Chapter 215 When Kindness Can Be Sold
After officially apologizing on behalf of Crown Prince Gerhart for the rampage of the knights, Baron Jilbafuchs visited Crown Prince Gerhart's room to report on the situation.
"I have returned. The other party does not wish to make a big deal out of this, so they will not be accepting any compensation. I delivered the apology letter to Marquis Grandchester and sent a bouquet and sweets to Lady Sara. However, I could not meet her as she is staying at the Grandchester knight commander's residence."
Crown Prince Gerhart, who was sitting on the sofa, leaned back and stared at the ceiling.
"It seems I have completely become disliked. Or perhaps she is just afraid of me."
"Being surrounded by knights while unarmed is terrifying, even for adults."
"They really did something unnecessary. But I suppose this is the result of my foolish actions. I messed up."
Baron Jilbafuchs was unsure of Crown Prince Gerhart's intentions. Having served him for many years, he knew that Crown Prince Gerhart was not a pedophile. He had never formally taken a minor as a wife, nor had he made any of them his concubines, but he had had relationships with several women. However, none of those women were underage.
Crown Prince Gerhart had supported many musicians and singers. Occasionally, he would develop deep relationships with female musicians or singers, but even after those relationships ended, he never cut off his support. He was the type to separate talent from romance.
"Indeed, it is true that I cannot quite grasp what Your Highness desires."
"What do you mean?"
"Lady Sara's performance was truly wonderful. Although she is still just 8 years old, she possesses an undeniable beauty. Is Your Highness thinking of bringing her in as a future concubine, wanting to have her as a musician?"
Crown Prince Gerhart let out a deep sigh.
"I completely messed this up."
"Messed up, you say?"
"I blurted out 'concubine' in the heat of the moment, but I don't see Lady Sara that way."
"Then what did you want?"
The vassals did not think Crown Prince Gerhart was a pedophile, but they were surprised by the unusual attachment he showed towards Sara. This might explain why the knights went out of control. The approach was definitely wrong, though.
"When I decided to come to the Grandchester territory, I researched the Grandchester family. If the daughter of the Grandchester family became my legal wife, it would make things easier for the future."
"I understand that."
"However, Chloe from the Grandchester family is too young. I really didn't want to take another child bride."
"But Sara is even younger than Chloe..."
Baron Jilbafuchs asked with a puzzled expression.
"Sara is the daughter of Sir Arthur, who ran away, and she was raised as a commoner. After her parents died, Marquis Grandchester took her in, but it seems she was bullied by the Young Marquis's children at the royal residence where she was first brought."
"That's not hard to imagine."
"That's probably why Sara ended up being raised by Sir Robert in the Grandchester territory. He wouldn't bully her like a child would."
Crown Prince Gerhart stood up from the sofa and looked out the window. It seemed the sunset was near, as the western sky was turning red.
"I misread the situation. I thought Sir Robert reluctantly accepted Lady Sara. I mean, it's strange, right? If he wanted to welcome her, he should have reached out when Sir Arthur died. He just left her mother to suffer until she passed away, and then suddenly he shows up like a convenient grandfather or uncle?"
"Well, that's true."
"I thought inviting Lady Rebecca as a governess was more about Sir Robert's own desires than for Sara's sake. After all, they are engaged. I felt sorry for Lady Sara, thinking she was like a young Marguerite, thrown into a world of adults she didn't know, bravely enduring it all."
Crown Prince Gerhart's late wife, Marguerite, married him at the young age of 12. To be precise, she was brought from Sardinia to Roisen as his fiancée at 10 years old, had their wedding at 12, and sadly passed away from illness just before turning 15.
Marguerite, who was taken to a country with different languages and customs, always looked anxious. Crown Prince Gerhart tried hard to be her ally, but the shy Marguerite found it difficult to open her heart to him. Just when she finally started to smile at him, Marguerite fell ill and left this world.
"I should have looked at things with an unbiased perspective, but I definitely viewed the Grandchester family with a biased eye from the start. So when I heard Lady Sara's performance that shook my heart, I thought, 'Oh, I have to help this girl!' and I went a bit overboard. Despite having such amazing skills, she said she didn't want to be a performer, so I assumed the Grandchester family must have told her to stay out of the spotlight."
"I see."
"I didn't expect Marquis Grandchester and Sir Robert to be so angry, and I never imagined Lady Rebecca would bring up something from ten years ago. I thought noble families would welcome connections with royalty from other countries."
"What about the talk of a concubine?"
"If the Grandchester family seeks some benefit through Lady Sara, I thought they wouldn't mind giving her the status of a concubine. If she grows up and finds someone else she loves, it would be fine to pass her on to that person."
Roisen is a society where men are more dominant than in Avalon. Even commoners are allowed to have multiple wives, and wives are expected to obey their husbands. For the noble families of Roisen, offering their female relatives to royalty or higher-ranking nobles is considered an honor. Additionally, the fathers of beautiful women, who are desired by many men, decide their daughters' marriages based on how much betrothal gifts they can gather, almost like an auction.
It is also common for royalty and high-ranking nobles to "give" concubines to their male subordinates, and the ones receiving them see it as an honor. The wishes of the women involved are rarely considered. In other words, when the royalty in Roisen suggests a future path for a woman, it is seen as a favor to her. Even the mere act of the woman being allowed to think about "someone else she cares for" is considered special consideration for women in Roisen.
Even though they understand that not all countries treat women this way due to diplomatic relations, they are still people of Roisen, and their thoughts are greatly influenced by their culture. There is no doubt that this situation is entirely Crown Prince Gerhart's "mistake."
"But in Avalon, they really value their daughters that much. I thought I understood it as knowledge, but I feel like I've been reminded of it again."
"However, even though she has noble blood, isn't it a bit excessive for a noble family to take such a strong stance for a commoner woman?"
"I guess it's because the circumstances in our country are different. Besides, it seems she won't be a commoner for much longer, so we can only apologize to the Grandchester family and Lady Sara."
"You don't have to go that far, Your Highness..."
"However, the urgent issue is securing food to get through this winter. We cannot let the people go hungry. Grandchester is Avalon's granary. You know we shouldn't anger Grandchester right now, don't you?"
"Yes."
As Crown Prince Gerhart gazed at the sinking sunset, he murmured.
"I'm sorry. Because I made a wrong judgment, the negotiations may have become tougher. I'm really not a reliable Crown Prince, am I?"
"No, we are the ones who are sorry for not being strong enough."
It is true that Crown Prince Gerhart came to Avalon to 'look for a bride,' but that wasn't the only reason. Roisen has plenty of mineral resources, but there is little land suitable for farming. To be precise, they can't stop the land from gradually becoming less fertile. Even if they plant crops, they can't get enough harvest, so farmers are fleeing, and abandoned farmland is slowly spreading.
Because of this, Roisen wanted to establish a trade agreement with the land-rich Avalon. They are negotiating to eliminate import and export tariffs as much as possible, exporting minerals like gold and iron from Roisen, and importing food like wheat from Avalon.
However, both minerals and food are strategic resources, and it's not easy to allow free export and import. Therefore, Crown Prince Gerhart is suggesting deepening the relationship with Avalon through marriage.
Even though it's such a delicate time, they cannot afford to worsen their relationship with Grandchester, which has one of Avalon's best granary regions.
"I'm afraid there's nothing we can do about what has already happened. We just have to work on fixing it from now on. Tonight, there's a meeting with the head of the Commerce Guild in Grandchester. It seems that merchants gather every year for the hunting tournament."
"Please take care of that. I plan to ask the reliable Ulrich merchant guild to handle the import and export operations."
"That's very kind of you, but please consider comparing it with other merchant guilds as well."
"Understood. I'll do that."
At that moment, Baron Jilbafuchs remembered meeting Robert at the Sophia Merchant Guild.
"By the way, today I went to the Sophia Merchant Guild to buy a sound box, Your Highness."
"Did you manage to buy it?"
"Actually, I met Sir Robert at the Sophia Merchant Guild, and he said he would give me all the types right there."
"Oh, that's generous."
"And... it's a bit difficult to say, but..."
"What is it?"
"Well, Sophia looked surprisingly like Lady Sara. She seemed to be in her early twenties, but considering Lady Rebecca, I can't be sure of her exact age. She might be related by her mother's side, but... I ended up asking about Sophia's background..."
"Ha! So you, a serious Baron Ulrich Jilbafuchs, tried to flirt with a woman?"
Crown Prince Gerhart burst out laughing after hearing Baron Jilbafuchs's explanation.
"Um... she's an incredibly beautiful woman, so I couldn't help but ask, but Sir Robert scolded me. He said, 'I would like you to refrain from inquiring about the status or lineage of a young lady.'."
"Could it be that Lady Sara's mother is still alive? Or perhaps someone like an aunt?"
"I don't know. But it seems she was definitely offended."
"It looks like we're all making a scene in Grandchester."
"I'm very sorry."
"But a beautiful woman who resembles Lady Sara... I would love to see that. She must be so beautiful that even Ulrich is captivated, right?"
Baron Jilbafuchs blushed and looked down, but at that moment, he remembered he had been asked to name the sound-producing box.
"I almost forgot. Your Highness was asked to give a name to the sound-producing box from Sophia."
"Oh, the name of that magical tool? That's interesting."
"It seems it's a new product that hasn't been named yet. They probably want to add some prestige to the product by having Your Highness the Crown Prince name it."
"Haha. That thing will sell even without my prestige. I opened the box I received earlier, and according to the accompanying magicians, the magic circle is so complexly encrypted that it can't be analyzed. It seems to use a high-quality wind attribute magic stone, so it's quite an expensive magical tool."
"Is that so?"
Baron Jilbafuchs didn't know that the box was that expensive.
'They said they would easily give away such expensive magical tools as souvenirs in large quantities... I wonder how much wealth the Grandchester family actually has. It seems that a noble family with such a rich farming area is different... I really need to come up with a plan to improve our relationship with the Grandchester family...'
Robert doesn't think it's such an expensive purchase, but it did have the effect of intimidating Baron Jilbafuchs.
"Well, just being asked to name that is already a great honor. The fact that Sir Robert came personally means that the Grandchester family is likely backing the Sophia Merchant Guild. It's probably their consideration. It's better to take advantage of favors when they're available."
"I see."
Crown Prince Gerhart sank into a sea of thoughts for a moment, then smiled slyly.
"It seems simpler is better than being flashy. It might be a bit of a simple name, but let's go with 'Spieluhr.'."
"Understood. I will inform the Sophia Merchant Guild accordingly."
"No. I will write the naming document. Since it's a special occasion, I'll have Marquis Grandchester sign it too. It will add some prestige. I'm sure Lady Sara, who performed for Shupiraa, will be happy about it as well."
After finishing writing 'Spieluhr' on the naming document, Crown Prince Gerhart quickly signed his name below it and sprinkled sand over the ink.
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