My Lord Who Is Being Prudent! [EN]: Chapter 148

§ 148. Rapidly Changing Situation

Cyan subtly raised his gaze to study Durac’s expression.

A face so calm it was expressionless.

Cyan had not only caused a ruckus at the mansion but also made Durac wait.

One might expect anger at such behavior.

Yet, there was no sign of displeasure on Durac’s face.

As he said, a ‘mischievous’ act.

It seemed he meant the actions were clever and forgivable enough not to be taken lightly.

Of course, he probably didn’t mean it in the literal sense.

Surely Durac wasn’t trying to think of Cyan as adorable.

Cyan would vehemently reject that.

“I apologize.”

Cyan slightly bowed his head towards Durac.

He didn’t offer any excuses.

There was nothing to excuse in the first place.

More than anything, now that he had confirmed Durac was not involved in the Conner incident.

There was no need to say more here.

Durac didn’t say anything else either.

As Cyan expected, Durac didn’t seem to be planning to reprimand Cyan’s actions.

A brief silence.

“I’ve heard everything.”

Eventually, Durac spoke again.

And the story Durac mentioned.

“The Frontier Lord sent me a personal letter.”

It referred to the incident in the North.

Cyan seemed slightly surprised at Durac’s words.

The Frontier Lord of the North, Osley Batenberg.

That bear-like man was not one to send personal letters to anyone.

Especially not to Durac.

Yet, the fact that Osley had sent a letter.

It immediately showed how much Cyan had contributed to the North.

Moreover, this matter didn’t just end in the North.

“There’s even talk of you being the new star of the Empire.”

The new star of the Empire.

It was a term referring to Cyan as the events in the North spread throughout the Empire.

Of course, it was just talk.

He wasn’t yet recognized as the star of the Empire.

However, the fact that such words were being spoken.

That alone showed the extent of Cyan’s actions.

In addition to this.

“His Majesty is also showing interest.”

The Emperor, Baluar, was also showing interest in Cyan.

The Emperor rarely showed personal interest in others.

Even Durac was quite surprised by this fact.

Of course… it wasn’t the kind of interest Durac was thinking of.

Not annoyance or mischief.

It was closer to the mischievousness Durac had mentioned earlier.

Again, the ‘adorable’ meaning had to be excluded… but.

Anyway.

Being noticed by the Emperor in any sense was a big deal.

Therefore.

“You did an excellent job with the Northern incident.”

It could be said that Cyan had successfully carried out his mission.

Thus, the deal between Cyan and Durac.
The deal that if Cyan didn’t achieve satisfactory results, he would return to the family immediately without waiting four months.

It was fair to say that the conditions of that deal had been sufficiently met.

“However.”

The condition of the deal was, after all, Durac’s satisfaction.

And the concept of satisfaction was ultimately subjective.

“It was a little lacking for Elan Dur.”

Durac’s words were spoken softly.

Cyan couldn’t even manage a snort.

It was forced.

It was obviously forced to anyone.

Cyan slowly raised his head.

Durac was quietly looking at Cyan.

A face so calm it was expressionless.

As always, it was impossible to know what he was thinking.

But one thing.

A clear emotion was rising in Durac’s eyes.

The eyes of someone looking at a tool to further prosper the family.

The eyes of someone looking at a pawn that would make them the number one family in the Empire.

Durac’s eyes, looking at Cyan, were filled with greed.

If the look in his eyes before the Northern incident was desire.

Now it was closer to greed.

He clearly looked satisfied with Cyan’s achievements.

That’s why he had to appear unsatisfied.

“Return to the family as promised.”

Cyan couldn’t even laugh at the irony.

And after seeing this side of Durac.

Cyan could understand Isabel’s actions.

Why Isabel had instigated Conner to assassinate him.

Why Isabel had commissioned the assassination while deceiving Durac.

She must have been desperate.

Cyan, who was making a name for himself throughout the Empire.

And with Durac showing his full support.

Isabel seemed to have planned to eliminate Cyan before he returned to the family.

But one thing.

There was something Isabel had overlooked.

“There are still two months left of the time that the Lord promised.”

Cyan had no intention of returning to Elan Dur.

“It was you who promised to return to the family immediately if you didn’t achieve satisfactory results.”

“Is the Lord not satisfied with my contributions?”

Durac was silent for a moment.

But only for a moment.

“That’s right.”

Durac spoke firmly.

“Are you being unreasonable?”

Durac’s eyebrows twitched slightly at Cyan’s words.

Their eyes met.

Cyan slowly opened his mouth.

“His Majesty also greatly praised my contributions. Yet, the Lord is not satisfied?”

Durac didn’t say anything.

He simply looked at Cyan with slightly distorted eyes.

And then, one word followed.

“The Emperor and I are different.”

At that firm attitude, Cyan pressed his lips shut.

Numerous words welled up in his throat.

But he didn’t say them.

Durac had already made up his mind to be unreasonable.

So persuasion was meaningless.

It would be useless to list any facts.

He would only come up with ridiculous excuses.

It would only waste Cyan’s energy.

Of course, Cyan could win with justification and logic.

Durac wouldn’t be unaware of that.

Yet, the fact that he was being so unreasonable.

It seemed Durac was even thinking of dragging him back by force.

So any more words were meaningless.

“Well, fine.”

Cyan calmly nodded and continued.

“Since the Lord says so, I will return to Ruben now to pack my things and come back immediately.”

“No.”

Durac’s words suddenly rang out.

“I will order Eren to take care of Ruben, so you will stay in the family from today.”

Cyan’s eyes widened for a moment.

Eren was the leader of the White Wolf Knights.

Moreover, he was a top-tier expert reaching the mid-Master level.

To order Eren to take care of Ruben meant.

That Durac was planning to eliminate the territory of Ruben.

And the reason was one.

So that Cyan wouldn’t have any lingering attachments while staying in the family.

“From today, you are the Deputy Administrator of Elan Dur. I have already spoken to the Chief Administrator in advance.”

Durac turned his back firmly.

“You may leave now.”

A clear dismissal.

Cyan quietly stared at Durac’s back.

Cyan was now stuck in the Elan Dur mansion.

A situation where he couldn’t return to Ruben.

‘Could it be… did he notice?’

The thought flashed through his mind, but Cyan shook his head.

If that were the case, his response would have been weaker.

If he knew Cyan was going to rebel, Cyan wouldn’t be alive right now.

The moment he met Durac, his head would have flown off.

No matter how much Cyan was a necessary pawn for Durac.

Durac wasn’t lenient enough to forgive someone who rebelled.

So he hadn’t noticed Cyan’s scheme.

However.

‘He must have thought there was something.’

He seemed to have noticed that there was something amiss.

He seemed to have noticed that Cyan was hiding something.

Otherwise, there was no reason for Durac to be so hasty.

Moreover, appointing Cyan as the Deputy Administrator of Elan Dur.

The position of administrator who manages and operates the entire Elan Dur.

The Deputy Administrator was a position equivalent to an executive among those administrators, and it was not an easy position.

Naturally, that position was not granted to just anyone.

It was a position that could only be obtained by having one’s abilities recognized and recognized again.

Yet, Durac immediately appointed Cyan as the Deputy Administrator.

It was a parachute appointment like no other [a quick and unexpected promotion].

It was truly an unprecedented and unconventional event.

And of course, it wasn’t because Cyan was Durac’s son.

It seemed that Durac had thoroughly investigated Cyan before he came to the family.

What kind of work Cyan had been doing all along.

And how he had developed Ruben.

At the end of that conclusion, he appointed Cyan as the Deputy Administrator.

Perhaps he had refrained from appointing him as the Chief Administrator.

Durac was originally this kind of person.

A person who would do anything for the benefit of the family.

Even if it was his own blood.

To Durac, he was just a tool for the revival of the family.

Anyway, Cyan was now stuck in the family.

So Cyan wondered if he should just run away, but he quickly shook his head.

In the first place, he couldn’t do that against Durac.

And judging from Durac’s appearance, it seemed he had already made thorough preparations.

More than anything.

‘If that’s the case… I should start working right away.’

There was no major problem in executing the prepared plan.

Besides.

‘If I’m the Deputy Administrator…’

The position of Deputy Administrator that Durac had appointed to Cyan.

It was a position of great importance that managed and operated the entire Elan Dur.

The authority of the Deputy Administrator, especially the Deputy Administrator directly appointed by Durac, was limitless.

The most representative of these was the authority to use the Elan Dur budget.

And the Elan Dur budget was truly unimaginable.

Cyan could now be involved in such a budget?

‘Can I spend Elan Dur’s budget on in-app purchases?’

Thinking about it…

It was an unexpectedly sweet situation.

‘I’m worried about Ruben, but…’

Eren and the White Wolf Knights, who could be said to be the elite forces of Elan Dur.

But this was also not a big problem.

‘Because Leia and Kendrick are there.’

The Thousand-Year Wraith, Leia.

The Master-level Death Knight, Kendrick.

In addition, Cyan had made tremendous progress with his 31 million gold in in-app purchases.

Unless all of Elan Dur’s forces came.

That level of force was not enough.

‘I should upgrade the Lord’s Castle to Lv.3 this time. And expand the territory area… since I’ll be fighting Elan Dur soon, should I buy about 50 Singijeon [Korean arrow-rocket artillery]?’ Hmm…’

Cyan paused for a moment.

That was because it was an ironic situation where he was buying weapons to fight Elan Dur with Elan Dur’s budget.

But so what…

‘Don’t they sell other weapons besides Singijeon?’

Who cares?

‘I haven’t seen any ads since I bought the ad removal.’

It seemed like he had to watch the ads again.

‘I should upgrade all the infrastructure to Lv.6… no, Lv.7 this time.’

That rough estimate alone came to at least 10 to 20 million gold.

A truly enormous and terrible amount.

But so what…

‘It’s not my money anyway.’

Who cares about that either?

‘Oh, come to think of it, the construction time is the problem.’

Even if he upgraded the facilities with in-app purchases, there was nothing he could do about the construction time.

Last time, he was able to induce an emergency maintenance and get instant completion tickets as compensation for the maintenance.

But this time it was a little difficult.

That’s because the amount of money that would make Mobile Lord faint would be more than before.

In short, it was not easy to induce maintenance.

‘Eh, I’ll just buy all the instant completion tickets.’

He could just buy instant completion tickets for each building and facility.

Of course, this would make the estimate jump enormously.

Instant completion tickets drastically reduced the time, but required a terrible amount of gold.

But so what…

‘It’s not my money.’

Who cares about that either?

It wasn’t just someone else’s money.

It was the money of someone who would soon become his mortal enemy.

But the person in question was unaware, lost in complacency.

No, to be exact, he didn’t know what Cyan was planning.

That’s why today.

“I will do my best, really my best, as the Lord expects.”

Cyan bowed his head, pressing down his sincerity towards Durac, very, very hard.

#

The Imperial Capital, Darkhan.

And the Imperial Palace located in Darkhan.

“Whew…! Is this finally the end?”

The Crown Prince, Conrad, stamped the final report with his approval seal and buried himself in his chair.

A languid fatigue and a sense of exhaustion swept through his entire body.

Looking out the window, the sky had already turned dark.

It was work that had started in the morning.

A bright full moon hung in the dark sky.

“Haha…”

Conrad chuckled without realizing it.

A succession of truly busy days.

Although it was a destiny that he had to bear as the Crown Prince.

Before being the Crown Prince, he was a person, and he couldn’t help but be exhausted.

Of course, this time, the work was particularly piled up.

None other than the incident that turned the entire North upside down.

He couldn’t even sleep properly because of the aftermath of the incident.

It was more difficult than ever, but Conrad stubbornly worked through it.

The more he reduced his sleep, the fewer people suffered.

Conrad had focused on his work, even giving up naps.

And thanks to that, the end was finally beginning to be seen.

Conrad quietly stared at the final approval report.

“If Cyan hadn’t released the supplies in time…”

Perhaps this would have been the beginning, not the end, of the report.

And the situation in the North would still be a mess.

Perhaps Conrad would have collapsed by now.

“Haha.”

Conrad smiled without realizing it.

A man who was grateful and had much to learn from.

Of course… it wasn’t just things to learn.

“To demand 12 million gold.”

Conrad chuckled at the memory that suddenly came to mind.

None other than Cyan, who demanded 12 million gold for the supplies he released in the North.

Act first, report later.

But saying it was act first, report later, it was no different from just forcing a sale.

Even to the Imperial Family.

Should he call it bold?

Or should he say he was out of his mind?

He had a hard time calming the Emperor who was furious because of that.

“But still…”

It stopped right there.

The Emperor, Baluar, had also stopped at expressing his anger.

He didn’t particularly restrict Cyan.

Although 12 million gold was excessive for the price of the supplies.

The price was that it quickly alleviated the suffering of the people.

Baluar regarded Cyan’s actions as mischievous.

Anyway.

With this, all the incidents were over.

The approval documents and petitions that came up every day became infrequent.

So Conrad was thinking of taking a vacation for a while.

“Ruben… it’s my first time going.”

None other than to Ruben.

Even with Elena.

Originally, he was only going to send Elena.

But he couldn’t stand the anxiety.

That’s because there was money spent to go to Ruben.

A whopping 20 million gold.

Adding the 12 million gold from the Imperial Family, it was a whopping 32 million gold.

It wasn’t a dowry, but 32 million gold was spent just to go on a trip.

No, even if it was a dowry, it was a problem.

Who in the world would bring 32 million gold as a dowry!

“……”

Conrad was momentarily speechless, but…

Anyway.

Conrad was going to follow Elena this time.

And to be honest…

He was also looking forward to it a little.

Conrad had never really been on a trip.

“Elena said the refreshments made in Ruben were so delicious…”

It was just then that he was feeling such excitement.

Knock knock.

-Your Highness, may I come in for a moment?

The voice of the chamberlain suddenly came from outside.

“Come in.”

Conrad straightened his body from the chair and said.

Soon, there was a click, and the chamberlain appeared.

“What’s going on?”

“That is… a letter has arrived for Your Highness.”

“A letter?”

Conrad tilted his head without realizing it.

That’s because there was no need for the chamberlain to come in person just because of a letter.

To be exact, there was no need to come all the way at this late hour.

It wouldn’t be strange to report it early tomorrow morning.

Yet, the fact that the chamberlain came in person.

“Give it to me.”

At Conrad’s words, the chamberlain handed over a letter from his chest.

“Hmm?”

And Conrad tilted his head once again.

That’s because of the seal stamped on the outside of the letter.

“Elan Dur?”

That was the white wolf seal symbolizing Elan Dur.

“Why from Elan Dur…?”

Conrad swallowed his doubts and tore open the seal of the letter.

And he quickly found out who the sender of this letter was.

“This is… Cyan?”

Why is Cyan using the Elan Dur seal?

Conrad tilted his head.

Well, Cyan was also a member of Elan Dur, so it could be considered natural.

But even if he was a member of Elan Dur, he didn’t use the Elan Dur seal.

The Elan Dur seal was literally a seal representing Elan Dur.

The Crown Prince Conrad himself also had two separate seals, the Imperial Family seal and the Crown Prince seal.

Cyan couldn’t use it for personal purposes.

Moreover, Cyan was far from Elan Dur.

Wasn’t Cyan eager to abandon the name of Elan Dur?

Just as he was questioning it again.

The letter stated the reason why Cyan was using the Elan Dur seal.

“He became the Deputy Administrator of Elan Dur…?”

Conrad calmly read the contents of the letter.

How much time had passed like that?

“……”

Conrad was momentarily speechless after reading the contents of the letter.

A dazed mind.

Conrad looked at the contents of the letter once again.

To be exact, he checked the sentence written at the very end of the letter.

[I think the time has come to abandon the name of Elan Dur.]

“Haa…”

Conrad sighed without realizing it.

It was just when the incident was coming to an end.

So he was going to take a break now.

“Haa…”

It seemed he had to cancel his vacation.