213.2: The Battle Maiden is at the Crossroads of Marriage (30)
“—Your Highness Geraldo! Sir Lawrence! Is everything okay?”
Soundlessly, a shadow flew in through the window. He was none other than Rick, one of the twins sent by the Saber family to serve as Geraldo’s bodyguard. He was in charge of retrieving Natalie, and he knew where she was. Still, he was ahead of schedule.
“Did something happen?”
“No, I heard that someone from the Saber family is coming, so I came, but it seems that there’s no one?”
Geraldo knitted his eyebrows. Before he could say anything, the door opened with a thud.
“Oh my, Rick! Did you know that mom and dad were here all along?”
Charlotte Saber smiled at Geraldo and the others who immediately braced themselves. Startled, Geraldo stood up from his chair.
“Count Saber, weren’t you looking for Dragon Emperor? Did something happen?”
“Well, there’s that, but I thought about checking on you. I was worried you weren’t eating properly.”
“Eating…?”
Geraldo was taken aback by those words which were far removed from the situation. Charlotte smiled and showed the bundle she was carrying.
“I’ve finished buying the groceries. I shall prepare for dinner.”
Rick ruffled his hair and sighed. Lawrence remained frozen with a smile on his face. Meanwhile, Charlotte placed the groceries she bought on the kitchen table. Geraldo clicked his tongue.
“Mrs. Saber, what on earth are you doing in this situation!”
“You must stay composed, Your Highness Geraldo. Otherwise, you might lose sight of the Dragon Emperor.”
As she arranged the ingredients on the table, Charlotte gently reprimanded him. The crease between Geraldo’s eyebrows deepened.
“As far as Princess Natalie is concerned, everything is going smoothly.”
“That’s not what I’m referring to. I’m sure you must be heartbroken seeing how hurt Jill was.”
This time, he was confused in a different way. Charlotte laughed at that.
“I was worried that I might be pampering Jill too much. Actually, the same goes for Andy, Rick, and even Billy.”
“I’m sorry, I can’t seem to understand what you’re implying. However, I can see that she is deeply hurt right now. …I’m different from that Dragon Emperor, who was unaffected in the slightest—”
Lawrence pressed his hand against Geraldo’s chest. Geraldo felt annoyed, but then he realized that it sounded like an excuse and backed away.
“If you have any concerns, please share them with us.”
Lawrence switched to make the conversation more constructive, eliciting a soft laugh from Charlotte.
“What is so difficult to understand? I don’t get it. All right, the game is over. Come out, Jill, Andy.”
Everyone present—except for Charlotte, was shocked by the words she directed towards the stairs. Andy shrugged.
“It’s not like I was hiding. Sister Jill woke up, so we were going to head downstairs. Then we saw mother, and it seemed like she was currently in the middle of a difficult conversation. So, we were just waiting for the right time to interrupt.” (Andy)
“Mother, what are you doing here?” (Jill)
Apparently, the two had been kept in the dark. Jill, who came down the stairs, seemed even more surprised that Charlotte was there.
Charlotte spoke to her children with a smile.
“Who wouldn’t be worried about you trying to outsmart the Southern King by yourselves? Besides, if your mother remained over there, she wouldn’t be of much help, would she?” (Charlotte)
“But wasn’t father pursuing after the Dragon Emperor? Although it would be more reassuring to have more manpower…” (Jill)
“Oh, about that. I was able to track the Dragon Emperor’s footsteps.” (Billy)
How fast. Should I keep them in the dark for a bit longer? No, maybe now would be fine. (Geraldo)
He wanted to take his time to gather materials to corroborate why Jill should step away from being the Dragon Princess. That would be the easiest way to convince her. But more than that, acting now would allow him to take advantage of the fact that she was currently surrounded by her family. People usually lowered their guard under such circumstances.
Therefore, persuading her while she was wavering was strategically sound.
As if she could see through Geraldo’s hesitation, Charlotte stared at him.
“To be exact, there’s a separate army from the North that will come into contact with the Dragon Emperor. Truthfully, it wouldn’t be strange if they had already met up with the Dragon Emperor. My husband is preparing for a siege.” (Charlotte)
“He came into contact with a separate army… Is it the Rave Empire army!?” (Jill)
“They haven’t been any movements from them, yet. Don’t worry.” (Charlotte)
Charlotte slowly caressed Jill’s head. Jill seemed relieved.
“According to Prince Geraldo, Prince Natalie’s whereabouts have been discovered.”
“Is that true!? Then, what’s the decision—”
“—That’s right. I need to make sure, but what about tonight, Your Highness Geraldo?”
Geraldo furrowed his eyebrows, however, everyone was staring at him. In the end, he sighed.
Charlotte seemed to be urging him to act. Although Geraldo had no reason to agree, he didn’t have a solid reason to refuse, either.
Someone who didn’t have any ulterior motives would do just that.
Suddenly, he felt like he understood what Charlotte was worried about. Was she trying to ensure that Jill wouldn’t suspect anything?
There’s no right answer anyway.
“Now, let’s move on to the final step. Of course, we need to be cautious, but with the Dragon Emperor found, we should rescue Princess Natalie right away. We don’t want her to be used as a reason war to occur.”
“Your Highness Geraldo… Thank you very much.”
“I don’t deserve your compliment.”
Despite his blunt response, Jill raised her head and laughed.
“Typical of His Highness Geraldo.”
Briefly, he felt as if something had intersected. In the next moment, Charlotte clapped her hands to cut him off.
“Well, now that we’ve decided, time to eat. Your Highness Geraldo, Sir Lawrence, please finalize the plan. Meanwhile, Andy, Rick help with dinner. Jill, you are free to do whatever, but stay away from the kitchen.”
“Why!?”
“You’ll just snack on the ingredients.”
Everyone laughed at her mother’s answer. Geraldo suppressed a smile from appearing on his face.
Since they had decided to put things into motion that night, there was a lot to do.
I don’t know which strategy will win her favor.
Then again, there’s no right answer.
That was just how predatory love was.
***T/N: EWWWWWWW BACK OFFF WHAT THE HELL, NATALIE WAS RIGHT, HE GOT REJECTED AND HE GOT A HARD-ON FOR HERRRRRRR
Please also consider donating to my ko-fi! It’ll greatly support me in action, no matter the amount!
https://ko-fi.com/antoinettevanessa
Have a Japanese story or the likes (Drama CD, etc.) you’d like to read? Want it to be translated? I’m open for commission!
https://www.fiverr.com/s2/aaab08c14d
Did you like what you read? Was it the worst thing ever? Tell us, please. Let the world know how you feel~