Finally, a meeting with the Yulitas Empire delegation was arranged. After holding out, they seemed to change their approach when there was unexpectedly no reaction from the princess’s side.

Despite the threatening atmosphere from these people who came grinding their teeth, Acelia’s eyes were cloudy as she tried to hold back a yawn.

Let’s finish this quickly and eat.

“We will now proceed with the meeting regarding supplementary measures to the 〈Maritime Peace Agreement〉. First, the Yulitas side. Would you like to speak?”

“Recently, the number of pirates has increased dramatically in adjacent seas, causing difficulties in salt supply.”

The man who was a marquis stood up and explained.

In reality, Fifth Prince Roberto and Acelia were just like borrowed sacks of barley, while the actual negotiations were conducted between the working-level officials.

Still, they needed to understand the content generally, which was why Camilla had educated her.

All Acelia had to do now was nod with a solemn expression.

“You must be aware that eliminating pirates requires significant resources and manpower. Therefore, we will impose an additional 2 gold per kilogram on the salt we export.”

“That’s too excessive! I believe it’s unfair for us to bear that responsibility alone.”

Count Hoden immediately objected.

Hmm? 2 gold per kilogram? Wait, let me calculate.

Acelia’s country, being located inland, had a high dependency on salt imports.

1 tonne equals 1000kg. That means an additional 2000 gold would be imposed on top of the existing price.

Considering that a commoner family of four’s monthly living expenses were about 5 gold, this was excessively expensive.

Salt would probably become as valuable as gold.

‘These guys are thieves, aren’t they?’

She had intended to stay quiet, but these guys were talking nonsense. Moreover, they were being arrogant.

“If you think it’s expensive, you don’t have to buy it.”

Oh-ho. So you’re saying we have no choice but to accept it?

Geographically, Acelia’s country couldn’t import salt without going through the Yulitas Empire.

Otherwise, they would have to import from distant continents, which would incur transportation costs.

There were areas where they could produce salt themselves, but they were limited, and most coastal people worked in the fishing industry.

Why did the ancestors of the Hedwig imperial family settle in such a place, making life difficult for their descendants?

They should have waged conquest wars earlier to seize more land.

While grumbling internally, Acelia smiled brightly.

“Very well. I’ll accept your proposal.”

“……! You can’t, Your Highness!”

“You should reconsider……”

Though they had no better options, they seemed anxious when she actually agreed. But one should listen to what people say until the end.

“But does the Yulitas Empire remember that the topic of this meeting is supplementary measures to the 〈Maritime Peace Agreement〉?”

“Pardon? ……Of course.”

“‘Let’s work together for maritime peace.’ What a wonderful principle. Don’t you agree?”

“Princess, why are you dragging this out?”

Roberto, who had been irritated throughout by her display of friendship with Joachim, snorted.

“As I understand, the Yulitas Empire deployed twelve warships to eliminate pirates, while we supported five. Additionally, we lack advanced shipbuilding technology, so we had to purchase ships from the Yulitas Empire. Would you please check these documents?”

Acelia asked Count Hoden, and the documents were delivered to the other side.

“These are repair invoices. Since they were outdated old warships, we had to spend a considerable amount of money to repair them before deploying them for the elimination operation. Also, what about the damages suffered by our fishermen? Is it just my imagination that pirates seem to operate only near our country?”

“……Why didn’t you raise the issue about them being old warships then, instead of bringing it up now?”

“We made concessions ‘for maritime peace.’ But what about the Yulitas side? This is deception!”

I wasn’t the diplomatic envoy back then.

“Above all, isn’t the increase in pirates due to the Yulitas Empire?”

Currently, the Yulitas Empire was harshly collecting taxes to prepare for war with a neighboring kingdom.

That’s why citizens who fled from their territories became pirates and took to the sea.

Their excessive demands on our side were also in the same context.

If we accepted the salt price increase, we would naturally be endorsing and supporting their war.

Many believed that this negotiation should be accepted even at great cost to strengthen the relationship between the two countries.

But I couldn’t let myself be fooled while I was wide awake.

She was someone who only thought about immediate benefits. National relations? Someone else would handle that.

“Therefore, our side demands 30 million gold annually as compensation for everything I mentioned earlier.”

“Princess, is that even reasonable?!”

“Do you find my words unreasonable? I didn’t want to go this far, but you’re talking sh*t right now!”

Acelia shouted in gradual anger, slamming the table as she stood up.

“What is this……!”

Fifth Prince Roberto also stood up defiantly.

Hiss, hiss……

Silence filled the conference room. Both sides’ officials seemed surprised that Acelia would go this far.

“……The Princess is right!”

But Acelia’s people didn’t miss the opportunity.

Even with sophistry, once you think “That makes sense when I hear it,” you get caught up in it.

“The pirates were originally your citizens, so why should we bear the burden? Isn’t it your responsibility for failing to manage your citizens properly?”

“These people! We’re talking about salt, why are you suddenly nitpicking about something else?”

“Even when buying a carrot at the market, one examines it carefully, so shouldn’t we scrutinize negotiations between countries properly? The repair costs for warships! The damages suffered by fishermen! We need to calculate everything!”

“None of that is mentioned anywhere in the agreement!”

“Aren’t these problems derived from the main agreement? If you refuse, we’ll also nullify the salt price increase proposal.”

Both sides were deadlocked. When things didn’t go as expected, Roberto played his trump card.

“Enough, if you don’t like it, let’s drop it. We won’t sell, we won’t sell!”

“Oh my~ What are you going to sell from a country surrounded by sea on three sides if not salt? Seawater? I know your situation all too well, go ahead and try! The Emperor of the Yulitas Empire will be very pleased.”

“My! Don’t you people have any common sense? Give an inch, and you take a mile!”

“You really want to do this?”

“Yes, let’s do it!”

The small ball Acelia launched exploded into brilliant fireworks.

* * *

“……”

Acelia was dragged before the Emperor for the crime of turning the meeting into chaos.

She bowed her head pretending to be pitiful, but Acelia didn’t regret her actions in the slightest.

‘Should I just sit still while they try to fool me?’

To be honest, she wasn’t the real Acelia, she had no sense of belonging to this country, and she didn’t care whether the citizens suffered from skyrocketing salt prices or not.

But as mentioned, while she could tolerate disrespect toward this country, she couldn’t tolerate disrespect toward herself.

Her pride from nine years of compulsory education, high school, and university in South Korea wouldn’t allow it.

“You could have just stayed quiet, but you had to cause trouble. Do you know the delegation is now in an uproar, saying they’ll send a letter to their home country?”

“But I thought the Yulitas side’s proposal was unfair.”

“Unfair?”

“Yes. A negotiation should have mutual benefits, but I judged that it didn’t make sense for only us to suffer losses. Of course, I know such ideal negotiations rarely exist in reality. But my pride was hurt to accept it without saying a word.”

“Pride, is it? Is that the pride of ‘Acelia Hedwig’ or the pride of the Empire’s princess?”

Aren’t they both me? But the Emperor wouldn’t ask an obvious question.

In this situation, she should answer the latter to play the role of a selfless princess, but well. Acelia, who didn’t want to catch the Emperor’s eye unnecessarily, told the truth.

“It’s the pride of Acelia Hedwig.”

“I see.”

But the Emperor nodded without any change in expression.

“Very well. You may go.”

“……? Yes.”

Did he call me just to say that? Acelia withdrew quietly with a puzzled face. As long as she wasn’t scolded, it was a win.

After she left, the Emperor’s voice resonated clearly in the vast audience chamber.

“I see qualities of a sovereign in the princess. An emperor must rule for himself.”

For the Empire? For the people? The Emperor believed such things existed only as ideals.

Acelia’s answer, which she gave to avoid the correct response, actually aligned with his standards.

“Grand Chamberlain, was the princess always of such caliber, and I realized it too late?”

“Princess Acelia has been intelligent since childhood.”

“Was that so.”

The Emperor tried to recall Acelia’s childhood, which he couldn’t remember.

But the Emperor, who had been equally indifferent to all family members, couldn’t tell whether the Grand Chamberlain’s words were true or false.

“A late-blooming flower……”

The Grand Chamberlain silently bowed his head at the Emperor’s murmur.