"Please wait here for a while then, Mr. Alex. His Majesty will immediately be here," said Freya.
Alex nodded in a fl.u.s.tered manner. He took hold of the cup Freya placed in front of him. He s.p.a.ced out for a moment when he caught a glimpse of Freya"s chest when she bent down to place the cup down. Freya seemed to notice him looking, but she just smiled with her lips pursed instead of making a deal out of it. Embarra.s.sed by his own behaviour, Alex hid his red face and ears. He didn"t dare to look Freya in the face. He tightly gripped the cup despite his hand burning red.
"Mr. Alex?"
"Hmm?!"
"Isn"t it hot?"
"Aah!!!" Alex aggressively whipped his hand, thereby tipping the cup over, causing the steaming water to spill on him. He shrieked and jumped to his feet.
Freya swiftly grabbed Alex"s hand and softly blew on his hand. She then chuckled: "You got burnt, didn"t you, Mr. Alex? It is all right. It is all right. Do you want to soothe it with ice or would you be fine with just me blowing it? Your face is really red. Did your face get burnt, too? Would you like me to blow it?"
"No. No. No…" Alex looked away.
I stood at the door and looked at Alex, who was tightly holding Freya"s hand. The two of them stood very close together. Freya gently stroked his hand. His face was so red that it looked as if it was going to explode. Freya got even closer to him and gently blew his ear.
"Ah! No… Ah!" Alex intensely shuddered, and then went limp in his chair similarly to a melted snowman.
Freya released Alex with the smile of a victor. She then picked up the cup again and gave him a smile: "I shall go and pour you another cup then, Mr. Alex. Ah, His Majesty has arrived. You two can begin. I will not disturb you."
Alex didn"t hear a word she said. He covered his ears as though he went to heaven. His life was complete after the intimate moment.
Freya giggled as she came up to me. She whispered in my ear, "Done. Alex is not muddleheaded. He will not think about anything you say now, Onii-sama."
"Who did you learn that trick from?"
Freya looked at me with a smile. In a m.u.f.fled voice, she answered, "Is the body of a woman not a weapon? I cannot stay by your side for too long; else, this technique will be pointless. I shall take my leave first, Onii-sama."
I nodded: "All right."
I walked up to Alex and sat opposite him. I"d compare him at the time to a slime monster. With a smile, I said, "Sorry, Mr. Alex. My sister isn"t used to these jobs. She accidentally burnt you, didn"t she? I give you my sincere apology. I will speak to her about it afterwards."
"N-No, I am fine. I am fine. I am fine. Miss Freya did not do anything wrong. Mm, it was all due to my carelessness. I spilt the water, because I was not careful. I am very grateful to Miss Freya. Miss Freya helped me treat the burn. It is not hurting anymore. It is not hurting anymore."
"Mr. Alex, blowing on it cannot be considered a treatment…"
"But it truly worked."
I chuckled. Alex was excited.
Alex was still a kid as I thought he was. He had no idea what to do in front of the girl he liked. He made every man feel a sense of nostalgia despite the stupidity of it. After all, every man was once stupid in the same way.
"Since you are all right, let"s get to business, then. I have not mentioned the following news to anybody. You"re the first to know, Mr. Alex. I trust you a lot due to your sentiments toward the North. Of course, it is also attributed to your a.s.sistance you provided me. Therefore, I am letting you know about this first and hope that you"ll be able to help me."
"Please go ahead."
Freya walked in between us. Alex, who was planning to recompose himself to debate about the important matter we were about to discuss, went red in the face and ears again. He lowered his head again. Freya placed a new cup of tea down in front of him. Smiling, she said, "Mr. Alex, be more careful this time. It is the same tea."
"Ah… Okay, okay, mm…"
Freya straightened up. She looked at Alex, who didn"t dare to look at her, yet was peeking at her, and she softly giggled. She then turned and went to the door, but she didn"t intend to leave. Since Alex kept glancing in that direction, Freya continued to linger at the door and would let him see the bottom of her dress.
Honestly, I began to sympathise with the smitten guy. Naïve and cute Alex finally found a lover for the first time, but she was toyed with his feelings.
"How tragic," I thought.
Being played by the elder-sister type was a fatal dream for men. All I could do was pray Alex best not wake up.
Alex was evidently restless and whimsical. When I first met him, I knew he wasn"t an idiot. He inherited his father"s intelligence, but he used it in the right place. He gave me money and resources in order to atone; nonetheless, there was no chance he"d make a concession if we were to negotiate on equal terms. Consequently, I needed him to be restless and whimsical during our talk. That way, he"d forget what he wanted, I meant, what he needed.
"Mr. Alex, I am now preparing for my coronation. I plan to ascend the throne in the North. I think I have what it takes to rule the North given how I completely transformed it into what it is now, settled the unrest, united the North and brought new life to the North that was in ruins."
"Yes."
Alex shook his leg. His gaze only stopped on my face for a short moment. It appeared that he wasn"t willing to listen to my drivel.
I already occupied the Imperial Palace. Did I still not have the authority to rule the North with that? Anything he said would"ve been pointless even if he felt I wasn"t qualified to rule the North. For that reason, he"d rather look at the bottom of Freya"s skirt.
"I"ll just come out with it, then. I trust your connections, Mr. Alex. I need you to help me inform all of the n.o.bles who can make it to the Imperial Palace for my coronation ceremony. In addition, I want you to help me with food. Candidly speaking, we don"t have much food in the Imperial City at this present time. After all, this city just went through a disaster last year. The food transported from the South needs to be distributed to other places, so we can"t store too much food in the Imperial City. Having said that, I believe that you n.o.bles must have some food stored away at home. I, therefore, hope you can provide us with some."
Alex nodded: "Sure. There are no problems with that. That being said, it would be pus.h.i.+ng it if our family, alone, had to supply food. I can convince them to bring food into the Imperial City with them. But do you not intend to go on a tour?"
"No, I don"t plan to waste money on that. Plus, if you can all come, doesn"t that mean the North supports me? Though it"s fine to bring food along, I hope you can prepare some for us beforehand. Can you do that as soon as possible?"
"That much food…? Mm…"
Freya gently whipped her skirt. While carrying the tray of tea, she looked in our direction and revealed a short-lasting charming smile.
Alex aggressively clenched his teeth and replied, "No problem."
I stood： Thank you very much for your a.s.sistance, Mr. Alex. I will not forget your a.s.sistance. Please allow Freya to take care of you now. I still have other business."
"Sure! Sure!!! No problem!! I will stay with Freya for a while! No problem!!"
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