“It’s been a while, Frill. Today, unlike before…… there are quite a lot of people welcoming me?” 

 Frill smiled gently at my question.

“We always have this many people waiting when His Highness the Crown Prince’s guest arrives. I apologize if it made you uncomfortable.” 

 “How could I be uncomfortable? It’s fine.”

As I looked around at the people bowing to me, Frill came closer with an ‘oh right’ expression and whispered.

“His Highness the Crown Prince currently has another appointment.” 

 “Hmm, I see. However…… as Frill knows, I came to see His Majesty the Emperor today.” 

 Hearing my words, Frill nodded as if understanding their meaning. 

 “His Majesty is in the reception room.”

“Let’s go.” 

 So I followed Frill’s guidance to the reception room.

Unlike the room I went to last time, the reception room was decorated incredibly lavishly.

I took a deep breath in front of it and nodded to Frill. 

 When Frill gave a signal, the knight guarding the reception room knocked on the door. 

 “Lady Rowenloa Masipacius has arrived.” 

 As soon as those words ended, the reception room doors opened wide, and I saw the Emperor sitting in the high seat, legs crossed, looking at documents.

I gave a light curtsy at the door to greet the Emperor, then went before him to give the formal imperial greeting. 

 Despite being the same person, the Emperor seemed to emanate some sort of noble aura. 

 As I approached him, gave my greeting, and maintained my posture, the Emperor briefly took his eyes off the documents and looked at me. 

 “You may straighten up.” 

 Only after the Emperor’s permission did I straighten my back.

They say that when meeting the Emperor for the first time, one must not straighten up until given permission.

This is one of the strange and difficult-to-understand imperial courtesies. 

 The Emperor looked at me, who had entered alone, with strange eyes. 

 “……I heard you were coming with Marquis Masipacius.”

“I apologize, but the Marquis is currently being inspected by the Imperial Knights due to carelessness.” 

 Hearing this, the Emperor frowned. 

 “Then, you should return for today as well. I cannot discuss such a major business proposal with just you.” 

 I held out the documents to the Emperor. 

 “I understand perfectly well that you cannot discuss this with me. However, since we cannot waste Your Majesty’s time at a pre-arranged appointment, Father asked me to deliver the documents and provide a brief overview.” 

 Hearing this, the Emperor gestured to his aide standing nearby, who took the documents from my hands and delivered them to the Emperor. 

 “If that is Marquis Masipacius’s wish, then so be it.” 

 The Emperor looked at me with a very displeased expression.

His eyes seemed to reflect his inner thoughts. 

 ‘There’s no way such a young child could understand this business.’ 

 I began explaining with a slight smile, as if provoking such thoughts from the Emperor. 

 “To put it simply, it’s about developing an unclaimed land that the Empire isn’t using to build a dam. At the same time, Father thinks we can create new economic opportunities by developing the surrounding land and creating residential environments for people. I’ve heard that lately, with many people crowding into the central areas, various problems including food shortages are arising. This is a business proposal that could solve those problems while also generating profit.” 

 The Emperor nodded without saying anything particular.

Then he flipped through the documents with interested eyes, saying nothing. 

 “So today, Father came to receive permission from the Imperial Palace, no, Your Majesty’s permission to purchase land without an owner.” 

 The Emperor seemed to scan through the documents silently for a while, then placed the stack of documents on the desk before him with a thud. 

 “The business proposal itself isn’t bad.” 

 Right.

The business proposal itself wouldn’t be bad. 

 Developing unused land into a dam would be an enormous benefit for both the Empire and the Imperial family.

The taxes alone would clearly be tremendous. 

 Unlike the Emperor’s words, his expression was very…… peculiar.

Neither able to like it nor hate it.

He wore an expression like a child troubled by having to choose between two favorite toys. 

 And I knew exactly what the Emperor was worried about right now. 

 Ironically, while the Emperor liked the idea of Masipacius developing that land, he probably wasn’t so pleased about Masipacius purchasing it. 

 The Emperor did not view the Masipacius family positively.

He probably thought of them as just a family obsessed with money games. 

 But if Masipacius bought more land here now, there was a possibility that the nobility rankings could change.

Every year, the Emperor selected the 8 most influential families in the Gellions Empire to host the Gels Conference, also known as the Noble Conference.

Although they say they go through a selection process every year, the 8 families attending the Gels Conference were practically fixed. 

 While they say they have various criteria for selection, the decisive factor was ultimately the size of land owned by the nobles.

And right now, the noble barely holding onto the 8th position was from a family very close to the Emperor, and there wasn’t much difference in land size between them and Masipacius.

If Masipacius purchased land now, the noble rankings would definitely change. 

 The Emperor surely wouldn’t be pleased about that point. 

 And sorry to the Emperor, but this gave me grounds to make a deal with him. 

 “Your Majesty, I understand what you’re worried about.” 

 Hearing my words, the Emperor snorted. 

 “You don’t want my Father to attend the Gels Conference, right?” 

With that, the Emperor’s eyes gradually widened.

And when I raised my head, I was able to meet the Emperor’s gaze for the first time. 

 “I know the method.” 

 Hearing those words, the Emperor’s gaze turned sharp. 

 “How impudent.” 

 When the Emperor uttered those words, the surrounding aides began approaching me.

But I didn’t cower. 

 “I apologize. But if I were Your Majesty, I thought that would be the biggest concern…… It was my oversight.” 

 Hearing my words, the Emperor again gestured to an aide.

Upon hearing the Emperor’s words, the aide hurriedly opened the reception room door and ran outside. 

 He probably told them to buy more time until Father arrived here. 

 “Did your father order this?” 

 I shook my head at the Emperor’s words. 

 “How could that be? For several years now, Father has been using all sorts of schemes saying he wants to attend the Gels Conference. There’s no way such a father would ask me to do something like this.” 

 Hearing those words, the Emperor sent all the aides out of the reception room. 

 “If you try anything strange, you won’t be walking out of this palace on your own two feet.” 

 Oh my, it’s a bit scary when the Emperor says it like that in the afternoon. 

 I nodded without losing my nerve.

The Emperor wiggled his finger as if telling me to speak. 

 “Would you please look at whose name that business proposal is under?” 

 Hearing my words, the Emperor picked up the documents with an annoyed expression. 

 “……Bershua Masipacius? The Marquis’s first son, isn’t he?”

“Yes. The reason I dare to speak so rudely to Your Majesty now is because I want to prevent that business proposal from spreading through this empire under the name Bershua.” 

 Hearing my words, the Emperor’s eyes sparkled.

It meant he was interested in my story. 

 “If you help pass that business proposal under someone else’s name instead of Bershua’s, I will also tell you how to make this business successful without putting the Masipacius family in the Gels Conference.” 

 I proposed a deal to the Emperor. 

 “Sit here.” 

 So I sat on the sofa placed near the Emperor and began speaking. 

 “The method is very simple. It just needs me. But, Your Majesty cannot do it alone.” 

 I began explaining to the Emperor the strategy I had come up with after staying up for 3 days and nights. 

 To buy land without an owner, one must pay money to the Imperial family.

This was because land without an owner ultimately became Imperial property. 

 However, there isn’t just one way to buy this land.

There’s the method like Father’s of getting the Emperor’s permission to directly purchase the land deed, and the method of receiving majority approval at the Gels Conference to purchase Imperial land.

Here’s the point I’ll use.

Even if one receives the Emperor’s permission, if a noble belonging to the Gels Conference raises an objection about the land purchase before the land is owned, the person wanting to own the land must attend the Gels Conference and receive majority approval.

It was like a custom that had been practiced from old times to prevent monopolization. 

 The Emperor probably wouldn’t want to make Masipacius a complete enemy and give up this business, nor would he want to make enemies of the Gels Conference nobles.

That’s probably why he’s making such a troubled expression now. 

 If he allows Masipacius to purchase the land, he’ll become enemies with the noble who loses their seat in the Gels Conference without warning, and if he doesn’t allow Masipacius to purchase the land or allows it and informs the Gels Conference, he’ll become enemies with Masipacius. 

 So, what do I need to do here? 

 Secretly leak information in consultation with the Emperor.

The rumor that Marquis Masipacius wants to own land to attend the Gels Conference. 

 Rumors among adult nobles surprisingly have clear sources.

But rumors among young people who are still learning tend to get inflated here and there even without sources. 

 Hearing my words, the Emperor had now completely turned his body toward me and was looking at me with quite a serious expression. 

 “So I’ll spread rumors among the young ladies, and Your Majesty just needs to manage the nobles who become angry at those rumors well enough to reach this conclusion at the Gels Conference. Tell the Marquis to start the business on that land under the condition of renting it and paying monthly usage fees.” 

 Hearing those words, the Emperor stared at me for a while before breaking into loud laughter. 

 “How very bold!”