Chapter 4 – His and Her Affection (Which Was) (9)

‘But I’ll get to see her briefly tomorrow.’

Trying to shake off his gloomy mood, Demetrian ran a hand through his hair and focused his gaze on the document in front of him.

「Relief Fund Transport Agreement」

The next meeting, not quite a reconciliation with Chloe, was scheduled for the following Water Day, three weeks after that day. Although he wanted to meet two weeks later on Water Day as per their usual schedule, it coincided with Madame Etoile’s salon, so he postponed it without much regret.

He knew he would be busy anyway.

The Imperial Senate had decided to support the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ relief fund project for the lean season by collecting donations from the nobles, but issues arose during the process. As a result, since last week, Demetrian had returned to his routine of shuttling between home and the Imperial Palace. Just as his escort knight had hoped.

Due to the vastness of the Empire, the lean season varied by region, so they planned to gather donations from the nobles in the Senate before executing the budget, which is where the problem occurred.

‘There’s trouble! The merchant group coming from the Corte territory…’

‘There’s an issue with the donations being transported from the Obos territory…’

‘A telegram came from the Katila territory merchant group!’

Since last week, donations sent by nobles from various regions were arriving, but the merchant groups transporting them to the capital all reported that the donations had been stolen.

Typically, when sending offerings from each territory to the capital, portals were used. However, since this involved sending cash, conservative lords opted for direct transportation through merchants, which caused the problem. Despite portals operating without issues for decades, noble lords, who viewed mages as commoners, were anxious that gold coins would disappear if sent through a portal.

‘The donations are delayed?’

‘About 40% are still outstanding… The merchants transporting the donations from the local territories have all been robbed.’

‘Who sends cash with merchants in this day and age…’

‘Conservative lords can’t be helped. Even though the Senate offered to refund 5% of the donations if sent through portals, they still refused.’

‘I already drafted the execution plan… How can I face Father like this?’

For 1st Prince Frederick, this project was extremely important. It was the first large-scale project he led since becoming involved with the Ministry of Internal Affairs. With his appointment as Crown Prince being repeatedly delayed for unclear reasons, he couldn’t afford any blemishes, even if he performed well.

‘I should use my personal funds if necessary…’

‘Please don’t. The budget is supposed to be released by the government; what will you do if you use your funds every time?’

‘Then what should I do?’

‘Let’s first release the gathered funds to places in urgent need and execute additional funds as they come in.’

‘This won’t happen again, will it?’

‘…Surely not.’

Thanks to Demetrian’s encouragement for the lords to use portals, the damage was less than expected, but it wasn’t nonexistent.

‘Will they obediently send it again if asked?’

‘I drafted an agreement holding them responsible for losses incurred by not using portals… They probably didn’t expect this to happen. Even if we can’t recover the stolen amounts, we should draft a plan to compensate through tax adjustments in the fall.’

‘They should have ensured proper security…’

‘I supported hiring mercenaries just in case and increased the escort, yet it still happened.’

They needed to persuade the lords to collect donations again to cover the shortfall, and meanwhile, they had to find the missing donations. They also needed to locate the merchants who hadn’t yet arrived in the capital and provide escort support.

Recalling the countermeasures he had proposed and their outcomes, Demetrian pressed his throbbing temples.

“Do we really need to send mages?”

Pujali, who had been scribbling on documents, asked cautiously. It was puzzling that they had skipped over all the reasonable measures and requested support from the Imperial Mage Corps, known for being uncooperative with the Senate.

“It could be the work of mages, given that the mercenaries didn’t notice anything. Local lords can’t hire mage mercenaries.”

“True… The Mage Guild is only in Gotiue and the 5 Dukes’ territories…”

Pujali, tapping her lips with a fountain pen, seemed to understand and returned her gaze to the documents.

The new method to be included in this agreement could also partially fail. For the territories that stubbornly refused to use portals, mages would be dispatched, and for those who used portals, the Senate’s cash transport carriage would be heavily guarded and sent to the portal assembly point outside Gotiue.

It was a method that blocked the known pitfalls as much as possible, but this incident was one he hadn’t solved in the end, so he had to see which method would work.

‘Back then, so many countermeasures failed; I really had to drink a few glasses of whiskey after work just to sleep.’

Others might think it was only Frederick’s fate at stake, but it was important for him too. As Crevelle’s successor, it was a project undertaken with the prospective Crown Prince. He understood Frederick’s desire to use his personal funds.

‘I need to solve this brilliantly to have a reason to speak to Father.’

As Demetrian recalled his plan, his anxiety resurfaced.

After overcoming this challenge as befitting Crevelle’s successor, he would gain his father’s approval to discuss the engagement again. Thinking about such things made his head ache again, but…

The real headache was elsewhere. His worries inevitably circled back to Chloe.

Thinking that longing would fade with busyness was foolish. He thought that if his mind was occupied elsewhere, he could temporarily suppress the urge to rush to her, and having longed for her for so long, he thought a few days wouldn’t matter. How could he have known where this newfound emotion would lead?

Someone who didn’t need to consider others’ emotions couldn’t possibly understand his own heart. Unaware of the cause of his heartache, Demetrian only pondered how to capture the one he longed for in his eyes. He had no leisure to carefully analyze the reasons.

In his mind, he scaled Lacroix’s walls several times and dispatched Faigen to track her location multiple times. But until he set everything right, he couldn’t recklessly be swept away by emotions. Until now, he could create plausible reasons, but now he had run out of excuses.

‘Unless it’s a convincing excuse, it’ll upset Loi again…’

Demetrian believed that the reasons he considered plausible were actually forcibly attached by him. He lacked the leisure to reflect on anything now.

‘I’m glad I asked back then. Thanks to that, I know I can see her tomorrow…’

He had done well to ask the messenger going to Marianne to inform him if Chloe sent letters to the Crown Prince’s palace. For the messenger, the Young Duke’s favor of entering the inner palace on his behalf was something to be grateful for.

‘I knew the Young Duke was close with the Lacroix lady, but I didn’t know he even delivered letters.’

‘I just happened to run into the messenger. Do you meet Chloe?’

‘Yes, she’s coming to play tennis with Mia next week. They only include me when they need a partner, every time.’

Marianne tried to be prickly and not show him the letter, but fortunately, there was also a letter for 3rd Prince Jeremy this time. Being three years younger than Chloe and a year younger than Marianne, the youngest of the Imperial family was much closer to cousin Marianne than his ten-year-older brothers, so he often hung out with Chloe.

Thanks to that, Demetrian could know when Chloe was visiting the Crown Prince’s palace without owing another debt to Pujali.

Tomorrow, I’ll get to see her even briefly.

* * *

Chloe, who visited the Crown Prince’s palace, played a light game of tennis on the grass court next to the Crown Prince’s garden with Mirabelle, Marianne, and 3rd Prince Jeremy, followed by tea time.

“How could you confuse the tennis rules? Especially you, sister.”

“Sorry, sorry. I guess I forgot since I didn’t play all winter.”

In Gotiue, Chloe used to play tennis often with just Mirabelle, when visiting Marianne, or with friends from Ridote, but the tennis match ended ambiguously because Chloe kept confusing the rules.

‘Maybe because I didn’t play even once while in Scandar…’

“Lady Lacroix remembers everything quickly, so she has to postpone some things to avoid overloading, right?”

3rd Prince Jeremy, with his reddish-brown curly hair, straddling the line between boy and young man, wiped his sweat and said.

“But how is Miss Noisette so athletic? I can’t win at all.”

“Perhaps my father… has a knack for sports… I guess?”

Haha, Mirabelle laughed awkwardly. Although Mirabelle was also acting as Chloe’s escort, she wasn’t going to let even the rarely seen Prince who was with Marianne know that.

“Next time, include me not just when playing tennis.”

“In girls’ chatter?”

“I’ve heard things about the princes of the vassal states, you know.”

“Really? Then who’s more handsome, Scerbagnol and the Crown Prince or Etia’s Crown Prince?”

“Judging people by their looks…”

“Why, do you think I don’t know you send my portrait every year?”

Marianne cornered Jeremy. Unlike his two older brothers at the core of the succession structure, the youngest prince had quite a few approachable aspects.

“Do you think those countries would take you if they knew how prickly you are? Be grateful they only send your portrait.”

“You, just because you’re a prince, you speak so freely? You won’t even become Grand Duke Campo.”

Watching their antics, Chloe added with a pleasant smile.

“Etia’s Crown Prince is my great aunt’s son, you know. I vote for Scerbagnol. My mother worries that Alfonso is a bit small-minded.”

Talking about the princes of the vassal states, who might become their political marriage partners, as they usually did around this time, Chloe truly felt like she was twenty again.

“When you meet someone, you might find someone you connect with. Who knows? When all the princes come for Father’s 50th birthday, even a mischievous girl like you might…”

“Jerry.”

Marianne, who had been playful until just now, spoke in a subdued voice.

“You might have a choice, but I don’t. I’m not a direct line of the Imperial family. It’s the same for Loi.”