I Became the Master of the Empress

44 – Episode 44

Time passes so quickly.

After giving full authority over fertilizer production to Theodora, one thing I was curious about was that Theodora was dealing with the professors, and before I knew it, the night market that was held once a week had reopened.

And today, as usual, Agrippa and I escaped from the imperial palace under the pretext of going undercover.

“Aww… I’m jealous. “I want to go to the original garden too.”

Win, the capital of the Grand Duchy.

I think of my hometown for the first time in a long time, thinking that it has been a long time since I left there.

“Then are you coming too?”

I sigh and say at Agrippa’s words.

“You know you can’t go, right?”

Leaving Theodora alone in Roman and going to the Grand Duchy is no different from saying that you are giving up on Roman.

So I cannot participate in the engagement ceremony between Mary and Agrippa.

“But I’m sorry. “It’s your and Mary’s engagement party, but I can’t go.”

When I said this with a sorry heart, Agrippa smiled and said.

“There’s nothing we can do. You are busy working for the empire. And since the Grand Duchy was also said to be inherited by me and Mary’s child, what should we understand?”

Seeing him speak kind words to me relieves me of some of my guilt.

With that said, I arrived at the restaurant I had planned to go to with Agrippa.

A male employee who appears to be in his mid-20s guides us to the table.

“What’s delicious here?”

The male employee smiles and says what I said.

“We are famous for our wine and fondue.”

At those words, Agrippa and I nodded.

“Give me that.”

After ordering like that, I say this as I watch the staff nod that they understand and disappear.

“I really think life would have been really difficult if there weren’t even small happiness like this. “There’s so much work going on these days.”

Reports and documents posted every day.

Since the vacant public positions were selected from each department, most of the lower-level civil servant positions are still vacant.

I can’t sleep easily because I’m worried that if this continues, everyone will become reluctant to become public servants.

Then… I’m going to die from a pile of work.

Agripa says, smiling bitterly at my words.

“You brought this on yourself, how?”

I shake my head and say those words.

“No. “I brought this on myself…”

When I think about it, there are some things I brought on myself.

I did not want to be known as a tyrannical treacherous person who took away the power of a perfectly good emperor, so I did my best to look into it and worked hard to develop the empire.

That’s why I work harder.

“But thanks to your hard work, you’re gradually getting back on track, right?”

In fact, the chaotic situation has calmed down.

“Why don’t you take it easy instead of saying that? And then I don’t live long? “You look at things too closely.”

Agripa cannot agree with what I say at all.

Recent work consists of examining reports and proposals, reporting on the establishment of an intelligence department, preparing to suppress the defecting imperial faction, and working on bond market manipulation.

Uh… There’s more than I thought?

Honestly, considering every detail, it feels a bit burdensome.

“No. “Now that the opening of the Intelligence Department and the suppression of the Emperor faction will be completed, we will have more leisure.”

Currently, the ministers of each department have also started their work. It’s true that I have a little more free time.

“Then, how about reducing the reporting data of each department first? “It takes quite a long time to watch that, doesn’t it?”

Of course, the amount of reports coming from each department is insanely large.

Because there is so much work being done by the 5th division throughout the empire.

It’s strange that there aren’t many reports.

I answer those words with a sigh.

“Phew… Still, a person who wants to run a country should know how things work.”

The work of the Grand Duke Department is mainly audit work that reports to me what is happening in each department.

It is more efficient for public officials dispatched from the Ministry of Defense to report to me rather than reporting to me separately from the existing department every day.

“Ha… It’s good to be responsible, but you should take it easy and then die young?”

I sigh at Agrippa’s worried words.

“Are you really going to die young?”

While we were talking, the staff set up the cheese melting device and the bread.

“Here we are.”

Then he opens a glass of wine and pours a glass for me and Agrippa.

As I moisten my lips a little with wine, my eyes open wide.

The spicy and intense taste and the unique alcoholic aroma of alcohol stimulate the nose.

“Huh? “Does this taste a little unusual?”

“Really? “It’s a bit strange and unusual, isn’t it?”

When Agrippa and I were surprised, the employee smiled and said.

“It is made by adding a lot of pepper to the Ramuet local wine and maturing it. It’s our store’s specialty. It goes very well with fondue.”

Hearing those words, Agrippa dips the bread in the fondue, takes a bite, and nods.

“I guess so. But we had a rather heavy conversation between us…”

An employee who saw me trailing off spoke as if he was sorry.

“I’m sorry, I was oblivious.”

And Agrippa speaks as he looks at the employee who soon leaves.

“Debian, how do you know such a good restaurant?”

“Because I can’t come out every day. “Every time I go to the night market, I ask the maids about famous restaurants.”

I also dip a piece of bread into melted cheese and take a bite.

The light and soft taste feels good on the tongue.

After enjoying the fondue and wine in silence, I opened my mouth.

“Agripa… The price manipulation agenda last time…”

Agripa, who was eating meat dipped in cheese, asked again.

“Well… Well… Huh? “Why is that?”

“It’ll be okay, right?”

I was lost in thought for a moment about what I was saying.

“Hmm… I don’t know much about money. You’re right. If you manipulate the market price, there will be a negative impact somewhere. “Aren’t you trying to develop the empire?”

“That’s…”

What Agrippa said is correct.

“Besides, you originally said you weren’t going to do it, but you said it was fertilizer? “You say we’re doing it because of drug development that’s increasing agricultural produce?”

“That’s true…”

To be honest, I feel guilty.

Because in the end, I am stealing the money that someone else worked hard to earn by manipulating the market price.

“Merchants spread rumors among themselves and manipulate the prices of goods. “I’m doing it for the empire and its people, so what’s the problem?”

I reply to that in an awkward tone.

“Still… They are trying hard to make a living, and I am like the referee of the game. “Is this the same as fixing matches for my own gain?”

In fact, some knights do match-fixing in tournaments.

Of course, if you are caught, you will be sentenced to prison and your knighthood will be forfeited, but such incidents sometimes occur.

“What do you think? Is this for the empire? “Anyway, you’re not trying to do anything bad with it, but you’re trying to let the people of the empire buy food cheaply, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Then that’s the right thing to do. “Even now, how many people in the empire are starving?”

I am deeply lost in thought at those words.

“I don’t know what it is either. Now…”

I know it in my head… But in my heart, I still feel guilty that someone will suffer great harm due to my actions.

“So. Don’t blame yourself too much. If you feel guilty, just do your best to make the fertilizer experiment a success.”

“Then… Will it work?”

I look out the window, lost in thought.

Roman.

Queen of all cities.

The richest city in the world.

There are no vagabonds here, but there are many beggars living in other cities.

Even in Wynn, the capital of the Grand Duchy, vagabonds line up in front of the city gates, boiling and eating soup of unknown origin.

Will such things go away if fertilizers are introduced?

0

“In the first place, the only people who lose money from market manipulation are Daesangshoe and large banks, right? “You guys won’t go bankrupt with that much loss, right?”

That’s right.

If they had ruined me by manipulating the market, they wouldn’t have even thought about manipulating the market.

If they fail, there will be great chaos in the empire.

Because the empire’s finance, distribution, and crafts may all come to a halt.

“So, don’t feel so guilty, you’re doing great, cheers!”

I chuckle and say, as Agrippa tries to cheer me up.

“Cheers!”

– Ta-da!

I speak while enjoying the clear and clear sound made by a wine glass.

“Thank you for saying that.”

***

Meanwhile, the imperial palace at that time.

“Where has this person gone?”

It was like this a week ago, and this time too.

The person who stays in the office every day is nowhere to be seen inside the imperial palace.

I was worried that the time had passed for him to come to the room, so I went to his office, but Debian was nowhere to be seen in the place filled with documents.

It’s strange…

Where on earth have they gone?

I lie in bed and think about where he went, but I can’t think of any place.

So, I had my servants look for Debian.

He is nowhere to be seen.

Seeing as the servants who know the structure of the imperial palace better than anyone else are unable to find it, it would be correct to assume that Devian is not in the imperial palace.

Did you go out of the imperial palace? Why all of a sudden?

I feel puzzled at the thought that Devian, who usually rarely goes out of the imperial palace, sneaked out in the middle of the night.

Or… Perhaps…?

Isn’t there a mistress outside the imperial palace?

Probably not. Devian believes that he is not such a light man, but something begins to make sense in his head.

Without realizing it, she imagined her handsome husband, who looks good with black hair, hanging out with a cheap-looking woman outside the imperial palace…

-Padeuk.

I’m angry.

I didn’t understand at first.

You say you love me?

And…

Oh my god? So you can’t touch my body?

I understand.

It was somehow strange.

I heard that a man’s s*xual desire reaches its peak from his late teens to his late 20s.

In fact, if you listen to newlyweds, they say that they ignite a fire just by making eye contact, right?

Debian in his early 20s.

No, but I heard that at that age, men and women want to do anything.

But Debian marries the woman he loves and doesn’t touch her?

Of course, it may be just my imagination, but when I listen to what my mother and Joey say, I think it’s clear that he loves me.

In such a situation, I, the woman he loved, became his legal wife. I didn’t understand why he wouldn’t touch my body.

But what if it means quenching your s*xual desires from the outside?

-Clud!

It’s been a while since I gritted my teeth, so I think about Debian, which I’ve been looking at recently.

“No… He is not that kind of man!”

He is a noble man whose only thoughts are for the empire.

I don’t think he will commit an affair and damage my reputation.

That’s right… There’s a rumor going around that I’m a simpleton, so we sleep in the same room every day, right? Trust him more.

I keep repeating this to myself, but I can hear the devil whispering in the back of my head.

Isn’t there only one thing a rich man in his prime would do by sneaking out of the imperial palace in the middle of the night?

When I was 19 years old. I heard that his eldest brother often stayed out at night, so his mother had her servants follow him secretly.

And the next day.

His brother got a huge beating from his mother in the imperial palace.

This was my first time seeing my mother so angry. I was curious and asked the servants. As a result, I learned that my brother had slept with numerous women in entertainment establishments outside the palace.

At that time… I was extremely disappointed in my brother.

So we didn’t talk for a few days.

But no way, Debian is that kind of person…

“I’m sure they’ll get away with it…”

When looking at Debian from the side.

I felt that he was the most thorough-going man I had ever seen in my life.

So…

“So we need solid evidence.”

If it’s true that you cheated… I will never let you go.