Redemption of the Blue Rose Princess - Chapter 7.8

T/N: Wi-fi went bye-bye for a while, glad I could finish this in time lol.

Chapter 7-8

The next morning, after finishing breakfast and getting ready for the day in her room, Alicia went to the hall and was greeted by Jude and Clovis, who had arrived earlier.

The second discussion then began, with the three of them discussing concrete plans regarding the establishment of the trading company, with the young lord giving out his opinion as he was the one who wrote the proposal in the first place.

The contents of their discussion were as follows:

• What exactly is the process of acting as an intermediary?
• What kind of cooperation does the company need from the nobles?
• How to deal with the existing companies that operate in various other countries?

Those were the questions that both Clovis and Jude discussed for the most part of the discussion. Sadly, the discussion was too much for Alicia due to her lack of knowledge of the matter, so she could only trust her aide’s ability to do the heavy lifting for her in this discussion. The Princess observed the progression of the discussion instead.

As the discussion progressed, Alicia was now completely sure that Jude was the one who should lead the operation.

One of his strengths that tempted Alicia was his ability to see things from two different perspectives, as a lord, and as a merchant. The trading company that Alicia tried to establish would be responsible for selling the kingdom’s local products with the cooperation of the lord stationed in each region. A person who could make judgments from both the perspective of a lord and a merchant would be invaluable for the company.

However, judging from the way he reacted the other day, he would definitely refuse again if Alicia were to bring up the topic a second time. While he was willing to give his advice to Alicia and Clovis, if he were to be told to do the same thing for other nobles, he would surely run away.

I really want to persuade him… Is there anything I can do?

Even though he disliked interacting with other nobles, the young lord didn’t show any particular dislike toward Alicia and her entourage. On the contrary, he seemed to be willing to interact with them, even went as far as preparing a place for them to chat after dinner.

Alicia concluded that probably, rather than being disliking the nobles themselves, he disliked the society that was ruled by the noble instead. The society where the barrier called social status existed, the society where the higher-ups were so closed off toward everyone that they didn’t see as their equals.

Alicia didn’t want to be a tyrant that would force someone to work in a position that they themselves didn’t like, even if it was for the future of the kingdom. But, still, she desperately needed someone who had a flexible mind like Jude. This fact drove her into a deadlock.

While she was agonizing over that, her aide smoothly went through the details of their plan with the help of the young lord.

Eventually, the discussion was over. Jude turned his gaze toward the Princess, his face was beaming, probably because of the excitement of seeing his dream plan finally taking a step closer to a realization.

“What can I say? I’m surprised. As expected of the Princess, aide, Clo-kun, you’re really amazing. The things that I could only vaguely imagine, you could immediately make a concrete plan out of it.”

“It’s nothing much, it’s all thanks to Lord Jude’s familiarity with the subject.”

The good-looking aide smiled respectfully in response to the young lord’s excessive praise. Alicia looked over both of them with bright eyes, before smiling and thanking them for their efforts.

“I’m glad that I decided to leave the castle to see you in person, Lord Jude. No matter how brilliant Clovis is, we still need your advice when it comes to the subjects of the merchants and trading companies.”

“I’m happy to hear that! I’ve always been badmouthed for only ever interacting with merchants, you know? Never in my wildest dream that my advice would be well regarded by the Princess like this.”

The young lord smiled, he seemed genuinely happy.

“There won’t be too much problem in the establishment part since Clo-Kun works in the Royal Court, there is still the Privy Council, which is the highest barrier we have to pass through. Will those people be able to understand the importance of the trading company?”

“There’s no choice but to be patient as we slowly persuade them. I’m sure there will be people who’ll understand even if they won’t necessarily agree with us.”

Jude blinked his eyes at Alicia.

“That’s quite the confidence you got there, Princess. But surely you’re aware of the stubbornness of the Privy Council’s higher-ups?”

“Then, what about this?”

Robert, who had been standing in front of the room, doing his job as Alicia’s guard, spoke up as a mischievous smile appeared on his face.

“Let’s use our connections properly. We’ll announce that ‘a new trading company will be established’ with His Majesty King James’ authority first. Even the Privy Council wouldn’t be able to overrule His Majesty’s will. Everything should proceed smoothly after that.”

“Rejected.”

Clovis immediately shot down Robert’s suggestion.

“Using brute force like that will instead create an antipathy toward us. Besides, His Majesty will never agree to that. He’s the kind of King who would discuss everything with His subjects before making any decisions and try to make everyone feels satisfied first.”

Besides… His amethyst-colored eyes turned to Alicia, which the latter nodded in response to his gaze.

“I also don’t agree if we were to do it that way either. I’d rather face the Privy Council head-on, no matter how long it will take.”

“Why?!”

Jude shouted, his exasperation was obvious in his voice.

“Pardon me, I hope you won’t be offended by this, but, I think the method you’re trying to take is a little bit too honest… borderline foolish, even…”

“Right? I think so too.”

Alicia responded as she looked at the young lord with a wry smile.

“But, you see, currently, I’m weak… Really weak…”

At the Princess’ words, Jude opened his eyes wide while Clovis smiled at the Princess softly.

Alicia was self-aware, her mind wasn’t particularly bright, nor was she special in any way. While she had the qualities that attracted people toward her, those qualities wouldn’t be enough to guarantee her success in politics.

That was why she decided to not hide behind the shield that was the authority of the royal family to achieve her goals.

“If the King and his people are united by trust, and if each of the people works to improve the country to the best of their ability, then that king will be able to produce a greater power than his own authority could ever produce.”

The Princess looked at Jude with her bright eyes as she repeated the words that Clovis had taught her before.

“Who knows if everyone were to discuss everything together, they might even be able to create a better method than establishing a trading company. If that’s the case, it will be fine. After all, it’s something that the people put their efforts into.”

“…As expected, you’re truly a peculiar one.”

Alicia looked at the young lord with a wry smile.

“Really? How could I not know about that fact, I wonder?”

“Yes. I came to that conclusion after asking around about you last night and my own judgment after seeing your behavior with my own eyes. You are really different from the average nobles that I know. In truth, I’m very interested in you.”

After saying this, Jude clasped his hands together, trying to change the mood around the room before he stood up, looked around at the group, and smiled brightly.

“Anyway, let’s have lunch first! A good meal brings good ideas! After all, we have a long day ahead of us!”

TL: Iyo

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