24 The Calm

Victor is elated. His baby woke up after a few days and he finally saw those sapphire eyes that he missed so much. He wanted to hug him and kiss him when Julian's eyes opened but he has to restrain himself. At this point, Julian and Victor do not have 10 years in their relationship and even in his first life, they never really got themselves together "officially" until the debacle with the royal family and their years in the dungeon before Victor was then executed.

Victor still could not forgive himself for all the pain Julian has suffered because he was an idiot. So, Victor wanted to start fresh and in a better position. Still, though, why is he at his office window watching Julian who is currently sitting in the gazebo at the desolate garden of his manor, being taken care of by the new servants? Well, it's because he has spent too much time with him.

Victor is not happy that he is not down there, pampering Julian. He pouted at Rufus who is currently looking happy and oblivious to the prince's glare as he placed document after document Victor has to manage for his estate.

Since the moment Julian woke up, Victor has been very happy making the necessary arrangements for him. From cooking him some of his favorite congee and porridge to help boost his health, to literally calling the boutique stores in the city to come and make his clothes (while also slipping some of the things he ordered from his space). He made sure Julian has a say on what clothing he liked, the color scheme, and so on as Victor does not believe he might like his darker and more simple styled clothing and he wanted Julian to have some measure of independence by giving him choices.

The boutique store owners were still conflicted when they found out they have to make an entire wardrobe (an expensive one too) for a bio even if that bio is of noble blood but Victor kicked out the owners who were discriminatory. That is his future wife, his future princess, and future duchess, even if he does not have some measure of relationship he is aiming for Julian, the man still needs a decent wardrobe. This led the other owners to keep quiet and make quality work for him out of fear of being kicked out or even facing the wrath of the third prince.

Aiden thinks it is adorable. Jason, on the other hand, looked confused as he didn't realize that Victor likes this future bio wife (as culturally, bio wives were not this pampered), but only Rufus was very conflicted to the point that he has to scold the young prince about his behavior.

It turns out that while spending time with his fiancé is not a problem, it is the fact that Victor spends so much time with him. In Julian's room. Alone.

Victor did not notice that spending this much time with his future fiancé is considered inappropriate since they are not married yet and etiquette stipulates that they have formal or informal times to spend usually with servants present or in what the people call the flower room under the guidance of the owner of the said manor.

In noble society, meeting your fiancé is a formal affair and it usually involves them mostly staying in the flower room or in the gardens which is the most common stipulated etiquette of courting. Victor thinks it is a weird and boring way to date, people because they first have to deal with the future in-laws, ask their permission, formal greetings to the prospective fiancé (if you are not yet engaged), have some food, and talk in the flower room or garden whichever they prefer (and expect the rest of the household spy on you), leave, make a decision (or your parents), and then repeat the process all over again.

The flower room is present in all manors as mainly the room for courting, and getting to know each other and usually, it is expected to only spend there a limitation of time (sometimes mothers who are aiming for their daughters to get the right men often tried to eavesdrop at the doors). Victor thinks it's a weird dating location. Who wants to date their fiancé in their in-law's house?

So basically, a man like Victor spending too much time in the "bedroom" of a bio, may be seen as inappropriate even though most of the things they do are just talking. Victor brings in Julian's meals that he cooked himself at shock looks by Rufus, Aiden, and Jason who still could not believe the prince could cook.

"Where in the world did his Highness learn this?" Rufus asked as he took a peek at the pot the prince used to cook what he called "congee". It was a very odd type of food using ingredients he has never seen before. He already knows that the prince has been keeping a lot of things in his space and Prince Victor even confide in him of the fact that things do not age in his space (so the army has been secretly using him as a warehouse of food since it does not spoil). But still, Rufus cannot recall a time he taught the young prince to cook and a noble especially a royal one who knows how to cook was practically unheard of.

But now that Victor has hired some servants, he can't exactly just waltz in Julian's room too many times. The servants, even if they are his, would gossip about it, and usually in situations that are considered inappropriate, the women or the bios are often criticized for it even if the one at fault was a man. Victor did not want Julian to suffer some humiliation from bad gossip because of his actions. Victor may not care about his reputation, but he wanted Julian to decide what reputation he wanted to get.

Also, Victor does not trust these servants yet. Ever since the whole fiasco of nobles went wild with money and power to the point that they committed a crime under the nose of the imperial throne, the nobles who committed the crimes were fined very severely. Luckily, they were not removed from their noble title (except for the one noble who hid a secret army as it is considered treason, and the entire family is affected by the removal of their noble title. Even the noble who participated in child trafficking did not get his noble status revoked from his family).

Because of this, there is an influx of servants and guards losing their jobs as some of the nobles due to the heavy fines could not keep the servants. Some even considered buying slaves but slaves are not a very popular business in Claes especially in the capital due to the law that only slave population cannot exceed more than 10% of the population and the fact that slaves are normally reserved to work in mines and in farms (which helped drive down the cost of some food and resources). Despite the effort of the empire to try to hide the fact that nobles have committed a crime from the public, people still talk especially when they noticed a lot of servants who used to work at noble households are now out of the job.

What Victor did by using the Monet guard as a scapegoat did lead some nobles to be wary of their servants and guards. After all, how is one guard from a small-time baron family able to get a lot of information about other nobles? Victor felt sorry for the servants who were placed under scrutiny because of what he did.

Due to what happened, the servants and guards who were let go were no longer picky about who their future masters are. Before, Victor has trouble finding competent servants for his manor because no one would want to work with the tyrant prince. Now, he has many people who applied for it, and with the help of Aiden and Rufus, they were able to screen who should be hired in the prince's manor and the future, the manor at his new territory. Victor did not expect that by targeting all the bad nobles that also gave him some advantages.

Victor has been exchanging correspondence with the only count in his territory to help assess his location before going there. Verglas is located further north. It is considered a very cold and snowy place. Since Victor never went to his territory in his first life (as it is common for nobles to just have a person they assign, usually family to take care of their territories), he doesn't know much about what is happening there such as its economy, the people, the land, and so on. So, he has no choice but to contact the only noble left living in his territory.

In Claes, nobility in leadership is based on rank in territories. Because the Count is under the territory of Victor, that means he will be his subordinate or vassal state when he leads the territory.

That noble's name is Daniel Espen. He is closer to the age of the emperor but he and his family never met the third prince as they never went to the foundation banquet. Why? Because the Espens are very poor. Despite being a count, their lack of resources and ability to build their wealth were the barriers for them to even travel to the capital. They are also located in one of the territories considered to be desolate, dangerous, and least prosperous.

Velgras used to be a country before it was absorbed by the empire through conquest. Taking over other territories is very common in this world. But Velgras doesn't have much to offer and is even considered a burden to some as they don't bring much economic value to the empire. Although Victor believed that the reason is more on mismanagement than the actual lack of resources since in his past life, the territory did suffer through incompetent magistrates taking care of the area. And Victor was charged for the actions of the magistrate he has assigned in the territory for his corruption which Victor knows was a scheme as it was impossible that over the years the corruption charges were ignored but when he was given the territory, that information suddenly came out which was already suspicious.

Right now, Victor plans to go to the territory and manage it himself. He needs to make the preparations especially if the territory is as cold as they say. He is going to need some things to bring to keep Julian, who is easily cold and sickly, to stay warm and most of all, fed. So, he needs to know what is going on in his territory. After all, having the right information is what helps them be prepared, manage risks, and make better decisions. Lessons he learned as Jeffrey in his Earth life.

Luckily, the count was not exactly the corrupt person in his first life. He was a kind man and Victor trusts that he will be honest with the information. Victor even sends him some gold to help alleviate his situation and their territory, if need be, since many of the population are suffering from poverty. At least as far as Victor knows. He only knows back then; it got worse because Victor in his first life was incompetent. He refused to be one in this life.

If he wants himself, Julian, and the rest of the people he cared about to live comfortably, then he is going to work very hard.

Sigh. Victor glared at the paperwork. He stared at the certification that he just received from the academy. Instead of asking to go through the schooling as he did in his last life, he decided to take all the final examinations of the lessons so he doesn't need to go through it and he passed to the surprise of the professors in the magic academy. The only problem Victor has is finding a competent magic teacher to help him pass his magic test.

The issue was that the magical teachers who teach magical theories and applications practically snubbed him. He couldn't get a teacher even if he threatens them with his title as prince. This is because, in Claes, the power of the empire is divided between the royal family plus the nobility, the church, and the magic tower. The magic teachers are under the magic tower. In the beginning, these three forces used to be united, now generations of greed and fighting led to the strained relationship it has today. And because of what happened to the last debacle, the magic tower currently hates him.

Victor knows his magic is getting stronger lately and that he lacks a very strong foundation of magic compared to those who had gone through training and study in the academy like most of his siblings.

DING! DING! DING! The loud sound of the bell from the church is heard indicating the start of a new hour.

"It's time!" Victor stood up from his desk and almost ran towards the door.

"Your Highness!" Rufus called and Victor's feet froze.

"Rufus. It's time." Victor turned, pouted, and frowned at the man.

Rufus sighed at the prince. He has been limiting the man's access to his bio fiancé out of etiquette reasons. It is inappropriate and Rufus is still surprised at how very accepting and doting this tyrant prince is towards his fiancé while he was very brutal, especially during the training of his men.

But he can't help but smile at the man he raised and feel a little happy knowing that at least the young man has a sense of happiness with this fiancé of his.

"Don't forget the jewelry box, your highness," Rufus said pointing at the new jewelry box they have custom ordered.

"Ah yes." Victor grabbed the jewelry box and heads out the door.

"Please limit it to an hour and have a servant with you!" Rufus called.

"Already out the door, Rufus!" Victor said in the hallway.