Isabel's Urgent Plea and the Sultan's Son
It was definitely Isabel's mother who had been abducted by the Maghrebi pirates.
“But why is she here?”
“Your Excellency, the Governor-General! I have something urgent to report.”
One of the pirates who had come to kidnap Isabel approached and whispered quietly.
“If you intend to strip that girl, be sure to remove the necklace first.”
“W-what?”
“This is it, Excellency. Look.”
The pirate subordinate revealed yellowed teeth and gestured with his hand to show something.
I understood in an instant and nodded.
As expected, pirates think differently from the start.
I had never imagined such a thing.
“There’s a high-level defensive magic circle. My three subordinates burned to death without a trace.”
“What? A magic circle?”
Would touching Isabel’s body trigger the circle and burn the opponent to ashes?
The warning about the necklace suggested the pirates themselves had failed to solve it.
“A magic circle that can burn a person in one go… it must be tied to something from the Hawar royal family.”
“Wait, you just said my name! You know everything and yet you’re doing this right now…!”
“As expected of His Excellency the Governor-General! But don’t worry. A beauty like her with noble status should fetch at least several thousand gold bars in ransom.”
I ignored Isabel’s voice coming from the middle and feigned calm as I nodded.
But inside, I was going to explode with anxiety.
These madmen…
What were they going to do with the original heroine now that they had kidnapped her?!
When her mom was kidnapped, the city burned. What if the sub-male lead found out this information…?
‘Damn it… No way, my happy isekai life!!’
“For now, divide the spoils according to the regulations. You lot can go drink a toast.”
“Kyu! As expected, His Excellency the Governor-General’s wisdom is wider than the Sahara Desert! Let’s see… since you’re only taking half of the other spoils….”
The pirates each grabbed jewelry and valuables and left.
In an instant, the pirate group vanished from the audience hall.
They probably gulped down the lukewarm drink in one go and went back to work.
Clunk, clunk.
“Hic…! D-don’t come closer….”
She was probably imagining the future of being raped by a brutal southern heathen.
Isabel trembled violently and shouted desperately.
“G-gold… I’ll give you as much gold as you want….”
“How much can you give?”
“… Huh?”
I looked down at Isabel tied to the rope and continued.
“What is your value?”
“50,000….”
“50,000?”
Swish.
I pulled out an ivory-decorated dagger from my waist.
“100,000! 100,000 ducats!”
“What? You’re saying 100,000 ducats already?”
One ducat was usually about 3.5 grams of pure gold.
So 100,000 ducats meant roughly 350 kilograms of pure gold.
It was the equivalent of a full year’s budget for Meknes’ treasury.
“That means….”
Ring!
“Kyaaah…!”
Isabel squeezed her eyes shut and screamed.
“……?”
And the scream stopped too.
Isabel stared at her freed hands with wide eyes.
Looking at her gently rubbing her red wrists, I opened my mouth.
“Contact the kingdom. Since you’ve been taken hostage as a precious treasure, prepare 150,000 ducats without any nonsense.”
“Why did it increase to 50,000 ducats…?”
“Bargaining over trade goods is basic common sense. Haven’t you ever heard of the Age of Discovery?”
“Age of Discovery? No, that’s not even the right term for haggling….”
Isabel puffed out her cheeks in frustration and mumbled.
Since I was guaranteed safety, I had become easy to deal with?
Just a moment ago she was crying and wailing for her life.
Ring.
I raised the dagger again and made a throat-slitting gesture.
“H-heehee…!”
In the original story, the iron-blooded female lead Isabel was trembling like a little girl.
This was precisely the gap moe effect.
“Drink this.”
I placed a steaming cup of tea in front of her.
“Atay…?”
“Oh, you know Maghrebi spearmint tea?”
“… Because there are quite a few Maghrebi people living in the Hawar Kingdom too.”
Isabel picked up the cup and brought it to her lips.
Current Isabel was truly soft.
She drank it down in one go even though it might have poison in it.
“Those Maghrebi people were driven out of the continent on the pretext of the Reconquista by the Hawar people.”
“… pfft!”
Isabel spat the atay right into my face.
… A refreshing, sweet minty flavor lingered.
“A-are you all right?!”
“It reminded me of the Maghrebi people I used to feel sorry for, so it ruined my mood. Another 30,000 ducats.”
“What?! W-well, take this handkerchief at least… wait, why did it become 180,000 ducats?”
Isabel’s eyes widened as she asked, the equivalent of 1.8 years of Meknes’ budget.
Then she quickly avoided my gaze and shut her mouth.
She probably thought there was no point in continuing.
As expected of the webtoon protagonist, her instincts were fast.
“By the way, how did you end up here? I’ve never seen Hawar people crawling into the Maghrebi seas before.”
I poured more atay into her cup while saying this.
I had to calm her down and get her to open her mouth first.
Plus, if I ruined her mood even a little, Meknes would turn into a sea of fire from cannon fire that day.
“T-that’s actually….”
“Go ahead.”
“… Do I have to say it?”
“Yes. If you don’t want to, add another 20,000 ducats.”
“I-I’ll say it!”
Isabel hesitated for five full minutes, stuttering.
That was enough time to wait.
Ring.
“I-I came to find my mother!”
“Your mother?”
“Y-yes…. My mother who was resting at the southern fiefdom….”
Isabel’s voice cracked.
“I heard she was captured by Maghrebi pirates.”
“… Already?”
“Already… you say?”
“No no, that’s not it.”
Oh no.
I froze while holding the teapot.
“When did your mother get captured?”
“About two months ago.”
“So you came all the way here to find your mother?”
Isabel nodded.
That was strange.
If her mother had been kidnapped, the Isabel from the original story should have been crying her eyes out while leaning on the sub-male lead’s body.
More importantly…
“What happened to the royal family?”
“Father… I mean, His Highness Felipe said they should treat my mother as just a deceased person.”
“What? Since she was kidnapped, they’re just going to call her dead? Are you crazy?”
Even a queen kidnapped? That’s absurd.
These primitive medieval idiots.
Clack!
I slammed the teapot down hard, making Isabel flinch.
“Yes, that’s what I mean. But that doesn’t explain it.”
“N-no? What do you mean?”
“Isabel, tell me why you crawled all the way here.”
The Isabel in the original story wouldn’t have done this.
This meant the story had changed history.
Since the female protagonist who should have stayed still had taken it upon herself to solve the problem, I had to find out the cause.
“Actually… Your Excellency the Governor-General… do you know what a ‘Sharif’ is?”
“Hmm?”
“A descendant of the great prophet of the desert. Actually, I was about to give up finding my mother, but I heard that a descendant of the prophet is here, so I gained courage.”
“Um….”
“If you’re a Sharif, you might be able to return my mother.”
“Even if you are, this is the territory of the Maghrebi pirates. You were actually kidnapped by them and brought to me.”
“That’s… actually half of it. I wanted revenge on my father who abandoned my mother. And anyway, my body is protected by an artifact….”
As I listened to Isabel’s words, I pressed my forehead.
‘How did things get twisted like this….’
“Haah….”
“Why is that?”
“I am.”
“……?”
“I am the descendant of that prophet. Ismail Sharif.”
That’s right.
The word Sharif actually referred to both the name of my father and descendants of the desert prophet.
That’s why my name wasn’t Ismail ibn Sharif, but simply Ismail Sharif.
“So the Sharif I was looking for was you?”
“Yes.”
“Liar.”
“… You lived your whole life being deceived.”
“But the prophet said Sharifs are honorable and polite people, right? Compared to you, you are….”
“Ah, since I suddenly got upset, another 30,000 ducats.”
“…….”
210,000 ducats furrowed my brow for a moment, then I gave a calm smile.
“Hey.”
Isabel called out cautiously.
“Is my mother here…?”
“I don’t know.”
“…….”
“I’m telling you the truth. I’m both Sharif and Governor-General of Meknes, but I can’t know every name and face of the dozens or even hundreds of slaves who come here every day. Besides, I don’t know my mother’s name or face.”
“T-that’s true. Uu….”
Isabel’s eyes began to well up.
“Haah…. Hurry up and tell me.”
“Y-yes…?”
“Tell me my mother’s details quickly.”
“……!!!”
“Don’t be mistaken.”
I set the cup back in its original place and picked up a turban cloth.
“I’m going to ask your father for the price of your mother’s life as well.”