Chapter 138
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ED: LonelyMatter
Chapter 138 – His Excellency the Prime Minister Likes to Roll Things Around
“K-Kro…!”
Elena couldn’t help but cry out when she saw her daughter again after so long.
However, her voice was easily drowned out by the Third Prince’s.
“Krone! How could you be there…!”
Tigre pounded on the desk and stood up vigorously.
Seeing her, who had grown up so beautifully and gracefully while still retaining some of her old appearance, Tigre could not contain his excitement.
“I am Ain… no, I am the Crown Prince’s a.s.sistant. So I don’t see any problem with me being here.”
Krone replied calmly, without paying any attention to the agitated Tigre.
“What are you talking about? You were taken to Ishtalika…”
“Oh, no. I wasn’t kidnapped or anything, so please don’t worry.”
Having said that, Krone urged Ain to sit down.
When Ain sat down on the seat where Chris was waiting, Krone sat down on the seat next to him.
“I’m sorry, Krone. But please tell me! Why are you sitting over there in the Ishtalika area without even contacting me!”
——I explained earlier.
She mumbled to herself, cleared her throat, and started to explain again.
“As I said, I am the Crown Prince’s a.s.sistant. That’s why I’m sitting here. Besides, I contacted you.”
Tigre felt better when he saw Krone smiling at him.
But even though she said that she had contacted him, he didn’t know what she was talking about.
“Contact…? When did you contact me?”
“As I said, it’s the letter I sent from Ishtalika. …Although it seems that the Third Prince Tigre did not like it.”
Hearing this, Tigre was startled.
That’s right, Krone had introduced herself as the Crown Prince’s a.s.sistant.
If that was the case, then the person who wrote the letter that was sent to Heim must be the Crown Prince’s a.s.sistant who was here right now.
…Then he remembered his own words from last night.
“I-I see! That beautiful…”
He was just about to send a word of praise for the beautiful handwriting…
However, Krone cut off his words.
“No, there is no need for you to bother. I know I made you feel uncomfortable when I overheard your conversation with your bodyguard last night.”
Tigre stiffened when he heard this answer, and a large bead of sweat appeared on his forehead.
He took a handkerchief and wiped the sweat off, but too many unexpected things were happening, and he couldn’t find the best solution.
“W-were you walking around the island last night? Isn’t it dangerous to be alone…?”
In desperation, he tried to worry about Krone’s safety.
However, if he had to state the result, this question should not have been asked, even from a mental point of view.
“It’s not dangerous at all. I was with the Crown Prince.”
“I see. If the Crown Prince’s bodyguard was with you, then you were safe!”
He nodded his head up and down in an exaggerated manner, but the next words the Crown Prince’s a.s.sistant spoke were the ones Tigre didn’t want to hear.
“There may have been guards nearby, but I was alone with the Crown Prince. …The Crown Prince is a reliable person, so I had nothing to fear and could enjoy myself until ‘that time."”
Tigree’s face turned red and then blue, like a lizard changing color.
These were the words he had not wanted to hear.
“Since we are running out of time, let’s finish the questions about me personally.”
Krone took a few doc.u.ments from the small bag she had brought with her, just like Warren, and placed them on the desk.
It seemed that she had no intention of answering any more of Tigre’s questions.
This was Krone’s “revenge” on Tigre from last night.
“It’s not a lie, but aren’t you being a little too aggressive?”
“I’m just getting back at him for interrupting us.”
Ain spoke to Krone in a low voice and received a somewhat more relaxed reply.
The fact that she had taken the trouble to choose her words seemed to show how displeased Krone was.
Tigre sat down wearily and continued to watch Krone absentmindedly.
“He’s still watching you, you know?”
Ain said with a wry smile.
“It’s okay. I’ll get some cold medicine later.”
“Cold medicine?”
“Yes, cold medicine. I’m feeling cold today. I need to take some medicine, so I don’t get sick.”
Ah, I see.
Ain responded lightly to Krone’s dark joke, and for a moment, his eyes turned to Heim’s seat.
Two familiar figures are sitting there: Logas and Grint.
Fortunately, he was calm and collected. It seemed that, contrary to his fears, he did not lose his composure.
The two people Ain saw had expressions of surprise on their faces, though not as much as Tigre’s.
After looking at the two people, Ain turned his attention to the person next to them.
It was a woman, and she looked like Krone.
Then, the prediction was easy. She must be Krone’s mother, he thought.
“Ain-sama, Krone-san… are you okay?”
Then Chris called to them from behind.
Concerned about how they were doing, she called out to them before the meeting began.
“I’m okay, Chris.”
“Yeah, me too. I’m more mentally composed than I thought.”
Chris was also relieved to see that they were acting as usual.
“I’m glad to hear that. Please don’t overdo it.”
After hearing the answer, Chris returned to her position, ready to draw her sword at any moment.
——And on the other side.
On the Heim side of the table, Logas, Grint, and Elena all looked shaken.
“Is that Ain…?”
“How could he have grown so much…”
Especially Logas, who hadn’t seen Ain for almost ten years.
So he couldn’t hide his surprise at Ain’s transformation.
And as for Grint next to him, he was surprised at how much he had grown since their last meeting in Euro.
“And that woman next to him…! Why is the prince’s beloved in such a place!”
“Elena-dono? Are you sure that woman is your daughter, Elena-dono?”
Logas called Elena, who was standing next to him.
“Yes. There is no mistake.”
There was no doubt. That was Krone.
Elena was relieved to see that the girl she had always seen at the August family mansion had grown so much, but her relief was short-lived.
Not only was it Krone, but the man who had introduced her to the inn in Magna was standing right in front of her.
That, more than anything else, was what made Elena so upset.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t quite wrap my head around it.”
Why? The man who took her to the inn was Crown Prince Ain?
Elena’s mind couldn’t quite wrap its head around the fact that the Crown Prince was walking around the city alone.
But when she thought back to the surprised looks of the people at the inn and the way Lili hesitated when she spoke, there were parts of it that made sense. It was probably because he was the Crown Prince…
There was something she wanted to tell Ain as well but now wasn’t the time.
Elena tried to keep her expression from betraying her thoughts.
“I understand how you feel. I’m sorry, that was an impolite question…”
Before Logas could ask anything, Elena put up a shield like this.
In reality, she didn’t know what was going on.
She had never imagined that Krone would come.
“No, but come to think of it, that girl…”
That girl.
Elena remembered her conversation with Lili.
That was when Lili was still spying at the castle in Heim.
When Elena discovered Lili’s true ident.i.ty, she said this.
That Krone was a somewhat important figure at the moment.
And then if Elena didn’t want to be at odds with Krone, she shouldn’t say anything to Crown Prince Ain.
The truth of this was what just happened in front of her eyes.
Elena was astonished when she saw Krone sitting next to Ain.
“…Lili. I don’t think she’s just a ‘somewhat important person."”
Lili had said that she was a ‘somewhat important person.’
But Elena wanted to disagree. She thought it was wrong to say that the Crown Prince’s a.s.sistant was ‘somewhat important.’
Elena muttered to herself, and many thoughts ran through her mind.
If that was the case, there was only one person who had brought Krone to this point.
The Prime Minister sitting nearby, the man named Warren.
The Krone Elena thought of was a girl who has been intelligent and talented since childhood.
And she was brought up to be the Crown Prince’s a.s.sistant by the hands of Warren, who was a being above the clouds even in the great nation of Ishtalika.
How would this fact affect Heim?
It was completely inconceivable.
——In the midst of all this, there was one thing that was rea.s.suring.
That was the fact that Crown Prince Ain, who was sitting next to Krone, seemed to have a good relationship with her.
Krone had expressed her feelings verbally, and her demeanor also showed her closeness to Ain.
From Elena’s perspective as a mother, this was very rea.s.suring.
…Then there was only one problem at the moment.
Tigre would definitely demand that Krone be handed over during this meeting.
Thinking about it, Elena was at a loss how to intervene.
“Hmph! But this should solve the problem!”
Suddenly, Tigre raised his voice and addressed Ishtalika.
“What do you mean ‘solved’?”
It was Warren who answered.
He answered Tigre with a soft expression on his face.
“Of course. The information I was looking for about the two members of the Augusto family. Since the person in question is here, I would like you to hand over Krone first…”
——Immediately?
The words that Elena had feared were spoken immediately.
Even if they made such a request, the answer would be obvious.
Elena did not know what to do.
“Excuse me, but who is the Augusto family?”
There was no signal to indicate the start of the meeting, but this conversation began with Tigre’s words.
However, Warren’s answer was not the one Tigre was looking for.
“Stop playing dumb…! Just now, Krone introduced herself as the Crown Prince’s a.s.sistant!”
He stood up and pointed at Ain, then turned his gaze to Krone.
“Hmm. It seems Prince Tigre misunderstood.”
“Misunderstood?
“Yes. Or perhaps I should say you mistook her for someone else. Could you please introduce yourself again, Krone-dono?”
“As you wish. Then I will introduce myself again.”
In response to Warren’s voice, Krone stood up straight.
Then she looked at Heim and introduced herself again.
“My name is Krone August. I’m sorry, but it’s not Augusto.”
Saying this with a firm att.i.tude, Krone sat down again.
Hearing these words, Tigre was even more offended.
“That’s not the point! The Krone here is obviously the Krone I know well!”
——What do you know? You’re disgusting.
The poisoned words only reached Ain’s ears, who was sitting next to her.
“Hmm… But there is no family named Augusto in our Ishtalika. I have the doc.u.ments we researched. Would you like to see them?”
Once again, Warren spoke as if in a daze.
Elena saw this and decided in her heart that she must do something.
“Even if there is no such thing, we have Elena. That’s right, Elena!”
Almost simultaneously with Elena’s decision, Tigre pointed at Elena.
“Elena is Krone’s mother. Then there is no better proof of her ident.i.ty than this!”
Tigre spoke confidently.
He was convinced of victory in his heart.
“That’s right.”
Warren, who had heard Tigre’s voice, nodded.
Tigre was happy to see this, but Elena felt strange.
She couldn’t believe that he would give in so easily.
But Warren soon explained the reason.
“However, if that Elena-dono there really is the mother of the Krone-dono, then there is one condition.”
“What are you saying?”
“It could be someone else who looks like her, and even if it is Elena-dono, can you accurately understand a daughter you haven’t seen in almost ten years?”
——This is a farce.
Elena wanted to strongly refute his words.
This girl is definitely my daughter. She wanted to say it out loud.
She felt a little anger at Warren’s words, which sounded like an accusation.
However, Warren’s words were quite disturbing.
“We don’t know. After all, this is the first time we’ve met a woman named Elena. So there’s no way to be sure it’s her.”
He spoke to Heim with a deliberately worried expression on his face.
In words, he could say anything, but in reality, there was no way to prove it.
“You’re just making up all these stupid excuses!”
His face flushed red, showing his displeasure.
Warren, who had seen Tigre’s reaction, smiled and continued, seemingly amused.
“That was a joke.”
For a moment, Elena’s face seemed surprised as well.
Was he joking about what he had just said?
“One of my subordinates is a woman who knows you well, so I knew from the beginning.”
Tigre was simply being played by Warren’s hand.
From a third party’s perspective, that was a bad way to put it.
However, by using his exquisite way of speaking and Tigre’s mental state, Warren was simply playing with Tigre.
“Elena-dono, is there anything you would like to say to Krone-dono?”
He smiled softly and said this to Elena.
She hadn’t expected him to talk to her like that, so she hesitated for a moment before speaking.
She hated the fact that he had called her instead of Tigre.
If she said ‘no’ here, Tigre would attack her.
In this case, she had no choice but to say ‘yes.’
“Can I have a moment?”
“Yes, please.”
Warren glanced at Krone and motioned to her.
Krone then looked at Elena and waited to see what she would say.
“It’s been a while, Krone.”
Elena spoke to Krone as Tigre watched with stern eyes.
“Yes, it has been a while, Mother.”
It had been a while since she had heard her mother’s voice calling her.
Krone heard Elena’s voice for the first time in a long time, and her face naturally lit up with joy.
“How do you spend your days in Ishtalika?”
There were other things she should ask!
Tigre looked at Elena with those eyes, but she couldn’t just ask her that out of the blue.
“My days are just a series of happy, shining moments, more precious than jewels.”
A genuine, beaming smile.
Elena couldn’t say that it was a lie when she saw an expression like that.
Even though it had been a while since they last saw each other, they both seemed calm.
But if it weren’t for the people of Heim, they would have hugged each other and shared their joy.
“So you’ve become a full-fledged Istalikan, huh?”
In the past, Elena and Harley had tacitly allowed Krone and Graff to go to Istalika.
They spoke carefully, trying not to say anything out loud.
“Yes. Ishtalika has become my home. … So I have no intention of returning to Heim.”
Krone looked at Elena with strong eyes and spoke for herself.
But it was Tigre who interrupted their conversation and objected.
He raised his voice without restraint and complained about the situation.
“This is ridiculous! They must have taken you to Ishtalika and are threatening you! That’s why you’re acting like this…!”
“Prince Tigre, these words come with a lot of responsibility. Do you understand that?”
Warren’s eyes were still gentle.
But the words he spoke gave off a strong sense of intent that made one feel a chill.
“If you can’t prove it, then you’re just making wild accusations. It’s something a child would do. I don’t want to believe that the Prince of Heim would do such a thing…”
“But! But!”
Tigre stammered.
As expected, it’s time to stop him.
Elena thought this and was about to speak.
But just then, King Heim, Ralph, opened his mouth.
“That’s enough, Tigre. I will offer you the best solution.”
Sitting back in his chair, Ralph called out to Warren.
“Your name is Warren, isn’t it?”
“Yes. I serve as Prime Minister in Ishtalika.”
“Hmm… you are a man of talent. Let’s make a deal, Warren.”
Leaning his elbows on the desk, Ralph spoke in a way that made it seem like he was in no hurry to get on with the matter, and Warren looked forward to hearing what he had to say.
“What business are you talking about?”
“The whereabouts of the Crown Prince’s a.s.sistant, this person called Krone. I will give you the money you need, so hand her over to Heim.”
“Hmm… I see, I see.”
What did he say?
Elena, who had overheard the conversation, was disturbed by the prospect of her daughter being traded for money.
But why were both Krone and Ain so calm?
That was the only thing she couldn’t understand.
“So how much?”
“You mean the price?”
“That’s what I said. Don’t keep asking the same question.”
Warren was good at making people angry over little things.
This may not be a conversational style that everyone liked.
But when you were dealing with people like the Heim royal family, it was a quick and effective way to get what you want.
That was why Warren deliberately chose this way of speaking.
“Then I will tell you. I have previously calculated the wealth that Krone-dono will bring to Ishtalika.”
Then he picked up a piece of paper and read the contents.
The people of Heim were surprised that he had taken the trouble to prepare such a thing.
“This is the result of my calculations of the influence Krone-dono will have until she dies of old age and the influence she will leave behind after her death.”
“Just tell me quickly. I want to go home.”
“Very well. Then, in conclusion, I would like to ask for at least 50 years of the national budget of Ishtalika.”
“Are you joking?”
The people of Heim had never heard of Ishtalika’s national budget.
However, considering the size of the nation, it would be impossible to pay with just a few times the budget of Heim.
“I am not joking. These are the results of my calculations of Krone-dono’s influence.”
“This is ridiculous. Are you making fun of our Heim?”
“That’s not true at all.”
Warren, always so natural, was a man who was hard to understand.
Still, he liked to show off in small ways, and he had a very annoying way of talking.
“By the way, I know that Heim’s finances can’t cover it. That means I know you can’t pay it either.”
As a matter of course, Warren mentioned the situation at Heim, but Ralph was not interested.
“If we raise taxes…”
“That’s impossible. Even if you collect all the money in Heim, you still won’t be able to pay the amount we mentioned earlier.”
Ralph’s words were all parried.
Then, just like Tigre, he became restless.
It was clear to see that his face was gradually turning red.
“First of all, I have no intention of agreeing to this deal, so I think we’ve spoken enough for now, haven’t we?”
Warren, still smiling, said to Ralph.
“You won’t take it? What are you talking about? You just said——”
“Yes. When I asked about the amount, King Ralph replied, ‘I’ve already told you."”
Elena also realized.
In fact, Warren had said nothing about agreeing to a deal.
All he said was, “What kind of deal?” and “Is it a monetary amount?”
“King Ralph asked me the value of Krone-dono, so I answered.”
——Is that enough?
Warren finished and then looked at Ralph.
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