"So! Can I ask the reason for this visit, Sil? Don't get me wrong, I am more than happy for you to visit, but I have a feeling you are here not for a vacation."
Sialeeds takes a sip of her whiskey and sighs.
"And you are right. We are here on an order from the queen, my sister."
"Oh?"
"We need to do an inspection of Lordlake. I don't know what we need to inspect because the last time we went there, there was nothing."
Unlike in the canon timeline, Lordlake still has a supporter: me. The others want to curry favor with the queen and distance themselves from Lordlake, but I do the opposite. According to Sialeeds, the queen does not mind helping them by selling heavily discounted food and water to the people of Lordlake.
However, she does give me an ultimatum. I cannot help them rebuild the city or defend it from the monsters and wild animals in the area.
I can sell them materials and weapons, but I cannot send anyone to help them.
Because of my help, 50% of the city's population remains, rather than the 5% in the original timeline. People do not migrate because of a lack of food or the constant deaths from sickness and monsters.
There is still a massive migration, but at least many people are defending the city and helping each other in hard times.
Not only that, but they also trust Sialeeds and me. Unlike in the canon timeline, where they look at the prince and his group with suspicion and hatred, now they will trust them more with Sialeeds because she is my fiancée and someone who is willing to help them.
"Well, there is nothing you can do. It is a royal order, after all. Do you want me to come with you, Sil?"
"No. You do not need to come with us, Richy. The reason we are here is to ask if you have already sent the monthly shipment of goods to Lordlake."
"Ah, you want to use the shipment to smooth things out, huh?"
"Yup. So?"
"Well, it is a week early, but I don't mind letting you take the goods."
"Perfect! Thank you, Richy."
I smile and give her a quick kiss on the cheek, which makes her blush.
"It is not a problem. Anything for my beloved."
"Stop it, you. Not in front of my nephew."
"Fine. Fine."
I stand up and say,
"The goods will be prepared and should be ready tomorrow morning. For now, enjoy your stay. This is your home, after all."
"Will do! It's been a while since I took a dip in the hot spring!"
"You were here two days ago, Sil."
"Two days too long!"
I shake my head and smile at her words.
"Right. Anyway, I will leave you for a moment. I need to gather the goods and add extra things to them. After that, we can catch up and maybe spend the evening together."
I give her a roguish smile and make her blush slightly.
"Just get out already! Stop teasing me."
"Right. Right. Anyway, enjoy your stay, everyone!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|3rd POV|
"Huh. I didn't know that the infamous Sialeeds could act cutesy."
"Urgh. Not now, Georg."
Sialeeds, still blushing from Richard's teasing, growls at the Queen's Knight next to her.
"Right. Right. Sorry about that. However, you two look really close. Have you known him for a long time?"
"Hmmm. I have known him since we were children. His father supported the succession war and was one of the key figures in helping my grandmother take the throne. As for him… I met him at a ball. Even though I look like this, I was a tomboy when I was a child, you know?"
Freyjadour, his guard Lyon, and Georg look at her as if she had grown a second head. Even to this day, people know that she is a tomboy and does whatever she wants.
"What is that look? Anyway, our first meeting was a brawl between children. I think I was the one who started the fight. It was because of a snack or something. Surprisingly, we got along from then on. He became my fiancé when the bastard from the House of Godwin wanted to use me as a piece in their attempt to seize the throne. Even though he had just lost his parents in an ambush by the New Armes Kingdom, he stood his ground and declared he would fight the Godwin Family to make me happy."
Sialeeds blushes even more as she remembers the past.
"I remember that day when I declared that I renounced my claim to the throne. The Godwins tried to declare that even if I renounced my claim to the throne, I still needed to be married to strengthen Falena's hold. The old bastard tried to marry me to someone from the New Armes Kingdom to secure a peace treaty."
"Is that where Lord Helusian asked for your hand in marriage?"
"Yes. He declared his love for me and boldly asked my sister for my hand in marriage."
She smiles a little and looks at the door.
"That old warhawk tried to argue that marrying me to him would not benefit the royal family. However, Richard decided to give a massive dowry. He outright gave 50 million Potch and other agreements that made the old warhawk turn purple."
Georg nods in shock, knowing that 50 million Potch could break a kingdom. That kind of money enables a kingdom to mount a long and intensive campaign. That kind of money allows someone to marry anyone, and only a strong, powerful noble can produce it.
"When the debacle was over, my sister wanted to give 80% of the money back, but Richard did not agree, and the next week, he arrived in Sol-Falena with the money. Do you remember it, Frey? You were there when we opened the chest. You were 15 back then."
Freyjadour nods his head. He remembers looking at the massive stack of money in front of him. He also remembers all the old men greedily looking at the money, but before they could do anything, the Queen's Knights put it in the vault.
"Yeah. It was a shocking experience."
"Right? Seeing a small mountain of money is an experience you will not forget. Anyway, from then on, we have been betrothed and will soon be married."
"When are you going to marry, Lady Sialeeds?"
She looks at Lyon and says,
"Well, little Lyon, I should have been married last year, but because of someone meddling, I will be married after the Sacred Games."
Sialeeds releases a sigh and shakes her head.
"Let's not talk about that. It ruins my mood. For now, let's enjoy the hot springs!"
= Line Break =
Sialeeds takes a sip of her whiskey and looks at the night sky. She snaps out of her thoughts when she sees someone sitting next to her. She sees him put down a tray of snacks. He looks at her and says,
"Are you alright, Sil? Your face looks like someone who has too much on their mind. Spill it. What's eating you up, Sil?"
She releases a sigh and says,
"It is the Sacred Games, Ricky. My niece is a prize for the nobles' game. I hate it. I hate how the nobles divide Falena and think of my niece as nothing more than a piece in their chess game. Why can't other nobles act like you? It is in the name—noble! Why can't they act nobly?! Why do they all want more power? Don't they already have enough power?!"
"Because they never see the perspective from the bottom, Sialeeds."
Richard looks at the stars and sighs.
"All of them always look down from the top. They never once think from the perspective of the people at the bottom. To them, the people of Falena are nothing but dirt under their boots. They are more than willing to divide the country as long as they can grasp more power so they can look down on their fellow nobles. Especially the people in the Senate. They think they can do whatever they want, and only through the firm hand of the Queen do they avoid doing anything too overt."
"What do you mean?"
Richard takes a small piece of paper from his pocket and gives it to Sialeeds. It is a report from his network of merchants. She reads through the letter for a few seconds, and by the end of it, she tears the paper apart and slams her hands on the table.
"How dare they?! So they are the reason why the New Armes Kingdom never runs out of food!"
What she is reading is a report from a few merchants who sneaked into the New Armes Kingdom to spy on them. After digging for a while, they found shaky proof that the New Armes Kingdom is buying goods from Falena.
The New Armes Kingdom has many gold mines, but because of its rocky terrain, it struggles to grow food and must import it from other countries. Sadly, the only third country on the continent, the Nagarea Theocracy, is also at war with them.
Because of this, they need to buy food from another continent, but Falena makes sure they have a hard time going out to sea to buy it. So they need to spend a lot of money to buy food.
However, his spies show that they are not running out of money because they are buying from Falena at a lower price.
"Why?! Why are they doing this?!"
"Trying to one-up each other, Sil. Those kinds of nobles need to appear rich and spend a lot of money to do that. Where do you think they get their money? Trading? No. There is a reason why my family has grown so much. The only people able to match us are the Barrows, and even then, they only deal in internal trading."
Sialeeds grits her teeth and looks at him in frustration.
"What should I do, Richard? What can I do? Sooner or later, my sister will be dead because of their so-called games. With her gone, my niece will be devoured by them."
He looks her right in the eyes and says,
"Leave it to me, Sialeeds. Leave it to me. A wind of change is blowing. I don't know if it is a good thing or not, but I will make sure it brings a good change to our country."
Sialeeds throws herself at him and hugs him tightly. The two of them stay like that for a long time, enjoying each other's presence.