Thirty Thousand Gold Coins!!!

Po and Sana yelled internally.

Even Austin did the same as well.

As a prince of the empire, Austin had barely seen or touched a single gold coin, much less thirty thousand of it.

However, this annoying inspector in front of him was willing to give out that amount as though it was normal for anyone to be able to do so.

So, didn't that mean that he'd been living as a poor prince all his life??

'This definitely has to change.' Austin uttered in his thoughts, but then he noticed his retainers glancing at him.

Turning to both Sana and Po who were standing beside him, Austin noticed their eyes gleaming like little gold coins.

'Your Highness! This greedy ass motherfucker is stupid rich!! Don't you think we should wring him dry before sending him back to the imperial city?' Both Sana and Po had the same thought.

They didn't even have to open their mouths for Austin to understand what they were currently thinking, and he couldn't help but smirk before turning back to Royce who calmly asked again.

"So, Sir Charles, what do you think? It is a good deal, don't you agree?"

"Indeed. It is truly a generous offer, but I'm afraid the recipe, the fruits, and their location are far more valuable than what you've offered."

Royce blinked in surprise and he couldn't believe Charles would reject such a massive sum, but he tried to remain calm as he chuckled softly. "Sir Charles, come now, don't you know how hard it is to even gather that much gold?"

Austin smiled and nodded. "Yes, I do. But do you recall when I said these fruits are special?"

"Of course, I do."

"Then allow me to clarify what I meant."

Royce leaned closer as he listened to everything Charles had to say.

"As you've seen already, these fruits are much larger than any other fruit you've ever seen before."

"Yes, that is correct."

"But that's not all. They grow faster as well, and can even survive transportation without spoiling. Moreover, their juice can be mixed with other ingredients to create newer, better blends and their scent alone is capable of drawing the attention of anyone standing nearby. So I'm sure you can imagine what it can do to the noblewomen in the imperial city." Charles said as he stepped forward and leaned close to Royce's ear.

"Now, tell me, Inspector Royce. With all the traits of these fruits, why would I settle for just thirty thousand gold when the noble houses in the south would be willing to bid ten times that amount for exclusive access?"

"T-ten times? That's impossible! No one would be willing to bid as high as that"

"We'll see about that," Charles smirked and bowed politely. "If you'll excuse me, I have other important matters to attend to."

He straightened up and turned around, with Po and Sana following behind him, a smile on their faces.

Of course, they knew Austin would never truly grant the Southern nobles exclusive right to his fruits and juices.

He had only said what he did because, from the look of things, Royce seemed to be far too determined to get the recipe for his own personal gain instead of him to focus on returning to the imperial city.

They also knew that once Royce considered everything Austin had listed to him, he would definitely try his best to get even more money, and that could only mean one thing.

Royce was most likely working for one of Austin's rich older brothers.

In other words, he was probably trying to obtain the recipe and location of the fruits, as a way of proving his loyalty to one of Austin's older brothers.

So, if Royce didn't want to return to the imperial city while he still could, Austin was more than prepared to wring him dry, until there was nothing left of him, financially and otherwise.

And so, with that thought in mind, an evil smirk spread on Austin's lips.

Several hours later, the sky had turned dark as the wind rustled softly through the courtyard trees.

Austin currently lay on his back under the wide canopy of a peach blossom tree, as he gazed at the stars of the night sky.

He was reflecting on everything that had happened today from the fruits and juice he had introduced to his wives to his confrontation with the inspectors.

But while he was thinking about all these, Austin suddenly heard the soothing voice of one of his beautiful wives.

"Hey, handsome," Lina called out.

"Hi, beautiful." He replied, and Lina couldn't help but smile at the way he had boldly called her that.

It was one of the many things she adored about her husband, and she could never get tired of hearing him call her "beautiful," no matter how many times he did.

"What are you doing?" she asked as she sat down to rest and snuggle close to him.

"Nothing much, I was just thinking, that's all."

"About today?"

"Yep."

"Well, father's been praising your name all evening. He heard about how you managed to chase the inspectors and their guards away from his estate entirely."

"Really?"

"Of course, hubby. Why would your beautiful wife lie to you?" A cute pout graced Lina's face as she tried to look upset, but she only ended up looking more beautiful instead and Austin couldn't help but smile at her cute but failed attempt.

"You're right. I don't see a reason why she would." He leaned in and planted a lingering kiss on her cheek, making Lina giggle softly.

"Fine, you win. I'm not upset anymore. But you should have seen his face and how he kept calling you the best son-in-law ever."

Austin chuckled as he sat up from the ground. "And what does my wife think about me? Do you think I'm the best husband in the world?"

Lina smiled playfully as she sat up as well. "Hmm, well... What do you think, hubby? Are you the best husband in the world?"

Austin leaned in with a smirk, and his fingers gently brushed a strand of hair behind Lina's ear. "My lady, you didn't answer the question. Is your husband the best in the world or not?"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.