“Any progress on your search for a wife, brother? Have you found anybody who seems nice?”
“Still considering various options—with His Highness’s help too. I’d rather hear what happened to the corpse of that dragon you killed, though.”
“The Royal Mana Engineering Research Institute bought it to investigate and research it. Somebody offered a reward for it, but I refused, asking that person to use the money for the bereaved families and the injured.”
“That’s pretty considerate, for you. Was it His Highness’s idea?”
“Rude. It was my own.”
“Huh... Guess you’ve grown up too, mm? Was it thanks to your education as a princess?”
“Why are most things you say so rude, brother...?”
As Estelle and Sirius told each other about the recent happenings in their lives, Arcrayne returned to the palace. Apparently he’d come in a hurry after learning of Sirius’s visit.
Upon entering Estelle’s room and seeing her brother, the prince bowed deeply.
“I’m sorry for breaking my promise to treasure Estelle and letting her get hurt badly enough to leave a scar,” he said.
Seeing that, Sirius and Estelle both gaped.
“Your Highness! A member of royalty must not lower his head so easily!” said Sirius, the first of the two to recover from stupefaction. Hurriedly getting up from the couch, he ran up to Arcrayne in a fluster. “Please raise your face, Your Highness. I have not come here to lay blame on you.”
“Precisely! He simply came here to check up on me!” added Estelle.
“I have heard about the wound on her left hand. I do not think it could have been avoided. In fact, I even praised her for doing well.”
With all that said to him, Arcrayne finally raised his head.
“I couldn’t make it in time because I was deep in the forest. If I had the power of teleportation, like Liedis...” There was remorse in the prince’s voice.
“Your Highness, have you ever seen a dragon hunt in progress?” asked Sirius.
“No, I’ve never had the chance.”
“It overlaps with the Season, so I imagine you are busy during that time, but please come see it once. When you do, I think you will understand just how lucky Estelle was. I suppose this time she was able to take her time and aim at the heart thanks to His Highness Prince Liedis protecting her with his power, but normally, dragon hunts are much more brutal.” Unlike his usual self, Sirius had the face of a feudal lord at this moment.
“I’ll make time and be sure to visit.” Arcrayne too replied with the face of the first prince, prompting a relaxed smile out of Sirius.
“I am looking forward to it. And I wanted to update you on the progress of that venture we talked about.”
Venture...? wondered Estelle, tilting her head.
Sirius explained. “His Highness has proposed a new venture to me. Apparently, a way to make sugar out of sugar beets has been developed in a research facility that enjoys His Highness’s support.”
Sugar beets were widely grown on pastures in the north of Great Rosalia.
“Sugar out of sugar beets...?” asked Estelle, a frown on her face.
It was Arcrayne’s turn to explain. “It’s been known for a long time that sweet liquid comes out of the root of sugar beet, but one researcher found out that it has the same composition as the sugar we get from sugarcanes. They say the technology to make sugar out of it has finally reached the level of practical use, so I’ve suggested the earldom of Flozeth as the location for the factory.”
Sugar was expensive, as it had to be imported from southern countries. Making it out of sugar beet was a major business opportunity, as long as it was successful.
“How much profit would it make...?” asked Estelle.
“I can show you the business plan if you’re curious, though I’m not sure you’d understand it...” uttered Sirius as though making fun of Estelle.
She was at a loss for words.
“Factory accounting might be a bit difficult for Estelle,” said the prince. “She would need to know accounting on a somewhat high level. Though if you’re curious, I can arrange an accounting teacher for you.”
“No need, thank you,” she replied without a moment’s delay.
Estelle hated the idea of having even more classes than she did at the moment. And right now, there were more important things for her to learn than high-level accounting.
Seeing how she’d rejected the whole idea out of hand, Sirius laughed.
As soon as Arcrayne and Estelle’s marriage had been decided, the prince had sent modern Dragon Slayers to the earldom of Flozeth. However, that hadn’t been the only grace Sirius had received from him.
Estelle gazed at the profiles of her brother and fiancé, who began discussing a difficult topic.