The Prince's Taste - Chapter 3.1
There is a fairy living in the Kingdom of Adrian.
The rumor spread beyond the kingdom, attracting royalty and high-ranking nobles from other countries who come to Adrian at every opportunity. However, the fairy was not easy to approach—no one could cross the threshold of her home.
The fairy is none other than Judy Esther, the Marquis of Emers’ beloved, only daughter, the most beautiful woman in the kingdom, with pink hair that cascades down to her waist, big eyes, a strong nose, and full lips.
She was so dazzling, and those who saw her couldn’t help but murmur, “She truly is a fairy.”
Nobles captivated by her beauty eagerly submitted marriage proposals to Marquis Emers. Even from distant kingdoms, proposals accompanied by extravagant gifts poured in. However, despite the flood of proposals arriving at the Emers estate, none were granted permission to proceed.
“Absolutely not!”
Henry Emers, the Marquis, was famous for being a ‘daughter fool.’ He constantly proclaimed, ‘She still needs to be under my protection!’ and ‘All men are wolves!’ which prevented any of these proposals from going forward. Although Judy Esther was not yet of age, engagements were still possible; it was common among the noble families of Adrian to arrange a betrothal between families and then marry them off as adults
“Father, your blood pressure is rising. Please calm down.” Enter Daniel Emers, Judy Esther’s brother. Everyone welcomed the appearance of the rational young lord who could communicate better than the doting Marquis Emers.
But they did not know how much easier it was to deal with the marquis when he opposed them without reason or logic.
“I want to spend my whole life with our Judy.”
Daniel smiled gently. Everyone nodded in agreement.
“I think for that to happen, we need to communicate well.”
The young marquis adjusted his silver-framed glasses and opened his eyes wide. It was a beast’s gaze before hunting prey. And then he recounted a famous anecdote.
The day in question was the birthday banquet of the kingdom’s only duke, Drummell.
In the midst of all the good cheer, a group of young nobles gathered around Marquis Emers, asking for permission to court Miss Judy Esther. They had aimed for the moment when the Marquis was in good spirits, slightly under the influence of drink. But his reaction was as unyielding as ever.
“Our Judy is off-limits!!!!”
As the atmosphere turned awkward, Daniel Emers appeared like a comet, calming his father and scanning the group of young nobles.
Gulp—, despite being around Daniel’s age, the young men swallowed hard.
“I’d like to ask a question to see if we can communicate well.”
It was an irresistible offer, so all they could do was nod in agreement.
Daniel let out a small snicker and turned his gaze to the window.
“It’s raining.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the dark sky that had been pouring rain all day flashed with lightning. A loud thunder followed. He fiddled with his silver glasses while making a thoughtful sound.
“Do you know why lightning comes before thunder?” Daniel asked with a nonchalant expression, posing his first question. Everyone turned their attention to the window where Daniel was looking and eagerly responded.
“Isn’t it because God throws lightning first and then yells afterward?”
One noble laughed heartily.
“People still believe in such superstitions…”
“Daniel is right. God is busy; why would He care about such things? It’s actually because a dragon burps while breathing fire.”
Saying this, a young noble exaggeratedly spread his arms and pretended to be a dragon breathing fire. Laughter erupted, but Daniel’s expression grew increasingly stern.
As Daniel fell silent, the noble imitating the dragon looked awkward and scratched his head, saying, “Isn’t that right?”
“The speed of light is faster than the speed of sound.”
“…What?”
“It means that even if they start at the same time, light arrives first. What on earth did you learn at the academy?”
Chills dripped from Daniel’s voice.
“Let me ask one more related question. Just now, there was thunder about five seconds after the lightning struck. How far away from here do you think the lightning struck?”
“How could anyone know that?”
“…It must be where it flashed, right? Maybe somewhere over there?”
One young man pointed toward the window with an awkward smile.
Daniel, feeling a headache coming on, pressed his temples and muttered, loud enough for everyone to hear “My sister doesn’t deserve to be with such fools.” He paused for a moment to catch his breath before continuing.
“Sound travels approximately 340 rumelern meters per second. In five seconds, that means it travels about 1,700 rumelern meters, which converts to roughly 5,577 feet in Adrian’s measurements. Since the lightning struck to the north, if we draw a straight line in that direction, it should be somewhere around the estate of that Lord Kyler who was just babbling about dragons and such.”
“Sir, isn’t that just a guess since we don’t know? How can we know that from just the sound of thunder?”
“Sound travels at a distance equal to the current air temperature in degrees Celsius multiplied by 0.6, plus 331.5 rumelern meters in one second. This is a scientifically proven fact. I first developed this theory when I was nine years old and presented it after conducting precise experiments when I had just turned ten. It was published in a paper, and it’s disappointing that those wishing to court my sister haven’t even bothered to read her brother’s research.”
“Your papers are difficult even for established scholars to read…”
“Is that something you should say when you are the ones who will bear the future of Adrian? You say it’s difficult? The paper I mentioned ‘Reflections on Light, Sound, and Climate was published when I was only ten years old. It’s lamentable that you can’t even understand the logic of a ten-year-old child.”
