Koushaku Ch 255 – Negotiations
. . . . . . The next day, I returned to work .
They told me that Tanya has been worried about me and her eyes were always with tears, and Merida was the same .
Not everyone of the management department knew the details, but they were equally concerned about me . At the end, they thought I fell ill because of work exhaustion .
And they were pleased with tears when my return .
Every day I do what I have to do, though I still feel a deep sadness .
My wounds cannot heal and I’ll never forget his existence .
No matter how much I bury my head in business, no .
We spent time together in this mansion .
While still buried in work, he still talked about his future dreams with me .
When a new idea popped up, we were happy .
When we hit the wall, we held our heads together .
. . . This house has too many memories with him to bury him into the past .
And what's wrong with that?
Because I still think . . . I love you .
Thinking about that in one corner of my head, I worked on the accumulated documents .
Then, after some days passed, I recovered the intuition over business that had been cultivated all these years .
The day of the discussion with the Kingdom of Acacia, which is a big job for me, has come .
Tanya stands behind me and my mother is beside me .
Both of them look the same as usual, but they seem to be armed .
They would move immediately if something happens .
Lyle and Dida were asked to protect the house, so this time they were not at my side .
Even though it was a peace negotiation, it was prudent to have an escort at the side .
Tanya came closer to me .
“ . . . He’s here my lady . ”
I reaffirmed Tanya's words .
I greeted the man who entered the room with a smile .
Prince Kaadir, wearing the Acacia kingdom’s nobility wearing, had a soft smile on his face .
. . . . . . I think it's a terrible smile, but what does it matter anyways .
"I would like to express my heartfelt joy to see you . "
Saying that, Kaadir took my hand and dropped his lips over it .
I smiled at the gesture as if this was a theater’s play .
"Nice to meet you, Prince Kaadir . "
Kaadir smiled bitterly at my words .
. . . . . . Because I saw through your thoughts in the first match, you will make a little concession after this? It seems that my thought was conveyed to him .
He would like to keep a secret that he had been here as Hafiz last time .
With that thought in mind, I emphasized that we met for the first time today .
"Please, Prince Kaadir, have a seat over there . "
I encourage him to take a seat and I also sit in front .
. . . . . . Invincible smile . Coupled with his neat face, it had an elegant and harsh atmosphere .
The impression he gave should be of a king seeing his subjects .
" . . . This is a good territory . The people are rich and there is no political instability . "
There was a feeling of anger in my heart .
Of course, I won't show it .
“But until recently, this territory was hit by a terrible situation . ”
He utters a sad voice while turning his face to the side .
I felt like his eyes were shining .
“People from other countries attacked my territory . ”
“Yeah, it’s very disappointing . Even more, to be attacked by a country that asked for marriage . ”
A moment of silence came .
I was asking him about where he was going with the talk, and what he would point out next .
"If I have to give you an explanation . . . that'd be because the former king made a secret agreement with the Twil’s country . It was not my intention . "
I breathe out and decided to ignore the excuse .
“It was not your intention… was it? However, the fact that the Kingdom of Acacia attacked my territory is undeniable . How will you take responsibility for your country?”
I got goose bumps for a moment .
" . . . my excuse is a personal feeling . . . I don't want to be hated by you . My intention or not, but as a king I will first give you the answer of the country . It was a necessary move . . . This was due to the former king and some of his entourage . The country was not willing to attack your territory but it was necessary . "
"Well . . . just changing the wording, it doesn't change the content . "
“I’m amazed . . . my important partner and queen candidate was attacked . ”
"Well . . . do I have such a scary face?"
"No, no . It's terrible because what you say is not reflected in your face . You aren't moved by emotions in the least . Those kind of beings are the more dangerous ones . "
He didn't respond to my words, but I said it from my heart .
It’s hard to make negotiations with such individual… .
“Now, Acacia’s country has prepared an appropriate compensation for those who have suffered damage in this attack . The contents are on this book… all you have to do is sign it . "
An old man who was behind Kaadir gave me a document .
I pick it up and look at the contents .
Roughly reading it, I nodded .
Kaadir-sama looked at me with narrowed eyes .
Combined with that atmosphere, I must be more nervous than in any of the previous meetings .
“Kaadir . . . Actually, Jarral, the first prince of your country, is here for protection . ”
His intimidation increased with my words .