The King makes his decision about the heart medicine trademark, while Tara and Bernard stumble into a heated conversation.
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Episode 251. About 9 Months (10)
"Oh, I see! You're saying you have a slightly different opinion?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. The product is already exclusive, but if your name is attached to it, it will sell better. In addition to that, it will have the reputation of being the first drug of its kind. If the effectiveness of the drug is further developed and new drugs continue to be released, Your Majesty will become a symbol..."
Kyle deliberately paused to enhance the effect of what was to come next.
"A symbol?"
The Emperor asked curiously, just as expected.
Kyle slowly opened his mouth.
"You will become a symbol, a representative of a life-saving technology, and you will be known throughout the world."
The Emperor's face lit up with excitement at Kyle's emphasis on the word 'symbol'. There was a murmur in the background, but Kyle didn't stop there.
"It will be revered, not only during Your Majesty's reign, but for all time. For centuries to come your name will be honoured alongside something that saves lives. And the same applies to Count Elias."
The Count looked back and forth between the gruff Emperor and Prince Kyle nervously.
"Presumably you anticipated all this, Your Majesty, when you requested I create the trademark name for your heart medicine," Lloyd said.
The corners of the Prince's mouth twitched upward, and he glanced back at Lloyd with a brief nod of approval. Lloyd could only nod slowly in response, as if compelled by an invisible hand.
"Ah. Yes, indeed, Lord Elias. Is it true? You thought ahead in order to create this 'symbol'?"
The Emperor's eyes gleamed and flickered with anticipation. He was clearly already swayed by Kyle's words. The corners of Lloyd's mouth twitched involuntarily.
"Ha, ha, ha. I've had it in mind since the beginning. Ha ha. Yes, I thought of trademarking Your Majesty's reputation."
Exhalations sounded throughout the chamber, alongside gulps and murmuring.
Many voices agreed with Kyle, and several even praised the Count for his foresight and ability to think long term.
‘No way... What possessed the Second Prince to do this?'
Even as he thought it, the corners of Lloyd's mouth turned up higher than before.
With that, the dissent was silenced and the Emperor's name became an official trademark for the heart medication made by Elias Pharmaceuticals.
***
The House Elias Training Grounds.
It was a sunny noon day. It was five days until the 21st, and since I had all this time thanks to my leave of absence, I had decided to make the best of it.
'Damn it. I can't relax. If I can just get past this damned crisis, I swear I will spend the rest of my life doing whatever I want!'
I hadn't been able to train properly recently, because first, I'd been preparing for my birthday, and then recovering after the fallout from the party. However, I couldn't stand it any longer, so today I decided to make up for it and hit the practice field.
It was my first training session after returning from the business trip.
Bernard started off by teaching me some breathing techniques to control the Aurore in my body. The reasoning was that I could get hurt if I failed to control it during training.
He then taught me how to deflect an opponent using a snap of my wrist, which I picked up right away.
I also learned a combination move, how to twist my body and intercept with my axe using a horizontal stroke, and some jump attack techniques. The latter techniques were difficult but I managed to add 10cm to the height of my jumps and increase my precision.
But that wasn't all. My judgement, tactics, movements, and reactions to Bernard's drills had also improved.
"Hah!" I yelled.
I tried to shake off the last of my exhaustion, and then slammed my practice axe between the practice dummy's shoulder and neck.
The sharp axe head sank in. Clean cut!
Ah! My body felt so light! It had already been two hours and I still wasn't tired! Bring it on!
There was a world of difference in my training results before and after receiving Kyle's Aurore.
"Hmm... I can feel it now that you've been training, the Aurore His Highness gave you. Hm..."
"That's right. He gave it to me because I had chills, but I really didn't expect it would feel this good. While you're at it, Bernard, please teach me how to coat a weapon with Aurore."
"You'll get ill if you use it too quickly. Manipulating Aurore outside of your body is a very difficult skill, so you have to take it slow and learn step by step."
Bernard's stern words immediately convinced me, and I complied. But after that, he didn't say much. He just sat on the bench and watched me train from a distance.
He would occasionally correct me verbally if I was doing something wrong, but today he just sat there with a serious look on his face.
What was up with his reaction?
Because training with Aurore was so new to me I hadn't noticed Bernard's stilted reactions earlier in the session.
Finally, I put my axe down and stretched lightly. Then, after sitting down and controlling my breathing the way Bernard taught me, I approached him.
"I feel like I could train for another hour. Having Aurore is a truly wonderful thing." I said, wiping my forehead with a towel.
"......"
But there was no reply in return, only a "Hmm..." and a sigh.
I furrowed my brow and asked seriously.
"You're acting weird today, Bernard. Are you sick? You're behaving so much differently than usual."
"Me?"
"Yes. I'm doing so well at training and you haven't even said a word of praise.... Of course, it's all thanks to the Aurore, but... What is it? What's wrong?"
"Hmmm.... Nothing. Time to wrap things up...!"
I grabbed Bernard's forearm when he stood up to leave and sat down next to him.
"Tell me, because as your Lord, I can't let my only knight's worries go unnoticed!"
"....."
Bernard just stood there, staring down at me. He was standing with his back to the sun, so I couldn't identify his expression.
"Is it that serious?"
"Have you seen it?"
We both spoke at the same time.
"Seen what?"
Bernard sat down beside me again and reached for a newspaper he'd left under the bench. He held it out, then pulled it back again.
"No. I think it's better for your mental health... if you don't look at things like this."
I stared at Bernard, wide-eyed.
"My mental health? That's even more suspicious!"
"....."
"...Bernard. You know I don't have much patience, do you want me to give you a formal order or are you going to keep stalling? Give it to me!"
I held out my palm, and he reluctantly placed the newspaper in my hand.
"Now. What does it say?"
Haaa. I sighed and opened the newspaper to find a large announcement, which I read aloud.
"Recruitment announcement for intermediate level commanders for the Imperial Armed Forces Special Weapons Force. Applicant screening beginning in March...!"
"Oh. Not that one, this one!"
Bernard snatched the newspaper out of my hand and hastily handed me another. I stared at his face as I took it.
"Bernard, is this what you were reading about?" I asked.
"I just saw it in the paper, never mind that, look at this... No, this is also... You don't have to look."
He was about to take the newspaper away from me, so I hastily pulled it away from him.
"What's wrong with you today? Give it to me, let me see this. What the hell... Ugh. What is this, a ranking?"
An article caught my eye, a community survey.
The Imperial Daily had boldly titled the article, [Spring Socialite Surprise Poll: Who Topped Our Secret Survey?], with a listing of questions and a list of real peoples' names underneath.
All of these forgettable ranking surveys were common newspaper gimmicks to increase circulation, but the survey numbers on this one were high, so the number of sales for this issue probably exceeded the average.
There were three surveys, and in two of them Kyle Amure came out on top.
The surveys in which he won first place were, 'Which Imperial nobleman is most likely to be wicked all day and all night?' and 'Which Imperial nobleman is the most likely to torment his lover all night long?'.*
Who on earth was the owner of The Imperial Daily newspaper? I'd wondered quite often how they managed to get away with writing this kind of stuff without getting arrested for profanity. It was either that or the newspaper owner had 10 whole lives and didn't fear the pain of death.
The third survey question was, 'Which nobleman is the most likely to be a gentleman in the streets and in the sheets?'. Theodore Stuart and Prince Joseph Amure were tied for first place, while Kyle was ranked at number 10.
"Hmm... The image is so... You can't even tell if it's serious or not... Hmm. I guess they're trying to spark people's imaginations a bit?"
"....."
"The 'wicked all day and all night', hmm... And, 'most likely to torment you all night'... hmm."
This man was my boyfriend.... Good Lord...
Was there any chance we would be continuing our conversation from that night in Reese Castle?
I was meeting him on the 21st. My head spun, and I was gripped by a strong desire to find out. I wanted it, intensely and helplessly.
My heart began to race and my face heated up as certain thoughts began to rush through my head.
At the same time, I could almost see the devil that always appeared on my left shoulder smirking at me.
‘Ughhh!!!'
No! Stop!
I shook my head in frustration. Bernard looked at me and his eyes narrowed. At the same time, he carefully scooted further away from me.
"What are you thinking about and why are you smiling so strangely?"
The corners of my mouth must have turned up without me noticing. I quickly straightened.
"Me? Smiling? No- No way. Wh-What do you mean? Th-Thinking about? I-I'm not thinking. About anything. Nope. Nothing."
Crap... Why did I find it so easy to lie to my family most of the time, but now I couldn't even act to save my life?
"...Don't lie to me."
"Ahem!"
I cleared my throat, feeling unnecessarily embarrassed.
"But why show me this newspaper?" I asked.
Bernard then began to deliver a speech I never expected to hear from him.
"Hmmm. See. There's something I want to talk about– I mean... I know I'm... You know, Your Ladyship's servant, but, umm. I mean, as a member of the opposite gender I need to... Haa..."
"As a member of the opposite gender...?"
"So... Half the people in the world are men, and the other half are women... Umm. And..."
I jerked my head to look up at Bernard as he continued, wiping the sweat from his temples.
"So... Because I'm a man, I need to tell you some important things about men. Well.. Again.... I realize that Your Ladyship is wise and knows many things, but you probably don't know much about human characteristics, especially men. I assume because My Lady is quite, umm. You're still a young woman."
Oh, my God…
___
Editor’s Notes -
LMAO, I’M SCREAMING. Everyone in this chapter needs some horny bonks, including me. (I feel the need to reiterate that this novel is rated All Ages, I swear.)
* Gather round children, because it’s time for a lesson in Korean sexual innuendo. This translation note is gonna get unusually NSFW.
The phrase used here, 낮에도 이기고 밤에도 이긴다. - ‘win by day, win by night’ is a Korean innuendo used to describe sexual dynamics. It’s based off the matching expression 낮에는 져주고 밤에는 이긴다. - ‘lose by day, win by night’ which is used to describe someone who’s kind or average in everyday life but dominant in bed. The English equivalent slang expression would be "Gentleman in the streets, freak in the sheets”. But, ‘Win by day, win by night’ doesn’t have a fixed English equivalent and isn’t completely the same idea as being a ‘Dom’ in BDSM so I invented “wicked all day, and all night” as my own equivalent innuendo to fit the context.
But it doesn’t end there! Because Korean (of course) has slang for all the other combos, 낮에도 지고 밤에도 진다. - ‘lose during the day, lose at night’ (No direct equivalent phrase, but I used “gentleman in the streets and the sheets” later in the chapter for the other survey title) and there’s also 낮에는 이기고 밤에는 진다. - ‘win by day, lose by night’ (Again, no direct English equivalent, but I’m partial to “sinful by day, soft boi by night”)
I found this little bit of Korean phraseology really fun to untangle and we all had a great time creating wild innuendos in our group chat. So yeah, enjoy this juicy morsel of Korean slang!
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