Father and Daughter Gossiping about the Emperor
"How much?"
Prince Ashworth hadn't wanted to take the deal at first, but honestly, being broke was getting old. He still had no idea where that brat had stashed the family fortune. He'd searched every corner of Ashworth Manor and come up completely empty-handed.
"Depends on how well you do, Dad."
"Then I'm not doing it!" he refused flat out. Getting money out of his daughter was harder than begging his own brother, the Emperor.
Seeing her father's decisive refusal, Cassidy tried to negotiate. "Okay, how about this? One hundred dollars a month. If you do a good job, I'll even throw in a commission. What do you say?"
"A hundred dollars?" Prince Ashworth scoffed. "You think I'm that desperate? That doesn't even cover a single night out for me."
Cassidy gave him a weird look. "You actually pay when you go out to eat?"
Prince Ashworth turned his head slowly, staring at his daughter in shock. "You mean to tell me you haven't paid for a meal in all these years?"
Cassidy puffed out her chest. "Whenever I go out, other people pick up the tab." She was just that good at making friends. They were always happy to treat her.
"Who's paying for you?" His heart sank. Was some guy taking advantage of his daughter?
"It's because you're clueless, Dad. You don't know how to network. I'm so popular I have friends everywhere. When I'm out, they're practically fighting over who gets to pay for me."
Prince Ashworth's head throbbed as he listened to Cassidy's twisted logic. Where did his daughter learn to be so ridiculously arrogant? "If I recall correctly, you've never even left Argent. Where are all these 'friends all over the world' you keep talking about?"
"I'll make them," Cassidy said, completely confident. "I have a great personality. I'll have tons of friends in no time." She leaned in. "Dad, you're completely broke. Do you really have time to worry about my social life?"
"And whose fault do you think that is?" If it weren't for this kid hiding the entire Ashworth family fortune, he wouldn't be in this mess. He really wanted to give her a piece of his mind, but when he looked at her youthful face, a mirror image of his own, he just couldn't bring himself to do it.
*Don't get angry, don't get angry,* he told himself. Ashworth Manor only had one heir. If he lost his temper, that would be the end of it. He figured if he kept arguing with her, one of them wasn't going to make it to tomorrow.
"I don't want your hundred dollars," he snapped. "Find someone else to do your dirty work!" With that, he stormed off.
"Wait, don't go!" Cassidy called after him. "Okay, how about this? Go to the palace and ask your brother when the whole thing with Stonehaven Estate is going to be resolved. Put some pressure on the Emperor. If it gets sorted out, I'll give you that hundred dollars. Deal?"
"I'm not that desperate for cash!" He felt like she was just trying to insult him, dangling a measly hundred dollars in his face.
Seeing that he wasn't budging, Cassidy got angry, too. "Take it or leave it, Dad. But don't expect me to take care of you when you're old."
Prince Ashworth wanted to tell her he didn't need her help, but the thought that she was, in fact, the sole heir of Ashworth Manor stopped him cold. He'd been played. "Why are you suddenly so interested in the Stonehaven Estate business?"
It was about extending her lifespan, of course. But she couldn't just come out and say that.
Cassidy looked at him innocently. "Dad, did you forget? The Capital Inspection Bureau's office is right next to Stonehaven Estate. If that case drags on forever, it's going to mess with our building's vibe, you know?"
Prince Ashworth felt like she was pulling his leg, but he couldn't prove it.
"About Stonehaven Estate," he sighed, "if the Emperor could have solved it, he would have done it by now. You really think me nagging him is going to make a difference?"
He lowered his voice. "Listen, I'm telling you, drop the whole Stonehaven thing. If those old sharks in the Imperial Court can't figure it out, we'll just get ourselves killed sticking our noses in it."
Cassidy was one to take good advice. "You know what, Dad? I think you're right."
She immediately gave up on the idea. Anyway, she still had about two months left to live, and her previous jobs were still trickling in small extensions to her lifespan.
Especially the little prince, Miles. All she had to do was give him a lollipop and say a few nice things, and she'd get another day added to her life.
She decided she was going to keep that up for as long as she could.
Seeing that his daughter had actually listened to him, Prince Ashworth was suddenly in a great mood. And when he was in a good mood, he loved to pull his daughter aside and gossip about his brother.
"Sweetheart, let me tell you something," he began, leaning in conspiratorially.
"Even though your uncle is the Emperor and looks all powerful, his life isn't nearly as easy as mine. Look at me, I don't have to take any other wives, and nobody can say a thing about it. I can do whatever I want, every single day."
He gestured grandly. "Now look at your uncle. He's got all those women in the royal wing, every one of them from a noble family. Just keeping them happy costs a fortune, not to mention their families, every one of them is a Duke or from some old, powerful clan.
His Majesty isn't just running a country; he spends every day trying to keep all the different factions balanced. He's worried about this person getting upset, that person starting a rebellion. He's probably even scared someone will try to kill him in his sleep."
He was beaming with pride, totally oblivious to the fact that Steward Payne had entered the room and was now standing right behind them. Uncle Clifford tried to give them a heads-up, but one sharp look from the steward shut him right up.
Prince Ashworth was just getting warmed up. "You know, the last time your uncle got drunk, he was crying on my shoulder."
"Really?" Cassidy was suddenly all ears. This was getting good. All she needed was a bowl of popcorn.
"Absolutely." Prince Ashworth stood up and started imitating the Emperor's drunken, booming voice.
"'Damian, look at these court officials! To my face, they're all so respectful, but behind my back, they're all scheming. I tell them to send aid to disaster areas, and they skim off the top. I tell them to train the army, and they steal the soldiers' pay.
They're nothing but a bunch of leeches, just looking out for themselves!'"
Then, his voice dropped to a tone of pure frustration.
"'And my own sons! I raised them, and all they do is stare at this throne, waiting for me to drop dead. They fight each other tooth and nail, without an ounce of brotherly love between them. They can't wait for me to be gone. And the women!
They do nothing useful all day but plot against each other and get jealous. One day it's poison, the next it's a setup. They keep the whole wing in chaos!'"
After hearing all that, Cassidy actually felt a little bad for the Emperor. She looked at her father with a disapproving stare. "Dad, you know your brother is that miserable, and you still go out of your way to make him angry every day?"
Prince Ashworth was speechless for a moment.
"What do you mean I make him unhappy? I do it so he doesn't get buried under all the stress of the Imperial Court! I cause a little trouble on purpose to give him a distraction, so he doesn't worry himself sick. It's called 'roundabout patriotism,' don't you get it?"
Cassidy's lip twitched. *'Roundabout patriotism,' my foot.
* If she didn't know her own father so well, she might have actually fallen for that line.
"Dad, you said the Imperial Court is full of parasites. Why does the Emperor keep them around? It costs him money and gives him headaches. What's the point?"
She clenched her fist and stood up, a fierce look on her face.
"If my people didn't listen to me, I'd beat them until they did. If one time didn't work, I'd do it twice. If twice doesn't work, I'd do it eight times a day. We'd see what's tougher, their bones or my fist."