Chapter 50 - Now, Shall We Eat? (2) (1/2)

Ch. 50 Now, Shall We Eat? (2)

Elena expected to dine at a comfortable establishment, but the place where she arrived with Carlisle far exceeded her expectations. They were in a three-story building which was completely absent of any other guests. She realized at once that Carlisle rented the entire restaurant.

She could also see a circle of Carlisle’s men through the window, guarding the area against any passerby. No matter how delicious the food would be, she thought she would find it difficult to swallow.

“Choose whatever you like.”

Carlisle casually handed her a menu, and she replied in a slightly weary voice.

“Anything is fine.”

He gave her a look before immediately calling for the waiter.

“We’ll have the chef’s recommendation.”

“Yes, understood.”

Elena watched the waiter dip his head and leave, and she wondered if he was another one of Carlisle’s subordinates. Otherwise, she and Carlisle wouldn’t be able to show their faces like this.

He slowly lifted his glass of wine and spoke.

“Don’t you like it here?”

At first glance it seemed an ordinary enough question, but Elena knew not to take it lightly. Carlisle sometimes interpreted their conversations differently from what Elena did.

In this case, she had said she didn’t want them to be seen together before the ball, but that somehow meant he could still meet terms buying a private box at an opera hall or renting an entire restaurant. She simply wanted to have a quiet meeting in an isolated place.

After a taking a moment to compose her thoughts, she addressed him with a serious look on her face.

“I’ll be honest with you.”

“Go ahead.”

“This is all too much.”

She didn’t know exactly what Carlisle was thinking, but his reaction was one of surprise.

“Which part?”

“Everything.”

“Everything?”

Carlisle repeated after her, and Elena gestured to his men outside.

“I don’t think I can eat peacefully with those guards standing there like that. And as I said in the opera hall, I can’t help but wonder how expensive this place is.”

Carlisle simply chuckled at Elena’s seriousness. Not knowing what it meant, Elena turned confused, but before she could ask Carlisle spoke first.

“In other words, you think I’m too extravagant?”

Elena nodded at his conclusion. How did Carlisle pay for the box seats and the restaurant? Was he really a playboy who spent enormous sums of money on women? There were fifty thousands thoughts in her head, and she could not relax and have a comfortable meal.

Carlisle had a smile on his face as he penetrated her thoughts.

“I see that My Lady is curious, so I will explain briefly. Do you know how many battles I won on the field? They are countless.”

“…”

“The puzzle is–where do all the spoils of battle go?”

“…!”

As soon she heard Carlisle’s words, her eyes opened wide. It was an area she never gave thought to before.

The spoils of war, of course, went to the empire. Normally they would be sent to the Emperor, but no one knew how Carlisle handled the transfer of wealth in the middle. She never thought the crown prince would be one to intercept it for himself.

“I’m not that clean and innocent. Being born a prince is not always a noble thing…When you’re born, you are part of the emperor’s lineage. And from then on, the kind of family the prince’s mother comes from is important as well.”

Elena remained silent. Carlisle’s mother was a humble maid. There was a difference between the ladies-in-waiting and the maids who worked at the palace. The ladies-in-waiting were composed of a household’s noble wives or lovers, while the maids who did household chores were humble commoners, like Sophie and Mary who worked for House Blaise. Carlisle’s mother was such a maid, and Carlisle became the crown prince without any outside political support.

She was familiar over the controversy in the Imperial Family over the blasphemy of Carlisle’s maternal lineage. It was known to every person in Ruford Empire, and Elena needn’t have lived a second life to know of it.

“I have no support to lean on, and there’s no way I’ll let them take the spoils of the battlefield to the Imperial Palace. Don’t you agree?”