弹丸论破v3

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Calian scratched his cheek.

“This is way too explicit.”

A mountain load of gifts was placed next to Calian. They were supposed to be “gifts of consolation” for last night’s ball where Rumein entered with Franz by his side instead of punishing him. Of course, that was just an excuse.

Calian pointed at the gifts—or bribery, so to say—with his fork and said playfully, “Are they choosing my lane already?”

The rumour that Franz insulted Freya spread like wildfire. The attendants, maids, and knights were all present in the scene, and they also owned their own set of mouths after all.

However, Rumein showed everyone that he had forgiven Franz by entering the ballroom with Franz. The main issue was that Rumein announced right after that he would be rewarding Melfir for the afternoon performance.

“Today’s show was very memorable. As thanks, I would like to award Pollun Merchantry the supply rights for the palace and the Kailisysian knights’ horses and harnesses.”

Normally, knights are expected to bring their own horses and arms. However, that wasn’t the case for the knights in the palace and Kailisys, the capital city of Kailis. The palace provided everything in order to achieve a high-level standardisation of military power. Therefore, horses made up a significant portion of Kailisys’ military power that consisted of forces such as the palace knights, knights in Kailisys, the outer castle guards, and the security officials of the city. Naturally, their trade value was incredibly high.

And Rumein had given these rights to Pollun Merchantry.

.

Even when this ridiculous amount of rights was taken away, there were no particular reactions from Silica and Lennon Brissen. This suggested that everything was decided in advance. Melfir Pollun was the only one who was surprised out of his mind.

They made a deal with Prince Franz on the line.

The nobles were bound to understand that. Brissen had never stepped forward before no matter what Franz did. The fact that they submitted to a loss like this could only mean one thing.

Calian now has enough power to make Silica raise her guard.

Some of the nobles who were reading the atmosphere washed their hands of Franz. The numbers were small compared to if Franz had not been forgiven, of course, but there had to be some who wished to pull away. Those were the people who sent Calian these gifts of consolation.

“What should I do with them, Your Highness?” asked Yan.

“Return everything except two. Just write down the names of the senders before returning them,” answered Calian, enjoying his breakfast in relaxation for the first time since he had become the prince of Kailis. He didn’t attend breakfast this morning for the same reason as his absence at last night’s ball.

The ones whose names will be written down now will never be chosen by Calian again. Calian didn’t need anyone who was willing to change what they stood for in mere three days of adjustment.

“Yes, Your Highness. Which two should I leave?”.

“The ones from Mages’ Union and Melfir Pollun.”

Calian answered without hesitation even though he hadn’t even checked the names of those who sent him gifts. He sounded confident that the two of them had sent him gifts. Yan scanned the list and nodded, his eyes widening in surprise.

The Mages’ Union and Melfir Pollun were both on the list.

Yan seemed curious as to how Calian knew that the two would be on the list. However, Calian wasn’t finished.

“Just accept the one sent by the Mages’ Union, but let me see what Baron Pollun sent me.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

There was only one reason for accepting the gift sent by the Mages’ Union: to spread the news that he has joined forces with the Mages’ Union with Alan Manassil acting as their intermediate.

Yan began to sort the gifts right away. Soon, having excluded the rest, only two boxes remained on the table. Yan picked up the wide, flat box and opened it.

.

“This is the gift from Baron Pollun.”

Calian halted in the midst of gracefully slicing his ham. Curious about his master’s reaction, Yan peeked into the box. Yan’s eyes widened like an owl’s, and Calian burst out laughing. After laughing his lungs out for a long while, Calian drank a sip of water to calm himself down.

“Surely he doesn’t mean for me to wear it. Did you tell the merchantry anything special?”

“Um... I did tell them that you’re quite fond of Raven.”

Calian started laughing again. It was a necklace with a very long chain. It was too long for anyone to wear; in other words, it was just the right length for a horse.

Yan had asked the servant at the showground yesterday to take special care for Raven in concern that they might anger Raven. Melfir must have heard from the servant that Calian was particularly fold of Raven.

“A necklace for a horse... I never could have expected that. I don’t even have a necklace myself, and now Raven’s getting one before me.”

The platinum chain seemed like it would go well with Raven’s black mane. A ruby pendant sparkled brightly in the centre. Calian chuckled and shook off the remainder of his laughter by shaking his head.

“I can’t even refuse this. It looks like it would be perfect for Raven,” said Calian, going back to slicing his ham. “Appraise the cost and send it to Pollun Merchantry. Tell them that we’ll buy it off them.”

“Would you rather not just accept it?”

“No. I’ll buy it instead.”

Of course, Melfir would not have just sent the horse necklace as thanks for saving his life. He was probably planning to sound out Calian’s motive for saving him.

I can’t let him go with just some pieces of jewellery. Calian knew that if he accepted that present, Melfir would send him the real gift that was closer to the value of his life. That’s probably why he sent me a necklace for Raven. He wants to tell me that he has a different gift for me.

However, it wasn’t wealth that Calian wanted. That was why he couldn’t just accept Melfir’s gift.

“The only gifts that I’ll just accept for a while will be the ones from the Mages’ Union. Tell me if Pollun Merchantry sends me something else. You can just return the gifts from other nobles.” Although he felt bad for not telling Yan about what happened with Melfir, he didn’t have a way to explain how he knew that the accident would happen.

Thankfully, Yan didn’t ask further. “Yes, Your Highness. I will take care of them.”

Calian glanced at the necklace before bursting into another bout of laughter. It got funnier the more he looked at it.

* * *

Alan sat in front of his desk and massaged his temples. He opened his eyes slightly and glanced at the person in front of him.

“Bring it over here,” said Alan.