[Translator - Jjescus ]
[Proofreader - Starfall ]
Chapter 15
"Hahahaha."
Suddenly, the other person started laughing. It was a light, cheerful laugh, as if they had heard sothing incredibly funny. Did I make a joke? I racked my brain but couldn't recall doing so.
"I know that rumors are not always reliable."
They began with that, but I couldn't understand what they ant.
"I apologize for my boldness, but I have heard quite a few rumors. Gathering rumors is my job, but I made a hasty judgnt about Your Highness based on those rumors. It was a mistake, wasn't it?"
So, are they saying I don't seem like a wastrel right now?
Not seeming like a wastrel...
This is a problem. I'm supposed to be the wastrel prince.
If I don't seem like a wastrel, then I'm neglecting my duties.
"What nonsense are you talking about?"
That made them burst into laughter again. Of course, it wasn't who laughed. I didn't find this situation funny at all.
"Hahahahaha."
The unidentified person laughed loudly, causing my grandfather to glare at them.
"Leader Shin."
My grandfather's voice dropped to a low growl, and his gaze turned sharp and chilling. Even I almost flinched at the reprimand. However, the person in question continued to speak with a grin, completely unaffected. They weren't afraid of my grandfather at all.
They seed to have a lot of guts. At least, they were bolder than Yoo Geung at this mont.
"My na is Shin Gwiryung. Please call as you wish."
"Who are you?"
I didn't know who they were, and we weren't particularly close, so I didn't want to call them by their na.
"I am but a humble rchant, running a trading company."
"A trading company? What kind of trading company?"
"If you ask for the na of the company, it is called Pyeonggwang."
"Pyeonggwang."
My eyes almost widened. I managed to control my expression and responded as if I wasn't interested.
"The Pyeonggwang Trading Company."
If it was Pyeonggwang Trading Company, it was a company that would grow significantly in the future. Their primary source of inco was war. They would expand massively by supplying the necessary materials for the consecutive wars.
Of course, Pyeonggwang's reach extended even to Seopyung, one of the largest battlefronts.
However, personally, I didn't particularly like the Pyeonggwang Trading Company. I had seen a Pyeonggwang rchant demanding paynt first amidst the carnage of the battlefield. As soone who had personally witnessed the deaths on the front lines, I couldn't like the company's calculating nature.
They wouldn't be as large as they would beco in the future.
Shin Gwiryung smiled subtly.
"Yes, Your Highness."
"Nice na."
"I am honored."
I asked bluntly, "So, do you know ?"
"Who in this land wouldn't know the First Prince?"
That's true.
It was true. But it also ant he didn't know personally.
Then why did he ask like that? Making wonder if I was supposed to rember him... He was just making nervous for no reason.
My dislike for Pyeonggwang Trading Company, combined with his teasing attitude, made my distaste for him grow rapidly.
"I don't know you."
Shin Gwiryung smiled slyly, like soone with a lot to hide.
"I hope we get to know each other in ti."
I was usually pretty good at reading people. The uneasiness I felt from that shady smile wasn't just my imagination.
I replied indifferently.
"You have to tell for to know."
"What do you wish to know? If Your Highness asks, this Gwiryung will answer anything."
Combined with that shady face, those words didn't sound trustworthy at all...
"Really?"
"Yes, Your Highness. I will answer with utmost sincerity."
"Hmm."
Then it ant he had zero loyalty to the royal family.
In that way, he was a bit like .
Usually, people develop a liking when they find similarities with others, but even if I found a hundred things in common with this guy, I doubted I'd ever like him.
"You're the one who called out here?"
"That is correct."
"I ca here because I thought it was about my grandfather."
I tried to sound a bit haughty.
In reality, I just ca because he called.
"I apologize for disappointing your expectations."
"Expectations, my foot. So, why did you call ?"
My teacup was already empty. I must have been sipping it without realizing. As I reached for the teapot, Shin Gwiryung quickly picked it up.
"Shall I speak directly?"
"If you're not busy, you can take your ti. But aren't you a rchant? I'm not sure if you have enough ti to dawdle."
The teapot, snatched by Shin Gwiryung, poured tea into my cup.
"I am deeply touched that you are so concerned about my situation... I am overwheld."
You're doing fine, so why are you overwheld?
Just empty formalities.
"Ahem."
Suddenly, my grandfather cleared his throat. Then he spoke to Yoo Geung, who had been quiet.
"Why don't you step out for a mont? I'm about to leave as well."
Yoo Geung looked at , as if seeking my permission.
My grandfather wouldn't dismiss Yoo Geung without a reason.
I replied, ”Go ahead."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Suddenly, I realized I was placing a considerable amount of trust in my grandfather. This was only the second ti I had actually t General So, yet I trusted him solely because he was my grandfather.
In truth, it was known that General So had shown little interest in his grandson after the death of the deposed queen. So, it was questionable whether he was soone I should readily trust.
But then again, he was also the one who had taken care of dangerous things like the bellflower for .
It was hard to figure him out.
Yoo Geung stood up along with my grandfather. Was it okay to leave alone with Shin Gwiryung?
Since it was my grandfather's residence, nothing would likely happen even if I was left with a stranger. However, seeing my grandfather's cold-blooded attitude, I couldn't be completely at ease. Both my grandfather and Yoo Geung, oblivious to my feelings, left the room imdiately.
Just as I was starting to regret drinking the tea they had offered, Shin Gwiryung wiped the smile off his face and spoke.
"Actually."
It was the mont I confird my judgnt that he was a shady character. Without his smile, Shin Gwiryung was clearly looking down on . Even though I was taller than him, I couldn't deny the feeling of being belittled.
"I heard that Your Highness declared you would stop taking the dicine, so I dared to request this eting."
I nodded a couple of tis.
"dicine."
Where could he have gotten the forbidden bellflower?
Co to think of it, he was a military officer who had to uphold discipline more than anyone else. An old man who had to send his daughter to the execution ground because of a single bowl of poison and remain hidden in the shadows to avoid the King's displeasure.
It was none other than General So.
"So you're the source."
What was the reason General So risked danger to procure the bellflower and provide it to the wastrel prince? Where and how did he get it?
Of course, I was curious. And I had thought about it quite a bit.
If he needed the bellflower for an illness, he could have gotten a prescription from the royal physician instead of going through such secretive channels. There was no need to keep it a private matter.
"Why did you suddenly decide to stop taking it?"
"I haven't completely stopped yet."
Shin Gwiryung closed his mouth as if prompting to say was undeniably an insolent attitude. Co to think of it, he hadn't been very polite to the General of Senior Third Rank either. I was convinced that Shin Gwiryung wouldn't fear even if I were the King or the King's grandfather, not just a prince. Authority wouldn't move Shin Gwiryung. He was a crazy person.
Then what motivates this person?
"But it's uncomfortable."
I slightly pulled my white inner robe from within my silk sleeve to show Shin Gwiryung.
"There are too many things that bother . But it's bearable for now."
My senses were so heightened that even the touch of fabric against my skin was irritating. So, I wore inner robes made from the softest fabric available to minimize the irritation.
This wasn't the only change.
The most significant change was in my movents. The sluggishness in my body had decreased. It was a subtle difference, but I could definitely feel it.
Another change was the ringing in my ears. The noise I had dismissed as simple tinnitus actually had a source. I couldn't be sure, but... it seed like distant sounds that I hadn't been able to perceive properly.
"Every person has clothes that suit them. Farrs wear white clothes, monks wear Dharma robes, the deceased wear burial shrouds... What kind of clothes suit Your Highness?"
I let out a hollow laugh and replied.
"Everything suits well."
Shin Gwiryung then spoke in a condescending tone, as if admonishing a naive child. As if I were a clueless fool who could only see what was right in front of . But that wasn't true. That kind of treatnt was ant for the First Prince, not .
Being looked down upon with pity everywhere. That was the life of a wastrel.
"Your Highness, you won't be able to endure it."
"What won't I be able to endure?"
Shin Gwiryung sighed. Daring to sigh in front of a prince? He was proving that he truly didn't fear . It was absurd. I let out another hollow laugh.
"The bellflower is not an easily obtainable herb, Your Highness."
Shin Gwiryung spoke as if I had been taking the dicine without knowing what it was. And I couldn't entirely dismiss that notion. If I were the wastrel prince who only knew how to eat, play, and tornt people, I probably wouldn't know what kind of dicine I was taking.
"I know."
"I hope you understand that I am not trying to lecture Your Highness."
"It doesn't seem that way."
"That's not true at all."
Shin Gwiryung smiled again.
"Your Highness."
Even though I was facing a smiling face, I realized that Shin Gwiryung was annoyed. I felt like a stubborn child. He was looking at as if I were a disobedient child. However, despite the small age difference, the positions of Shin Gwiryung, the head of Pyeonggwang Trading Company, and the wastrel Prince Ikwon were quite different. Just considering the responsibilities they carried, the experiences of the First Prince and Shin Gwiryung were worlds apart.
"Please understand that the words I am about to say are from a friend of the late deposed queen."
A friend of the deposed queen?
It was a shocking statent. This ti, I couldn't hide my surprise. Shin Gwiryung didn't look like he was the sa age as the deceased queen. But a ten-year age difference wasn't a reason they couldn't be friends. I nodded first. A serious conversation was about to begin.
[Translator - Jjescus ]
[Proofreader - Starfall ]
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