Redemption of the Blue Rose Princess - Chapter 8.4
T/N: I have a tiny bit announcement to make. I think it’s time for me to schedule all my series properly since I’ve been only translating this one for quite a while now and kinda neglected my other series, Queen of the Mad Dog Knights. The new schedule will roughly be I’ll be releasing this series daily on the weekdays, Monday through Friday (UTC +7), so it’ll be at least 5 chapters a week and depends on my mood or the power of money, but I’ll talk about this one later I could release more chapters per week, though don’t count on my mood. Anyway, sorry for the huge wall of text, I hope you could enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 8-4
“I see… it’s going to cost this much…”
“Hmm. Right, Lord Jude seems to prefer to socialize with merchants rather than with other nobles. I can’t think of a better man than him to fulfill this task of establishing a trading company.”
In the end, the nobles’ goal was to find a way to make more gold in their territories. With such obvious intention, they couldn’t help but back down when they saw how much it would cost them if they were to invest in the project by themselves. And as expected, instead of pushing their way through, they instead decided to force the Marquis of Rozen to shoulder the burden instead.
And this was exactly what Clovis and the others were aiming for.
Initially, Alicia proposed that the investment should be split between the Kingdom and Jude since this matter was directly related to the future of the Kingdom as a whole. However, Jude insisted that he would bear the cost by himself.
What? I’m a merchant you know? It’s a merchant-like thing to pour their money into something that they think would be profitable.
By giving the nobles the impression that the Marquis of Rozen would be hurt this much financially, the Princess’ side would be able to alleviate the sense of inequality the other nobles might have since they needed to pay a fee for requesting the company’s intermediary service. In addition to that, this also served as leverage to silence the noble who protested about the location of the company’s headquarters.
This would hammer the point to the nobles that the large-scale trading company’s effectiveness was genuine, even though they had to bear the fact that those people would be able to freely roam through their territories and they still had to pay them for their services. And since the establishment of it was a huge money sink, they could just let Jude Nicole take care of it.
Clovis saw that the nobles’ opinions started to lean toward agreeing to their cause.
Don’t lie to them, just tell them the truth. However, manipulate your words so that they would only hear what you want them to hear. Remembering those words from Jude, once again made Clovis realize. Even though the man couldn’t understand the heart of the nobles’, but when it came to bargaining, he was simply unparalleled.
But, there is no way that person would let us slide just yet…
Clovis smiled back at Alicia, who smiled at him, clearly showing her relief, before turning his gaze slightly toward Lloyd, who hadn’t opened his mouth since the beginning of the meeting.
* * *
As expected of Clovis, the Privy Council who was divided now is mostly in favor of our proposal.
She looked up at her aide, who still hadn’t let his guard up. Alicia then moved her gaze around as she watched the progression of the meeting.
Even though she was inexperienced, Alicia could still understand that Lloyd’s silence was strange, after all, her aide had previously told her that the most difficult part of the meeting would be persuading the head of the Sutherland family.
Suddenly, Lloyd struck the ground lightly with the cane that he held under his folded arms. The dry sound that the cane made was enough to make the other members of the Privy Council shut their mouths.
“May I?”
“Of course, Lord Lloyd.”
After obtaining Nizel’s permission, the Duke of Sherford stood up without making any noise. Even though Clovis and his son, Riddhe, were taller than him, the pressure he exuded was bigger than the other two.
As he silently glanced around, the nobles, including all the Marquis, shrunk their heads like frogs being stared at by a snake. His sharp eyes, which likened that of a predator creeping up on its prey, were then directed at Alicia.
“Alicia-sama. Knowing that the Wise Princess had made this decision for this kingdom greatly please me… I’m proud of you since I have known you ever since you were a tiny child.”
“…Thank you.”
She was slightly shaken due to him suddenly addressing her, but she was able to meet his gaze head-on. He then proceeded to praise Alicia with a gentle tone, contrary to his icy cold gaze.
“To be able to have the foresight to see far into the future, beyond what we can even imagine, Your Highness truly is an extraordinary person.”
“You’re overestimating me.”
Alicia shook her head as her beautiful blue hair swayed in motion.
“I’m merely blessed with great subordinates and friends. They’re the ones who were able to answer my anxiety about this kingdom’s future, and guide me to the answer I need to erase that anxiety.”
As she said that, the Duke’s sharp gaze suddenly glittered as Alicia sensed an ominous foreboding. For the first time in this meeting, Alicia could feel goosebumps creeping up her skin.
Lloyd grunted as he let out a long sigh.
“It’s because of your wisdom and your foresight, I’m worried about you, Alicia-sama.”
“Worried? What are you worried about?”
Like a snake, flicking its thin red tongue after founding its prey. She wasn’t sure, but that was the image that came to her mind when Alicia looked at Lloyd’s gaze.
If she could, she would probably turn away and hide behind her trusted aide, but sadly she couldn’t, so she could only resist the urge as she answered the Duke’s words while trying to not let her voice tremble.
The Duke then smiled at her coldly.
“I’m just wondering if there are any insolent people out there who might try to manipulate you and use your name as a tool to create chaos in our country’s politics.”
As if everyone’s head had been splashed with a bucket of cold water, the hall immediately filled with murmurs. As the meaning of Lloyd’s words was understood by Alicia, Nizel suddenly stood up without making any sound.
“That’s an unpleasant thing to hear.”
As he pushed his silver-rimmed glasses up, Nizel walked over to Lloyd who was standing on the other side. It was clear that his rage consumed his heart even though his tone was the same as ever.
“Are you trying to insult us, the Chancery and the Regional Council who had put this proposal together?”
“Huh? What’s that?! You wanna have a go with the Regional Council, Lloyd?!”
Dan Dreyfus who had only understood the hidden meaning of Lloyd’s words after Nizel pointed it out, immediately shouted at him as he stood up. However, Lloyd only gave the big man a small smile in response.
“Please don’t jump to conclusions. It’s just that I was surprised that the ones who are involved in this matter are the people that we, the Privy Council doesn’t know very well. I mean, we don’t know them very well, you know? It’s normal to be a little bit cautious about them, no?”
Alicia felt a cold sweat running through her back. It was clear that he was badmouthing both Clovis and Jude who were heavily involved with the projects while having nothing to do with the Privy Council.
“Take that back!”
The next thing she knew, Alicia was glaring at Lloyd with her blue eyes.
TL: Iyo
Join the Discord, so you can pester me about my messy update schedules.