Common Sense of a Duke's Daughter Chapter 258

Published at 8th of May 2020 10:44:23 AM

His oppressive aura made me break out into a cold sweat.

“Are you protecting the individuals who attacked your nation?”

“At first we abducted him as a prisoner of war, since he’s someone who attacked our country. But when you ascended to the throne we discussed this…although the first prince has undergone a difficult time, in the end he understands his standing and begs us for forgiveness, relying on us entirely now.”

“Your ability to attract the hearts of others is quite formidable.”

“Not at all. Hearing you had become the king of Acacia…how did this happen? It seems there are other successors to the throne before you.”

My question prompted the first change in Prince Majid’s face.

“Please don’t ask any further, or I’ll have to treat this as an attempt to interfere in our politics. We’ll have to respond with hostility.”

“I see…”

My smile only became more difficult to read.

Finally seeing the reaction I wanted in him made me happy.

“You’re quite frightening. Do you always resort to threats of force? Like you just did…”

I purposefully only said half of what I meant, but it was enough for him to understand.

That referred back to when he said he wasn’t the one attacking our land, something I didn’t trust.

But since I didn’t say it out loud, he couldn’t accuse me of anything.

“I just brought up a question. But of course. Honestly it doesn’t matter who the head of your nation is, no matter if it’s you or the first prince, who is now indebted to us. I don’t really care what happens there. To be frank, I’ve already made preparations to invalidate any effort you might make to militarize in the future. These preparations are already beginning to take effect right now.”

The middle-aged man behind him shuffled around.

Although Tanya’s expression didn’t change, I could tell she was alert at the sign of his movement.

My mother by my side displayed the same beautiful smile.

I stared at him, wanting to see what he would respond, but instead he burst out laughing.

“Oh dear, you’re quite frightening.”

When he raised his hand, the middle-aged man stopped moving.

“On the other hand, wouldn’t I be a good king to your side? What do you want from me?”

“1.5 times the reparations you suggested, and a contract guaranteeing peace and trade between us.”

“All right. You really have done your research.”

The results of us investigating these attacks on our territory turned out the fact that the party behind it was quite similar to our country’s second prince faction, even their movements.

Even the actual situation was similar. They started out well, but lost organization and then destroyed their own plan, resulting in their properties being taken away.

And Prince Majid used the confiscated wealth as reparations…but of course, not all of it, only around 40%.

The amount of 1.5 times what he’d suggested came from Tanya’s subordinates, who investigated the country and estimated Prince Majid would be able to accept.

Judging from his reaction, the estimate was accurate.

“And next is the trade agreement as well as the peace contract…excuse me for asking, but do you have the power to make decisions on these matters as the leader of a territory?”

“Currently a substitute leader, actually.”

“Excuse me, then. Do you have the power?”

“If I do, can you sign and agree to these terms immediately?”

“…Yes. In my position, I don’t wish for more conflict either.”

“Well then, please confirm.”

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While I said this, Tanya produced three related documents.

One was a national document signed jointly by Dean and Lady Letticia, describing this whole incident and their decision to let me handle the situation.

And the second and third were the trade agreement and peace contract.

“How shocking. I didn’t know you had nationally signed documents.”

He chuckled, not looking shaken at all.

“Indeed. After all, in dealing with Prince Majid, we can’t be rude.”

“Hahaha…looks like we’ve been had. But what I said was the truth. After confirming everything here, I’m open to signing and agreeing.”

He read each of the documents very carefully from the beginning to end, didn’t seem to find any issues, and signed off.

“How speedy.”

“Because they were appropriate in content. If there had been something odd, I would’ve reacted accordingly. Looks like you’ve done your homework.”

“Thank you for the praise.”

I signed below his signature on the documents.

After that for the sake of recordkeeping we gave one copy to him and the other to Tanya for safekeeping.

“Well then, it’s time to hand Jalal back to us.”

“Ah…I haven’t finished with all my terms yet. ”

Prince Majid seemed taken aback…but not a moment later, he sighed.

“You really don’t let go, do you? Then tell me.”

“The final thing is that we hope your nation can reduce the tariffs on certain items we trade by 5%. The list is here.”

“This is quite another request.”

“Is that so? If you agree, we’ll lower our tariffs on certain products too.”

Prince Majid closed his mouth, closed his eyes.

Immediately everyone went quiet.

To avoid distracting him, everyone stayed silent.

Chapter end