258 – A very obvious event (2)
It wasn’t something I muttered thinking someone would hear.
But suddenly someone answered…
For a moment, I felt angry as to what kind of person was interfering with someone else’s self-talk.
When I found out who said those words, my anger naturally disappeared.
“Her Highness the First Princess?”
“Didn’t I tell you to call me Maria? “You’re disobeying orders.”
That is a joke that the person saying is trying to improve the mood, but it is a very scary word that sends shivers down the spine of the person hearing it.
It was as if the company manager said, ‘Employee Kim is strange these days. He does well at what he is asked to do and is very sincere. Like saying ‘Did I eat something wrong?’ In front of the employees.
However, hearing this and smiling awkwardly is something only beginners do.
In the military, a rookie who has a know-it-all look on his face and is loved by his seniors is good at keeping up with his seniors, flattering them whenever he gets the chance, and is also good at ‘pretending to be fooled’ when they tell him to go to the PX and buy a gun.
So now, not only have I become a noble who has to struggle to survive in a dangerous political world, but I am also carrying out dangerous traitor duties. I bowed my head in an apologetic posture as if I was truly sorry.
“I apologize, Her Highness Maria.”
Maria nodded her head, as if satisfied with the response.
“Well, let me forgive you. From now on, don’t forget to call me ‘Maria’ in private situations like this.”
“Yes, Her Highness Maria.”
Because she is the princess, it is extremely rare for her to prank her peers or people around her, so she probably lacks this sense of humor.
Still, seeing as he doesn’t get upset because he didn’t show his embarrassment after being caught in a prank, I can see that his personality is much better than Otto’s.
“He may be my brother, but he is a bit of a lecher.”
“It seems like he definitely likes women a bit too much.”
“Are you blocking your speech just because it’s in front of me? Since we’re talking about people who aren’t here anyway, let me tell you a few things to kill time.”
Everyone, from lowly serfs to noble princesses, likes to gossip.
Well, the reason I serve Otto now is not because of his personality or personal preference, but purely for profit…
‘Honestly, Otto is a man with no character.’
Even if I am particularly excited about gossiping behind my back, I won’t even feel the need to confess my sins to Deus.
“I will listen.”
“Well, that guy has been very fond of women since he was young. Well, when he was 15, he liked playing around with maids and maids’ skirts, something a boy seven or eight years younger would do.”
In this world, the concept of chastity is much stronger than in 21st century Korea, and as a joke, the idea that even a kiss is enough to lead to marriage among the serfs is dominant.
A 15-year-old boy lifts the skirt of a nobleman of such an empire?
Well, since he was the prince of the empire, could he just ignore such perverted s*xual behavior?
“He must have had at least some sense, but he only did it in his room…”
Even if you play with lifting a maid’s skirt, doing it in front of everyone else has a slightly different meaning than doing it in your own room.
I’m not trying to defend it, but the former is s*xual harassment by doing obscene things in a public place, and the latter is just s*xual harassment.
Of course, both are crazy.
“When he was 20, he started touching women here and there as if he had been waiting for just this moment. According to the maids and maids in the castle, he touched more than 20 women a year. “I once heard him brag to his other brothers that, in a despicable way, all 20 of them were just maids from commoner families, so he ended up sending them out by giving them a few gold coins.”
“Does that make sense?”
Among men, having a lot of s*x is something to be proud of, and especially in this macho world, having a lot of s*xual experience is a kind of qualification.
You can brag, but it will always be used among mercenaries or low-level knights…
Nobles above mid-level knights who carry their faces stiffly will never boast about such foolish things.
‘Even though there are some idiots who put a lot of money in that area to show off their virility…’
“Otto that guy, I’m sure her girly habits haven’t gone anywhere. However, since she has gotten older and her position has changed a lot… She probably took a lot of concubines.”
“It sure seemed like she had a lot of concubines.”
“You wouldn’t have revealed that officially, right?”
It wasn’t revealed officially, but among the maids, there were several maids who were close to him without any sense of distance.
Just looking at it, I immediately felt like, ‘Ah, this bastard has done it again.’
“I know it when I see it.”
“I guess he is like that too.”
This kind of gossip also serves to show Maria how strong my loyalty is.
So I should also step in, right?
Also, I need to relieve some of the stress I have built up by having fun chewing on that damn bastard.
‘Since I have been ordered to betray, I have to thoroughly act like a traitor.’
“Ha, I thought it was just a matter of putting those issues aside and just throwing out whatever I wanted. “He is already busy stabilizing the lives of his people and is short on money, but he said that he should hold a fancy festival for his birthday… He asked us to spend 5% of the annual taxes of our territory to hold the festival.”
I thought I was going crazy and going crazy.
I don’t hate enjoying luxurious food or alcohol, either.
It is urgent to stabilize the territory now.
Does it make sense to hold a festival to spend taxes when there is not much tax collected?
If you tell me to hold a festival that burns 5% of the annual tax in one day, what are you going to say to me?
“That bad habit of liking extravagant things hasn’t gone anywhere.”
After looking at Otto’s scar for dozens of minutes, Maria raised a question.
“I think Kyung is a little unusual. “It’s different from others, but is there something they’re hiding?”
“What are you planning?”
“Loyalty comes at a cost. Even if it’s love. “It happened as my status rose.”
Among the nobles, I am a bit unique in that I have only loved people without seeking to rise in status or in return for material rewards.
Among nobles, everything is the same, regardless of whether it is one’s actual wife or a concubine.
It is common sense that if you become a concubine of the royal family, your family will receive at least a knighthood and fiefdom in a certain province. In addition, it is a world where it is common to use the prince’s dignity to abuse power without crossing the line.
I also have a contract to receive something from Prince Otto in return for being loyal to him, so I am offering my loyalty.
“Well, that’s right.”
“The Marquis of Schweig took special interest in me and helped me since I was young. Thanks to that, his life was saved. “He is a person who can be said to be a benefactor who made me who I am today.”
As I listened to the princess’s personal story, I pricked up my ears.
My survival depends on the kind of relationship I have with the princess.
‘Either she betrays Maria or she sides with Maria, whatever…’
“When I was young, I followed her like my father. Because he was the Elector Majesty, no, the father was only interested in his sons. She wasn’t interested in me as a woman. Rather, he only scolded the princess for being interested in useless things such as swordsmanship and military tactics.”
In the original work, when the princess takes interest in strategy or swordsmanship and works hard to achieve excellence, everyone applauds and praises her.
But if we apply this to reality…
‘Isn’t that like someone who entered the liberal arts department not taking the professor’s classes that he was supposed to take, and instead studying engineering and math in a weird way?’
Just as it would be absurd for a liberal arts major to seriously take science courses, it would be absurd for the princess to dabble in the art of strategy or swordsmanship, which are the domain of princes…
‘It probably didn’t look good from the emperor’s perspective.’
“Even the Marquis of Schweig started wanting more from me after I turned 15. It was a bit of a shock because he was someone I thought of as a father. Also, whenever I, the princess, talk about marrying a noble from another country or empire, things like the benefits I will gain and a solid alliance always take priority. “The people who come to see me for a match show that they are only interested in the power and wealth they can get if they marry me.”
In a novel like this, isn’t it the turn for these words to come out of the princess’s mouth?
‘I hope that someone who will love me as I am will appear.’
But instead of those words, another word came out of the princess’s mouth.
“I have no intention of criticizing them for being snobs. “I just wanted you to say, at least in front of me, that you were asking me to marry you because you purely loved me.”
It was difficult for me to answer that question.
The princess also sighed once and immediately changed her topic.
“But you have never mentioned the price you paid for betraying Otto and remaining loyal to me.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
I only did that because gaining trust is more important now than mentioning direct compensation.
“Okay, why on earth are you loyal to me?”
The princess could not finish saying this.
From Noble mtl dot com
“This is a big deal! “Assassins, damned assassins, have invaded!”