How to Live as the Enemy Prince Chapter 21.1

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 .

Chapter end