Redemption of the Blue Rose Princess - Chapter 10.1
T/N: Sorry for disappearing, I had to focus on my university work for a while. I’ll try to regularly release the series again. I’m not dropping this, I’ll do my best to finish the series. Thank you for your understanding.
Chapter 10-1 The Song of Prayer
Inside the windowless room in the Egdiel Castle.
After a week had passed, the nobles once again gathered here.
Some looked intrigued, some seemed nervous, but all of them showed their curiosity on which faction would lead the meeting today.
The most likely candidate was obviously Lloyd Sutherland, a major figure in the Privy Council. He was the man who took total control of the previous meeting. There were rumors that all the conservatives had gathered under his banner during the downtime.
Even so, the situation could still change this time depending on how many voices support his opposition, the Princess of the Kingdom herself, Alicia Chester. Under her was her aide, Clovis Cromwell, the King’s advisor, Nizel Otto and the Head of the Regional Council, Dan Dreyfus.
The nobles secretly made a bet to predict which among those two would be able to take the lead on the meeting.
Not long after everyone gathered, King James announced the beginning of the meeting.
* * *
The only source of light inside the room were the chandeliers, hanging from above as the sun couldn’t pierce through the thick castle wall. In the middle of the room, Alicia was observing the faces of the nobles who were busy sizing up each other.
Next to her was Clovis, followed by Nizel and Dreyfus. Right in front of her was the intimidating figure of Lloyd and beside him, his son, Riddhe. It was the same arrangement as the previous meeting. The only difference was that Riddhe wasn’t looking at Clovis with bloodshot eyes anymore.
“…That’s all from the Legal and Financial Bureau. We concluded that there’s no significant problem if the Mercurius Trading Company were to be established, both legally and financially.”
It was Collin Adams, the Head of the Legal Bureau who said that. It was decided that the Privy Council should review the proposal once again and the responsibility fell under both the Legal Bureau and the Financial Bureau.
Originally, the matter was supposed to fall under the responsibility of the Chancery and the Regional Council. But since they were cooperating with the head of the project, the Marquis of Rozen, Jude Nicole, the two bureaus were chosen instead to ensure the integrity of the review.
The proposal itself was written by Alicia with Clovis and the other advisors working together to put it together to be more presentable. Hearing that there were no major problems found in the proposal, the Princess let out a sigh of relief.
At that moment Dreyfus blurted his words out. Resentment could be heard from his tone.
“Of course there’s no problem with it. I held myself back because everyone was needlessly worried but try to think with your heads! Do you think the proposal that I approved would be half-baked?”
“I’m glad that there’s no problem then. This makes everything worth doing, don’t you think so?”
Said Lloyd while showing his graceful smile. He then sent Dreyfus a sharp glint as he opened his mouth to speak.
“Well, Dreyfus, I’m sure that the Regional Council hasn’t been idling around for the past week. Is there anything you need to tell us?”
“…I guess so, yeah.”
Reluctantly, Dreyfus stood up from his seat.
He was a man who considered honesty to be a virtue. He’ll never hide any kind of information even if it were to bring him any disadvantages. He was the kind of person who would rather try to discuss everything than doing some kind of shady dealings to get what he wanted.
“There’s something that I have to tell everyone.”
“What is it? Spit it out.”
The Duke of Jerath, Fudge Hobbs, a member of the conservative faction leaned back and made a rude gesture in response to Dreyfus’ words. He was one of the nobles who expressed disapproval toward the establishment of the Trading Company. In response to this, Dreyfus furrowed his thick eyebrows and continued to talk.
“I’ve been keeping in contact with Jude and the matter of establishing the company itself looks grim. Apparently the merchants who he had been trying to recruit to run the company itself have been turning him down.”
“What’s that? What’s the point for us to be here then? We’re just wasting our time!”
“Don’t you think it’s too early to assume that we won’t be able to establish the company?”
The one who openly dismissed Fudge was the Marquis of Harber, Daniel Bain. As he promised, he stood up to support the establishment of the Trading Company.
“Think about it, our art industry is being held in high regard by the other countries. Because of this, if the Trading Company were to be established successfully, it would generate a huge amount of profits. Profits means money and the merchants will flock to it as soon as they can. To assume that the project is doomed to fail just because a few merchants refused to cooperate is foolish.”
“Lord Daniel is right. Also, Lord Jude had restarted the personnel selection process. Things aren’t set in stone yet.”
“Even so, we’re all gathered here to decide on whether or not the Privy Council will accept the proposal or not. We have to come to a decision today.”
“Obviously…”
Lloyd sent the moderate faction a terrifying glare as he looked around the room. That glare was enough to make some of the nobles who supported the establishment of the Trading Company cower in fear.
“The Privy Council simply can’t afford to approve a proposal that might not come to fruition. We can’t rely on hope alone, we need certainty. The era when we need to pray for a miracle for something to happen is long gone.”
The conservatives then opened their mouths, showing their agreement with Lloyd’s argument. As he heard the approving voices around him, he looked over them in satisfaction.
* * *
Alicia’s clear blue eyes were moving, observing the meeting proceeding right in front of her. The supporting nobles looked desperate, looking for a way for their arguments to be accepted while the opposing factions were smiling at them arrogantly. To Alicia though, the scene seemed like an event from a distant world.
The one that caught Alicia’s attention was not the members of the Privy Council who were engaged in a heated debate, but Riddhe Sutherland who had been keeping his mouth shut. He had been trying hard not to look at the Princess because of guilt and that scene almost shook the Princess’ resolve.
However, that wasn’t enough to stop her. There was something she needed to achieve here in order to ensure the future of the kingdom and for the sake of those who believed in her. She shouldn’t get cold feet at this point.
She glanced at her side. Her gaze met Clovis’ who gave her a small nod, the small push that Alicia needed to make her move.
‘It’s time for the counterattack…’
In the middle of the heated debate, Alicia stood up to confront the nobles.
TL: Iyo