Chapter 139 "I'm so jealous of the Elf King."...
Just as my baby was about to turn one month old, the baby arrived. I was in the room trying on baby clothes when she stretched out her chubby little hand and started babbling at me. I smiled and kissed her little hand.
A familiar, extremely powerful aura appeared behind me, and I turned around in surprise.
Bernard smiled at me, dressed in a pure black, pearl-embroidered long gown. Her long silver bangs were slightly damp with sweat, and her long silver hair tied back was slightly disheveled. She had arrived travel-worn, as if she had only had time to change her clothes and hadn't had time to tidy herself up.
"A little gift for An Leya." He gently knelt down to be level with the exquisite little cradle and placed a delicate red envelope in the baby's little hand.
His information network was incredibly efficient; he found out the child's name as soon as he arrived—the name the Elf King had given him before he left.
I picked up the exquisite red envelope, which was unsealed. A 100,000 gold and silver note floated down, clearly meant for me to see.
"Thank you for the expense." I accepted it without hesitation.
He smiled warmly and said, "Supporting your private army must be very expensive, I hope I can help you out a bit."
"You're quite well-informed." I stood up, and he stood up with me.
"This wasn't a secret to begin with. Did you ask anyone to keep it a secret?" He suddenly wrapped his arms around my waist from behind, his strong, tattooed arms holding me tightly. I couldn't break free. "Let go. Don't touch me."
“I’m so jealous of the Elf King,” he said, nuzzling against my neck, his breath hot. “With such a lovely daughter like you, I don’t care, I want one too.”
I was both amused and exasperated. "Are you crazy? Let go of me!"
"Yes, I have conjunctivitis." He hugged me even tighter, as if he wanted to embed me into his body.
At this moment, the baby burst into tears. The maid and wet nurse came running when they heard the commotion, and only then did he release me.
The baby was taken away by the nanny, and he forcefully kissed my cheek, saying, "I mean it, I want to have a child with you, a boy or a girl, I want to be with you for the rest of my life."
"I don't want to have any more children." I cleverly turned around and finally got rid of him.
"Everyone's saying we've rekindled our old flame," he laughed, following behind me.
"What old feelings? What old feelings?" I sneered as I walked out of the room, unwilling to be alone with him inside.
He followed me into the open, columned corridor, the dark gray floor tiles damp from the freezing rain. He quickly caught up with me, took my hand, and said, "Don't fall."
"I'm not that fragile." He held my hand tightly in his palm, and I couldn't pull it away.
"Of course, but the floor tiles are very slippery now."
Halfway there, we encountered Di Yaruo's senior maid, who politely said to us, "Her Majesty the Queen now invites you to the dining room; dinner is ready."
In the exquisite and magnificent dining room, a long table was already set with fragrant delicacies. Diya and Haiya each sat on one side, while Atris sat in the middle.
Bernard and I entered side by side, which was a bit odd—I don't know what our relationship was, but there was nothing I could do; he absolutely refused to let go, so we had no choice but to enter hand in hand.
Haiya sneered as he watched, and after we sat down, he suddenly said, "There's been some gossip going around on the mainland lately. Those who spread rumors should be severely punished."
Deya didn't speak, she just smiled. Beatrice looked indifferent, and Bernard pretended not to hear. Only I couldn't contain myself and couldn't help but ask, "What gossip?"
Hya burst into laughter, "Saying this out loud will offend people." He glanced at Bernot and continued laughing, "I said you were a virgin when you were with the Elf King, which is why the Elf King was so certain that the child you gave birth to was his."
Hya laughed so hard she slumped back in her chair. "When news of your childbirth reached the Elven Realm, the Elven King wanted to come see you in person, but many people stopped him. They were worried that the Elven King wouldn't adapt to the main continent and would fall ill, and they were also afraid he would be assassinated. They said you had affairs with several men and that the child might not be his. But he insisted that it was definitely his, that it was your first time with him, and that it was all recorded with the Queen. These people didn't believe it, so they went to the Queen to check, and it turned out to be true. They even questioned the maids who served you and the Elven King that day, and they found that they had indeed cleaned your blood-stained sheets! Hahaha!"
Deira laughed, but very politely, covering her mouth with her hand. Beatrice remained expressionless. Bernard remained calm, acting as if he hadn't heard anything.
"She was the chief mistress of two men, and even signed a marriage certificate with one of them, yet she's still a virgin." Haiya laughed so hard she almost fell off her chair. "Is it because you're so unattractive, or were those men just too..."
With a whoosh, I threw a small silver knife at Haya. Haya reacted quickly and nimbly dodged it. "Damn it!" she was about to curse when she suddenly saw Bernard and immediately shut up.
"I'm sorry to have made the prince laugh." Di Yaru glared at Haiya, who sat back down in his chair, hands at his sides, behaving properly and seriously like a student, as if he had just been reprimanded by the headmaster.
Haiya is most afraid of Diya Ruo.
“I brought some delicious food from the East, why don’t I take you to try it now?” Bernard smiled slightly, walked to my side, and pulled me up. “The food for the Queen and Princess Beatrice has already been sent.”
Diya raised her glass to him as a gesture of thanks. Bernard pulled me out of the dining room.
In the end, I naturally didn't eat the food, but instead leaned against the bed, yawning and listening to Bernard nagging in my ear.
They didn't mention virginity, those men, or even the child. Instead, they talked about how we first met at Black Castle, how I woke him from his slumbering curse, and then about how I helped him exterminate zombies and govern his fiefdom. I kept yawning as I listened, and eventually fell asleep.
I'm so sleepy, really.
Although I didn't breastfeed my baby at night—I never had any milk—I was still sleepy.
He slept soundly until dawn, but Bernard was no longer in the room.
While handling official business and rocking the cradle to soothe the baby, I heard that Bernard had beaten up Haya.
“I beat him up like a pig’s head,” Imera said, serving me tea. “He didn’t beat him up in front of you last night, probably because he was afraid of scaring you.”
"How could that be? Am I the kind of person who's easily scared?"
"But he can be very violent when he hits people; even Princess Beatrice was scared away."
"Adris is still a child."
But when I saw Haiya in the afternoon, I realized how terrible it was. He was not only swollen like a pig's head, but his whole body was covered in bruises. His exposed neck, arms, knees, and feet were all bleeding, and all of them were bandaged up, with blood seeping through the bandages.
His face was swollen beyond recognition, and one of his eyes was closed due to the beating.
He even sat in a wheelchair and had to be pushed by a maid to the garden for some fresh air. He glared at me with one eye, shooting out a fierce light.
I pretended not to see it and took another route.
Every day, Di Yaruo and I would have afternoon tea together in the Imperial Study. She picked up her exquisite teacup, making no mention of Haiya's beating, and said, "There's something I need your help with. Bernard has always managed the eastern border and once built a straight road connecting the western and southern borders. He used his own money to build it, so he keeps 50% of the profits, and the other 50% is given to the Eastern King. However, he has complete control over the road. Now I need to sign a trade contract with Bernard for the straight road. When people from our capital transport goods across the road, or when people from the eastern border transport goods to us, they all need to pay Bernard a certain management fee. I hope you can help me plead with Bernard to reduce our management fee a little."
I touched the rim of the warm teacup. "How much lower?"
"Three points, I guess."
"You're quite bold to say that. Generally speaking, a two-point reduction in trade contracts is considered a significant reduction." I've reviewed many trade contracts and come to this conclusion.
"Yes, but we are very poor. I haven't been in charge for long and haven't accumulated much wealth yet. My uncle has basically squandered all the money in the capital."
I didn't quite believe the second half of what she said. How could her uncle have lost so much? Besides, she had been repairing the old palace. If it had all been lost, where would she have gotten the money to repair it?
"Three points is too many." Although I often bicker with Bernard, I don't want him to be taken advantage of.
"Just give it a try!" Di Yaruo actually started to coax me.
"Sorry, three dots, men aren't stupid."
"Maybe he'll listen to you a lot."
I still refused.
That very evening, Di Yaruo gathered us together for dinner and brought up the matter again. She laughed and said with a wronged expression, "Oh dear, I didn't want to either, but I have to support the royal city, the king and queen, and the queen's daughter, whom I also have to raise like my own daughter. Naturally, it costs a lot of money." She looked helpless and burdened with a heavy responsibility.
Bernard smiled at me. "You make a good point, but what does the Queen think?"
I kept a cold face and didn't say a word.
Di Yaruo's face darkened slightly. Bernard smiled again and was about to speak again when I suddenly stood up and said to Di Yaruo in a low voice, "Let's talk in the Imperial Study."
Inside the Imperial Study, I told her, "The price will drop by three percentage points for the first three years, two percentage points after that, one percentage point after another two years, and then return to normal prices after one year."
She looked directly at me and said slowly, "You'll suffer if you side with men too much."
“I haven’t finished yet,” I said. “I have conditions for this exchange. Only if you meet these conditions can I persuade him to accept the lowering of the price.”
"Oh, what are the conditions?" she asked, somewhat surprised.
"I want to join the Royal City's Finance Department as the head of financial management. I'll only help you persuade them if you agree to that."
She touched her pointed crystal nails without saying a word. After a long while, just when I thought she wouldn't answer, she slowly said, "How about this, the price will drop by three points for the first five years, two points after that, and two points for the next ten years, after which it will return to normal. Then I'll agree to your request."
I said, "The price will drop by three percentage points in the first five years, two percentage points in the next five years, one percentage point in the following five years, and then return to normal prices."
She smiled and said, "That's fine. One shouldn't take too much advantage. My father always said to be careful not to choke on your food."
"What about the finance manager?"
"As you wish." She laughed and stood up to shake my hand. "You saved me money, and I hope you'll continue to save me money in the future."
I told Bernard about it. Bernard leaned back on my soft sofa, glancing at me. "How do you know I'll agree? You've made me lose a lot of money. I've never done a deal with a three-point discount, not even a two-point one."
I was stunned and didn't say anything.
Bernard: "If you close this contract, you can get a job in the finance department. What do I get in return?"
I:"……"
Bernard: "If we were lovers, I would be willing to do anything, not just three points, but four points, just to please my lover."
I:"……"
-----------------------
Author's Note: Please don't give up on this story, everyone! Mwah~~
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
