European Financial Emperor

104 Turning Point(2)

Not long ago, despite receiving a telegram from Lee Hwan, Elizabeth felt a bit late to meet him.

With the development of communication these days, it takes just a few hours to receive news, and a few hours by car from Austria to the Netherlands.

Nevertheless, it was because of the confrontation that she delayed the meeting from day to day.

She came to Holland when the flowers were in full bloom.

She came to Lee Hwan and said let’s go for a walk.

As I was walking along the Mas River, she grumbled and chatted with Yi Hwan over and over again.

“I keep trying to get married at my mother-in-law. Now, should you be a little nervous too?”

“Um, was it?”

“If I annihilate the Commonwealth of Northern Germany this time, I think they are trying to match me with the powerful Prussian powers, which are the core forces. Wouldn’t that be the best way to prevent division?”

“It is. There is no better alliance than an engagement.”

“I’m so bored I’m going to die. No, how long am I going to have to be sold to a marriage contract like this?”

“It takes a lot of things to make your ambitions come true. They seem to include children.”

“Sheesh, if I had gotten married right away, this wouldn’t have happened. Isn’t it?”

In the end, complaining was that Lee Hwan did not agree to the marriage, so it was said that this was the case.

Lee Hwan only smiled awkwardly.

He turned right away.

“We must go to Amsterdam.”

“Amsterdam? Why are you there all of a sudden?”

“Your Majesty seems to be in a bad mood.”

“… … Is there something wrong with your health?”

“Yes, I think so.”

“I never heard anything like that. Wasn’t there such a thing in Luxembourg?”

“okay. I haven’t heard of it myself, but the sailors say that the Orinje royal family is buzzing these days. Rumor has it that he is bleeding.”

“Blood blood?!”

“I think we should go there.”

“What are you going to do?”

“You should check it out. Just by looking at your face, you can quickly tell where and how it hurts.”

Elizabeth agreed with Lee Hwan.

“okay. Then we have to go and find out the truth.”

“I thought it would come out like that. This time I made a new car. Let’s ride it.”

“Good.”

The two immediately walked towards the garage.

But suddenly, she stood tall.

“No, wait. Did you call me for this?”

“What do you mean?”

“I thought I sang it for something a little more personal and intimate, didn’t I?”

There was a feeling of something gloomy in her eyes.

Lee Hwan looked at her like that and scratched the back of the head.

“What… … . Concurrently?”

“… … No, you’re using that as an excuse now? How can a person be so calculating? I came through the fires of war with a fluttering heart.”

Unknowingly, Lee Hwan rummaged through his pockets.

At this time, he instinctively realized that the situation would get better if he gave the woman something.

What was in his hand was a ring.

“Do you like diamonds?”

“… … I don’t know.”

“This one is from Cairo. I fought the Ottomans and got territory, right? He opened an auction house for precious metals there. Do you know that the items that come out at your auction house these days come with a premium?”

Recently, the Sohag Jewelery Auction House has become very popular, and the jewels produced there are starting to be called ‘Nile jewels’.

In the case of the highest-grade gems, no matter how much premium you put on them, you can’t get them, and nobles should have at least one Nile gem so they can’t go anywhere.

Lee Hwan handed her a red diamond ring from Sohag.

“My subordinate really got it, but it was a little small on my ring finger. I think it would fit perfectly if you put it on your index or middle finger.”

“… … Is this a Nile jewel?”

“Let the sun shine on the ring.”

The characteristic of the Nile jewel was the wavy pattern symbolizing the Nile River, along with the words ‘ES R CP’, a trademark of East Stellar created by Lee Hwan himself.

This engraving is quite unique and sophisticated, so if you engraved it with an imitation or machine, it would come out quickly.

In addition, the shape is constantly changed according to the angle of penetration of sunlight, and this is a device that gives a huge premium.

After putting the ring on her hand, Lee Hwan grabbed her hand and lifted it towards the sky.

Then, the brilliant color of the red diamond met the sunlight, creating a wine-colored wave pattern.

“Turning this to the left will stretch the ripples and make it look like a square.”

“… … Oh my, is it true?”

“And when you turn it to the right, it hangs like a mountain range.”

As Lee Hwan explained, the wave pattern seemed to change shape depending on the angle it received sunlight.

This holographic effect is only possible by calculating the angle of the pattern to be engraved when crafting jewelry.

And in the process of engraving, a patented processing method that can receive light refraction well depending on the angle is required.

In a word, it is a work that cannot be replicated by the craftsmen of Sohaz.

“Red diamonds are precious. A ring that only a woman like you deserves.”

“… … Sheesh, do you think giving something like this will make me feel better?”

“It’s not meant to make you feel better. It’s just something that suddenly comes to mind.”

Her words were blunt, but Elizabeth had already lost her anger, and the corners of her mouth were moving towards her ears.

Lee Hwan sighed in relief.

‘… … I almost died.’

As a natural born woman, she can’t stand anything that hurts her self-esteem.

Naturally, he would be angry if he thought that his worth as a woman was not recognized, and Lee Hwan thought he was lucky that he didn’t get hit with a sword today.

And the ring just fit perfectly on her index finger.

“Anyway, it seems that the ring has now found its true owner.”

“huh… … ! Then, I have to be like me to be qualified to wear a ring like this.”

“Yes, Am!”

“But how the hell did you get this precious thing? Besides, it is said that it is not easy to find one out of a thousand red diamonds for sale. As far as I know, there are not many in Europe, right?”

“There will still be four of you, including your ring.”

“Oh, is it okay if you give me something like that?”

“As I said before, the ring has a master. A ring suitable only for a beautiful woman like Elizabeth. It doesn’t suit an ignorant trader like me.”

Elizabeth pinched Lee Hwan’s side.

He was in the midst of trembling, and pinched his side, startled.

“Oh, hey!”

“Who is it? Are you an ignorant trader?”

“Well, that’s just the way it is.”

“I’m asking you to come with me. that you are ignorant I cannot forgive you.”

She is a person who truly cares for Lee Hwan.

You could tell by looking at Elizabeth’s eyes and actions.

‘At first, I thought there was such a thing, but when I think about it, there is no woman like this.’

At least, Elizabeth was never the one to hit Lee Hwan in the back of the head.

He took Elizabeth’s hand.

“thanks.”

“Oh my, what does this mean?”

“It means nothing. I just wanted to catch it.”

“Sheesh, if you can’t speak… … .”

Two people walking hand in hand.

The river breeze was moderately cool, and the surrounding flowers were beautiful.

“It’s good.”

“That’s it. I had no idea that the Netherlands was so beautiful.”

The two of them did not speak for a while, but just holding hands and walking gave them a feeling of happiness as if time had stopped.

Perhaps they didn’t even know that they had developed a relationship without even realizing it as they walked up until now.

how far did you walk

When she was almost at the garage, Elizabeth asked abruptly.

“Oh! That’s right! What letter did your grandfather send you?”

“How did you know that?”

“Because I have ears to hear. What do you say? Do you have to marry me even if you are dead and wake up now? If you don’t, will you kill me?”

“Haha, the Prince doesn’t say that. How gentle and gentle you are.”

“Then what did you say?”

Lee Hwan recently received an intimate letter from Roan Schberrights.

He wrote to Lee Hwan, ‘Rabbits dig at least two burrows’.

In the background of the letter, a wolf driving a rabbit was depicted, and the British flag was engraved on the wolf’s head.

In the end, Roan Schberrights was also thinking that he should either get out of British control or split his power in two.

“You seem to want to move?”

“… … Are you moving? What do you mean the Grand Duke is moving?”

“I don’t know the details either. In the letter, he just wrote that he wanted to move.”

“Um, something is a bit strange.”

She suddenly grabbed Lee Hwan’s face with both hands as if covering it.

A soft and beautiful touch was transmitted to Lee Hwan’s face.

Elizabeth looked up at Lee Hwan and said.

“… … Is it weird? Hey, do you have anything to hide from me?”

“Sue, are you hiding it?”

“You think I’m lying?”

“Yeah, it can’t be.”

“Woo woo… … . It looks like something is there?”

Lee Hwan smiled awkwardly.

“It is not polite to turn the conversation with the Grand Duke outside… … .”

Only then did Elizabeth release Lee Hwan’s face.

However, the scent of her still lingering on his face shook Lee Hwan’s heart, so he lost his mind.

“Sheesh, let’s just look at it this time. I know that there will be no soup from now on.”

“Haha, thank you.”

“By the way, why did you say that?”

The Grand Duke’s thoughts must be well known to her.

But Lee Hwan didn’t want to get those words out of his mouth until the end.

‘Because it’s a matter of trust.’

***

Late spring of 1828.

50 Japanese wooden ships sortie into the Southern Straits of Kyushu.

They were preparing to fight fiercely against the Dutch fleet that had occupied Ryukyu.

It was absurd that an unidentified fleet could land on Kyushu at will, but it was hard to believe that they devoured the Ryukyu Kingdom.

Therefore, Kyushu vowed to resist the war.

“If the enemy passes by here, we will seize this place!”

“Oh oh… … !”

“Okay then, get ready for battle!”

The Japanese thought that there was no way the locals could not defeat them, who even went on an overseas expedition.

The paradigm of Hana thinking is always changing.

Although the enemy was not yet visible, artillery suddenly flew in and began to attack the Japanese fleet.

Aww… … !

“It’s a cannonball!”

“… … what?! Does it make sense to be able to fire shells from this distance?”

Obviously, when the search ships were sent, the distance of the enemy was said to be enough to reach three or four hours by sailing.

It was about the time when the search vessel moved quickly with the wind and reached this place, it would have been more than an hour before they could be seen.

The generals checked to see if there were any other enemies around.

“Have there been any other enemies besides them?”

“no! Our only enemy is the fleet from Europe!”

“… … Damn it!”

It’s like fighting a ghost.

Now they had to admit it.

This means that Japan has no choice but to be occupied by the European fleet.