Volume 5 Chapter 129 Love is selfish
Marquis Southgate was like a curious child who was filled with endless curiosity towards the Frestech Chamber of Commerce.
Now that he finally met Xu Yi, there were countless questions that he had.
Of course, Xu Yi only gave him simple answers to these questions which couldn’t truly satisfy him.
So he proposed to Xu Yi to stay here for a bit longer to properly observe the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, which Xu Yi naturally approved of.
But Princess Caroline never would have thought that Marquis Southgate would actually stay half a month, not having any idea of leaving at all.
If it was said that him staying a week was because of Seymour being detained and Marquis Southgate not being able to leave him alone, the extra week, even with Seymour expressing that he didn’t want to stay in a place that humiliated him which Marquis Southgate ignored, was all because of his personal reasons.
Xu Yi and Marquis Southgate welcomed Marquis Southgate’s idea to stay, but it was a bit hard for Princess Caroline.
When she came to the Stantine Duchy, she thought that they would stay for three day or at most a week before heading back to the Drake Duchy. Now because of Marquis Southgate, she was being kept here for half a month which far exceeded her schedule.
Princess Caroline was responsible for the magic machine industry in the Drake Duchy, so there were many things in the duchy that she had to take care of personally. Staying here for a long time would be hard for her.
But Marquis Southgate was an important person from the Marlow Empire. Not only was he an important opportunity for the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, he was similarly important for the Drake Duchy.
It was impossible for the Drake Duchy’s household magic machines to compare to the Frestech Brand, it was also hard for them to compare to the household magic machines from the Lampuri Kingdom, so they had to open other markets.
Before this, the Drake Duchy had been working hard in the neighbouring Sack Kingdom and Falk Kingdoms. Now that the Marlow Empire had appeared, Princess Caroline wanted to seize this chance.
So without considering it too much, Princess Caroline made the decision to stay here with Marquis Southgate.
As for the matters in the duchy, she would leave them to her subordinates.
Not to mention that even with Marquis Southgate, she was very willing to stay here.
The Frestech Chamber of Commerce was the Drake Duchy’s most important partner, so building relations with the Frestech Chamber of Commerce and strengthening them was beneficial to the Drake Duchy.
Even putting everything aside, for Princess Caroline, staying here was a choice that she accepted.
But this choice made her face a scene that filled her heart with a bit of frustration.
“Still, this second child, do you want it to be a boy?” Princess Caroline took her hand away from Still’s stomach and asked this.
The two of them were in Xu Yi’s manor and there was no one around, so they could have some private talks.
Still revealed a faint smile, “Un, Freya is a girl, so it’s better if we had a boy now. But Xu Yi has never cared about this, I think that he might even like having another girl.”
“Liz and Linda have both given birth to a son for him.” Princess Caroline looked at Still with a gaze filled with deep meaning.
Even if she didn’t say anything, how could Still not understand what she meant? She gave a chuckle and shook her head, “Your highness, if you want to maintain a good image in front of Xu Yi, you shouldn’t say these words in front of him.”
Princess Caroline never thought that Still would be this direct. She couldn’t help being surprised before revealing a forced smile, “Alright, I was thinking too much. Xu Yi is a rare good man, this shouldn’t be a problem for him. Still, do you know how much I envy you?”
Still spread her hand with a smile, “Your highness, if you truly envy me, I wouldn’t oppose your thoughts towards Xu Yi.”
Princess Caroline was stunned as she looked at Still in disbelief. But the smile on her face wasn’t forced, it just became strange.
“Still, I thought that Xu Yi becoming unfaithful in these two years was because of himself, but now it looks like it’s related more to you?”
“You’re right. If it wasn’t for me encouraging him and even forcing him, he should only have me right now.”
“Then why are you doing this? Could it be that you’re not worried other girls will take him away?” Princess Caroline was confused as she looked at Still, “If it was me, I definitely would hope that I would be the only one in Xu Yi’s embrace forever.”
“I thought that at first, but after being with Xu Yi for a while, I didn’t really care about this matter anymore.”
“Why? Could it be because you…..don’t love Xu Yi like before?” Princess Caroline hesitantly asked.
“No, I still love him, but it’s different from before. I feel that since I love him, I have to properly support him. Although he’s gotten quite a few girls in these past two years, whether it is Liz, Linda, or Agnes, they have to be with him for various reasons. If I were to be against this, I would be hurting many people.”
“But if you don’t, you’ll be hurting yourself. Still, why would you do such a silly thing?”
“I don’t feel that I’m hurting myself.” Still shook her head with a smile, “Because I know that I am always first in Xu Yi’s heart, that is enough.”
Princess Caroline was speechless as she looked at Still. After a while, she said with a sigh, “I can’t understand your thoughts at all. To me, love is selfish. If you don’t want to monopolize the other side, it means that your previous love wasn’t perfect.”
“I am already a mother of two children and your highness is still an unmarried woman, we will have different thoughts, that isn’t strange.” Still said with a faint smile, “Speaking of this, your highness, have you considered your marriage? The people of the Drake Duchy have been waiting for this for a long time?”
Princess Caroline roller her eyes, “Other than Xu Yi, there are no other men who can catch my eyes.”
“But with your prestige in the Stantine Duchy, you’ll likely succeed as the duke. You can’t just not marry, right?”
“Che, the Lampuri Kingdom’s Queen Seveni isn’t married, although she already gave birth to a child…..”
Speaking of this, Caroline suddenly thought of something. She looked at Still with a strange gaze and paused, as if she was hesitating to speak.
Still looked at her, but she also didn’t say anything.
The two of them were silent for a bit. Princess Caroline revealed an awkward smile and looked around before standing up.
“Alright, I’ll be leaving first. Marquis Southgate should already be at the shipyard, I’ll go look for him.”
“No need, Marquis Southgate should be on the Paladin, heading to the Black Rice Harbour. If nothing unexpected happens, he’ll be back tomorrow.”
Xu Yi’s voice suddenly sounded.
Princess Caroline was surprised as she turned around, “What is he going to the Black Rice Harbour for? Could it be that he’s heading back directly?”
Xu Yi couldn’t help smiling, “You think that the Lord Marquis is such a rude person? Leaving you here while going home alone? He just wanted to see how the Magic Ships are on the seas while also taking the time to look over the Black Rice Harbour.”
“Oh…..This Lord Marquis really has a strong curiosity. He went racing cars yesterday and today he’s going sailing…..”
Xu Yi gave a laugh, “That’s right, there are many times that I feel that the Lord Marquis isn’t a middle aged man who is over fifty years old, rather he is a child who is field with curiosity. But this is a good thing, the more interested in these things he is, it means that there is more possibility we will be able to cooperate.”
“It is like this, but Xu Yi, has he said anything to you in the time that you’ve known the Lord Marquis?” Princess Caroline asked.
Xu Yi pointed at a table on the platform and had Princess Caroline sit down. Then after helping Still sit down, he replied, “According to the Lord Marquis, after he returns to the Marlow Empire, he will have the Marlow Empire’s agricultural department buy some agricultural magic machines and some fertilizers from our company.”
“Un, that isn’t surprising.” Princess Caroline nodded.
The problem with farming was a problem that every country on the Sines Continent faced, the Marlow Empire wasn’t an exception.
When the Frestech Chamber of Commerce developed in the Lampuri Kingdom, it was with these agricultural magic machines. Then whenever they cooperated with any of the surrounding countries, the first thing they cooperated on was without a doubt the agricultural magic machines.
Up to now, the Frestech Chamber of Commerce had already sold over five hundred thousand various agricultural magic machines to the surrounding countries, earning a profit of over twenty million gold coins.
Moreover, the surrounding countries were saturated when it came to agricultural magic machines, there was only the Sack Kingdom where there was some space to develop.
Now that the Marlow Empire was jumping in, this was naturally a good thing for the Frestech Chamber of Commerce.
“What other than the agricultural magic machines? It can’t be that he isn’t interested in anything else, right?” Princess Caroline kept asking.
“Of course, the Lord Marquis is always interested in various infrastructures. For example, he was interested in the water system and the construction magic machines for building these infrastructures. He told me many times that after he returned to the Marlow Empire, he would start changing a small town in his territory, first constructing the road and water system, while also setting up a public transport system. Therefore, he was planning on purchasing a large amount of medium transport Magic Cars from our company and was planning on working with the Amrit Chamber of Commerce.
Princess Caroline slightly knit her brows, looking a bit disappointed.
“What other than these? Those are all work related magic machines, is he interested in anything else? For example, buying some household magic machines to bring back?”
Xu Yi looked at her like he found it a bit funny before shaking his head, “The Lord Marquis said that although the household magic machines are useful, they are far less important than changing infrastructure, so he wasn’t considering it temporarily.”
“But these things can improve people’s lives! Do the people of the Marlow Empire not need this? Xu Yi, why don’t you take the initiative to sell them to the Lord Marquis?”
“No, I have the same idea as the Lord Marquis. The cooperation with the household magic machines doesn’t need to be developed with him, otherwise, what difference is there between him and the Candra Empire’s ambassador Hakanin?”
“But don’t you make a lot of money through ambassador Hakanin? Not to mention that you could enter the Marlow Empire through him. Xu Yi, I don’t understand your thoughts.” Princess Caroline was a bit anxious.
The Drake Duchy’s magic machine industry was focused on household magic machines. If Marquis Southgate really wasn’t interested in household magic machines, all of Princess Caroline’s hard work during this time would be wasted.
“Don’t rush.” Xu Yi could tell what Princess Caroline was thinking, so he waved his hand with a smile, “Even if Marquis Southgate isn’t interested in household magic machines now, that doesn’t mean he won’t be in the future. That also doesn’t mean the entire Marlow Empire won’t be interested in this.”
“But……”
“You don’t need to worry that your Drake Duchy won’t be able to benefit.” Xu Yi said with a faint smile, “Caroline, I’m very grateful that you brought these two special guests here. So to thank you, I’ve decided to start a new cooperation with your duchy which is related to production magic machines.”
“Production magic machines?”
Princess Caroline’s eyes suddenly lit up as they filled with a bit of excitement.