Majesty out of the imperial castle, so we obtained the approval of the situation and brought the designer to the imperial castle. It would be enough to lightly grasp the latest trend today.”
Duke Donovan nodded, and the attendant opened the door. The invited designers came in one by one and introduced their creations from the dressing room. Of course, Oscar and I designed the clothes together, so it was like a set.
“This outfit was designed around the color white. Doesn’t it go very well with His Highness Oscar’s silver hair?”
When I saw a designer’s white suit, I nodded.
‘That’s that.’
I didn’t even notice my dress. That suit is the suit that was created for Oscar.
“Oscar. how about that I think it will suit you well.”
“I don’t know, Mabel.”
“no. They fit incredibly well!”
Oscar, more intimidated than usual because Duke Donovan was present, smiled awkwardly and avoided my gaze. It was too much of a waste to give up that suit as it is.
“Doesn’t it look really good on you?”
Then he looked at Duke Donovan with excessively twinkling eyes.
‘They say it suits you well!’
Before long, Duke Donovan opened his mouth.
“It will look good on you.”
“…!”
Oscar’s ears turned red at the answer without hesitation.
‘I guess it’s good to be praised by my mother.’
I secretly laughed at the shy Oscar.
