A leisurely afternoon.
In the past, Bellia always spent this time of day with Raul.
Back then, she immediately responded positively to his proposal, and discussions of engagement proceeded swiftly. It was as if the whole world was filled with Raul, as if she were under some spell.
He was infinitely kind and handsome, like a prince who had stepped out of a fairy tale.
While staying in the Kingdom of Ronica, he made time to meet her every day despite his busy schedule, and even after returning to the Empire, he consistently sent affectionate messages.
There were even a few times when he couldn’t bear missing Bellia and came all the way to the Kingdom of Ronica to see her.
‘Even when I arrived in the Empire…’
The moment she stepped out of the carriage, he immediately ran to her, hugging and kissing her in front of everyone. Raul’s gaze as he looked at Bellia, as if he didn’t know what to do because she was so lovable, was always warm.
It was only after becoming the Empress that she realized it had all been lip service and pretense.
So Bellia, who had returned to the past, had no desire to face the likes of Raul during this precious time. His frequent unannounced visits were a nuisance to her.
“Sister. Are you going to keep spacing out?”
“Hmm? Oh, I’m sorry.”
“Hmm… Suspicious.”
Closet puffed up her cheeks and narrowed her eyes.
In response, Bellia naturally took a sip of tea and asked with a smile.
“What’s suspicious?”
“Do you perhaps have some worry you can’t talk about?”
Was it that obvious?!
Though inwardly very surprised, she looked at Closet, pretending nothing was wrong.
“What are you talking about?”
“You can’t fool this Closet by pretending!”
Closet popped a cookie into her mouth and burst out laughing, “Wahahaha!”
“I know all about how you’ve been secretly talking alone with Lord Ben lately!”
How on earth does she know about that?!
Bellia quietly questioned Closet.
“…How did you find out about that?”
“Well!”
She can’t say she secretly spied on them.
Closet hastily shut her mouth.
Bellia smiled as if she understood and asked again.
“You didn’t say anything unnecessary to anyone else, did you?”
“Come on, what do you take me for, Sister! Of course I kept my mouth shut!”
With that, Closet grinned and made a gesture of covering her mouth with her hand.
“Haah…”
By the way, why is there really no reaction from the Second Prince?
The recent frequent meetings with Ben were also to check if there was any reaction from him.
It had already been over a week since she sent the letter. Yet there was no response whatsoever.
‘…Could he have thrown it away without even reading it? Should I look for another method?’
Bellia rested her elbow on the table and leaned her face on her hand.
Her cheeks were pressed, making her expression look sullen, but that wasn’t important.
“Hmm. It’s really suspicious, I tell you! My keen intuition tells me! This must be related to a man!”
Closet exclaimed with a grin.
Inwardly startled, Bellia opened her eyes wide and looked at her sister.
Who on earth did she take after to be so clever and perceptive?
Observing Bellia’s reaction, Closet narrowed her eyes and asked.
“Sister. Don’t tell me you’ve developed feelings to marry the First Prince?”
…I take back what I said earlier.
Bellia firmly stated once again.
“What are you talking about! I will absolutely not marry Prince Raul.”
“Then what is it?”
Embarrassed that her guess was wrong, Closet fidgeted her feet on the chair and asked grumpily.
“Closet. Didn’t you say that Prince Callid is much better than Prince Raul?”
At Bellia’s sudden question, Closet opened her eyes wide and then grinned.
She leaned close to the table and asked.
“Why? Have you become interested in the Second Prince?”
“…No. What am I even saying to you right now.”
Bellia sighed, pressing her forehead.
Quickly noticing Bellia’s attempt to avoid answering, Closet pressed once more.
“Oh come on! Sister!”
Seeing her sister’s eyes shining as if she had discovered something interesting, Bellia spoke as if it were no big deal.
“Just. We talked about the Second Prince last time, remember? So I became curious about what kind of person he is…”
“Really?!”
Closet shouted, jumping up from her seat. The chair fell backwards with the momentum, but Closet paid no attention to it.
There was a much more important event right in front of her than a mere fallen chair. She had no energy to spare for anything else.
“Since when?!”
Her sister had always been indifferent to her surroundings.
It was the first time she had said she was curious about someone.
Delighted by this fact, Closet asked with wide eyes.
And above all else.
‘Where’s the part about not being interested in the First Prince?’
The truth was, Closet had seen it.
The strange smile Raul wore while standing with his back to Bellia.
It was certainly not the expression of someone looking at a loved one. Even though he said he had fallen in love at first sight.
But her sister, who lacked experience with people, believed it was all sincere when he smiled in front of her and said he loved her.
No matter how much Closet tried to think that it was fine as long as her sister was happy, that strange expression of Prince Raul kept bothering her.
Closet quietly set the fallen chair upright and straightened her posture.
“I’m ready to listen. Tell me anything, Sister.”
Bellia couldn’t help but smile at Closet’s somehow mature attitude.
But she couldn’t tell her the whole truth, so she had to divert the conversation appropriately.
And so, Bellia and Closet continued their conversation, playfully bringing up gossip about the Second Prince.
It was truly a pleasant and leisurely time.
* * *
A mountain landscape densely packed with trees and a blue sky.
It was a scene beautiful enough for anyone to call it a spectacular view.
But the man watching the scenery moved only his blue eyes left and right, as if feeling no emotion. They were the same color as Raul’s, but the temperature they conveyed was completely different.
Perhaps it was because of that icy cold gaze, sunken beyond compare.
“Your Highness. What do you plan to do now?”
“We withdraw.”
Second Prince Callid turned away from the survey team faintly visible beyond a small village in the Kingdom of Ronica.
He had been curious about what good there was that made Raul rush to the Kingdom of Ronica, but it turned out to be nothing special. Moreover.
“There is no gold mine here.”
A low voice filled with mockery spread quietly.
“But if the First Prince’s side discovers a gold mine…”
“That won’t happen.”
At his resolute answer, Acid wore a puzzled expression.
But soon he nodded as if he understood.
“Indeed. Such a weak reaction. The possibility is low, I suppose.”
Acid looked down at the magic tool he was holding.
The disc-shaped magic tool with complex formulas engraved on it emitted only a faint light.
The search magic tools used by the joint survey team of the Kingdom of Ronica and the Ingot Empire were designed to detect wide-ranging reactions for specific ores.
However, the magic tool they brought was imbued with much higher-level magic than that.
While the searchable range was narrower, it could confirm more definite reactions.
The fact that such a magic tool reacted with just this much light meant that while there might not be absolutely no gold ore here, there was no large-scale gold mine.
“I’ve already confirmed all the survey team’s reports. It would be difficult to find the level of gold mine we expected here.”
“Thinking about how angry the First Prince’s side must be after coming up empty-handed, I find it somewhat amusing.”
As Acid smiled slightly and made a joke, Callid chuckled and said.
“Indeed. So this is no time to be wasting here.”
“Then I’ll convey the withdrawal order.”
“Tell them to hurry.”
“Yes!”
Just as they finished their conversation and Acid was about to approach the knights,
One knight came close and spoke to Acid.
“What is it?”
He explained the situation and took out a bundle of letters from his chest, handing them to his superior.
It wasn’t unusual, as they often received letters that arrived at the Prince’s Palace in this way.
Acid greeted him, thanking him for his hard work, and was about to move towards the knights again to carry out Callid’s order.
It was then that the knight, seeming to have something to say, hesitated before cautiously opening his mouth.
“Well, there’s a somewhat strange letter… Would it be better to deliver it directly to His Highness?”
“A strange letter?”
At his words, Acid examined the letters he had received.
Then he noticed one letter with no sender written on it.
“I was going to handle it myself, but I thought it best to report it first.”
The knight began to explain the situation when he found the letter in the Imperial Palace.
Since Callid spent more time outside than staying in the Imperial Palace, letters arriving at the Prince’s Palace were always gathered in one place, and then, like today, a knight would check the senders and bring them after filtering them appropriately.
Usually, most were invitations from noble houses or letters requesting investment.
But occasionally, there were letters like this with no sender written on them.
It wasn’t an entirely new occurrence.
“Hmm? Didn’t you check the contents?”
Acid asked, puzzled.
When there was no prior notice from Callid about any letter coming, such suspicious letters were usually checked for content before being delivered or discarded.
However.
“The wax used for the seal is not from the Empire.”
The knight said in a firm tone.
The knight, who had always been in charge of delivering letters, knew a lot.
This was certainly not a sealing wax used in the Empire.
It was also questionable how such a letter of unclear origin had made its way to the Prince’s Palace.
“At first, I considered checking the contents of the letter, but it felt different from usual, so I refrained from checking and brought it as is.”
Somehow, this didn’t feel like just an ambiguous letter sent to catch attention.
The actual content might be nothing special, but that would be preferable. It was better than opening the letter himself and finding something difficult to handle written inside.
The knight stood stiffly, waiting for Acid’s decision.
Acid examined the letter without a sender once more in detail.
Although there was no pattern imprinted on the seal, it was indeed a color he had never seen before.
Moreover, judging by the high quality of the paper, it didn’t seem to be sent as a prank.
“I understand. I’ll report it to His Highness right away.”
Acid turned around again and approached Callid.
As Acid, who had just gone to deliver the order, returned, Callid raised an eyebrow as if asking what the matter was.
“Your Highness. These are letters brought from the Imperial Palace.”
Ah. Was it today?
Callid, glancing at the mere handful of letters in Acid’s hand, raised one corner of his mouth crookedly and replied.
“Skim through them and throw them all away.”
They would all be useless messages anyway.
Considering that they had contacted him during this period when Raul was absent from the Imperial Palace, the content was clear enough without even checking. He didn’t want to waste time looking at the words of hypocrites desperate to use him.
‘Shameless bastards.’
His expression hardened coldly.
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
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Daily Life of a Scumbag Man Giving Birth (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: The way for a promiscuous scumbag man to atone for his sins is to let him get… pregnant.
Synopsis:
Meng Huan, a scumbag who has dated countless girlfriends, scammed countless women, transmigrates to a female-dominated country.
Day 1: Whether it’s female dominance or not doesn’t matter. The beauties here are passionate and amorous. Isn’t it easier to scam them than in modern times?
Day 2: After a night, Meng Huan discovers the differences in the female-dominated world. Men here actually have chastity locks and menstrual cycles. This hinders his ability to perform, damn it!
Day 3: What’s wrong with sleeping around? I don’t want you to marry me. I’m meant to be a playboy. I don’t care about male virtues… What? You want to drown me in a pig cage? Marry, I’ll marry!
Day N: Meng Huan inexplicably vomits and receives the shocking news of his life… He’s pregnant.