"Young Master Shion, you wouldn't believe what happened!"
Suji rushed forwards as soon as he saw his young master against the window. He felt slightly guilty for disturbing the quiet man, but this matter cannot wait.
Immediately, he opened up the blueprint parchment and showed it to his young master.
Shion's calculative eyes studied the blueprint carefully. They widened up slightly as realisation dawned on him. This weapon design was nothing like he had seen before. They were lightweight and small, yet with the right materials, they could easily overpower even the bigger weapons.
For the first time in his 23 years, Shion felt shocked. Based on the structure and materials proposed, whoever that designed this has an extensive knowledge of weapons.
"Suji, who designed this?" Shion asked, his voice slightly tensed at the aspect of a possible business competitor.
"Young Master, ah... about that... I forgot to ask their name... it was a lady..."
"A lady?" Shion confirmed. This is even more impressive. In fact, this is a goldmine for him. The weapon designed was extremely light, even the most delicate of ladies could carry. With such designs, Hozaka Trading could get into the untapped market.
As of now, women in this society are often assigned with gentler duties. And if they were poor, they were either send to work as maids or sent to brothels in unfortunate cases. With the assistance of the right equipments, the workforce of Shinto can be increased significantly.
Feeling intrigued, Shion wanted to meet the mystery lady desperately. His pleas, however, were soon answered as his best friend and also the self-proclaimed king of gossips, Tamaki Yunes walked in shortly after.
"What was Ai Shizuka doing in your weapon section?"
Shion's brain lighted up. Shizuka. He definitely knew this name. The silver-haired family in charge of external relations. He had met Lord Shizuka and young master Shizuka in clan meetings but he had never seen the young miss. This is interesting, Shizuka household has such a precious gem and they are hiding it away.
Now that Shion had found, he is unwilling to let it escape and he made it a duty to visit Shizuka household as soon as possible. He turned towards Tamaki, who still had bewildered expression and asked.
"Tamaki, would you be willing to make a trip to Shizuka Household?"
Time Skip
Along their way to Shizuka household, Shion had explained Tamaki of his intentions and the reason he was going there. After all, Shion and Tamaki had grown up together and their families have deep business ties.
There was also another reason why Shion brought Tamaki along. He was not sure how Miss Shizuka will respond to his business proposal and if there is a worst case scenario, he needed someone with persuasive abilities to save the day.
Unlike Shion, Tamaki has a very friendly deposition that enabled him to make connections easily. On the other hand, though highly intelligent, Shion has a stone-face that keep people away from him.
Shion sighed. He normally did not mind this aspect of his personality but this time it was making him nervous. This was a big business opportunity for him and he could not miss it.
Tamaki, with long braided hair and almost feminine looks, laughed out loud at his best friend. The quiet man who doesn't get shaken up easily was fidgeting nervously and this was a first for him.
"Old Chap, it will be alright, don't be too nervous!" Tamaki said he patted his friend's shoulder heartily.
Soon they arrived at the Shizuka household and waited patiently as their arrival was announced.
On their way in, Tamaki noticed the peculiar signage that was sitting there: "Young Masters Omaru, Miss is still in seclusion. Please go back."
"Hmm, so the Shizuka are close with the Omaru" Tamaki thought. He had heard from his circle that the young miss had a crush on the older young master Omaru but based on the signage, it seemed to be the complete opposite. Slightly intrigued, he thought it would be interesting to meet this young miss.
Ai's POV
Ai looked up from her piles of weapon books as a servant arrived at her study to announce the news. "Young master Hozaka and young master Yunes requested an audience with her?" she thought puzzled. The servant mentioned Hozaka so does that mean her weapon is complete? It can't be! It had been less than a day and even gods cannot craft a weapon this fast!
Whatever it was, she decided to check out as she walked towards the general study. When she reached, her father and brother were already there and there were two new faces sitting there. It must be the young masters.
In her previous life, Ai did not know them personally even though she had heard of their names. They were the sole heirs to Hozaka Trading and Yunes Industry respectively and Ai had only seen Tamaki Yunes once at an event.
Tamaki Yunes was a man of a large social circle and Yunes Industry supplied most of Shinto imports. Right now, he was smiling at her cheekily as he looked her up and down.
The other man, who must be Shion Hozaka, is a tall man with wavy purple hair that fell past his shoulder. His calm violet eyes were gazing at her and he had a slight faint smile on his lips.
Ai felt her cheeks heated slightly at the gaze and she looked away immediately to hide her face. Deciding to address the matter at hand, she asked, "How may I assist you, young masters?"
After a few moments of silence, a deep baritone voice replied, "I would like to make a business proposal with you, Miss Shizuka". For some unknown reasons, Ai wanted to squeal excitedly at the voice. Whoever the owner of the voice had a bedroom voice that screamed "Come lay with me" and she blushed even harder at her unladylike thoughts.
Ai forced herself to clear her mind and looked towards the direction of the voice. The owner of the voice, Shion Hozaka, stared back at her as his violet eyes lightly shined with slight amusement.
Oh God, how she wanted to slap his smile away. Shaking her thoughts away once more, Ai replied sternly, "What kind of business proposal, young master Hozaka?"