I’m Not Doing This With A Friend Chapter 146

 

Leisurely lifting my teacup, I asked, “You do it every day. What, are you being shy in front of other people?”

 

“Because you say things that others might misunderstand if they hear them…!”

 

“Misunderstood?”

 

Carson interjected, covering his reddened face with his hands.

 

We’re getting married anyway, so it doesn’t really matter if it’s misunderstood.

 

Anyway, my lover seems quite shy.

 

She sipped her tea slowly and set it down on the tea table.

 

“Whatever the misunderstanding, it’s better than pregnancy.”

 

It was then.

 

“Leen, are you pregnant?!”

 

Jane and Hans exclaimed, jumping up at the same time.

 

There was a bit of resentment that she was telling them now, and a lot of exhilaration that they were going to have a niece.

 

Oops…

 

What did I just say?

 

Did I say something that could be mistaken for something else?

 

Suddenly, Jane grabs both of my hands with an exalted look on her face.

 

“Leen you…! You’ve been eaten, and devoured to the very soul!”

 

Ahem—!

 

I blink, and see Hans coughing violently like a madman.

 

Still, he opens his mouth to speak, tears in his eyes.

 

“The Duke has corrupted our, cough, our, cough, innocent Leen, cough, cough…!”

 

“How many months? Surely you didn’t do it all at once. My goodness, I’m going to be an aunt!”

 

It was a hilarious scene. I had to admit, at this point, that my spouting of horror was the start of the whole misunderstanding.

 

Thinking I had to clear up the misunderstanding quickly, I opened my mouth…

 

“Pregnant, no.”

 

It wasn’t my words. I turn my head to see Carson’s face harden.

 

“I’m not going to do that to Leen. We have enough trouble making a home without having a child of our own.”

 

A slight shock at his unexpected words.

 

There’s a moment of silence in the room.

 

Hans whispers to Jane, his face a little serious.

 

“I think he’s jealous of his kid, you know.”

 

“I can’t believe I’m the only one who thought that. I knew you were obsessive, but even so…”

 

The Duke of Lysianthus coughed in disbelief.

 

“Denial of reality?”

 

“Then what about our niece and Leen, both of whom I feel sorry for?”

 

‘Our niece’ already for a child who hasn’t even been born.

 

I decided to clarify before their misunderstanding deepened.

 

“Caon’s right, I’m not pregnant. I said it’s better than pregnancy, no matter what misconception you have, it’s already been misunderstood.”

 

She said quite harshly, “But I didn’t think you guys would misunderstand…”

 

“Oh, what was that about?”

 

“I thought I was going to have a niece or nephew…”

 

Hans pats his chest and Jane expresses her disappointment.

 

Watching the situation being cleared up, I looked at Carson this time.

 

“More than that, Caon. You don’t want to have kids with me?”

 

He flinches in response.

 

“Come to think of it, didn’t you say the other day that you didn’t want to see me suffer?”

 

“…That’s exactly what it was, you know.”

 

“The pain of a miscarriage would have been something I would have suffered if I were actually pregnant, I’ve never had a baby, how would you know!”

 

“Think about it, Leen, that’s not the only problem.”

 

“What else?”

 

“What if our child takes after me in personality and you in playfulness?”

 

“That’s…!”

 

Wow, that’s a bit much, even for me. I was panicking because the question posed the worst possible scenario.

 

“Surely…”

 

“Well, it might be a little problematic.”

 

Jane and Hans were watching us and enthusiastically discussing what was so amusing.

 

They looked like they were about to make some popcorn and munch on it.

 

When Carson and my gaze fell on them, Jane waved her hand in the air.

 

“You can pretend we’re not here.”

 

“We’ll just watch.”

 

She says, killing that intrigued glint in her eye.

 

I felt my energy drain out of me.

 

“Well, we have company, so we’ll revisit this topic later.”

 

As Carson settles back into his seat, Hans raises his hand as if he has something to say.

 

“I don’t know if this is the right place to bring this up, since it’s kind of turned into a reunion, but…”

 

He trails off.

 

“You mean the cure? Tell me, it’s important.”

 

He glanced at Carson and Jane, then continued.

 

“It’s not hard to make, I’m sure. It’s not a complicated process, just the proportions you said.”

 

“Good.”

 

“I think we can get it into mass production with this arrangement.”

 

“That soon?”

 

“We’re just ramping up production facilities and hiring more people.”

 

My brow narrows at the mention of ramping up.

 

“Aren’t you pushing yourself too hard?”

 

“Well… we’ll lose some money when the pandemic is over, but that’s a trade-off. It’s more important to end it as soon as possible.”

 

“Oh, so you’re kind of cool?”

“When I go out, I also go out with a bang… Heh!”

 

Hans stops talking and hops into Jane’s arms.

 

The culprit was obvious even without looking. It was my fault for saying he was cool.

 

I poked Carson in the side of the seat next to me.

 

“We’ve taken care of it, now, Hans.”

 

“Except…”

 

Hans’s expression darkened, and I realized what he was about to say.

 

It was something I’d been worrying about, too.

 

“The supply and demand of the fruit.”

 

At my words, Hans sighed deeply and nodded.

 

Once again, quince only grows in Abascanthus.

 

Until the Monstera epidemic, it was an unimportant herb.

 

There were many other substitutes. Therefore, the amount imported from Abascanthus was not high.

 

Mosquito repellent was fine because it was readily available.

 

Mana relaxants had been around for a while and were already a staple among mages.

 

This means that the raw materials are available.  All the ingredients were available in Lagras. 

 

But the most important cure here was different.

 

The cure’s main ingredient, quince, was essential to trade with Abascanthus.

 

“Trade itself is not difficult, Leen, as you know, my people have been trading with Abascanthus for a long time.”

 

“But suddenly importing large quantities of quinces might not be so easy.”

 

Hans’s upper echelons were now eyeing not only our Lagras Empire, but also Abascanthus.

 

It made sense, he was selling both mosquito repellent and mana relaxants along the way.

 

Predicting what they would make with the fruit was easy enough for a preschooler to do.

 

“We can try to make up for the losses we’ve suffered from buying mosquito repellent and mana relaxant in Lagras.”

 

“They’ll either jack up the prices or undercut us on the cures.”

 

All of my potions for sale at the top of Hans’s were fairly priced.

 

There’s nothing to be gouged for.

 

In fact, if I had sold them on any other marketplace, I would have had to charge more for them because of the monopoly.

 

They could have raised the price to keep up with demand, and it would have sold just fine.

 

But that would have left the poor at risk.

 

That’s why it was distributed through Hans’s trusty merchant.

 

Jane, who had been listening to the conversation, tilted her head.

 

“So we’ll just have to hold the cure hostage, then?”

 

Hans and I shook our heads in unison.

 

“We can’t do that, not with people’s lives at stake.”

 

“It wouldn’t be well received.”

 

Jane said, sounding incredulous.

 

“Why are they blaming us when they didn’t give us the option first?”

 

“Because we already have a monopoly on mosquito repellent and mana relaxants.”

 

“At worst, this could turn into a diplomatic issue.”

 

It’s been more than two decades since the two empires signed a peace agreement, but relations are far from fully restored.

 

There was still deep-seated hatred of the other in some parts of the Empire.

 

It was not uncommon for the two empires to clash over one thing or another.

 

At that, Carson spoke up as if he had something on his mind.

 

“Isn’t there a region in Abascanthus that’s predominantly a quince region? I wonder what we can do about that.”

 

“Ah…!”

 

Abascanthus was an immense Empire, so the land mass was very large.

 

It’s not yet known that the main ingredient in the cure for this disease involves quince.

 

If we could strike a deal with a local lord, we might be able to resolve the problem.

 

A lord like that would be great, but someone who values human life would be even better.

 

“Do you know where they usually bloom?”

 

Hans asked, and I visualized a map in my head.

 

“I thought it was mostly out west.”

 

“The West… Oh, crap, isn’t that where more than eighty percent of the Potitua estate is?”

 

Hans racked his brain in frustration.

 

“Potitua?”

 

The estate was rumored to be wealthy due to its high percentage of flat land and the quality of its soil.

 

But why does the name Potitua sound so strange…?

 

“Cari…denes Potitua.”

 

Hmm…?

 

I recognize that name. No, Lagras and Abascanthus would recognize it.

 

Before I could respond, Hans spoke up.

 

“This is the estate of that monster Grand Duke, the one who massacred the Lagras Imperial Army in the Great War.”

 

Kun’s godfather.

 

🍃

 

The noisy ducal castle fell silent as Hans and Jane returned to the capital.

 

Carson was by my side, but somehow it felt empty.

 

This was partly due to the fact that Professor George had returned home after completing his clinical trials of the cure.

 

Things were different at the ducal residence in the capital.

 

I missed the Duke and Duchess and my aunt and uncle and Luca. It was almost time to return to my real home.

 

“Erhan has some business to attend to.”

 

Suddenly, a letter from Kun caught my eye.

 

Kun’s godfather.

 

As the godfather of the Imperial Prince, I expected him to be a high-ranking man.

 

Imagine my surprise when I later realized it was the famous Grand Duke of Caris.

 

Well, I know he massacred the people of Lagras in the Imperial War, but I believe it was in defense of his people.

 

It was before I was born, so it doesn’t feel real.

 

I haven’t seen him since I met him during my senior year, but from what I remember, he wasn’t exactly heartless.

 

Maybe I should just close my eyes and send him a letter through Kun…?

 

Pondering for a moment, I opened Kun’s letter to organize my thoughts.

 

「…So, as I said last time, why don’t you come to Abascantus? 

 

I’m sure His Majesty will welcome Leen, who has stopped the spread of the plague.

 

P.S. I have my godfather’s permission, so if you’re not comfortable in the Imperial Palace, you can stay there.」

 

Finishing the letter, I set it down slowly on the desk. 

 

Then I turned to Carson and asked, “Caon, would you like to join us on a trip to Abascanthus?”

 

I couldn’t pass up this opportunity.