Po blinked with a confused look on his face. "What do you need me to do, Your Highness?"

Austin paused mid-step, then looked over his shoulder.

"Just buy me a few seconds, I'll be right behind you."

Po bowed and continued towards the guest chamber.

Although he didn't know what his prince had in mind, he was still prepared to do what was required of him.

Meanwhile, Austin turned toward Sana and told her what he needed her to do for him.

Sana bowed respectfully before speeding off to carry out the task given to her.

After watching his dog-eared demi-human maid hurry out of sight, Austin turned his attention back to the guest chamber.

He picked up the pace and his body glowed softly as his facial features changed greatly just before he entered the guest room.

Upon entering the room, Austin noticed three men in their late thirties who were seated while sipping tea, with Po sitting across from them.

They seemed like they had just been about to have a conversation before Austin walked in.

But seeing a middle-aged man enter the room without knocking on the door, one of the three men, Delong, couldn't help but ask. "And you are?"

Austin smiled and bowed respectfully. "Sir Charles. I was invited by His Highness to serve as a consultant in agricultural matters. I hope I'm not intruding." Austin slowly raised his head before walking closer to where Po was, then he subtly sent Po a wink before sitting next to him.

Seeing this, Po's eyes widened in a mix of surprise and confusion, but he swiftly cleared his face of any emotion so he would not alert the three inspectors sitting across from him.

Still finding it hard to believe, Po subtly glanced toward the middle-aged man called 'Sir Charles'.

'I don't understand.'

'Wasn't His Highness supposed to be one entering the room after I came in?' He thought.

'Then why is someone else here, instead?'

'Could it be His Highness?' Po wondered.

But Charles was completely different from the youthful prince Po was used to seeing.

Currently, Austin looked like a man in his late thirties with brown hair and a well-groomed beard.

So, didn't this mean that His Highness was using some kind of illusion magic?

Similar to what he used during the assassination attempt a few days ago?

'Yes, it had to be.' Po uttered in his thoughts before Delong's voice pulled him out of his daydream.

"A consultant in agricultural matters, huh?" Delong muttered loud enough for Austin to hear.

"Yes."

"So, His Highness invited you here to deal with the estate's poor soil?"

"That is correct," Austin replied, and the second inspector in the room, Skye, swiftly scribbled Austin's response in his scroll.

Out of the three inspectors, Skye seemed to have a weird behavior about him.

He had been writing for a while now and hadn't said a word since even before Austin stepped in.

Meanwhile, Delong scuffed and muttered. "I never expected the young prince to be interested in matters concerning his new territory. So I guess this means you must be really good at what you do."

"Let's just say I've seen enough soil to know when it'll grow gold and when it's just mud in disguise."

"Hmm, bold words from a farmer."

"Thank you."

Listening to Charles' words, the third inspector couldn't help but chuckle softly as he leaned forward. "You call yourself an experienced farmer, yet you speak like a merchant, is it safe to assume that you're a merchant as well?" Being a merchant himself, Royce found Charles to be a fascinating individual, and from his demeanor as well, he could tell that Charles was no ordinary trader.

So who knew? Perhaps the two of them could become partners in the future.

"Yes, I am."

"Interesting.... Very interesting." Royce chuckled softly and reclined on his seat. "Anyways, you arrived just in time to join the meeting. We were just about to tell His Highness's steward our reason for visiting on such short notice."

Delong nodded and added. "Word reached us that His Highness' carriage arrived two days ago, so we simply came to pay our respects to the fourth prince."

"Well, we thought the fourth prince would be here, but I guess he's still locked in his chambers as usual, right?" Royce jested, causing Delong and his friend to chuckle softly at his joke.

Everyone had heard the rumors about how the fourth prince never left his home.

In other words, many people believed him to be the most useless prince among the four princes of the empire, so Royce used that as a joke, thinking that it would make everyone in the room laugh.

But, Sir Charles and Po didn't join them in their laughter.

After all, they didn't find what Royce said to be funny.

He was clearly disrespecting the fourth prince, so they saw no reason to laugh at the joke he made. When the laughing duo realized that they were the only ones laughing, the room suddenly fell into an awkward silence.

Clearing his throat to divert everyone's attention from the silence, Royce continued. "Anyways, we brought a few gifts for the prince. After all, we wouldn't want to be seen as disrespectful."

Po chuckled and bowed politely. "Your courtesy has been well received. I'm sure His Highness would appreciate it, even if he cannot join us personally."

Royce nodded, and a knock was soon heard on the door.

Sana entered while carrying a carved wooden tray that held porcelain cups, three huge strawberries and cantaloupes, and a large glass pitcher filled with a ruby-colored liquid that quickly caught the attention of all three inspectors.

The strong, mouthwatering aroma of strawberries swiftly wafted into their nostrils and Royce couldn't hold back his curiosity.

"What is that?" He asked, and Charles swiftly replied.

"A refreshment I prepared especially for our guests today. It's made from a special type of fruit that isn't grown around this region of the empire." Austin explained as he poured each of them a cup.

Royce swiftly reached for the cup before taking a sip.

But he froze in awe when the juice slid down his throat. "Wow. This is amazing!! Did you make this?"

"Yes."

Royce grabbed one of the strawberries and asked. "From this?"

"That is correct."

Royce glanced down at the large fruit he was holding.

Not only did it look bigger than any other fruit he had seen before, but it also looked tastier as well. He could feel his mouth watering even before he tried to take a bite.

This made him wonder how it would feel to actually take a bite of this glowing red fruit.

Finally, he couldn't help himself and his curiosity got the better of him as he swiftly took a bite out of the fruit.

As his teeth bit into the fruit, his eyes widened in surprise at how juicy and sweet it tasted, and he didn't waste a second before devouring the whole fruit.

The same went for the rest of the inspectors as well.

Seeing all these, Po wondered what was so special about the fruit and the juice.

His prince had asked him to try one of them a few minutes ago but he hadn't been able to because he had been worried about the inspectors' sudden appearance in the mansion.

But now that he was seeing the inspectors practically melting in their seats from delight, Po couldn't help but be curious as to why they were acting that way.

And so, he took a sip; and just like the inspectors, Po melted on his seat with joy and a satisfied sigh.

Meanwhile, Austin also drank some of his juice before glancing at the three inspectors who seemed to be on cloud nine right now.

"I'm glad to see that you like the fruits. It's been my small effort in revitalizing this land, one step at a time."

Hearing this, Royce leaned in and asked. "Is that so, but where exactly did you find these fruits. I've never seen anything like them."

Charles smiled politely and replied. "Let's just say... They're from a very far away land, but I would like to see if the fruits can adapt to this land's soil."

Hearing Sir Charles' words, Delong snorted. "This land? Oh please. Everyone knows the Western Estate is a cursed patch of stone and sand. Crops rarely grow well in this part of the empire and that is why the estate has been dependent on importation for so long."

Royce lowered his cup and eyed Charles thoughtfully. "That is true, and that's why it would benefit you a lot if you could plant these fruits elsewhere. I have many connections across the empire. So with the right backing, this juice could flood every banquet table from the imperial city to the far provinces in the empire. What do you think?"

Charles chuckled softly as he leaned back in his seat. "That's a generous offer, Inspector Royce. But I am indebted to the woman who once saved my life. It is her son I serve now and my loyalties lie with him.'

"The fourth prince's late mother?" Royce said with a scoff. "But she's no longer around, and as for her son, I'm sure you've heard of the rumors. So tell me, Sir Charles, do you really want to waste your time working for such an incompetent Prince?"

Hearing how her prince was called incompetent, Sana, who was standing at the far end of the door, immediately clenched her fist, but Charles gently raised his hand without turning around.

He made a subtle wave and Sana lowered her head respectfully before stepping back.

As a demihuman with a very strong sense of smell and hearing, Sana instinctively knew that Sir Charles was definitely her beloved prince.

But since his appearance had greatly changed from the young, handsome prince she was used to seeing, Sana knew Austin must have a very important plan; even she couldn't begin to fathom what it was.

And the last thing she would want was to jeopardize her prince's plan and hard work.

Hence why she stepped back and forced herself not to tear Inspector Royce into a million pieces right now.

Seeing this, Royce remained undeterred.

He was simply telling the truth, and he wanted to direct Sir Charles on a path where the two of them would most likely become the richest merchants in the empire, so why should he be ashamed of calling a lazy prince incompetent?

If Sir Charles was in his right mind, shouldn't he be revealing this beautiful discovery of his to one of the other princes, who are all rich in their own right, instead of the poor fourth prince who doesn't really have anything generating any wealth for him right now?

Pushing this thought aside for now, Royce leaned forward on his seat and tried to reason with the talented merchant in front of him. "Sir Charles, a man of your skills shouldn't tie himself to a losing side. Think bigger, my friend. If you can offer the juice recipe to me, I can offer you gold in ways and numbers that you can never imagine."

Po gave Sir Charles a long look before turning back to Royce with a composed smile. "I'm sorry Inspector Royce, but Sir Charles is not just a man of principle... He also has promising partners awaiting him, in fact, he is due to meet with a representative of the Von Jurgen house."

Hearing Po's words, a sudden silence reigned in the room.

Royce blinked in surprise and Delong narrowed his eyes as he reclined on his seat.

Even Skye couldn't help but pause what he was writing.

The Von Jurgen name wasn't a name to be uttered lightly.

So if the fourth prince's steward could talk about how much the family values a merchant who is extremely loyal to the fourth prince, doesn't it mean the Third Great Family in the empire had finally chosen a prince they were willing to support?

These were the thoughts that swirled around the inspector's mind as the room remained quiet, but Austin had grown tired of this long, boring meeting.

So, he decided to confront the big elephant in the room.

"Inspectors, if I may." Charles began, as he pulled everyone's attention back to him. "Now that Lord Han is no longer the head of this estate, shouldn't the Imperial Oversight Team be thinking of returning to the imperial city?"

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