Revive Rome: Wait! Why not make the empress fall in love with me first?
Chapter 248 - 46 Trade

Chapter 248: Chapter 46 Trade

"Aske!" Ludwig was also slightly tipsy and chimed in, "His name is Aske! He’s a damn scoundrel! You know? In his mercenary group, there’s another girl who likes him too!"

"What! He’s actually two-timing!" Henry’s eyes bulged with fury, "That’s so enviable... No, I mean, it’s totally outrageous!"

"For little sister’s happiness, let’s hang up that bastard and beat him!" Ludwig said fiercely.

"And then, hang up the girl who’s fighting with our little sister over a man, and beat her too!" Henry said viciously.

Ludwig belched from the alcohol and suddenly snapped back to his senses, hastily waving his hands as he said:

"No, no, that girl can’t be beaten, she’s the daughter of the Lixini Family!"

"What the hell is the Lixini Family?" Henry hadn’t quite recovered.

"That’s one of Solomon City’s Thirteen Families, the Lixini Family!" Ludwig explained.

Henry: ........

"The Godfather of Firearms?" Henry seemed to recall something, incredulously saying, "The Lixini enterprise that occupies 78% of the continent’s firearms market? The arms dealing giant that claims it can physically expedite anyone to meet God?"

"Yeah," Ludwig said.

"Then what the heck are we fighting Wolf for!" Henry blurted out, "Let’s kidnap that girl first..."

"And then tomorrow you get sniped in your bedroom?" asked Ludwig.

"No, I misspoke. What I meant to say was!" Henry stressed again, "We should treat that girl well!"

"Then have her make a phone call, get her family to airlift in a bunch of advanced weapons, and arm our troops to the teeth! Then we’ll thoroughly crush Wolf and his pack of cubs!"

"Don’t get ahead of yourself," Ludwig said, "Don’t forget that all the Empire’s major Lords are basically blacklisted by the Church Court now!"

"You think the girl would make that call? If Eleanor were over at Wolf’s and his cubs asked her to call for reinforcements, requesting aid from the Weisbach family, what do you think Eleanor would do?"

"Our little sis would definitely be principled and not want to trouble her family," Henry said nonchalantly. "As for the other girl, who knows what she’s like? Oh right, you said she likes the Mercenary Corps Commander?"

"Right."

"And now he’s also your knight?"

"That’s correct," Ludwig had an epiphany, "You mean..."

"Take him into battle!" Henry shouted excitedly. "Let’s say our situation turns bleak, like, your new knight gets surrounded by Wolf’s forces on the battlefield. Then, to save her trapped lover, the girl makes a phone call home and thousands of super firearms get shipped over. We don’t even need swords, just gear up and steamroll Lombardy, demolish Burgundy, kill all those wolf pups..."

"And then the Lixini Family drags him back to Solomon City, forces him to marry the girl, and our little sis cries her eyes out, severing her sibling ties with us, never to contact us again until she dies?" Ludwig asked seriously.

Henry: ...........

Ludwig: ...........

"Let’s wait for father to return before we decide," Henry said solemnly.

"You’re right, father making the decision is best," Ludwig agreed with equal gravity.

————————

Outside the banquet hall, a girl in an evening gown quietly slipped out, holding a bag in her hand.

"Aske!" She saw Aske standing at the edge of the terrace railing and immediately waved her arms calling out to him, "Huh, where is everyone else?"

"They went to the night market," Aske said.

"Oh. Nora mentioned it before, I forgot," Eleanor recalled.

Due to the lack of widespread electricity, Mingxing City’s downtown area was pitch dark at night, in contrast to the bright lights of the factories across the river.

Therefore, many citizens of Mingxing City would head across the river at night, selling goods alongside the lighted edges of factory walls, thus creating the distinctive "Mingxing Night Market."

"I brought some food from the banquet. Want to eat?" Eleanor lifted the bag.

The girl had applied very light makeup that evening. Her golden hair was not tied in the usual battle ponytail but was twisted into a slightly complex and splendid bun at the back of her head. The carefully designed evening dress accentuated her figure to the fullest, and under the banquet lights, she looked exceptionally beautiful. Combined with her delicate face and those deep blue, clear eyes, there was an otherworldly grace about her.

Like a goddess from ancient myths.

For some reason, Aske felt that Eleanor, once she had removed her armor, was somewhat livelier in personality, not as calm and sensible as she usually was—or perhaps, ever since she had returned to the Bavarian Duchy, to her family, the lively side of her character had gradually become more apparent.

"What food do you have?" he asked casually.

"Asparagus, capons, and lobsters," Eleanor said.

"No elephant clams?"

"That’s disgusting. I didn’t bring any."

She placed the food box on the railing and opened it, releasing the aroma of food that hadn’t yet gone cold.

Both picked up some asparagus and silently started nibbling on it.

"What are you looking at?" Eleanor asked.

"That dark shadow in the distance," Aske replied.

"That’s the Alps," Eleanor also looked toward the dark shadow, "My father said when he was a child that there lived a terrifying lizardman tribe deep in the mountains. They are hybrids of giants dragons and humans, sneaking out of the mountains at night to catch and eat children who don’t sleep well."

"Do you believe there are giants dragons in the Alps?" Aske asked casually.

"I don’t believe it," Eleanor said seriously. "If there really were giants dragons in the mountains, Mingxing City would be the first to be threatened by the dragon flame, and the Weisbach family would not have gone so long without doing anything about it."

"So, are there really giants dragons?" she said, looking uncertain as she observed Aske’s expression.

"They are bound to the mountains, unable to come out," Aske said, "Just as I currently cannot go in."

"Aske," Eleanor spoke slowly, "so one day, you’ll have to leave too, right? To return to... your homeland."

"Did Nora tell you?" Aske fell silent for a moment, "Yes."

"Hearing your definite answer, I really feel a bit sad," Eleanor smiled, "But there’s nothing to be done, is there?"

She stared into Aske’s eyes and solemnly recited, "The place where one finds rest, even the small bird knows, lies in his homeland."

"Poetry?" Aske asked.

"It’s a poem by Herman Hesse," Eleanor said, holding the railing as if stretching, "Hmm~ It means that people can go out and make their way in the world when they’re young, but in the end, they should die in their homeland."

"So I support you," she said cheerfully, leaning her back against the railing, "Even if we must part eventually, at least we both can live happier lives in the future."

"Thanks for understanding," Aske took an item out of the bag, "Do you recognize this?"

"The Swan Key?" Eleanor said in surprise, "How do you have this?"

"It was placed in a secret compartment of ’Mad Ludwig’s’ urn, sealed by a clever mechanism," Aske explained, "Maybe you know where this key opens."

"I know," Eleanor took the key and examined it for a moment, saying seriously, "It’s a special key, with numerous intricately carved patterns distributed within its hexagonal recess, used to open locks made of special spring plates."

"It was one of Ludwig’s designs that he was proud of before his death. If I’m not mistaken, it should correspond to a door within New Swan Castle—he designed this residence in his later years, and it was still incomplete when he passed away. They say it contains countless secrets: some are genius designs, others, more like the whims of a madman."

"Can you take us there?" Aske asked.

"I can take you," Eleanor pondered, "I guess you’re not going there just for sightseeing... What will we find if we locate that door?"

"Extraordinary Traits, if I’m not wrong, should be a ’Luck’ sequence high-rank extraordinary trait, the ’Main Sequence’ of Miel’s ’Destiny Shooter’," Aske replied, "Of course, by rights, it should belong to your Weisbach family..."

"But if it hadn’t been discovered by you, Aske, it would’ve just remained dust-covered behind that secret door forever," Eleanor put on a thoughtful expression and then, as if she had finally made up her mind, clapped her hands, "Hmm, alright. Considering it’s prepared for our dear Miss Miel, maybe I can represent the family and sell it to you secretly."

"Deal," Aske said.

"I haven’t mentioned the price yet," Eleanor said with an uptilted corner of her mouth.