She finished speaking, took a sheet of paper from her pocket, and placed it beside the jewelry box. On the paper were the items and prices of medicines that could be supplied if Daniela accepted the proposal.
Daniela looked down at the proposal and fell into a brief moment of thought.
If things turned out as Helena said, she would suffer no loss. But even so, something about the proposal felt deeply unsettling.
If she had just asked me verbally, it would be one thing, but giving me a bribe makes it more suspicious.
Daniela glanced at the jewelry box lying before her with a look of suspicion, then turned to Helena.
“Could you give me some time to think? This is an issue that involves the ducal house’s budget, so it’s not something I can decide on my own.”
“How much time do you need? A day…?”
“…Hmm, yes. That should be enough.”
Daniela nodded at Helena’s suggestion. Helena’s eyes were filled with anticipation as she spoke.
“All right. Then I will look forward to hearing from the Duchess.”
“I will make a decision as soon as possible.”
Daniela felt the pressure of her words and offered an awkward smile.
After the official visiting hours, Helena left with a satisfied expression. Daniela tried to send the jewelry she had brought back with her, but Helena steadfastly refused. She said it was not too late to return them on the day Daniela gave her an answer to the proposal.
So Daniela was left in the reception room with Helena’s gifts. Looking at the jewelry boxes on the tea table, Daniela said to Gray with a troubled expression.
“This is really suspicious… you think so too, don’t you, Gray?”
“Well, it is excessively lavish for a gift intended to start a business transaction.”
“Exactly. But I can’t just not buy good, cheap medicine.”
After a moment of thought, Daniela spoke again.
“Gray, please find out what kind of reputation this Richard Strand, Helena’s brother, has. And also investigate whether the prices written on this proposal are reasonable.”
“Yes, my lady.”
Gray bowed to his master and left the reception room.
Just as Daniela was looking over Helena’s proposal once more, a faint knock sounded, and the door opened. A figure entered and placed a hand on Daniela’s shoulder.
“What are you looking at so intently?”
“Gah!”
Daniela, who had been so focused that she hadn’t noticed anyone approaching, started violently and looked back at the person who had touched her shoulder. It was Ashid.
He found her large, round, rabbit-like eyes adorable as she looked up at him. He smiled faintly and teased her.
“Why are you so startled? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“Of course I’m startled! You should at least make your presence known when you enter…!”
“I did, properly. You just didn’t hear me.”
Ashid shrugged his shoulders at the protesting Daniela and sat down next to her. He then glanced at the proposal she was holding.
“It looks like a proposal to supply medicine for the charitable hospital in the northern castle. Am I right?”
“Well… it could be, or it could not be.”
“That’s a vague answer. What kind of answer is that?”
“The thing is, I haven’t decided whether or not to accept this proposal yet.”
Daniela sighed softly and told Ashid about her conversation with Helena a few hours earlier. Ashid looked thoughtful as he listened to her.
“So the Marchioness of Strand visited today and gave you those jewels while making such a proposal?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“What do you think? Are you going to accept it?”
“…I’m not sure yet.”
“Why? Because of your friendship with the Marchioness?”
At Ashid’s question, Daniela shook her head firmly.
“No. That’s not the issue. My friendship with the Marchioness effectively ended when my engagement was broken off. …The reason I’m hesitant is that I’m not sure if the prices of the medicines in this proposal are reasonable. The bribe… no, the gift is also bothering me.”
Ashid made a small noise after hearing her words.
The desire to keep watching Daniela’s cute and pretty face as she seriously contemplated the document and the desire to solve her problem for her fiercely battled within him. The latter won the fight. Watching her could wait until after her problem was solved, and they could enjoy dinner together. Hiding his true feelings, he reached out his hand and said gruffly.
“Would you like me to take a look?”
“Your Highness?”
“I’m a knight. I’ve been injured thousands of times and have faced death dozens of times. I’ve used so many recovery potions that I’m sick of them, so I have a rough idea of the market price of medicines.”
“Really? Then I’d be grateful if you would!”
Daniela’s face lit up, and she handed him the proposal.
Ashid quickly but meticulously scanned it with his eyes. He frowned, then let out a disbelieving chuckle.
“This is ridiculous. An ointment blessed by a priest costs two gold coins?”
“Why? Is it expensive?”
“Yes. Even if Richard Strand is a top-tier priest in the top ten and the power of his blessings is great, paying such a high price for an ointment you apply to a wound is a waste of money. To put it bluntly, this isn’t an ointment that makes new flesh grow immediately, is it?”
“…That’s a good point. You’re right.”
“If it were such an ointment, it would be even more nonsensical. To make a medicine with a blessing that strong, at least five high priests would have to devote themselves to it for several days. That would cost at least half a chest of gold coins.”
“…Ha.”
“The price of the recovery potions is certainly cheap, but the price of the ointment and other medicines are high enough to fully make up for the loss. If I were you, I wouldn’t accept this proposal, even if it’s from a friend.”
Ashid declared, putting down the proposal.
I knew it. I thought it was strange when she gave me a bribe.
Daniela let out a sarcastic snort, looking at the proposal for a moment. She looked at Ashid and said.
“Thank you for letting me know, Your Highness. You saved me.”
“If it’s of help to you, I can tell you this much, whenever you need it.”
Ashid replied gruffly but affectionately. Daniela felt her heart pound a little at his handsome face with its slightly curved lips and his gentle attitude. She fanned her slightly flushed cheeks with her hand and said.
“Thank you for saying that.”
“Don’t mention it. …By the way, are your worries over now? And is all your urgent business done?”
“Yes. I just need to send a letter to the Marchioness of Strand to reject her proposal.”
“What about those jewels?”
“I’ll have to return them, of course. How could I accept something that feels so unsettling?”
Daniela answered with a look of disgust at Ashid’s question. She liked money and jewels, but not so much that she would take a bribe offered with the intent to scam her. Ashid patted her shoulder affectionately.
“I understand. Leave the return of those to me.”
“Oh, thank you.”
“Then, though it’s a little early, should we have dinner? The head butler said he prepared a lot of delicious things for you.”
“Now that you mention it, I am a little hungry. All right, let’s go.”
Daniela nodded her head with enthusiasm.
Ashid gave her a small smile, then briefly looked at the jewelry boxes with a meaningful gaze. He then left the reception room with her, walking toward the dining hall as he asked.
“By the way, do you like jewels?”
“…Would there be many people who don’t?”
“That’s true. What kind of jewels do you like the most?”
Daniela thought for a moment before answering.
“I’m not sure. Perhaps gold…? I hear gold is better than jewels if you want to get its full value when you resell it.”
When she resells it?
Ashid was dumbfounded and let out a silent scoff. Her talking about reselling a gift before she even received it hurt him slightly. He thought, a little sulkily and a little maliciously.
A necklace or a crown with hundreds of diamond-sized diamonds would be good.
So that she wouldn’t even dare to think of reselling it in her dreams. So that she would cherish his gift until the day she died.
Thinking so, Ashid secretly twisted one corner of his mouth into a smirk.
At last, the awaited letter from the Ducal House of Alberic arrived. Helena Strand went to the reception room and opened the letter. As she read the contents, her face gradually turned pale.
The letter, written personally by Grand Duke Ashid Alberic, contained a polite but incomparably cold refusal. At the end of the letter was a postscript written in the Grand Duke’s own handwriting.
Ahahahahah he’s hilarious! She didn’t even realize that he was asking in order to give her a gift, or she wouldn’t have answered that way. And his response is, okay then, I’ll get her something so crazy expensive she won’t even think of selling it lol