Who Could Have Loved the Monster Princess? - Chapter 22
After exchanging brief greetings, the two sighed simultaneously upon locking eyes. Carnelian spoke with a touch of frustration.
“You’re rude.”
“Your Highness is foolish,” said Mir.
“I’m foolish?”
“I asked you to treat Yen as a lady, but you made her go home instead?”
“I did treat her as a lady. Did Belienne throw a tantrum?”
Carnelian burst into laughter at Mir’s absurd statement. To his knowledge, Belienne was never one to have such a delicate temperament. Mir, in turn, regarded Carnelian with a pitiful look. Sensing the meaning behind that gaze, Carnelian furrowed his brow.
The true pitiful one was the sage before him. A scholar who, due to his pretty face and long, flowing, vibrant hair, was mistaken for a woman and nonchalantly attended the ladies’ tea parties without correcting their misunderstanding.
“As a sage, do you find ladies’ love stories amusing?”
“You look down on ladies’ love stories, Your Highness, and that’s why you’re not making any progress.”
“I hear you also counsel the ladies on their marriages, but did you tell them you’re a man?”
“Does gender matter in the transmission of knowledge?”
While Carnelian believed it was important, he didn’t voice it. The sage, appearing human but reportedly not being one, likely belonged to a different race that concealed its true form. So Mir likely had every reason to think that gender didn’t matter.
“At least, it would be good to inform Belienne.”
Mir casually nodded, “That shouldn’t be difficult.”
Belienne’s friendly interaction with Mir probably stemmed from her assuming that Mir was a girl. Although Carnelian didn’t see any issue with the fact, he couldn’t help but feel uneasy whenever he witnessed Belienne and Mir getting along so well.
“So, did the accomplished sage visit just to criticize me, or is there some other reason?”
“It seems challenging as it is. Why not make use of the tournament?”
Carnelian remained silent. The difficulty likely revolved around winning Belienne’s affection. But a tournament?
“You mean the flag-finding tournament?”
“Yes.”
Use that to manipulate the relationship with Belienne? A tournament where each noble house hides its flag in the competition venue for others to find. If Carnelian found the flag of House Staedt, he could request anything from Staedt, even a strategic marriage.
Carnelian traised an eyebrow. It sounded like he wasn’t attractive enough to need to take advantage of something like that.
After a moment of silence, Carnelian finally spoke, “Your advice…I’ll consider it.”
***
Exiting the palace after parting ways with Carnelian, I checked the time. It seemed that the concert held at Lord Peltrett’s estate was still ongoing. It would be a good idea to drop by for a while. However, I hesitated. I didn’t want to go home immediately nor did I feel like attending the concert.
With all the hustle and bustle, I just wanted to get some rest. Eventually, almost without realizing it, I found myself suggesting we head to the Staedt family farm in the countryside.
As soon as the decision to go to the rural estate was made, it felt as if the scent of peaches wafted through the air, soothing my mood. The carriage quickly left the city behind.
As the rice paddies came into view, a hum escaped me. I instructed the coachman to stop the carriage before turning onto the path between the fields.
“Stop here.”
Further ahead, there was no suitable path for the carriage to traverse. This area, near the foothills of the Monsdera Mountain Range, had been ravaged by monsters several times during the war. No one had come forward to manage the land that had been tainted by magic after the war. That’s when I stepped in.
‘Although there was some resistance to giving up this land….’
The land had been contaminated by magic, making it difficult to manage. The Emperor had no choice but to grant me, Belienne Staedt, the authority to manage this land, not as a representative of the Staedt family, but as an individual. It was transparently clear that after my death, it would be reclaimed by the imperial family.
Before the onslaught of the Demon King, this vast plain had been full of farms. Despite being fertile land near the capital, nobody had tried to settle here due to the dead soil. Except for Ken.
In other words, this huge area of farmland was all Ken’s farm.
