The man was about to leave like a shadow but stopped. Endymion asked with a cold look.
"Cheryl earns. Duke Joel's early investment earned him a large sum of money that exceeded a year's worth of Amethrine's national budget. Where did he spend that money?"
It was an unexpected question. The man panicked for a moment, then quickly searched his head for information.
"Most of it was spent on buying Cheryl flowers. They are collecting bulbs and seeds, and investing in growing more Individual Cheryls."
Mayor Cheryl is booming these days. Everyone wants to make more money, so it was a natural reaction in the investment market. So the man ignored it and only made a brief note in the report.
Who executed the budget?
"Budget execution, of course. Home Minister Amethrine."
The man replied reflexively and then stopped. The man's face was momentarily embarrassed.
Speaking of which, there was no opinion or opposition to the use of the budget. It was a very small kingdom, but it was the national budget of a country!
Originally, it was customary for someone to propose a policy and give a review opinion. Agree or disagree.
The intention was to go through several stages and get as many people as possible to see if it was suitable.
Amethrine was a small country, and the Ministry of Finance was under the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In other words, it was the Ministry of the Interior that actually managed the state budget.
And his father-in-law was naive and dark in his teeth. If the two dear courtiers had tacitly agreed without conflict, they would have readily complied.
Endymion twisted the corners of his lips.
"You turned a blind eye to the Duke spending that large amount of money as he pleased, Killian Oberon."
It was a point of contact. The two of them seemed to have nothing to do with each other
***
"Father?"
"Oh, Our Queen!
A friendly voice sounded from Inside the crystal ball. Julia placed her voice communication device on the dresser and laughed.
"It's been a long time. How have you been?"
"My beautiful daughter. I'm doing well, it's good to hear your voice after a long time! I missed you so much because you appeared in my dream a while ago. But what are you contacting all of a sudden? What's going on?"
In the Semele Castle, voice communication devices were not difficult to obtain. However, the distance between the two countries was so great that they had to recharge more mana.
Because of this, It was cumbersome to prepare, and Julia didn't write it well except for special occasions.
'Becoming a wizard is really comfortable, isn't it?'
There was no need to make an official request to Magic Tower to charge it anymore. With just a little fingering, it was enough to fill up a year.
"No, nothing special. I just want to hear my father's voice."
Julia quickly replied charmingly. Then she heard a moving cry from inside the crystal ball.
"Our angelic daughter, sob sob, this father will retire quickly and go to Semele! I can't live without seeing your face anymore!"
The naïve father with a girlish sensibility trembled at the mending. Julia smiled brightly at the familiar reaction, then remembered her original purpose and quickly burst into luck.
"Father? I have a question."
"Boom. Hmm, I'm curious?"
With a puffing sound, her father asked her what it was. Julia chose her words and asked cautiously.
"Perhaps, 12 years ago. Did I have any other marriage proposals from Semele?"
"Yes? A marriage proposal?"
Her father asked her a sudden question. Julia quickly added, a little embarrassed.
"Oh. I suddenly heard a strange story. His Highness Grand Duke Kaimond proposed marriage to me."
"Haha. That was 12 years ago, It's been so long since you've been married... Hmmmm."
Her father spoke in an emotional voice and traced his memory. Julia was very curious, but she waited patiently.
"Oh, yes! Speaking of which. I've heard such a story. His Majesty proposed marriage, and you accepted right away, right?"
Her father, who was thinking about it, calmly continued.
"I think I heard it after the engagement took place and you left for Semele right away. At that time, His Majesty Semele's cousin's nephew sent you a marriage proposal a few days earlier."
"What? Really?"
The Grand Duke of Kaimond is a cousin to Endymion. Therefore, if he was the nephew of King Semele at that time, he was right. Julia's eyes widened in surprise.
"Oh my God. Why didn't I know such an important fact, wait? Did my father know after I left?"
Twelve years ago, when she and Endymion were 7 years old. Duke of Kaymond was 10 years old, so they were the same age.
At that time, Julia accepted Endymion's marriage proposal not only because he was the Crown Prince of Semele, but also because he was her age.
A person of great power and an appropriate age group who is powerful enough to help her home country of Amethrine.
What if she had received a marriage proposal from the Duke of Kaymond? He was also her age, and he was flawless as a member of the royal family and the Duke family of Semele.
Julia would have agreed to Kaymond's marriage proposal right away. Even before Endymion's marriage proposal arrived.
So, in a matter of a few nights, her fate had changed.
'What happened?'
Julia felt very strange that she found out 12 years later.
"Alas. Well, Amethrine was pretty crazy at the time. Strange harvests come rushing in, and dozens of marriage proposals rain down every day... The reapers are on a rampage, please meet me. So in the meantime, the department in charge of your marriage interview accidentally omitted the marriage proposal letter."
"...What?"
Julia asked nervously.
The official marriage proposal letter from the Prince was missing? Is it also a marriage message sent by the royal family of Semele?
"I didn't know it at the time. Then, about a year later, I accidentally found out that it was missing."
Her father hurriedly explained, tracing his memory.
"Fortunately, the marriage proposal was not even a few days away, and His Majesty has priority in seniority, right? So there was no problem. I apologized to the Duke of Kaymond for not sending an official rejection response, and he said he was sorry at all."
Julia let out a small sigh, and her father asked cautiously.
"But how do you know that? The people in charge were held accountable appropriately at that time. If you've had a problem recently!"
"No, I don't. I happened to hear the story, and I was curious to know if it was true."
Hearing her father's worried voice, Julia hurriedly reassured him. Only then did her father become bright again and chatter.
She greeted him like a good girl and ended the communication.
Pot.
'I'm glad I didn't have any problems after that...'
She was a little dumbfounded to find out after 12 years. In the meantime, Archduke Kaimond didn't say anything about the marriage proposal, so Julia didn't know about it.
"Did Mion know?"
Julia muttered and stood up.
***
"I heard it like a brush. I thought you refused."
In the carriage to the Marquis de Flora, Endymion said in surprise. Julia shook her head gently.
"Not at all. I heard it for the first time today while talking to Iris."
"Hmm. It's a serious neglect of duty... Thanks to him, I was chosen."
Endymion raised the corners of his mouth as if he had met the goddess of luck.
Even though he was the one who was in a hurry at the time, he was 'chosen.' Julia laughed out loud and rested her chin.
"How did you feel then, Your Majesty? Are you afraid that I will choose the Duke of Kaymond?"
"Hmm."
"Aha. His Majesty the King had ordered it, so you didn't think anything of it?"
Julia asked playfully. She deliberately tries to make fun of Endymion by making him feel embarrassed.
However, Julia could see Endymion's eyebrows narrowing slightly
"I don't remember very well."
"Huh?"
"Why don't I remember, how did I feel then?"
His handsome face muttered uncontrollably. He looked serious as if he had forgotten a state secret.
Julia chuckled.
"Well, maybe you don't remember! It happened when I was 7 years old. Besides, you said you were very sick when you were younger."
Julia said casually.
She once heard from Milady that when Endymion was very young, there was a severe flu in the city.
Julia heard that Endymion, who had been there, had been very ill for a long time. Of course, after he got better, he became full of health.
"I was very lucky. The marriage proposal was just three days apart, right? God must have cared a lot about you, too."
Julia said that she was lucky to marry him. Endymion, who was quick to notice, understood the meaning at once and laughed lowly.
"That's true. If you had become the Duchess of Kaymond, there would have been a scandal in the royal family."
Endymion muttered earnestly, kissing in the blink of an eye. He didn't dig into it for the next schedule, but he didn't forget to bite and let go lightly.
"What, defeat? Could it be that the King took the wife of a relative?"
Julia was so surprised that she asked. She forgot for a moment that she was holding on to her painstakingly painted lips. If the conservative old aristocrats had heard it, they would have grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and collapsed.
"Since you say that, the joke seems real. You don't say that in front of other people, do you?"
Sometimes Julia doesn't know how much he's joking.
Julia looked at him suspiciously. Endymion licked his lips nonchalantly.
"You're wearing some lipstick this time. I put the last one on."
"I'm not putting it on for you to eat."
Julia's lips were smeared, and she glanced at his eyes in resentment.
Endymion, who was holding the lipstick, lightly supported Julia's chin with a very brazen face, offering to apply it instead. But as soon as their eyes met, he whispered.
"Come to think of it, bitter tastes better."
Julia hurriedly pushed his chest away.
"Uh, no, if you do it now, all the hastily painted paint will..."
"You can delete everything."
After a smirk, the carriage was filled with the sound of breathing.
After a while, the carriage arrived at its destination and began to slow down.
***
"Welcome, Queen!"
"I see you, the Queen."
All the noble ladies who were sitting stood up. The host of today's tea party, the Marchioness de Flora, greeted Julia with a smile.
"It's been a long time since everyone. How are you?"
"Of course. I couldn't see the Queen... Oh?"
The Marchioness de Flora's voice rose slightly. Then, the eyes of the people who had just looked up suddenly converged.
"Oh my."
The eyes of the ladies sparkled at the nape of Julia's neck. However, it was not yet the time to answer her questions.
Julia went to the head of the table and smiled.
"Thank you for your hospitality. Would you like to sit down?"
The people who gathered today were high-ranking nobles who were on good terms with Julia. All of them were women with powerful parents and husbands, and they were at the top of the social ranks.
"And word of mouth is fast."
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