Oh no! After I Reincarnated, My Moms Became Son-cons! - Volume 6 - Chapter 13

Chapter 13

The empress placed her teacup down, watched the tea inside swish around gently and remarked, “It sounds noisy outside . ”

“Yes . It looks like His Majesty has begun to move . ” Castell picked up the teapot but didn’t pour the empress any more tea .

The empress went to look outside . However, the frosty windows covered her view . She was unaware of what was happening outside .

Castell smiled as he watched the empress . He then asked, “Your Majesty, shall we go and take a look?”

The empress looked outside . Actually, she was just looking at the frosty windows . There was both anticipation and concern in her eyes, but she didn’t answer Castell, and he didn’t press her for an answer .

Having served the empress for so many years, his experience told him that when the empress doesn’t answer, she’s most likely thinking . It was best not to disturb her while she was thinking .

After a long period of thinking, the empress chuckled softly, grasped her tea-cup and said, “Don’t worry about it . There’s no need to go . This is his palace . We’re all guests . I won’t interfere with my son’s business . I’ll leave this all to him . If he fails, I’ll carry him back to the royal capital and let him continue being my son in peace . ”

The empress chuckled and then jeered at herself, “I feel like I’m becoming more and more self-contradictory . On one hand, I hope my son succeeds . But on the other hand, I don’t want him to succeed . I’m becoming stranger and stranger . ”

“No . You are just becoming more and more like a mother . ”

“Really? I’m very happy if that’s the case . ” The empress chuckled and hid her face behind her teacup .

It looked like she had a faint smile and was blushing under the sunlight .

Castell looked at the empress before him with a smile .

The empress’s smile and blush looked like the wings of an angel underneath the bright and warm sun . The empress always looked so bright whenever her son was mentioned .

I walked to the water-fountain by the entrance and looked at the girls sobbing and trembling below .

They all looked helplessly thin and fragile . They didn’t look clean either . All of them wore rough-cloth clothing with a fair number of them wearing clothes that had been patched up . They hugged each other tightly, seeking their last shred of courage from one another’s warmth and bodies .

They looked up . Their teary eyes were also full of despair, torment and hatred .

I looked at the guard captain and asked, “Is that all of them?”

The guard captain nodded and replied, “All the girls from families with girls have been brought here . Healthy and fit young men have also been taken to the army camp . ”

I looked at him and questioned him, “Did you guys get rough with them?”

The guard captain hesitated for a moment and then replied, “Some families refused to hand their family members over and attacked us with weapons . We, therefore, retaliated and knocked a few people down . However, we did not kill anyone . We made sure to explain to them that we wanted their family members and we did not snatch their family members . ”

“Good . ” I nodded and then turned to look at the group of young girls below . I cleared my throat gently .

The guard captain beside me pointed his gun up to the sky and fired a shot . He then shouted, “Before you is the Prince of the Rosvenor Empire, Prince Troy Galadriel Rosvenor! He is now going to speak . All of you shut up and listen closely . I will open fire if anyone moves or cries! Understood?!”

“I want to go home!! I want to go home!! My father and mother are at home as well as my three-year old brother! I want to go home! I want to go home!” A girl cried loudly and suddenly stood up and ran to the door .

The guards around quickly stopped her, brought her back and tossed her into the group .

Freya, who was standing at the side, grabbed a gun and walked up to her . She pointed the muzzle at her forehead and calmly said, “Think it over carefully, Miss . If I open fire now, your parents and your brother won’t get to see you again . If you obediently comply, you will be able to see them again . If you continue to resist His Majesty’s orders, nobody will get to see you . Weigh the pros and cons for yourself, miss . ”

The girl with the muzzle at her head let our sobs of despair .

Freya smashed her in her face with the gun without any hesitation and said, “You were warned . No crying . No shouting . Listen to what His Majesty has to say . ”

The girls down below all went dead silent . Not one of them dared to speak, and all the sobbing came to a halt .

I watched Freya slowly walk back .

I cleared my throat gently and then began, “Ladies, I am Prince Troy Galadriel Rosvenor . I believe that you all understand that it is perfectly reasonable for you to repay a debt owed . You are also aware that your parents owe tax fees . According to your debts, you would have to not eat or drink for fifty years to pay your debts off . Sorry, but I don’t have that much patience . And so I’ve thought of using you as a way to repay the debts . I did say ‘if you come here, I will annul your debts . ’ Do you all acknowledge this?”

“… We do . ”

“Good . Come into the palace then . Luna, you lead the way . ”

“Understood . ” Luna smiled as she bowed .

The young girls quivered as they stood up and held each other’s hands, due to fear . They followed Luna into the palace . I stayed standing where I was as I watched the girls leave . The girl that took a heavy hit from Freya was covering her nose . She wanted to cry but didn’t dare to . I walked over and handed my handkerchief to her .

“…”

“Wipe your face . I don’t want your nose-blood to get on my palace floors . ” I turned around to leave and went back to Freya’s side .

Freya nodded and said, “Not bad . Your Majesty, we have basically now neutralised their debts . ”

“I don’t really want for them to be neutralised like this . ”

“You want to be fair and just, so you cannot just erase their debts without requiring anything of them . What will become of us if we erase their debts? We too require money for our own developments . We cannot give the people the impression that it is okay to not pay taxes to you, just act pitiful and they will not have to pay taxes . We must let them know the consequences of not paying their taxes . ”

Just as Freya was about to continue, a messenger came up before me and quietly said, “Your Majesty, the elven queen, Vyvyan, and Miss Lucia have arrived . ”

“Take them to my room for now . I still have some business to finish up with here . ” I kind of want to complain incessantly .

I still had these girls here to sort out .

‘Why is it that Lucia sees me with other girls every time she comes back? Am I jinxed? And it isn’t just one Nier this time . It was a group of girls this time… If Lucia found out I captured and brought this group of young girls into the palace, I’m afraid I would have to go searching for her again . ’

“Roger . ”

The messenger left . I looked at Freya and smiled helplessly as I said, “It looks like we need to hurry up and wrap this up . I haven’t seen Lucia in a long time . I honestly miss her, a little . ”

“You have always been lovey-dovey with Miss Nier, so I thought you had already forgotten about Miss Lucia . ” Freya giggled gently . She then suddenly hugged my arm and kissed me on my cheek . I was shocked . My two legs went weak, and I almost dropped to my knees .

‘Hey, Miss! Don’t do this! Lucky Nier and Lucia aren’t here . If we got caught, I’d cop another scolding… Nier will go even wilder at night!’

“Freya!”

“Hehe, playing with fire like this is so fun . Miss Lucia and Miss Nier will not blame me anyway . ” Freya smiled and released me . She then adjusted her expression and said, “Onii-sama, I suggest you adjust your expression . Otherwise, you will not be able to intimidate them in a bit . ”

“Haaa… man…”

“We have no choice, Your Majesty . We can choose not to pursue the debt, but we cannot erase their debts out of pity . You are a just king, not a benevolent king . They will only feel at ease paying their taxes once we let them know the consequences of not paying their taxes . There has never been any family that went bankrupt because of taxes . Onii-sama, you are saving them, not harming them . ”