Chapter 223. How to seize the initiative in negotiations2022.03.22.
The announcement of the emperor’s lover swept the social world in less than a day. Not only large parties hosted by influential families, but also small tea parties, salons and club gatherings were all about this shocking fact. Since I didn’t want to crack down on it, of course, servants from each family also spread rumors to my friends and family, and eventually, the announcement of the emperor’s lover was known throughout the capital. [Announcement of His Majesty’s Surprise Lover! The opponent is Ermano’s angel?] [From Devlin’s devil to Ermano’s angel. What kind of person is Aidan Aserard?] [The marriage alliance between Abelardo and Ermano? All kinds of articles about Aidan began pouring out. The reaction of the people of the empire was quite favorable.
“Earl Aserad is the hero of Ermano!”
“Didn’t you go to the vanguard during the war between Ioleca and Devlin not too long ago? How brave you are…! I heard that you wiped out Devlin-kun alone.”
“Hasn’t it already been more than ten years since you became His Majesty’s escort?”
“There’s no way to have a love affair!”
“Ramp, ramp!”
Coincidentally, Aidan’s popularity skyrocketed as he recently voluntarily went to war and won a victory. However, there were also those who were not happy with the news. One of them was Emily.
“I still thought my older brother had a chance. I never thought I would be so frustrated. Isn’t your older brother’s appearance like Mabel’s?”
Enrique smiled awkwardly and averted his gaze at his younger brother’s behavior of holding onto him and examining his face.
“You hurt so much. That’s too much, Emily.”
“Are you barely making that much of anguish? My brother trampled on my precious dream of becoming a family with Mabel!”
“Yes, I was all wrong.”
Seeing Enrique laughing helplessly without any intention of fighting, Emily stopped her rampage and looked up at his face.
‘Maybe it’s because I’ve been through a lot of hardships, so I think I’ve lost some weight.’
Still, I felt sorry for him because he was blood. Emily spread her arms patronizingly.
“What… can you lend me your arms?”
“I will decline.”
“I just said it!”
Embarrassed by Enrique’s knife-like refusal, Emily slammed the door and left.
“Anyway, Emily isn’t really… disingenuous.”
He knew that Emily had come to comfort him. I know that even though he’s being blunt, he scoffed at me with a quarrelsome tone in case he might be heartbroken. Enrique silently tinkered with his weapon. Whatever it was, nothing changed.
‘Because my feelings of loyalty and love, as well as my life, all belong to Your Majesty.’
Even if you can’t stand side by side and follow behind. . . . The Marquis of Gardenia stopped by a cafe he frequented since he was a young man and encountered an unexpected person. It was also Mrs. Deverill, a regular at the café.
“Good luck, Marquis of Gardenia.”
As soon as our eyes met, the Marquis of Gardenia sneered at the reflexive sarcasm.
“You are.”
“I’m an old man with nothing to do but wealth. I just watch people while breathing in the wind from my nose.”
“Are you bragging about your wealth now?”
“Do you dare to do that in front of the Marquis of Gardenia?”
In the bloody conversation that was no different from saying hello, those who accompanied them looked at them and shrank. Madame Deverill smiled lowly at the marquise’s pale face. When I looked closely, my eyes were red. Seeing the Marquis of Gardenia, known as the Marquess of Iron Blood, shed tears over her granddaughter’s scandal, it was a rare spectacle that could not be seen even with money.
“Are you crying?”
“gibberish.”
“As in the past and now, the special things to blood relatives are still the same. The empress cried so much when she got married.”
“You didn’t cry.”
Provoking the Marquis of Gardenia, Mrs. Deverill pondered.
‘Earl Aidan Aserad.’
I’ve often seen him follow the emperor as an escort, but I’ve never spoken to him.
‘I’m going to have to find out if I’m really a person worthy of His Majesty’s mate.’
It was Mrs. Deverill, who had been lively for the first time in a while because she had an entertainment to tease the Marquis of Gardenia. . . . Among them, the one who was most on the defensive was, without a doubt, the Hwang family. Oscar and Esteban stood facing each other in the corner, conversing privately. Esteban muttered bitterly, covering his face with one hand.
“…I knew this would happen someday.”
This lover’s announcement was no different from a ‘red disaster’ to Esteban. Even Oscar, who hadn’t tried anything and opened his eyes and had a nose bleed, felt the same way.
“I’m sorry, Father. Mabel was so dull that I was caught off guard.”
“Oscar, it’s nothing for you to be sorry for. It must all be because Aidan Aserad, that fox-like bastard, seduced Mabel. A guy who doesn’t even know grace. … In any case, from now on, we have to stick together as much as possible and keep flies away from Mabel.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
“When the body goes away, the mind goes away too. It’s important to make it crazy so that Mabel doesn’t notice.”
“He is also the emperor. I will take responsibility and disturb Mabel’s gaze.”
The rich man seriously talked about interfering with his daughter and brother’s love business.
‘I can hear everything.’
Mabel frowned at the pathetic conversation. As I pressed close to the door and listened closely to the wind, I could hear their conversation vividly. It was only an affair that they didn’t even notice that Mabel was eavesdropping. Then, when she heard footsteps approaching the door, Mabel sat down at her desk and pretended to be on duty. The rich man who had been conspiring until recently returned to the bedroom with a calm face. Oscar, with a hard expression on his face, approached her with a forced smile.
“Mabel.”
“huh?”
“You are being deceived.”
“…?”
“What on earth is that guy good for?!”
Suddenly, Oscar, who was on fire inside, shouted in excitement. Mabel was dumbfounded at the sudden question.
“Is it just nice?”
“than me? You mean you like Aidan better than me…?”
What is to come has come. Mabel knew the perfect answer to the question of ‘who is better’.
“Obviously Oscar is better!”
It was forbidden to say that Oscar was a family member and Aidan was a lover. As Mabel expected, Oscar’s expression relaxed for a moment. She thought she had escaped the crisis… but there was an unexpected ambush.
“What about Dad? Are you saying you like the Oscars more than your dad?”
“…”
He overlooked the fact that Esteban was listening to all the conversations behind him. To Esteban who persistently asked him, he glossed over the situation by saying, ‘I think I’ll hate it if you keep asking me’. After a while, Esteban called Mabel with a serious expression.
“Mabel.”
“huh?”
“You obviously promised this father that you wouldn’t get married or anything like that. It was before the trial of the former Duke Javier.”
Mabel got tired of Esteban’s words, which included months, days, hours, minutes, and seconds.
‘Did I even record it?’
Esteban held on with a stubborn expression.
“If you’re trying to escape, you’d better give up, Mabel. My memories of you are never wrong.”
“That’s right.”
Mabel readily admitted.
“okay. I’m glad you know.”
Esteban finally seemed relieved, but Mabel’s counterattack was unexpected.
“But you didn’t say you weren’t dating.”
‘…!’
Stomping rumble. Clinking loudly… Esteban looked down blankly at his daughter with an expression that the world had collapsed. Oscar was shocked as well. Even after that, the rich man adhered closely to Mabel and faithfully implemented the method of disrupting his mind. There was no time to sneak out to meet Aidan. Once, pretending to go for a walk, I went out to the balcony and my eyes met Esteban hiding under it.
“What are you doing here at night, baby?”
“I can’t sleep, so I want to get some fresh air…?”
“Be careful not to catch a cold, Mabel.”
“…Ugh.”
As they roamed around Mabel all day long, Aidan couldn’t approach them either.
‘I want to see Aidan.’
Naturally, Aidan also remembered his master.
‘…Mabel.’
Time passed steadily even while the young lovers who had just met could not even see their faces.
***
An agreement with Langard was scheduled at an early date. Prince Helyas, whom I hadn’t seen in a long time, was still in bandages. He visited the god king several times, but he was not healed because he was barred from the door. Because she had also lashed out at Renesmee, she couldn’t ask for healing and, of course, couldn’t receive healing from the emperor.
“It’s been a while, Prince. Rather, have you not yet been healed?”
To Mabel’s question, Helyas answered shamelessly.
“There are also studies that say that relying on divine power is not good for self-healing. This much will get better soon, so don’t worry about it.”
“That’s what the prince thinks. I wish you well.”
Helyas clenched his numb heart at Mabel’s cold reaction. It still hurts my heart to think of the time when the emperor announced his lover.
‘He doesn’t exist.’
The man was Aidan Asherad, the escort whom Mabel had identified as her lover. He always followed behind me, but he didn’t show up today. Even if it wasn’t so, with the announcement of the emperor’s lover and the unsavory rumors that the crown prince of Langard had been dumped, Helias’ mood was very low. So he nailed it at the beginning of the agreement.
“It is difficult to accept Ermano’s one-sided request. I will accept your request if you hand over the governorship of the Kartoem region as I first suggested.”
A stubborn attitude that will not allow negotiations at the negotiating table. Langard has already concluded. Mabel laughed inwardly at the foolish act of not seeing the future, caught up in personal feelings. can you be so stupid
‘Well, it’s easier to deal with stupid ones.’
It was the same with Mabel who had no intention of engaging in negotiations normally.
“Prince. I have something to say to you, so how about relocating?”
At Mabel’s sudden suggestion, Helyas showed a wary attitude.
“Are you saying you’re suddenly moving? Why?”
“It’s a sensitive topic to discuss here.”
Mabel looked around at the servants of both countries and said. Helios took a deep breath.
“omg.”
Could this be a secret signal sent to me? yeah something was weird It was unusual from the lack of a black escort called a lover who always stuck close behind and stared at her unluckily.
“…!”
Helyas soon came to a great conclusion.
‘As expected, a crown prince would be better than a poor count.’
The issue of succession was not much of a concern. It was enough to have multiple children and have them rule over Langard and Ermano respectively. As an alliance of powerful countries that dominate the continent, the future of commanding the world was already expected. Helias had already made plans for childbirth and succession, and asked sharply.
“Does that mean that His Majesty’s escort is also excluded?”
“If the crown prince wants it, he will.”
At Mabel’s cool answer, Helyas smiled wide.
‘Perhaps this is to say that we will reconsider the marriage alliance. If you change your mind in front of a lot of people, the noodles will sell out, so you probably want a place with fewer people.’
With a throbbing heart, Helios silently followed Mabel to his seat. The place where they sat facing each other was the emperor’s drawing room. Suddenly, I took out a box Mabel had prepared and handed it to him.
“What is this?”
“You will know when you see it.”
“I look forward to it!”
‘What? Maybe cufflinks? handkerchief?’
Thinking it might be a present, Helyas smiled and opened the box lid. However, what was inside was a clunky… video storage magic tool. The magic tool played the stored video on its own without even touching it.
[Esther Elliott!]
[Meet Your Majesty the Emperor. May God’s grace be with you, Yelium.]
[What’s wrong, Elder. It’s me. Renesmee.]
[I brought the core.]
[It’s about the red prober. The elder said that before. They said they caught red probers, extracted their life force, and destroyed their habitat.] [
And… the emperor had the thought body that Elder Elliot solved during the epidemic.] [It
doesn’t matter if they attached it. I’m in secret contact with Emperor Devlin.]
Helyas’ hand holding the image storage magic tool trembled slightly.
“This-.”
“Are you ready to hold the princess of the Langard Empire accountable for colluding with the Emperor of Devlin to try to murder me?”
It was all over in the first and last shot. The effect was truly amazing.
