How to Live as a Tyrant’s Spoiled Brat Chapter 106

How to live as a tyrant's spoiled brat, episode 106

(106)

The sky was blue, and it was early spring weather, making winter clothes feel a little heavy.

However, Valencian felt that the cold, snowy winter had come again to the man in front of him who seemed to be five or six years older than him.

Hair as dark blue as a stormy sea and grey eyes as calm as a snowy field.

Cheeks as cold as snow and lips, the only thing that's red.

He was of average height, slightly taller than his peers, and was dressed in a purple uniform decorated with gold thread, a heavy military-style coat covered in faded gray wolf fur.

The loneliness and glory of the person in charge can be felt from his worn-out eyes and pale cheeks.

The dignity of the North conveyed through a trustworthy voice.

Just like before the return, the man seemed to have come looking for the North itself as a human being.

“Your Majesty? There is no need to use such a high honorific. Aren’t we both archdukes?”

In fact, it wasn't the same archduke.

The commander who ruled over the lands of several kingdoms and the great fortresses, as well as the imperial capital where there was not even a single place to stick an awl, could never be the same archduke.

So, the greeting should have been interpreted as containing the leisure of the strong or the goodwill of the desperate.

“Never mind. Let me introduce myself formally. This is Severic Hysis Septentrios.”

Valencian felt a slight awkwardness in that dignified voice.

It's not often that a man of that caliber introduces himself.

But he had a promise to keep, and he would appreciate it if she would come to him in a non-overbearing manner.

“This is Valencianus Soletaraon Soletaras.”

So Valencian introduced himself in an unusually bright voice and smiled like an angel.

Her platinum blonde hair, always as if wet from water, fell in tangles, and her pale cheeks had dimples.

The smiling golden eyes were still inhuman, but unlike usual, they were not monsters but rather brought to mind high-quality dog dolls.

Rudy and Tentia hesitated, bewildered at seeing their lord's face for the first time.

“Rudi. Has His Highness the Grand Duke Valen ever smiled like that?”

“It’s the first time I’ve seen your face. I wonder if you’re using drugs to fake a smile.”

Originally, the knights, squires, or heraldic officers next to them had to be given modifiers like commander of some place, beheader of some place, or victor of some place.

Since it would be embarrassing to say such things with one's own mouth to the high-ranking officials, their greeting ended with them exchanging names.

But what was always more important than the greeting was what followed.

“As the Grand Duke of the North, I would like to express my gratitude to the 47th Soletaras for the massive amount of grain he has provided.”

Valencian looked puzzled as he saw Severic lower his head.

'Is it okay for things to work out this well?'

The 47th Soletaras.

In fact, it was tantamount to declaring that they would recognize Jaylilith as the emperor.

Thinking back on how I fought him to the death before returning, I felt empty.

“The increase in grain by over 30% over the previous year. The loan of 15,000 gold coins at a low interest rate. The promise to build a highway and canal between the north and the center. This Severic will remember clearly.”

“Oh, please raise your head. Are you not the face of the North and the greatest lord of the Empire? You should not bow your head so carelessly.”

Valencian intended to demand loyalty by performing a ritual of burning grain when political troubles arose.

The Northern Duke Severic he remembered was a demon who had tormented the Empire for decades from his natural fortress.

The sight of him lowering his head was enough to make the heart of the fake loser, filled with regret and longing, tremble.

“If I can bow my head so that my subjects and soldiers can eat their fill, where and to whom can I not bow my head?”

“Truly… … noble.”

I was sincere.

Valencian thought Severic was noble.

It had only been a few minutes since they had met again, but for the royal family, those few minutes were the time to decide whether to kill or save hundreds of thousands of people.

It was more than enough to judge one person.

He respected his former enemy not only as a mighty swordsman but also as a human being, and at the same time he dared to pity Severic.

The reason why there were so many followers of the tyrant Jaylilith, and why she was able to suppress all rebellions and reign for 40 years, was because she had a fiery greed.

Even before her return, she ultimately wanted to fight and win against the old, and she generously shared the worldly wealth she had acquired through civil war and war with her followers.

In this way, Jaylilith ruled the times.

Severic didn't seem like the kind of man who could do that.

If Jaylilith did it because she wanted to, Severic did it because he had to. That was the kind of person he was.

But duty is sometimes stronger than desire, and Valencian continued, smiling in an uncharacteristically affectionate manner.

Because the more strong alliances the better.

“Until the grain is loaded, why don’t you go into the coffee house and have a sip of coffee?”

Tentia tried hard to hide her rotting face.

The knight did not drink the beverages of the weak bourgeoisie.

Severic answered with an awkward smile.

“I’m sorry, Archduke Valen. Let’s go to a bar or restaurant. Northerners don’t drink coffee.”

Tentia cheered inwardly.

* * *

I used both my pre- and post-regression experiences to find the closest and most upscale bar possible.

It had to have a lot of drinks that Northerners would like, a refined atmosphere, and not be decadent.

Fortunately, my memory recalled a decent bar, and we sat down at a long table with the officers and shared some wine and whiskey.

“Archduke Valencian. Your tastes are very refined.”

“No, Archduke Severic. You are truly a cheerful and manly man.”

“If a northerner can’t drink this much, he’ll freeze to death.”

I was horrified to see him drink 40 percent whiskey straight, without even adding ice.

“Hahahaha.”

“Hahahaha.”

When I thought about it calmly, there was no need for our relationship to be bad yet.

He did not send his older sisters, maternal aunts, or maternal aunts to be the emperor's concubines or concubines.

Of course, he had no blood relation to the royal family members who died at the coronation ceremony the year before last.

Of course, you've probably heard the rumor that Jaylilith killed hundreds and ascended the throne.

But as a monarch, he had a sacred duty to provide bread for his soldiers.

If you bow your head for your own pocket, you will be considered mean or petty, but if you bow your head for the pockets of those under you, it is noble and great.

He was a great Northern Duke who knew exactly what his strengths and weaknesses were and moved accordingly.

It would have been better if you hadn't brought in that cranky adjutant.

“His Highness the Grand Duke of Valencian.”

The black-haired woman sitting across from Lord Tentia at the long table kept picking on me.

Judging by the aura he felt and the longsword on his waist, he looked like a knight, but with his gold-rimmed monocle, tied-back hair, and briefcase, he looked more like an administrator.

“But why?”

“I am Knight Rsena, acting as the administrative agent for His Highness the Grand Duke Severic. Since His Highness has only expressed his gratitude, I will now get down to practical matters.”

It certainly seemed like he had a lot of practical experience, as he emphasized first that it was not an abuse of power rather than the content.

Severic laughed awkwardly and tried to stop her, but she stubbornly shook off her master's persuasion.

“Your Majesty Severic has entrusted me with the work, and I will only follow your orders.”

As long as Lucena followed Severic around, it was clear that he was the power in the North.

Judging from his attitude, he seemed to have some human friendliness.

I lightly pushed my glass aside, turned my body diagonally, and turned my eyes to the documents that Lucena was showing me.

“We sincerely appreciate your generous donation of grain, but if you send this much grain at this time, we will not be able to store it all in our warehouses, and it will just rot.”

“Isn’t this the time when you’re going through a lot of hardships? I planned to arrive just in time for that.”

“The barley harvesting season is different in the central and northern regions due to climate differences. If you want to store it for a long time, you have to get it in the form of wheat flour or barley powder.”

There was no way the imperial administrators were unaware of that.

“The Imperial Family provides wheat and barley to the North free of charge, but wheat flour and barley powder are provided in the form of regular price purchase rights and priority purchase rights.”

In the end, the point was that you had to pay for the powdered stuff.

You might ask why we can just grind it, but we can't grind a huge amount overnight, and that again becomes a storage issue.

Of course, it was a time when grain was hard to obtain even if one had money, so being able to buy it 'unconditionally' was a privilege in itself.

“There’s nothing we can do. Wheat is the property of the imperial family, collected as taxes, so we can give it away, but flour is controlled by the exclusive milling guild.”

“The guild’s biggest buyer is the Imperial Family. The Imperial Family gave us the right to purchase flour at regular prices, but at the same time, they raised the price of flour sold to the guild by 400% compared to the annual average price.”

It was something I didn't even know about.

“I couldn’t help it because the timing was what it was.”

“Eventually, we had to resort to the money the royal family had lent us to buy a quantity of flour for long-term storage. It was low, but the interest was solid.”

“!”

Damn, I didn't know because I barely paid any attention to the administrative side.

Rudy and Tentia, who had been listening quietly, looked at me and gave me a look that said, 'Could it be you, Your Majesty, this time too?'

No, this isn't really something I did.

Who is it?

Jaylilith is not the type of person to plot such a thing… … .

“We have a large number of soldiers per capita, but our agricultural productivity per capita is low.”

It's only natural that the people who should be farming are all fighting with spears.

“In the end, we have no choice but to depend on the center and the south for food.”

I looked at Lucena, sweating profusely.

“As a mere knight and administrator, I dare to speculate. Isn’t the imperial family trying to subjugate the North economically?”

I had a rough idea of what kind of person she was.

While being a knight with outstanding military power, he builds a personal relationship with the monarch, intervenes in administration, politics, and unspeakable matters to somehow get things going, and enjoys transcendent power.

It was just me.

Severic, who used to just drink alcohol, looked different.

When I looked closely, I saw that the gray eyes were staring at me without any disturbance.

It was a technique to detect lies through breathing, blood flow, energy, posture, and eye twitching.

Somehow things were going too well.

Gratitude is gratitude, and verification is verification.

Severic played the role of a reasonable monarch, and Lerna played the role of a scoundrel.

I let out a deep sigh inside.

I understood Severic.

A person who is greedy will keep to the line because he or she considers the pros and cons, but a person who is filled with a sense of duty will cross the line because he or she must do something even if it means suffering a loss.

For him, it was necessary to verify how the imperial family intended to treat the North.

Sir Tentia whispered softly.

“Your Majesty. Have you really done such an un-knightly thing?”

I opened my eyes wide, smiled shamelessly, and spoke in a voice loud enough for everyone sitting at the table to hear.

“Yes. It was all done under my direction.”

If the royal family has an accident, it must be me who caused it.

The royal family can protect me if I cause an accident, but who will protect me if the royal family causes an accident?

“!”

Lucena took a deep breath.

I continued speaking calmly.

“You got it exactly right. I wanted to make the North economically subservient to the imperial family forever.”

* * *

The work of loading grain onto the transport ships continued all night.

The grain-laden transport ships went out into the river through the east lock.

If it had been inside the capital city gates, someone might have noticed.

But no matter how bright the stars are, they cannot replace the sun.

A shadow flew towards the unusually large ship.

The distance from the riverbank to the boat was more than 30 meters, but it was not that far for them.

A few more shadows followed after him.

“I am that guy.”

“I am this guy.”

A sailor who heard a strange sound came closer and thrust a torch at him, and he thought he had seen something wrong.

If not, the eyes, nose, mouth, and ears would not have been smooth like an egg, except for the mouth.

“Did you see it?”

Pok, pok, pok!

The dagger swung, and the features of his face, which had been drinking blood, came back to life.

It was the same face as the sailor.