0&1 Ch 22.9

Edward stared at me. 

I didn’t lie.

“You don’t like the gift, do you? You don’t want my gift?”
“I said no.”
“It’s okay.”

What?

“It can’t be helped,” Edward said that and smiled. “See you in the next class, Joffrey.”

I wanted to ask Edward why he was acting like that, but I left the room without saying a word.

Edward would reveal what he wanted at some point. He couldn’t possibly want to feed me toast.

There were a lot of problems to deal with. When defusing a bomb, there was no need to touch the most important and dangerous wires first.

Let’s start with Lowell.

I had to find out what Lowell Montblanc knew. I called him out of the academy.

“Your Highness, you called?”
“Let’s go.”
“What? Where?”

Alex and I flanked Lowell. As we took him away without giving him a chance to escape, Lowell’s cheerful expression changed to one of slight unease.

We left the street crowded with students and entered a secluded alley. I saw a bar that hadn’t turned on its lights yet and a deserted cafe. I walked to the end of the alley and found an open cafe.

“Um.” Lowell, who was following behind, groaned. He looked around the cafe and smiled, wondering what to do.

He always looked relaxed, no matter what expression he had on his face, but I could tell he was uncomfortable.

It was okay if he was a little more uncomfortable. I didn’t know how much Lowell knew about my intentions.

It’s not like the Prince being extravagant is a secret that needs to be kept from others, right?

Right?

The sensibilities of this world were still a little unfamiliar to me.

“Excuse me.”

The cafe owner was leaning on the counter, dozing, but woke up when I called him.

“I’d like to rent a room. Do you have any available?”
“Yes, of course. I’ll open one for you.”

The owner got up from his seat.

“What would you like to drink?”
“I’m fine.”
“I’m fine too.”

Lowell and Alex answered in turn.

The owner paused, glancing at us with a look that clearly said, You’re renting a room and not even ordering drinks?

Lowell also noticed the cafe owner’s mood.

“Oh, I’d like some grape juice.”

He changed his mind. He looked at Alex. It was a look that said, ‘You should order something too’, but Alex just looked back at Lowell.

“Sure. Alex would like juice too. I’ll ask for that too.” I wrapped it up.

Subtle skills like communicating with your eyes take years of experience in social situations to master.

It took me a long time to learn. For Alex, who had only trained with a sword, it was a completely different skill.

“Yes, three grape juices, right?” The café owner replied.

He led us to the front of the room, quickly went inside to check the situation, and then smiled and held the door open.

“Come in.”

As soon as we entered the room, the smell of dust hit us. Huh? Is this the right room?

The café owner smiled kindly, so I sat down on the sofa. Even though I didn’t put much weight on it, dust rose up.

Ugh.

I’d better hold back my cough. If I coughed, the dust would fly everywhere.

It looked like a room that hadn’t been used for a long time. I wondered if it was clean.

Lowell seemed to have the same question, as he wiped the table with his finger.

“I think you should wipe the table.” Lowell showed the café owner his finger, which was covered in dust.

“I’m sorry! Haha, I clean it every day, but why is there dust… I’ll show you another room!”

Would the other room be okay?

“It’s fine. Just bring me a drink and don’t come in.”
“Yes, I’ll just quickly wipe the table with a rag…”
“It’s okay.”

It’s not like I’m going to die from eating a little dust.

I wasn’t planning on talking for long anyway. I was just curious about what Lowell was thinking.

I don’t like crowded places, so a dorm is out of the question, and there’s a risk of someone eavesdropping, so the academy is also out. The café was just the only place left.

The café owner brought the drinks.

Three glasses of grape juice were placed on the table. For some reason, I had a feeling that no one would touch the drinks.

I made sure the owner had left the hallway and locked the door.

Lowell looked up at me with an ambiguous smile.

Was he nervous?

Was this something to be nervous about?

I was becoming increasingly curious.

“We had something to talk about.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“I want to hear what you have to say. There’s no one else here, and it’s not an open space. Unless the café owner is listening at the door, no one will hear us.”

“There’s no one behind the door,” Alex confirmed.
He didn’t sit beside me. He stood behind me instead.

It felt like an interrogation of Lowell. The room wasn’t well lit, which made Alex, standing there like a wooden statue, look even more threatening.

It would be good for Lowell’s mental health to sit Alex down, but the dusty sofa didn’t look good for Alex’s health.

“Can we talk now? Continue what you were saying. What do you think I’m doing?”

Lowell looked uncomfortable. “Will something bad happen if I say the wrong thing?”

“It depends on what you say. I know you’re quick-witted and smart. But I didn’t think you’d figure out my purpose…”

What is my purpose? I want to know, so tell me. 

As I was trying to maintain my composure, Alex stood behind me and rattled his sword. He pulled it out just enough to show the blade, making that sound.

Lowell’s face turned pale.

“As you know, we can’t let someone who has uncovered such a secret go unpunished.”

I have no idea what the hell I’m talking about. What kind of secret is it that you can’t let someone go?

Lowell looked distressed. “I’ll tell you everything. Please don’t do this, Your Highness. Could you order your knight to put away his sword? I’m scared.”

“Alex.”

“Yes, Your Highness.” Alex stopped threatening him.

“What behavior gave you a clue?”

Lowell ruffled his hair and narrowed his eyes.

“There was no specific action… Your Highness has never been interested in profit. Even someone who makes risky investments doesn’t do so without reason. Even if it looks like burning money to others, that person has faith in it.”

”Faith?”

“Yes. They believe they have a different perspective from others, or that they have secret information. People like that are easily deceived. The same goes for desperate people. The principle of a con artist is to approach desperate people, right? When your vision narrows and you become impatient, you are easily fooled by nonsense.”

“That can happen.”
“It’s common.”
“Not me?”

“Yes. You didn’t believe in your own discernment. In fact, the businesses you chose weren’t really your choice. You just picked the worst options from a list. I’m sorry to say that.” Lowell bowed his head.

“Why? It’s the truth. No need to apologize. Continue.” My mouth was dry.

“The details of the business weren’t important to you. Not even its success. Am I right?” Lowell smiled nervously.

He knew.

Lowell knew my true intentions.

“How did you know?” I pretended to be calm while thinking of a way to stop Lowell from speaking.

Yes. Alex was in the same room as Lowell, so if necessary, I could threaten him…

Lowell spoke with full confidence. “Your Highness didn’t care about profit or the fame that comes with success. When I started thinking about it from that perspective, things looked different. There have been young nobles who invested in strange things, but no one has ever invested as much money as you. I’ve never seen anyone set such strange conditions as you did. Those conditions were decisive. Why did you set such conditions?”

Of course. Those conditions were too obvious. It was like telling them to run away.

So, doesn’t it seem like Joffrey is stupid to anyone who sees this? It’s like he’s setting himself up to fail.

And that was the correct answer.

“Maybe you’ve only met reasonable nobles?” I raised a reasonable doubt. The world isn’t full of people as quick-witted and smart as Lowell.

“No,” Lowell said firmly.

I suppose he was right.

“I traveled to many countries with my father, and even before the investment boom began, I saw many people start businesses and fail. It’s a major topic of conversation at the dinner table. The Montblanc database is second to none when it comes to trade and investment.“

 “…”

”Above all, you have made many donations in the past. If I hadn’t known that, like everyone else, I would have thought you were just playing with your money like other young nobles. You’re a wealthy person, so you could invest a different amount than others. But those conditions… Giving advance payments to commoners who had fallen into slavery so they could settle their debts was incredible,” Lowell said excitedly.

This doesn’t look good.