Became The Son Of The Final Boss [EN]: Chapter 179

179.

“Looks like we’re starting to run out of money?”

Soris’s face tightened slightly at my words.

I smiled and continued.

“You’ve been operating solely on the funds you’ve accumulated so far. The other siblings constantly receive money through the support of powerful maternal families or through trading companies they’ve established relationships with. Ted and Chen even directly manage trading companies using organizations under their maternal family’s umbrella.”

Operating a trading company as a prince is technically illegal, but everyone turns a blind eye.

“Not to mention the cases where subordinate nobles squeeze their territories to offer tribute. That’s not why tax rights were given to the nobles.”

I clicked my tongue as I spoke. The system of this era is creating a vicious cycle: the powerful need more money, and nobles who want to curry favor with the powerful exploit the people in their territories for more money.

The exploited money flows directly to the powerful, is used for greater power, and yet money is always lacking.

“We could receive some help from the western lords, but most of their territories are already struggling financially, so it’s not a good idea to ask for help. Call Vikan in.”

“We are not short of funds.”

“What are you talking about? I know everything.”

Soris coughed briefly, pondered for a moment, and then opened his mouth.

“We’ve borrowed from the Vikan Trading Company, and Lady Olivia has also provided funds.”

“Olivia?”

“We were short about ten thousand gold, and Lady Olivia provided it. We should be able to operate the organization without difficulty for the next three months, and the Vikan Trading Company will be quite stable by then. And it’s almost the start of a new quarter, so the Crown Prince’s Palace budget, which is paid by the Imperial Palace, will also arrive then.”

The look of tension was evident on Soris’s face as he explained diligently.

‘He’s embarrassed about receiving funds from Olivia.’

Nevertheless, Soris reported to me honestly, and I spoke casually so that Soris wouldn’t be embarrassed.

“Cooperate with Vikan to quickly repay the funds borrowed from Olivia.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Finance is one of the most important parts of organizational management. Everything ultimately boils down to money. Moreover, we need to grow the organization further in the future, and there will be even more expenses. There will come a time when we can’t handle it with just the Crown Prince’s Palace budget.”

“That’s right.”

I leaned back comfortably.

“Since the White family has good financial resources, we should consider officially cooperating with them.”

Soris didn’t say anything.

“I’ll talk to Olivia separately.”

“Actually, I was told to keep it a secret from Your Highness, but I thought you should know.”

“Soris is good at telling secrets.”

“Yes. I will handle it well so that the Lady doesn’t misunderstand.”

“Anyway, we’re in debt. Send someone to the White family to see if we can have lunch with Duke James.”

“I’ll take care of it right away.”

After Soris left and I was alone in the office, I sighed deeply.

‘Money problems are already popping up.’

After successfully completing the Eastern Expedition, the number of nobles wanting to visit the Crown Prince’s Palace increased.

Some nobles didn’t even send visit requests and just showed up, so we had to turn them away at the entrance.

All of them were trying to get in line with the rising power that I represent, and they certainly didn’t come empty-handed.

If I had accepted even some of those nobles, I could have easily raised enough funds to cover the shortage.

‘Once you start taking bribes, there’s no end to it. And bribes always come with a price. If you take a bribe and then can’t fulfill the wishes of the person who gave it, the bribe will start to spread like poison from that moment on.’

I didn’t want the first relationship with those who are with me to start with giving and receiving bribes.

“Your Highness, Second Prince Ted wishes to see you.”

“Ted?”

I rose from my seat at the voice coming from outside. I had been working all morning and felt stiff, and since Ted had come, I opened the door to get some fresh air.

“Where is Ted?”

“He is waiting for Your Highness’s command at the palace entrance.”

“Tell him to come to the garden. I’ll take a walk.”

“Yes.”

The servant disappeared at a trot, and I straightened my clothes and left the palace.

I could already feel summer approaching outside.

‘Western Expedition, Eastern Expedition… I’ve been living busily.’

It’s only been a few months, but I’ve lived the busiest and most intense life in my entire life.

“Brother.”

At Ted’s voice, I erased my thoughts and turned my head.

“You’ve arrived? Let’s walk a bit.”

Sylphs naturally appeared around me. In the hot weather, the sylphs created a cool breeze.

Ted seemed a little surprised, but I didn’t care and moved my steps.

“It’s a shame you couldn’t come with me on the Eastern Expedition. We left so suddenly.”

Ted waved his hand at my words.

“No. I am happier than anyone that you returned victorious, Brother.”

I chuckled at Ted’s words.

I couldn’t find any trace of the scary Ted in my memory in Ted’s current appearance.

Ted is extremely cautious in front of me, and every time he speaks, he is full of praise.

‘He didn’t even bring his entourage and came alone.’

At some point, Ted stopped bringing knights when he met me. It was one of Ted’s hobbies to insult me through his subordinates, but that hobby has completely disappeared now.

I asked as I entered the Crown Prince’s Palace garden.

“What’s going on?”

* * *

Ted couldn’t easily get to the point.

It seemed to be a difficult topic to bring up, which only made me more curious.

‘Does Ted have a difficult request to make of me? I don’t think there’s anything he would ask me for.’

Ted lacks nothing. He has outstanding abilities, the status of the Second Prince, and the background of the Aetran family as his maternal family.

He was my strongest competitor, capable of aiming for the position of Crown Prince depending on the situation.

Chen’s background family, with Austin as his maternal grandfather, is also excellent, but Chen is shallower than Ted.

‘Decisively, Chen’s abilities are inferior to Ted’s.’

I have two Sword Masters around me. It just seems that Ted’s abilities are relatively low, but Ted is only one year younger than me and is already a High-Rank Sword Beginner.

-Ted Carl Leord (Lv65)

-High-Rank Sword Beginner

Checking the opponent’s status window, which I hardly used when my level was low, has now become one of the most useful ways to utilize the system.

Ted’s level and current realm were accurately displayed.

-Descendant of a Prestigious Family

-Master of Disguise

Ted has two titles. Descendant of a Prestigious Family had the effect of naturally instilling trust in others in Ted’s words themselves.

It’s a pretty good title.

And the problematic Master of Disguise was a title that directly revealed Ted’s personality, and its effect was amazing.

‘If the target’s level is lower than his, the image of himself that he draws is perfectly recognized by the other person.’

Ted himself may not know it, but from my perspective, seeing it clearly through the system window, I had no choice but to be more careful when dealing with Ted.

Ted’s skills were also mostly B~A grade skills. It indicated that Logue’s swordsmanship was very outstanding.

‘I can’t see his inner thoughts or anything like that. In Gail’s case, things like loyalty came out.’

The reason why I haven’t looked closely at the stats of my opponents even after my level has increased is because of the system window’s function of expressing the hearts of my subordinates as numerical values.

I thought it would be better for my heart to feel the hearts that connect with each other than to check loyalty with my eyes.

But there was no need to do that for a competitor.

I carefully examined Ted’s status window and felt that Ted had grown considerably.

‘I can’t let my guard down just because I’ve become a High-Rank Spiritist. Ted also has the qualities to become a Sword Master.’

There are geniuses all around.

Just looking at Olivia, she’s the same age as me and is a Sword Master.

“Brother.”

At Ted’s voice, I organized my thoughts and answered.

“You seem to have something to say, so speak comfortably.”

“Yes. I have a request.”

“A request?”

“Yes.”

I nodded.

“Recently, the movements of the southern nobles under my maternal grandfather’s influence have been unusual.”

I couldn’t help but laugh.

‘Is this the effect of Ted’s title? To casually use the expression ‘nobles under the influence of a vassal’ in front of the empire’s Crown Prince. Everyone is the vassal of the Emperor.’

I acknowledged that Ted was honestly telling me the reality in his own way.

Still, I didn’t just let it go.

“I know that many nobles follow Duke Beregon, but all the nobles of the empire are vassals of His Majesty and nobles of the empire. They are not vassals of Duke Beregon, nor are they vassals serving the Aetran family.”

Ted’s expression hardened slightly.

“I apologize.”

“No. Since your maternal grandfather is your relative, you may make mistakes when speaking comfortably as usual. But I hope you keep that in mind at all times.”

I stared at Ted intently and said.

“You are the Second Prince of the Empire. That means you are a member of the Imperial Family, not a member of the Aetran family.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

I stopped the warning at that point and asked.

“Okay. The movements of the southern nobles are unusual? I thought the south was peaceful.”

The incident in the west was not a conflict with another country, and the eastern front was largely resolved through the conquest of the Pyreon Kingdom.

The area bordering the southern part of the empire is a collection of unions rather than a country.

‘The problem is that the power of that union is enormous.’

Even my father diagnosed that the empire’s power needed to be stronger to organize the southern unions.

“The southern unions seem to be crossing the border frequently.”

“Really? Does His Majesty know?”

“It seems that the nobles are only asking my maternal grandfather for help and are keeping it quiet from His Majesty.”

I almost blurted out a curse, but I barely suppressed it and replied.

“That issue should naturally be discussed at the Great Council, and is there anything you personally want to ask me for?”

“Please make it public at the Great Council, Brother. My maternal grandfather doesn’t seem to want the unrest in the south to reach His Majesty’s ears.”

My face hardened involuntarily.

This was more than a request.

The moment I made this issue public, a political confrontation with Duke Beregon was unavoidable.

Of course, Duke Beregon and I are already in a situation where we cannot work together.

However, confronting Duke Beregon in earnest at the Great Council would also require me to take various risks.

Ted’s words continued as he examined my face.

“The next head of the Aetran family came up to the Imperial Palace but went back down due to the unrest in the south. He probably received special orders from my maternal grandfather. And if the unrest in the south is quietly resolved, the succession of the Aetran family will be solidified.”

The hidden meaning in Ted’s words made me nervous.

“You don’t mean…?”

“The current next head does not suit me. He is someone who wants more power than the head of the Aetran family. My maternal grandfather doesn’t think of me as a puppet, but that person is different.”

My expression hardened.

“Are you saying you’re going to use me to shake up the next head of the Aetran family?”

“If you make it public, I will go down to the south myself. As a member of the Imperial Family, shouldn’t I do something for the empire?”

I couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.

‘Look at this? He’s telling me to use him to fight against the Aetran family?’