The Romantic Trials Of A Transmigrated Empress
Chapter 71: A prince seeking counsel.

Chapter 71: A prince seeking counsel.

"You are her husband, with all due respect your highness." Sir Alex interrupted. "Some decisions you should make not as a prince or the owner of this estate but the husband of Lady Sigrid Thorin. You are new to marriage and you have not tangled much with women so you are unfamiliar with how romantic relationships work."

"Oh!" Roland responded with a stony look on his face.

The knights stepped back, an angry Roland was a dangerous Roland, they guessed that maybe Sir Alex’s words had touched a nerve which displeased him, after all it sounded like criticism to some ears, and nobody criticized royalty.

Even though the relationship between the men that served Roland and him was not as frigid as it was for most royals and their servants, they still had to be careful and watch their words and actions.

Sir Samuel, the leader of the knights gave Sir Alex a sharp glare through the peripherals of his eyes.

"Forgive me your highness, I fear that my words have displeased you." Sir Alex bowed submissively.

Roland threw his head back and laughed, then waved his hand dismissively. "Who says that I am displeased? I am simply surprised by your wisdom on the matter. Tell me Alex, are you married?"

Sir Alex nodded twice, "Three years and half, your highness. I have just the one wife and two daughters, I want to start working on a son but my wife says that unless I am willing to carry it personally, I should wait three years."

The men guffawed but Sir Alex looked proud, there was not a hint of shame on his wife. The other knights also knew that Alex liked to pamper his wife, wherever they went to he bought her a lot of things and talked about her every chance he got.

"My felicitations are three and a half years late, my apologies Alex." Roland looked at his valet. "Tell my secretary to send a gift and reward my knight with twenty gold coins."

"If rewards are being being given out for marriage, perhaps I should also mention that I have recently taken a wife." Sir Edwin poked his head out and said lightly.

Roland moved his eyes over his men, "How many of you here are married?"

In the group of twenty knights and other servants, twelve hands were raised.

"Then you shall be rewarded." Roland declared.

The men smiled, joy filled their hearts, twenty gold was good money, it could feed their families, pay for education for their children, rent a house in a good part of the city.

Roland stroked the fur of the puppy and his insides squealed in glee that he did not express on the outside. "So, does any of you have any good suggestions on how I should handle this matter, how do I cajole and coax my wife? Fell free to share honest opinions, I have not been married before and I am willing to listen to your counsel."

Sir Belam stepped up first, "Your highness, I believe that the princess is passionate about nature. Look at this place and what she transformed it into! I have heard that everyone longs for an invitation from her in order to spend some time here. Why don’t you arrange a...."

"Oh my God Belam, how did you even manage to woo some poor lass into marrying you?" Sir Alex groaned. "The crown princess is unhappy because the prince sent away her horse which she gave a name and called a baby. What does nature have to do with the problem at hand?"

Sir Samuel nodded. "I concur with Alex on this, your suggestion is as useless as a search for a virgin in a brothel."

Again, the men snickered and Sir Belam blushed.

"My main wife had this old soup pot that she brought from her mother’s house when we got married. She always complained about it, how it lacked a handle and the outside was rusted in some places." Sir Samuel narrated with a smile on his lips. "I took it to mean that she wanted a new soup pot so I sold the old one to a blacksmith and bought her a new one. I was a proud man when I took that new pot home, I thought she would be very thankful that night. Do you know what happened?"

All the men, including prince Roland were invested in knowing what happened.

"She kicked me out of the the house and told me not to return unless I had the darn old soup pot. Not just that but she threw the new one out and started crying. I was furious, I am a man, I had done something nice for her and yet she had dared to kick me out of my house and make a fuss over a stupid old pot.

So, I went to a tavern and got drunk, the next day we set off for Starfell and I did not see her for a fortnight. When I returned, the old soup pot was back, she had bought it back at twice the price I had been paid for it.

She was back to complaining again about it again but she was contented and happy. I later found out that the soup pot was something her mother inherited from her own mother, they passed it down in some bizarre tradition I cannot fathom. My wife was planning to pass it down as well, she was not hanging on to the pot for silly reasons, it was for sentimental ones.

The lesson I learned however was not to get rid of things in the house without talking to my wife first."

The men laughed lightly and Sir Gareth slapped Sir Samuel on the back.

"In my house, it’s an old ugly bird shaped clock, it doesn’t work but its right there on the wall and she won’t let me get rid of it. She claims her father grandfather won it in a bull fighting contest.

It is owned by my secondary wife and my main wife wants it gone because she also wants a newer clock that actually works. Every time we broach the subject, one of them cries and I end up the villain because I cannot pick a side."

Roland was invested in listening to the stories that his knights and servants told on the different challenges they had encountered in their marriages.

The conversation lasted two hours and when it came to a close he had made a decision.

"Samuel, send someone to bring that darn horse back, and buy it some apples and carrots." He added after thinking for a few seconds, "Some sugar cubes too, apparently I might be needing to be in it’s good graces to avoid being kicked out of my own castle."

The men laughed and Roland cradled the puppy, he looked out at the lake with a relaxed air about him. He was thinking to himself, that being married was interesting, who knew that the cold Sigrid Thorin was just like other women, soft at heart?

Sigrid meanwhile was outside Lord Vanger’s office, her knights were carrying chests filled with gold and silver. She was yet to go in because Cosmos was holding her back with an amused glint in his eyes.

"Fake tears, really!"