Of course, if Cassia had been a normal person who knew how to maintain her dignity, he wouldn’t have paid the slightest attention to such nonsense. The problem was that Cassia was one of the most notorious troublemakers in the empire.
Given the bizarre actions she had taken in the past, even such absurd threats seemed plausible.
Moreover.
‘That woman once snuck into my bed…’
Giscard felt his mouth go dry. Meanwhile, Cassia, with a shameless expression, began to speak eloquently.
“But the tragedy began from there.”
What? Tragedy? The fact that I’m even hearing this nonsense is the tragedy here?
“After that passionate night, I thought about my future with Sir Romanov.”
Cassia, as if she were an actress, let her long eyelashes droop sadly.
“But Sir didn’t think the same. To him, I was just a trivial woman who warmed his bed for a single night.”
“Listen, Princess.”
“And so I was deeply hurt and…”
“That’s enough.”
Giscard, rubbing his forehead, spoke as if squeezing out the words.
‘Hehe.’
Cassia smirked inwardly with the smile of a victor. Outwardly, she kept her composure and widened her eyes, asking innocently,
“Honestly, it’s not a complete lie, is it?”
“What nonsense is that now?”
At Giscard’s sharp reaction, Cassia shrugged her shoulders dramatically.
“Right now, you’re just taking the supplies and purification elixirs and sending me back empty-handed. Isn’t that right?”
It was utterly absurd. But Giscard was too taken aback to properly argue.
At the same time, Cassia’s voice took on a slightly conspiratorial tone.
“So, why don’t you just enlist me as the administrative officer? It would prevent unnecessary rumors, you’d gain a capable officer like me, and on top of that…”
Smack.
Cassia placed an envelope on the old desk. Her confident red eyes looked straight at Giscard.
“You’d receive a substantial donation to support the knights.”
The bait Cassia prepared was a certificate of deposit issued by the Imperial Bank.
The so-called “too much money to refuse” strategy!
[9.2 million Derk]
It was her entire fortune, including the dowry left by the late Empress and proceeds from selling various dresses and accessories. Although some had been spent on buying purification elixirs and supplies along the way, this amount was still enough to keep the knights well-fed and well-clothed for at least five years.
“This is…”
As soon as Giscard confirmed the deposit amount, his blue eyes began to tremble as if an earthquake had struck. Would the male protagonist really be able to refuse this extravagant offer?
Cassia’s lips curled into a sly smile.
“So, what do you think?”
You want it, don’t you? You want it desperately, don’t you?
“I told you. I’ll make the Azure Dawn Order the wealthiest order in the north.”
“……”
Although Giscard stubbornly kept his mouth shut, Cassia could see it.
Until now, Giscard hadn’t budged, but now…
‘He’s wavering.’
If that’s the case…
Cassia’s red eyes gleamed sharply.
“And, this might be a bit much to say…”
Cassia subtly raised her head and leisurely looked around.
The entire shabby and rundown office came into view. If the office of the knight commander was in such a dismal state, what could be said of the quarters used by the regular knights?
With a serious expression, Cassia asked Giscard,
“Honestly, without my support, how many more years can you endure this lifestyle? You might manage, but what about the regular knights?”
Giscard couldn’t respond to that question.
“Think about it carefully. Will you radically improve the unfair treatment of your knights by taking on one annoying subordinate.”
Cassia coaxed Giscard again.
“Or will you make an already poor situation even worse due to a grudge with a rogue princess?”
“……”
“It’s your choice.”
With that, Cassia firmly drove her point home. Giscard, unable to handle his complex emotions, gritted his teeth.
‘Well, it is a pretty infuriating strategy, even to me.’
But there was no other way. If she didn’t push this hard, Giscard would never relent. However, she genuinely intended to provide substantial support.
Shrugging her shoulders, Cassia handed over the enlistment application she had prepared in advance.
“Here you go, the enlistment application. The position is administrative officer.”
Cassia fluttered the paper a few times, urging him to take it.
“I’ve filled out everything that needs to be filled. All you have to do is sign it.”
“……”
Giscard, glaring at the enlistment application for a moment, snatched it irritably. His blue eyes swiftly scanned through its contents. There was nothing particularly lacking or missing.
However,
“In that case, Princess,” Giscard’s eyes, sharp as shattered sapphires, glanced at Cassia.
“I want to add a few clauses to the enlistment application.”
Well, that’s reasonable. Cassia nodded readily.
“As long as it’s within reason, I will accept it.”
After a while.
With clouded eyes, Cassia looked down at the densely filled clauses in the enlistment application.
[Do not cause mischief to the members of the Azure Dawn Knights. Do not enter the Commander’s bedroom for anything other than work-related matters. Do not lay a finger on the female members of the Order, as well as the female companions around the Commander……]
‘Wow, he must be really worried.’
Well, considering all the commotion that the original Cassia caused, it’s understandable.
But being treated like a potential bomb wasn’t very pleasant… …
However.
‘If I can somehow survive and enjoy a mojito at a resort, I can tolerate this level of clauses.’
Cassia nodded to herself inwardly.
At the same time, Giscard strictly imposed his authority.
“If you break even one of these clauses, I cannot accept the princess as an administrative officer.”
It was clear that he wasn’t just being strict, but that he also wanted her to withdraw her application at this point.
However, if she was going to back down at this point, she wouldn’t have come all the way down to the North in the first place, causing all sorts of trouble.
Cassia covered her mouth with her hand and laughed lightly.
“Alright, I’ll accept those clauses.”
Damn it.
Giscard, who was cursing under his breath, nervously picked up his pen.
“Since you insist, I’ll sign it for now.”
He scribbled his signature on the approval line of the enlistment application, his teeth gritted.
“We’ll see how long you can last in the North.”
“Yes, yes, whatever you say.”
Cassia’s smile widened slightly.
Faced with that charmingly annoying smile, Giscard felt his insides churning.
With that, Cassia offered a graceful greeting.
“Then, I’ll be in your care from now on, Commander?”
Somehow, his title had changed from Sir Romanov to Commander.
It was really strange.
Even though Cassia had accepted all of Giscard’s terms, and the Azure Dawn Knights had even been promised a huge amount of financial support, Giscard couldn’t shake off the feeling that he had lost.
“Ah, right.”
Just then, Cassia remembered something and asked Giscard confidently.
“Since we’re at it, would you mind introducing me to the other knights?”
* * * *
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