How the Villainous Consort Avoids His Death Ending

“Ah… how much is all this worth? We’re rich… we’re rich… we’re rich, I tell you!”

“Grand Consort, please calm yourself.”

Tristan whispered urgently beside me. Sir Mildred and Sir Johannes also twitched their eyebrows with awkward expressions. But I still had plenty to say.

“Why is that? Are you embarrassed for me?”

“…It’s not that.”

Not that it isn’t. He probably wanted to say we look ridiculous. But you know what? We didn’t look ridiculous—we simply had nothing. We were completely broke…!

Memories of past days, struggling under debt and almost losing the Grand Duchy, made tears sting my eyes. But that was over. We had succeeded perfectly, and this was no ordinary success.

The Sar Empire’s Emperor, Hipprian al Hut Sar XII, had given a generous reward for rescuing his son.

Honestly, I had expected only a trade permit. But what the emperor granted was far beyond a mere permit.

It was an exclusive trade right, valid for twenty years!

For the next twenty years, all trade with the Rubyere Empire in the Eastern Continent would have to go through Hezekia.

Land routes would remain unaffected, as before. But anyone attempting to reach the Eastern Continent by sea without Hezekia’s fleet would be denied direct trade with the Sar Empire.

‘His Highness intends to deal only with trusted partners from now on.’

A high-ranking official delivering the decree wore a composed expression. He mentioned that his own son had also been kidnapped by pirates but had safely returned this time.

In modern terms, it was like granting a patent for pioneering sea routes to the Eastern Continent. All the hard work had paid off.

I could never have imagined the emperor would present such a generous gift. And little Sprouts… Prince Safrah, was indeed a precious son.

It turned out the emperor had never intended to send Safrah on such a dangerous mission as a pirate hunt. The prince had sneakily joined the punitive fleet created by the nobles, claiming he wanted to prove himself. In other words, it was not a campaign but a runaway adventure.

Even after returning safely, Safrah faced no punishment. On the contrary, the emperor doted on his precious son from his concubine.

Constantine, overhearing this, spoke mildly.

‘If you raise a child that pampered, it’s no wonder he’s spoiled!’

‘….’

That child is at least ten years older than you, mind you…

In any case, thanks to this, we were able to purchase and transport large quantities of Sar’s valuable goods.

Even Tristan, usually expressionless, couldn’t hide the slight upward curve of his lips. And rightly so—this was the reward after all the hard work. All debts could finally be repaid. More than that, we would have plenty left over. The Grand Duchy was finally safe. No more sleepless nights worrying we might lose everything…

This success was largely thanks to the system.

As I gazed in awe at the steadily accumulating crates of trade goods, I offered the system my twenty-second expression of gratitude.

‘System, thank you so much. I’m sorry for thinking you were useless, always triggering hit cycles and crashing. But now that we’ve completed three events in a row, I’ve correctly received the three original story verification rewards, right…?’

“Rewards have been confirmed as received.”

‘Original story verification comes with a reward by default. Let’s do this properly, system.’

…

Of course, I had no intention of missing out on claiming my due rewards.

Over the next few days, the Hezekians, including Walter, fully recovered enough to endure the long voyage. Once all preparations were complete, Tristan gave the departure order from the ship’s bow.

“We return to Rubyere.”

The white sails high on the masts caught the wind and fluttered vigorously. Three ships, their holds filled with spices, tea leaves, ceramics, and silk, finally departed the harbor, setting course for the capital of the Rubyere Empire, Belforte.