Emma’s Proposal and the Contract [Part 1]
“I brought her here. George.”
A voice came from the door.
“Kuh—!”
“Ah—!”
“Father!”
Leonard came from the stairs later than Koumei.
He looked considerably angry.
“George, William!! You didn’t leave a word and stayed outside without permission. Of course I’ll be worried!”
” “W-We’re sorry!” “
George and William straightened up their backs in panic and apologized.
Leonard approached the two and dropped his fist on their heads. *whack* Emma could tell from the dull sound that it must’ve hurt.
“Good grief, what are you going to do if something happens to Emma?”
” “W-We’re sorry!” “
” “W-We’re sorry!” “
“Emma, too. Don’t worry me too much, okay?”
Leonard hugged Emma and reminded her softly.
The disparity of treatment between Emma and the brothers is really unfair. The brothers have always thought that their father’s spoiling is one of the reasons behind Emma’s lack of common sense, but they don’t have the courage to advise their father on that.
“I’m sorry, Father. A lot has happened.”
*squeeze* Emma returned her father’s embrace.
“Alright, alright, did anything dangerous happen? You didn’t come home last night. I was so worried that I couldn’t sleep. I asked Koumei-san to lead me to you first thing in the morning and came all the way here.”
Happy from being hugged by Emma for the first time in a long time, Leonard softened. He didn’t notice that Emma in his embrace was grinning mischievously.
“Excuse me… Are you… their father?”
Harold timidly called out to Leonard.
Blond hair and purple eyes. Harold never expected this well-built, strong-looking man to be the three siblings’ parents. If they were to fight, he wouldn’t be able to win, no matter how it played out.
He has casual clothing on, but the tailoring quality that commoners couldn’t possibly have is particularly conspicuous.
“I am, indeed. It seems that my children have been in your care… I’m Leonard Stuart.”
Leonard… Stuart…
Harold jumped at the name he had heard somewhere before.
“B-By Stuart, do you mean Count Stuart of Palace?”
“Hm? Yeah, that’s right. Our family has moved to the royal capital so the children could go to the academy.”
Harold, who had been traveling around the country until recently, had heard many rumors about the Stuart Count House.
Immediately after he inherited the lord title, he became the ruler of three territories with frequent monster appearances by an absurd order of the royal family.
In just a few years, he succeeded in manufacturing silk goods and made his territory the wealthiest in the country.
He doted on his daughter to an abnormal extent and used her name for the finest variety of silk produced in the territory. If he remembered correctly, the name of that silk is Emma Silk…
That young boy Emma, who’s being hugged by Leonard, is… the Count’s beloved daughter… Emma Stuart???
“I-I’m sorry! I-I’ve let your precious children spend a night at such a dirty place…”
*shudder* Chills ran through Harold’s body.
For noble children to stay overnight in the slums is an unforgivable thing.
“No, no, the children look fine, so it’s alright. Well, it’s going to be that if the children aren’t safe, though.”
“Hahaha,” Leonard laughed harmlessly, but it gave Harold further chills.
“Father, Harold-san makes amazing ink, you see? I want to try using it to dye silk.”
Emma made a proposition while admiring the handsome uncle who was trembling from Leonard’s joke.
As the development for the dyeing process had been in a bottleneck for a long time, perhaps this ink could wield some results.
Bright colors are produced just from dyeing one time, and it also doesn’t fade.
This could cause a revolution from the existing wash-dye-wash repeated dyeing method.
They could even expect a lower production cost as dyeing with this ink doesn’t require water, which is valuable in Palace.
“Just do it if Emma wants to try it. Umm, Harold-san? Would you be willing to sell this amazing ink to us?”
Leonard accepted his child’s suggestion without question and requested the purchase of the ink from Harold. He would buy it no matter the price, so it ended up with him bidding the price until it reached the asking price.
Harold knew now that his doting on his daughter wasn’t just a rumor but the truth.
“P-Please wait a moment!!”
