Chapter 93: Boom and Bust (1)

In the morning, Duke Priscilla called his daughter with a troubled face.

“Livya.”

“What’s the matter, father?”

Livya felt something bad must have happened just by looking at her father’s expression.

“You’ve gotten a marriage proposal.”

“Doesn’t that happen often?”

“Well.. this time the family…”

“Who is it?” She asked with a curious expression.

“Imperial family.”

“….”

She had guessed who was the owner of the proposal. Seeing her father call her with that expression, it was obvious that the proposal was from the royal family.

“Don’t tell me, it’s the crown prince?”

“That’s right.”

Livya was at a loss for words at the moment. Attending the Crown Prince’s social gathering and officially getting a marriage proposal were totally different things. 

‘I’ve clearly declined his proposal.’

That guy has ignored her refusal. 

Livya’s stomach was boiling.

“You’re not going to accept it, are you?”

Duke Priscilla smiled gently.

“If you don’t want it, I will not, sweetheart. However…”

Livya nodded her head. She understood her father’s difficulties. It was the official proposal of the imperial family. They had to give a clear justification to refuse the proposal. Either she has a fiance, or some other reason. 

‘But I don’t have a fiance.’

She involuntarily bit her lip. No matter how powerful the duke was, they couldn’t just say ‘I refuse because I don’t like the crown prince’. Especially, with the current emperor who valued face more than anything. Giving that kind of reason would result in bigger losses for them than to the imperial family.

“Why did they suddenly put in an official marriage proposal?”

It felt rushed. 

“It seems that Her Majesty the Empress and His Highness the Crown Prince are quite wary of HIs Majesty Prince Sigren and the North.”

It was understandable. The Imperial family wanted the Priscilla family so as to add more power to their side. They wanted the Priscilla family in the past, but now they really wanted them and with some urgency. Prince Sigren with the North supporting him was their big pressure. On the outside, they kept looking down on him because of his birth, but on the inside, aside from their personal hatred, they couldn’t help but acknowledge that Prince Sigren was better than the Crown Prince. If they, who hated Prince Sigren, could acknowledge that fact, then other people, nobles or commoners, would not only recognize that, they would even support Prince Sigren openly. Especially since he came to the capital with that grand procession and showing off the dragon he slayed. The amount of support Prince Sigren received was not something they liked and it definitely endangered their authority.

“It’s hard to say no right now, isn’t it”

“Well… Right now, yes. But we have some time to give an answer.”

During this  time, they will have to wreck their brain to find a good reason to refuse the marriage. The option of her having a fiance was thrown away due to the fact that she did not have a fiance before the proposal letter came. Now that the proposal letter has arrived, it would be even more difficult to find one. 

Then..,

‘What’s left is a scandal.’

Usually, if a big scandal occurred in either man or woman, the marriage agreement was destroyed. Of course, there were rumors that the Crown Prince was a womanizer. However, the rumor was not something big that could shake the imperial family. Moreover, there were a lot of noblemen who played like that too. 

Then the easiest way now was for Livya to create a scandal.

‘But I don’t want to tarnish the honor I’ve built just because of the crown prince.’

It was the other person who did the wrong thing, but why should it be her who suffered the damage?

‘Then, the other one.’

Another scandal involving the Crown Prince. However, it wouldn’t be that easy. It was difficult to manipulate a scandal from the standpoint of nobles. 

Still, there should be something. Livya was determined to find a way. Because she hated people who ignored her. 

‘Fall down and break the back of your head.’

Livya cursed the Crown Prince inwardly.

***

A letter came from Abel. Heilon’s affairs were being resolved smoothly, and there had been no invasion of monsters. He also added that he would soon be able to return to the Capital again.

After reading the letter, I felt a little relieved. Clearly, things have gotten much better for Heilon. The safety of the outskirts were good, so the merchants went with peace of mind. Exchanges became smooth, and supplies were abundant.

‘Rather, the problem might be the Capital.’

Of course, the Capital was still beautiful, and the people were lively. However, it was not that difficult to discover the corruption hidden underneath. There were merchants who went up to Heilon after running around in the Capital. They complained about the people in the Capital being very territorial and they were tired of being extorted for high priced “protection money”. 

‘Well, Abel is very strict, so there is nothing like that in Heilon.’

In fact, if any of his subordinates demanded a bribe, he would kick them out without any regrets. Abel has mercy on his men’s mistakes, but he had no mercy when they made that kind of choice. 

Heilon’s environment in fact was bad for people to live in. But compared to other places, it was a better place for the people to live in. That was why the way a leader acts to rule a place was so important. 

Thinking about it, I went through the paperwork again. Then I found a letter. 

‘What is this?’

After reading it, I realized what it was. It was from the mercenary guild where we had fun last time. It was blank inside. There was no hidden content or anything. Yet, I knew what it meant. Just sending this letter was a warning from there. 

‘The intimidation worked well.’

I gathered the magic power in my hand and burned the letter.

“Is it because I provoked the Crown Prince last time….”

It seemed that he got a strong fever and ordered other men. Would this time be real assassins, not stupid mercenaries? 

I got up from my chair while wondering about that. For now, without Abel, I was the owner of the mansion. Just in case, I had to check the escorts and the soldiers. 

‘Shall we go to the training ground?’