'Indeed… Uberlin. It's from the South that people call it Paradise, where a red lake surrounds the seven gates in the evening?'
However, despite that development of commerce between the two sides, and the willingness of exchanges trades, the sea route into there hasn't been opened yet. This was due to the decision of the Senates.
He frowned and was lost in thought.
Pathetic. Those idiots who have high positions and hold the glory in Hellasium, are thinking of starting another war again.
Tashian was a party directly affected by the decision of the Senate.
He was a competent commander-in-chief, but that never meant he was a bloodthirsty war person. In fact, he was one of the most influential anti-war groups.
The political group was a small political force composed of young aristocrats, which was placed around the Prince.
(TN: 반원로회는, if someone is knowledgeable enough to inform me what this means, please tell me. I translated it as Political Group since I couldn't find the right meaning to tl it, but if there's someone kind-hearted enough to tell me the meaning, do so. Thank you in advance!)
Gradually, the summary about the city of Uberlin, marked in Tashian's eyes.
His eyes were deep while reading it silently.
The reason why he showed great interest in Uberlin was not simply because it was an area related to the economic growth of the next generation of Hellasium.
'This is…'
Somehow, there was a strange yearning and sorrow in his eyes as he skimmed through the Uberlin's map.
But before he could remember, the voice of the angry Crown Prince Ikshid struck him in the ear.
"Eek….! Seriously, I should get something to prick the ears of those people. They were a good partner to have an exchange of trading, but now someone who wags his tail before my eyes, planning to have another war! Now, Duke, look, my hair has gone gray…!"
"…I don't care."
When he heard the answer, Ikshid muttered with a face that he was tired of it.
"Why don't you do something about your expression of indifference? People are all talking about whether the duke is real or whether the stone blocks are carved into your human beings! Anyway, Marquis Miller, place the Genova's Princess right in front of my eyes…"
The next moment, however, he opened his eyes wide. Diego Miller, who was in front of him, suddenly disappeared. Ikshid pointed his finger in the air like an idiot.
"No, he was just here…! Tashian, have you seen him?"
"I saw him slip through the door of my office as you began to speak."
Replied Tashian in a very cold voice.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?! My most important question has yet to be answered…!"
"I beg your pardon, he thought Your Majesty had finished his business."
Tashian murmured while his gaze was fixed to the window of his office, looking at the distant landscape with annoyance. Ikshid then exclaimed indignantly.
"What a cold attitude ! That's why you've never been married….!"
Tashian's eyebrows were distorted by the Prince's remark on his marriage when the situation seemed to be at his slight disadvantage.
"… Aren't you tired of talking about my marriage?"
Ikshid, who looked at the duke, suddenly changed his attitude and began to grin. The very existence of the unmarried duke was a full joke for him.
Ikshid crossed his legs on his seat, leaned his hand against the desk, and supported his chin by it. He opened his mouth.
"So, isn't marriage a matter of necessity between a man and a woman? How did the groom be well-prepared to the extent that he can hold a marriage this afternoon, but his bride is the problem.."
"…. What are you trying to say?"
Tashian's expression of displeasure hardened. It was an expression of displeasure to him, who noticed who the bride and groom he was talking about.
Ikshid then said to him with his eyes glowing.
"Tashian, let me tell you a good saying."
"I don't want to hear it."
The duke flatly refused the Prince's words. But the crown prince he served was very persistent in this respect.
"Don't be like that, didn't I personally inspect the Province of Augusto the other day? It was top secret, so you probably didn't know."
He doesn't know. If he hadn't noticed the splendid event, he would have been called blind.
Tashian was at a loss for words.
If the event that was said to be top secret, how would the public event be held? He was troubled for a while as a servant of the Crown Prince.
However, the prince continued regardless of how he addressed his conflicting subjects.
"There I met an old woman who was a native of the country. When I asked her, 'Do you have a husband?' she said, 'Both my first husband and my second husband are already dead.'"
He said in a meaningful voice, keeping a close eye on Tashian, who was expressionless.
"She was a very devout believer in the St. Mary's Church, and she said that her first husband was named Gershan, and her second husband was named Jefar. His first husband, Gershan, was a very good man. He never complained and peacefully lived with her. He was very nice to her throughout life. But she told me that the St. Mary had sent Jefar to heaven?"
Ikshid smiled with his eyes at Tashian.
"What do you think is the reason?"
"I don't want to know."
Tashian answered immediately, feeling ominous. Ikshid twitched his lips for a moment as he watched the Duke avoiding his eyes. Finally, he couldn't hold back his laughter and laughed, answering his own question.
"My second husband, Jefar, did such a good job at night. Hahahaha!"
Ikshid looked at Tashian with a pathetic look on his face, giggling to himself and laughing. Tashian, unable to see what's funny, gritted his teeth and responded.
"What does that have to do with my marriage?"
Ikshid, who had been giggling, paused and wiped away the tears around his eyes. Then he glanced down at Tashian's waist and answered with a worried look.
"No, what I am saying is, you've been alone for so long, is there any other problem, that comes from a physical defect…?"
"Your Majesty. I think it's time for you to go."
Tashian sprang up from his seat with a ferocious command. Then he strode to the door of the office, opened the door, and pointed his finger at the door in a fairly dynamic motion.
He gritted his teeth and said,
"I beg your pardon, but please leave."
Of course, Ikshid wasn't upset again.
"Ouch! Ahaha… … ! Do you know! Lord, do you only shine on the outside, and the places you can't see are stale…?"
Tashian touched his forehead. After laughing for such a long time, Ikshid finally came to his senses and looked serious again. Tashian was a little wary about what else he was going to say this time. Ikshid finally took a breath and spoke softly in a passing tone.
"Lord, give me a piece of advice before I go. This, too, was what I heard from the woman I met back then."
"I think I told you I didn't want to hear it."
Tashian grinded his teeth once more, but Ikshid had already spoken out. He hummed like he didn't hear him, swinging his chair back and forth, which seemed to fall at any moment.
"Lord. Be mindful. Men's eggplants are really like the branches of the market. No, is it all there is in the store? Wouldn't women be very sorry for what they paid, if that branch was modest, blunt, bruised, flabby, stiff, or distorted?"
On the spot, Tashian had to draw the utmost patience to avoid a mutiny in which the next emperor of the Empire would be beaten.
Added Ikshid, as he stood up and walked towards the door of the duke's office.
"In order not to sell such eggplants, stores should spare no effort to bring in the best of everything."
"… What eggplant are you talking about, Your Highness?"
(TN: Am I the only one who understands what 'eggplant' is? Stop me, I'm laughing for a long time now. )
Then a clear and clear voice came from outside the office.
The two men were bewildered and stretched themselves out like spoons. Ikshid, who first came to his senses, quickly opened the door of his office.
There stood two women, one was a woman with white blond hair and another woman was with red hair that shone like the sun.
Eun-woo opened her eyes wide and looked at the prince and the duke, who looked very confused.
No, what were they talking about inside that made them gasp like they were caught talking behind their back?
When Eun-woo was staring at the two men with suspicious faces, the first to speak was, of course, Selena, who was calm anytime, and anywhere.
"It's been a long time since I saw you, Your Highness, the Crown Prince. By the way, what eggplant are you talking about?"
Selena, who was smiling softly, blinked her long eyelashes and asked the prince.
Eun-woo had no choice but to express her admiration from the subsequent reaction of Ikshid. In front of Selena, Ikshid was so red from his neck to the top of his head, that his mahogany hair wished for light.
'Wow… How can he always paint his ears like that?'
She was amazed inside.
"Uhm. Oh, it was nothing. It's none of your business."
Ikshid quickly coughed and answered in a lower voice than usual. He sounded very conscious of Selena. Whether the duke looked at himself closely from the side or not, it seemed that the only thing he saw now was the red-haired woman in front of him.
Eun-woo gave such a disgruntled look to Ikshid. Who is Ikshid? Heaven and earth alone, the Crown Prince. No matter how hard and high the position is, he was the crown prince of the empire born with a sense of pride and a full set of words and basic options that he had the ability to easily overcome problems.
Eun-woo has been witnessing this scene these days, for some reason, despite the rare sight from Prince Ikshid, whose face and earlobes are blushed and stuttered.
'Strangely, this man... Every time I invite Selena, he visits the Duke's mansion like a ghost.'
Literally, whenever she went to horseback riding races with Selena or attended balloon competitions, the prince faced them 'by accident' with an expressway that it was all coincidentally. It was the same today.
'How did he know that you invited Selena to my class?'
Eun-woo stood by Selena's side and stared disapprovingly at him. She deliberately spoke in a more coy voice.
"What are you doing today, Imperial Brother? I've been seeing you a lot at the duke's house lately."
However, the problem was that Selena was the only one he could be silent about.
Ikshid immediately regained his normal prosperity and responded.
"I am visiting my servant's home. What's wrong with that? Elli, you're getting cranky day by day."
"Well, as the crown prince of a country, please set an example for Lady."
Of course, Tashian responded immediately by his side and roared in a very uncomfortable voice.
Ikshid grumbled as he watched Tashian, who never missed a moment in taking the side of the marquis Miss.
"Have you ever considered your 10-year friendship with me as a value to reconsider? I am saddened by your indifference."
"If you could feel that feeling a little more, it would be a heavenly pleasure."
Answered Tashian in a more serious voice than when he was executing the special mission on the battlefield.
"Don't tell me what I'm saying… By the way, Lady Wellwood, I've never seen you like this before.…."
Eun-woo hears him speaking to Selena and met Tashian's eyes, who listened to Ikshid's voice, which changed carefully again. They rolled their eyes together as if they had planned it in advance.