Days passed by as I red through all the records of magic and origin of magic in the imperial library. Just as I have asked, her majesty allowed me to not attend the prince's coming of age ceremony in exchange for the gold that I should have earned from the noble's rude remarks.
Though this seems like a bargain, in reality, it is an extremely rare occasion where the empress would show sincerity and sympathy.
Knowing the duke and duchess of Emond passed away, she made an exception of me not attending the event despite being the host.
Today is last day of the ceremony, prince Diego's actual birthday.
"Your majesty"
"What?"
"You want to conquer the countries under the rule of the empire to prove its power, correct?"
"That is indeed correct, lady Emond. I am surprised you are here though. I heard that you have been holing yourself in my library"
"I have. Anyway, I would like to propose a deal with, your majesty"
"Hmm~ It better be entertaining as I have high expectations from you"
"I will make sure that Loate will be a vassal state in less than three months from now. That is if you will allow me to go back to my homeland"
"Is it about your parent's death?"
"Yes"
Empress Lucia rummaged through her drawer and pulled out a paper. She began to write something, folded the paper right after, put it into an envelope and sealed it using the imperial seal.
"You will embark three days from now. Make sure to bring my brother with you"
"By chance, are you talking about prince Henry?"
"Yes. That day, you two stared at each other for a brief moment as if you two figured out something. Therefore it is only right to send you both"
As she said it was only for a brief moment when me and the one who is possessing prince Henry's body instinctively knew that we both do not belong in this world, and yet she still noticed it.
"I shall inform John and make the necessary preparations"
"Take good care of him. And make sure to come back here as fast as you can. It is boring here without you"
Ignoring empress Lucia's mischievous smile I left the empress' office and went back to the emerald palace.
...
"My lady"
"Yes?"
"These are the letters that came in just now. One came from viscount of Taylor, and the other one belongs to the marquisate of Miller"
"Put it there"
I red viscount Taylor's letter first then marquis Miller's.
For viscount Taylor, he replied that he will arrived at the emerald palace in the afternoon, right after the final banquet for prince Diego's coming of age ceremony.
Meanwhile, marquis Miller will arrived first thing in the morning tomorrow to discuss about what happened between me and Margaret.
"Samuel, three days from now we will be going to the kingdom of Loate. Make sure you are prepared"
"Yes, my lady"
Hours went by. The viscount of Taylor arrived exactly what was stated in the letter.
"It is of great pleasure to meet you again lady Emond"
"The pleasure is mine viscount Taylor"
Pulling out the master plan and other miscellaneous documents that is needed to be followed for his textile business as well as some guides and tips on where to buy the raw materials and where to sell them.
"My lady, how do you even know about this stores? This too!"
"Does that really matter? What's important right now is for you to salvage your family's business"
"Of course"
I spent the next several hours in the drawing room with viscount Taylor on teaching him what to do and what actions he should take.
With limited time on our hands, I only taught him the basic things he will need to create profit and ways on how to avoid swindlers. I also gave him access to a secret and trustworthy information guild that I know of which I never visited yet thanks to my knowledge regarding the novel.
"Thank you very much for everything lady Emond"
"No need to. With this you owe me one now, viscount Taylor"
"Do not worry my lady, I will not forget this grace you have shown to me"
Viscount Taylor left before the emerald palace doors shut.
Whoosh.
"Almas, you're back!"
-Yes master.
'So, did you figure out what happened?'
-I have. The so called queen of the kingdom of Loate was the one behind it. She ordered someone to make someone set up a bandit accident to kill the biggest supporter of the crown prince. Her plan was to put the duchy of Emond in disarray but young master Nicholas was able to stand tall and lead everyone. Thus preventing any bad outcomes.
'Why are you calling him young master?'
-That is because he is my master's older brother.
'Anyways, what about brother Roman?'
-Young master Roman is currently investigating the death of the former duke of Emond and the duchess' under the pretext of having a vacation.
'Did you leave clues for him?'
-Yes, master. I made sure to leave it where only he will be able to notice it.
Brother Roman is smart so he should be able to put the pieces together that Almas left for him.
'Good work. For now rest well and make sure to laze around if you want to'
-Then, may I request something, master?
'Go ahead'
-I would like to eat some meat that you will personally cook.
'That's it?'
-Yes!
'That is easy'
Almas happily ate the one whole pig in less than an hour which took me almost six hours to prepare and cook.
Then again, for the wonderful job he did, I would be willing to give him another ten more pigs if he wanted to.