They don't want me to try anymore.

I'm doomed, I'm going to die here today...

But at least, I want my daughter to live... *gurgle gurgle*

"You bastards!"

The little girl, oblivious to the vast difference in their circumstances, continued to try and drag her father along while yelling at the people on the boat, "Let me on! Otherwise, otherwise His Highness the Prince will punish you!"

"puff."

The one wearing gloves remained expressionless, while the one with fair skin gave a cold laugh.

"That Targaryen? To the great being we serve, he's nothing more than a minor nuisance. Besides... even if he were capable, why would he care about you?"

"They were just two poor people."

Under mocking gazes, the little girl also sank into the water.

Just as she was about to suffocate, she vaguely saw a dark shadow, more than ten meters long, rushing towards her from the bottom of the water.

Then she lost consciousness.

the next day.

Connaught Palace.

Richard was awakened by the morning sunlight. Recalling the tranquility of the previous night, he felt a vague sense of unreality, and... a little bit of regret.

Well, just a little bit.

He quickly finished washing up and got to work.

As a prince, he couldn't simply attend a banquet and leave it at that, given Alice and Luvia's presence.

Next, he would inevitably take them hunting, to visit the palace and other domestic sights, much like when he welcomed Ram.

The two women weren't really interested in the former.

But Alice and Luvia were visibly excited about the latter, especially after seeing a portrait of Richard when he was ten years old during their visit to the castle.

Luvia even went so far as to ask Henry II, rather rudely, whether there were any portraits of Richard when he was younger.

Richard was very fortunate that he met her when he was sixteen.

Otherwise, wouldn't we be run over by a truck?

scared.jpg

So for the rest of the day, Richard was busy with these trivial matters.

He planned to get a good rest that evening to make up for the stress and fear of the previous night.

Then I saw Luvia slip through the window and come in...

"I was so stupid, really. I thought you'd changed your ways, but it turns out you were just a little pigeon for a day..."

"Richard, what are you saying?"

Luvia climbed onto the bed without any hesitation, blinked, and said, "If you really don't want to, I can go back."

"Really?"

"fake."

"..."

Richard pointed his index finger at Luvia's forehead and grinned, "You have a terrible temper!"

"I just want to be with you."

Luvia lowered her head, her fragrant and soft body burrowing under the covers, and spoke frankly.

"And Richard, do you really want to refuse?"

Richard fell silent instinctively, then blushed slightly at the silence and fell into an even longer silence.

Damn it, my brain got out of control with my lower body...

There's nothing I can do about it. It's all the fault of the other part of the body, and has nothing to do with me!

The next second, he took the initiative to lift the beauty's red hair, and their lips... (omitting a thousand words).

Outside the palace, although Luvia was very careful, Alice, who had anticipated this, still discovered her whereabouts.

When the other party returned at dawn, the princess gritted her teeth.

"No wonder she agreed to fair competition so easily... I didn't expect her to have already gotten ahead..."

Chapter 128 On How to Deceive the Princess

After a memorable night of tenderness, Luvia left the next morning.

She herself was not very willing, but as a military officer, she could not be as free as a certain princess—although no one could really force her to act recklessly, but that would make her seem too biased towards Richard, arousing suspicion from within.

Richard was somewhat disappointed by this...

But he was even more grateful that he had kept his health.

Recalling last night's intense life conversation, he still feels his legs trembling slightly.

If this continued for several more nights, he would find it hard not to suspect that he needed to start living the life of drinking goji berries from a thermos sooner rather than later.

Even so, he still felt a little regretful, which is perhaps the contradiction of human nature.

There's no way around it, those beautiful older women are just too tempting, cough cough...

Richard spent the entire morning seeing Luvia off.

After lunch, he went to the reception room to meet Alice.

Due to Her Highness's reasonable request at the banquet, Richard was to temporarily act as her "secretary" and help coordinate local resources in Connaught.

"Oh dear, Richard seems a bit listless."

Upon meeting, Alice covered her mouth and smiled: "Is it because you feel that Miss Luvia left too soon that you are so sad?"

"That's not what I meant at all!"

"Is it because something happened last night and you didn't sleep well? Hmm, what happened?"

"..."

"Huh? Is this something I can't tell my senior?"

Richard sensed danger as he looked at the alluring blue-haired beauty.

He immediately frowned slightly and said in a deep voice, "Senior, you're overthinking it. I'm just worried about you."

"……Um?"

"I'm grateful that you're willing to invest in Connaught, but as the new lord, you only have so much money at your disposal, right? If the investment doesn't go well and you can't recoup your costs, even you, senior, won't be able to handle it, will you?"

"So in the early hours of the morning, I kept thinking about how I could truly help you, even if it meant doing everything in my power, because..."

Richard turned his head, looked directly into Alice's eyes, leaned his face slightly closer, and said softly, "I don't want you to get hurt."

"Well……"

Alice was speechless for a moment, subconsciously recalling Richard's experiences of struggling and suffering for her in those decades of memories.

It's true...

I know he's lying, but... well, maybe not. Night is night, and midnight is midnight. Maybe he really was thinking about these things back then?

Her face flushed slightly, she pursed her cherry lips, then shook her head and chuckled softly, suddenly grasping Richard's wrist.

"Huh? Senior?"

"Let's stop chatting, the sun will be setting if we don't leave soon."

Alice's soft fingers brushed across Richard's hand as she whispered, "From now on, I'll have to ask my junior to be my guide."

Having said that, he pulled Richard toward the gate.

Richard breathed a sigh of relief.

Does that mean I passed?

Was it my "newspaper tycoon" persona that made her believe me?

Phew, I guess I'll just have to get through each day as long as I can.

After leaving the palace and reuniting with the other attendants, Alice let go of Richard's hand, and the two of them pretended to be ordinary friends again.

Richard first arranged for Alice to meet some local Connaught merchants, and then led them on a tour of the capital's industrial areas...

Connaught has virtually no industry; it consists of only a small textile mill, a low-output ironworks, and a shipyard that serves the port.

Therefore, everyone had seen all of this before the sun completely set.

Finally, they arrived at an open space at the port. Richard said, "So, you're planning to build a bicycle factory and a cannery, right?"

Alice nodded slightly, her eyes subtly shifting.

She had learned both inventions from Richard, and now that the person in question had mentioned them, she felt embarrassed again.

Richard, unconcerned, pointed to the empty space and continued, "Both factories can be built here."