Chapter(36)

Episode(36): Duke Rant, Problems with another nation(2)

Sovereign of Death~(36)

It was then, on the moment the pressure was thick enough to swallow their family whole that the eldest son, the current duke took charge of the whole situation.

It happened almost overnight. It was so quick that you had to wonder whether or not this family was seriously about to cave in to the pressure. 

Overnight was the only term to describe how quickly the family rose from the doors of destruction and entered their phase fortune and glorified ascension.

New produce discovered on their lands, circulating fresh ideas on the market, new services. Heck, they were even one of the very first sponsors for the Fenley Co. branch that opened recently on the Araia Star and a major shareholder.

Now their fame and prestige was so humungous that even the upper court that once looked down on this house felt like they were now giants with enough power to squash them under their feet made of gold!

It wasn't as if the upper court couldn't do anything to the Rant house now. However they faced a big risk if they dared to act willful.

With their hands spread far and wide in all walks of this continent, it wouldn't be difficult for the Rant family to hire an expert to deal a blow to the upper nobility and destroy a few of their important facilities and slay a few branch families.

This was why none of the upper nobles dared to act out of line again. 

That was just how influential the once lower count had become after raising ranks to directly become a duke. Now they were already in the top 5 most reputable trading firms to exist on this continent.

It was thanks to this that the economy of Floren had improved as well as produces from other nations were able to be easily acquired by his firms so Maria naturally thought highly of this person.

His achievements were by far the most outstanding even when compared to the other nobilities that fought battles.

It was almost too sad that he didn't have a child, but due to this they adopted a daughter and she was surprising gifted in business as well.

Right now his daughter was still learning the ways around inheriting the Rant family but she already managed to run a few successful businesses of her own. 

The main reason Maria held deep respect for this man however was that, he wasn't like other nobles that had evil and vindictive thoughts.

While other nobles always had ulterior motives for getting close to royalty, this was just a pure and gentle old man who cared for those in his circle. It made her amazed that such a noble actually existed in this world.

In fact, both he and his wife had a wonderful relationship that had already been longstanding for more than 30 years. Their relationship was so good that the only time they argue is when it comes to how much they love each other.

Maria admired such a hard to come by relationship as nobles these days only married not for love but instead for benefits.

[Sir Rant, it's nice to see you at the venue today]

Maria greeted him with a smile.

Sir rant was just in the middle of taking a drink when he heard an all too familiar voice.

Frightened, he nearly dropped the glass in his hand. Luckily he managed to stop the glass from falling then turned around with a wronged expression.

It was like he was asking the princess if she wanted to give him a heart attack.

Maria didn't mind at all and instead chuckled mischievously. With a curtsy, both Maria and Elaine greeted him politely.

Sir Rant also bowed slightly in response to this.

[My respects to the two imperial princesses]

Maria smiled.

[Please rise]

The fake smile had long faded from their faces and now they were both genuinely smiling with happiness on their faces as they engaged in conversation.

[Yes princess]

Duke Rant slowly raised his head, his expression was humble as he looked respectfully at the two princesses. Standing confidently, he looked as if he was born to stand in the position of a duke.

However Maria wondered what sort of expression he would make if he knew his had a frosting mustache on his face?

She chuckled and made a gesture which first confused the duke, but after he touched his face and felt the frosting his stern face became red with shame and he hurriedly wiped it away with a cloth before coughing awkwardly to soothe the atmosphere.

Seeing this hilarious sight, Maria couldn't help but chuckle while Elaine shook her head. Her sister was way too mischievous.

Finally, Duke rant could no longer take the shame and redirected the focus with a conversation.

[It has been a long time since we last had a chance to meet your royal highnesses, isn't that right?]

A gentle smile spread across his face. Although it was slightly awkwardly you could feel his sincerity hidden in this smile.

[I think it was two years prior the heroes coming to this world that we had last met, ah and hello princess Elaine, I see your as healthy as ever, I do hope the gifts I sent were to your liking]

Elaine smiled in return and nodded in response. One could see how happy she was through her expression and how excited she was.

The two princesses respected this man even more than their father.

No, well there was nothing to respect about their father so it couldn't be helped that they respected this man more than their father.

Maria even felt that if she came into a road block as the current acting ruler, Duke Rant would definitely be a good consultant.

She almost told him about everything that was currently going on around her but she held back out of reasoning.

It wasn't that he didn't trust him. However aside from his wife, Maria couldn't say she trusted anyone else around him.

For one, she didn't even know his daughter on a personal level.

Nor was she on great terms with the other members of the Rant family. It was mainly because her father had once offended the Rants, but even when her father was stripped of his position those embers of hatred still remained.

That was why, even while trusting the Rant duo of husband and wife it wasn't good of her, a ruler to spill confidential secrets just because she trusted a few people.

In that case, instead of wildly blabbing her secrets she decided to just focus on the current light hearted conversation. 

She smiled after thinking this much.

[Yes, I'm fine and so is Elaine]

If the matter became so serious that she really couldn't handle everything by her lonesome she was sure that his hand would definitely be there to help.

However now wasn't the time to be hasty.

Maria felt sad at how calculative she had become but she had too many responsibilities to be carefree as she once was.

As the princess and current acting Empress, it was her duty to be calculative and bring results to the nation.

She reaffirmed her determination and no long let it bother her afterwards.

[So, how has business been coming along? I heard you ran into some trouble when you were in Arcam City]

Arcam, it was a city bordering between both Floren and another nation located to the south west of the empire.

Because it was more inland to the bordering nation's territory, it was considered a part of their land and Floren didn't have much control over this land.

Maria had received a report a few days ahead while planning the banquet. It didn't specify what had happened but according to their sources in Arcam, this incident was nothing short of a raid.

She was puzzled, firstly the route that nobles take when going through Arcam was a private route that Floren had spent numerous magic crystals for the adjacent nations to build.

Forget a thief, even a fly shouldn't have been able to buzz on that private route.

So, how in the world did such a thing happen?

Seeing her puzzled expression, The Duke sighed and replied.

[It is as her majesty says, even I was perturbed when I noticed that bandits had infiltrated the trade route. Especially because of the agreement between the two nations I didn't expect the protection barrier along the route to have been infiltrated]

It wasn't his first time on said routes.

Duke Rant knew very well just how safe the private routes were so he always made sure to use them. His imports and exports were all high quality goods so there was no way he would risk getting robbed.

And the safest way to travel as a merchant was along these private routes.

Firstly, at both entrance and exits there were Knights at the least at level 35 and above. Not to mention the aforementioned protective barrier.

Normally there was no way for anyone to get into such a well-protected route but, it happened indeed. 

What was more upsetting was the fact that the bandits this time were only level 20. Such low leveled scum shouldn't have been able to invade the private route at all!

[As a vassal of the empire, I tried to receive and answer to this occasion yet I was told that one of their engineers had made a mistake in the maintenance om their side of the barrier. According to the officials this caused a malfunction, but I can't see how it caused a malfunction long enough for the bandits to steal and get away with their crime before the barrier went back to normal]

The duke shook his head.

It was obvious he didn't believe their words. No one would to be honest.

Where in the world would such a coincidence occur? And since it was a private route bandits wouldn't normally be waiting for the barrier to malfunction would they?

Only a fool would believe their words.

Maria furrowed her brows in a frown when she listened to his words.

[Aside from trying to cover up their obvious tricks, did they have anything else to about the matter?]

When he heard this question it made the duke sigh even longer. He looked tired as he thought about it.

[Actually, about that...]

He told Maria about it all.

After demanding an explanation the officials of the nation said they didn't want to be involved with the matter. 

They claimed that it was just their bad luck and it might have happened because of retribution, but as a mere duke of the nation he couldn't do anything that would paint the Empire's image in a bad light.

He could only grit his teeth unwillingly and accept it. Even as a Duke, he didn't want to be the cause of strife between nations.

When Maria heard this, rage billowed ceaselessly and the hidden fury she had been holding back erupted almost instantly.

[Tha-Thats preposterous!]