The Prince Is Dead, So Let’s Start Over Everything Again! - Chapter 2.1 - 2. This contract is entirely in my favor

A crumpled piece of paper handed over by a mere eight-year-old boy surprised me.

It wasn’t just because the contract written by the 3rd Prince looked plausible at first glance.

“De, De, Delike Port?”

“Yes, Delike Port.”

“Are you talking about that Delike, the ice-free port in the North?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

It was because the conditions proposed by the 3rd Prince were too extraordinary.

In this world where land transportation was not very developed, the value of a port was truly immense.

Almost all ports were the center of imperial trade, and the tax collected from a single port city was at least three times more than that of other cities of similar size.

It would have been sufficiently astonishing if he had offered an ordinary port, but the card the 3rd Prince played was none other than Delike, the only ice-free port in the North.

The only port where the sea surface doesn’t freeze all year round even in the cold North.

That’s Delike – a place so renowned that even I, who occasionally muddle the empire’s name, couldn’t possibly fail to recognize it.

“Are… are you feeling unwell by any chance?”

Among Lurupel’s territories, there was also one river port city.

Although large ships couldn’t pass through due to the narrow and shallow river, it was still a port, so its importance was enormous.

The fact that Lurupel suffered from drought 8 years ago was not so much because of the drought itself, but because the water level of the river had lowered due to the drought.

There was a poor harvest, so they needed to import grain from other cities, but they couldn’t do so because the river had dried up.

“Is it really that Delike that I know?”

“Yes. It should be the Delike that Lady Lurupel knows.”

If even a small river port in a frontier territory was this crucial, the importance of Delike, the center of northern trade, was beyond words.

I suspected again and again that this naive 3rd Prince might have misspelled it.

However, the 3rd Prince nodded his head willingly several times without showing any sign of embarrassment or annoyance.

Why is he giving Delike to me?

Perhaps Lurupel looked extremely poor to him?

Was the welcoming ceremony, which looked splendid and lavish to my eyes, not satisfactory to the 3rd Prince?

All sorts of question marks floated around in my head.

“Why are you giving this to me?”

I asked with furrowed brows and a voice laced with doubt

“…Because I thought you might need it.”

Then came an unexpected answer from the 3rd Prince.

“Me? Delike?”

“…It’s embarrassing to say, but I know that this engagement could put some kind of stigma on Lady Lurupel.”

“Stigma?”

“Because the fact of breaking off the engagement with me will become an obstacle in Lady Lurupel’s future path.”

Ah, is he talking about something like a divorcee label?

I finally understood why the 3rd Prince had pulled out such an incredible card as the only ice-free port in the North.

This was a kind of compensation. And an astronomical amount of compensation at that.

Come to think of it, breaking off an engagement must be quite a big issue in this conservative noble society. Especially if it’s breaking off an engagement with the imperial family.

An ordinary noble lady who considers breaking off an engagement a great dishonor would probably not even dare to accept a contract engagement with the 3rd Prince.

“Will something change if I have Delike?”

But no matter how great a city Delike was, it couldn’t restore damaged honor.

Even if I had Delike, wouldn’t I just go from being a divorcee to being a wealthy divorcee?

Of course, as a modern person, I didn’t think much of breaking off an engagement, but there’s no way the 3rd Prince would know this.

Upon receiving my question, the 3rd Prince sheepishly rubbed his chin with his fingertip and whispered softly.

“…Cal, no, the Northern Duke covets Delike the most. Because all goods heading to the North must pass through Delike.”

“Are you saying… that I should use Delike to negotiate with His Grace the Duke?”

“If that’s what Lady Lurupel wishes.”

Oh-ho.

This made it clear that the 3rd Prince hadn’t given up even a bit on the rumor about Hariella’s one-sided love for young Duke Cal something.

The 3rd Prince had come to Lurupel with the belief that if it was Hariella who was in love with the Northern young duke, she would surely be interested in his proposal.

Indeed, while other nobles might not, it seemed the Northern Duke wouldn’t refuse a daughter-in-law who brought Delike as her dowry.

Of course, as someone who had never even seen the young duke’s face, I would probably choose to live well on my own rather than offer Delike to the Northern Duke and marry his son…

By the way, the more I looked at the 3rd Prince, the more unique he seemed.

Do children usually think this deeply? Is it because he’s a prince that he’s different? Or is it because he’s a sub-male lead?

“…But, are we unconditionally breaking off the engagement?”

“Pardon?”

As soon as one question was resolved, another curiosity arose.

The 3rd Prince opened his eyes wide as if he hadn’t expected such a question at all.

Seeing him like this, he seemed like an ordinary child again… Is he just a bit precocious after all?

“All the clauses seem to be premised on breaking off the engagement when we come of age.”

“Don’t you want that?”

Well, of course I do, but…

I swallowed my words, not knowing what to say.

What exactly was the 3rd Prince gaining from this engagement?

I couldn’t find an answer to this question at all.

It’s not like the 3rd Prince was some giving tree, it didn’t make sense for him to be so one-sidedly generous.

A contract that’s entirely favorable to one person can never be a complete contract.

“Your Highness! So this is where you were!”

But I couldn’t ask the 3rd Prince for any further explanation.

The 3rd Prince’s attendant, who had entered the garden entrance, was running towards us out of breath.

“It seems we can’t continue our conversation.”

“I suppose not.”

“Please go back to your room and read the other clauses slowly. If there’s anything you’d like to add, you can write it at the bottom.”

“Yes…”

“…And.”

The 3rd Prince, who had stood up from the bench and neatly adjusted his clothes, looked straight into my eyes and said,

“I hope you’ll keep everything we just talked about a secret. The existence of this contract, and of course, the fact that I am the owner of Delike.”

The 3rd Prince, who warned me with a face that didn’t match his cute appearance, turned his back first and left.

A boy who thinks about the future of his fiancée even while planning to get engaged with the basic premise of breaking it off with someone he doesn’t even love.

A boy who stumbles over his words like an innocent child, but holds back when it comes to important questions.

Whether he’s cold-hearted or caring, dull or clever.

The 3rd Prince was truly an unpredictable, strange child.