"Duke?… Duke? Are you alright? What were you thinking so deeply about?" Vivian looked worried as she stared at the listless chubby man in front of her.
"What thinking? I wasn't thinking…" Duke mindlessly responded as his thoughts were obviously stuck somewhere else.
[You know what, maybe that's the problem…] Vivian sarcastically complained in her mind.
"If you weren't thinking, then why have you been staring at my breast so seriously for a few hours now?" Vivian inquisitively asked as she knew if it was the normally perverted Duke, he would've at least been drooling like an idiot if he was truly concentrating on her breasts.
"Yes, they're good breasts, very good…" Duke automatically responded.
*Tak!*
Feeling annoyed Vivian gave Duke a constrained flick on his forehead as she reminded him: "Duke, you need to concentrate…"
"Ah! Sorry, sorry! What were we talking about again?" Duke woke up from his dazed state as he apologized.
"Duke. Concentrate. What are you supposed to tell them during the interview?" Vivian was prepping Duke for the interview he would have at the Imperial Bank.
"I am Duke Pendragon the current Count of Maine and I would like to acquire additional capital for a business project I am working on. Then I smile like this:" Duke tried to act cool by forcing a smile, his two index fingers pointing at Vivian.
Vivian stared at Duke. This was the hundredth time they had practiced this since yesterday afternoon.
"Just… don't do that" Vivian sighed as she looked at Duke. [Will he be okay inside the bank?]
"Look, Duke… We really need this loan, okay?" Vivian stared at Duke with eyes of extreme worry.
"If we don't get this loan I… I don't think we can ever get out of our financial crisis. We might even have to live as commoners from now on..." Vivian gravely said.
Duke gulped as he heard their dire circumstances from Vivian.
"Vivian, don't worry, I'll make sure to get the loan!" Duke reassured Vivian as he held her hands.
Their carriage reached the nearest City of Milanne, since Maine's branch of the Imperial Bank was shut down 3 decades ago during the infamous trade blockade of Maine, Duke and Vivian had to do their transaction at the new Regional Branch at Milanne instead.
Milanne was twice as large as the town of Maine, but if you would include Maine's abandoned outer areas then Milan was only half the size of the once-great city.
After 10 minutes of waiting at the gates, their carriage was finally allowed to enter after inspection.
The City of Milanne was the very depiction of an average city that was, although uncertain, experiencing a slow decline.
The streets that were once crowded still had their fair share of traffic, but although said traffic was alive it wasn't as lively as one would expect from a city of this size.
And the citizens, although they looked busy their eyes betrayed the true lifelessness that the city was experiencing.
The carriage passed through the city's busy markets, where different goods and products from nearby towns and other cities were sold such as Salt, Garum, Corn, Milk, Cheese, and even Butter.
There were also local specialties and products found within the city's immediate area such as the precious horns and fur from the Flat-Faced Bulls, large bison-like creatures that commonly roamed the Southern Plains of Brune.
The shiny pelts and sharp tusks of the Hairless Forest Boar or the large golden manes from the Giant Southern Lion could also be found here and there being sold for a hefty price.
Sadly, there were no exotic items to be seen here as Milanne wasn't a port city like the great city of Maine once was.
Therefore it didn't have access to the exotic Mussani merchants and traders of the Gharibean Deserts the Southern Region of Brune was known for having as the Southern Port Cities were closest to the Musani's Gharibean ship-trade routes. No Gharibean mystic lamps, spices, nor magic carpets could be seen in these average markets.
Duke and Vivian's carriage stopped in front of a large white building whose outside edges were painted with gold-tinged paint…
It was the Imperial Bank's Southern Branch.
Duke came out of the carriage wearing a black tailcoat and white innerwear that Vivian herself picked. Vivian also picked some silver accessories that were lying around in the house to emphasize wealth and simplicity.
Contrary to Duke's childish fashion sense that usually made him look derpy, the clothes Vivian picked actually managed to make Duke look like a sophisticated and professional Nobleman, albeit a very corrupt and sleazy-looking professional Nobleman due to the strained smile Duke was showing.
Vivian could only sigh as her plan of making Duke look more credible only ended up making him look more corrupt than he actually was.
"Vivian? You sure you're not coming?" Duke asked Vivian for the hundredth time.
Vivian: "I already told you, women aren't normally accepted inside the bank! Plus me being there would only make you look incompetent if you actually had your wife dictate to you what you can and cannot do … so we'd be better off if I stay outside instead"
Duke: "Aren't you a Princess or something?"
"Yeah, well I'm only a Countess right now… looks like only Duchess' and Queens are important enough for the bank" Vivian scowled at the Imperial Bank's misogynistic policies.
Sadly she had no power to challenge these rules as Brune was originally extremely misogynistic in the first place.
She was already a bit lucky that she was born in this era where the rules regarding women had somewhat loosened. At least in this present era, if you were powerful enough, even if you were a woman you'd still be somewhat respected.
"Alright, I'll go now… Wish me luck!" Duke was quite nervous as he looked to Vivian for encouragement.
"...Good luck Duke" Though reluctant, Vivian sweetly smiled back as she subconsciously found his determined yet unconfident demeanor a little cute.
[Smile! Smile! Vivian said smile!] Duke forced a smile as he entered the bank…
Benjamin Kastark. A man who had worked as the Imperial Bank's Southern Regional Manager for 19 years now and was quite famous within his workplace as the Iron Hand of the bank.
The moment he saw Duke come in he had only one thought: [This man is without a doubt: bad news!]
In the 30 years Benjamin had worked for the Imperial Bank, never had his intuition failed him.
People say 'Never judge a book by its cover', but Benjamin believed it was all complicated sophistry as he personally believed 'A book is advertised by its cover, after all! Then why shouldn't you judge it by its cover?'
Benjamin secretly eyed the suspicious-looking Duke.
[Woah~! So these are the competent working professionals Vivian talked about] Vivian had told Duke that the bank wouldn't lend just anybody money.
They at least had to show they were competent individuals, especially if like Duke and Vivian, the amount they wanted to borrow wasn't a small amount.
Vivian emphasized that Duke should be 'sensitive' to how the professional people around him acted.
And so the kind-hearted yet blissfully ignorant Duke tiptoed around the bank as he didn't want to distract these awfully busy people.
[AHA! Sneaking around, are you!? Kukuku, I knew it! No honest businessman would sneak around like that!… I KNEW this man would be trouble!] Benjamin's misunderstanding deepened…
Duke poked the female bank employees' shoulder closest to him as he said in a tense voice "Where do I ask for bank loans?"
Although the Imperial Bank didn't usually let women have their own Bank Accounts, they didn't seem to have any quarries with letting a woman work there to serve their valued customers.
*Hiiiik* The employee gasped at the sudden and silent appearance of an obese corrupt-looking official behind her.
"S-Sir, y-you need to wait in line like the other customers…" The female employee pointed towards the line, afraid at what Duke might do to her.
"Eh~, isn't that line quite long? Is this normal for all bank transactions?" As this was Duke's first time entering a bank, Duke innocently asked as he genuinely didn't know how the system worked.
[I-Is he asking me to make way for him? Won't this trouble the other customers? What if they complain about me?! I must be impartial… But what if he pulls some of his corrupt strings? Wouldn't I lose my job??? Ahhh, there are a million other girls who'd kill to get this job… This is why corrupt and rich customers are so hard to deal with… Oh, my sweet future! Farewell~!] The female employee misunderstood Duke's innocent intentions as she replied:
"I am sorry sir. B-But rules are rules! PLEASE FORGIVE ME!" The female employee stood her ground against the 'morally corrupt' and 'evil' Count in front of her.
"I see, thanks anyway though. I'll remember this…" Duke sincerely replied, squinting his eyes trying to look at the woman's name tag as he then continued: "Anna... You were quite helpful"
Duke forced a smile at her as he thought: [Well, wasn't she a helpful employee! She even kept smiling the whole time too!] As this was one of the few rare moments where a woman didn't instantly jeer or shoo him away, Duke felt quite grateful to the kind woman in front of him.
As Duke said her name out loud, Anna felt her life was over, running towards Duke begging him: "S-Sir please reconsider!"
Anna mistook Duke's intentions when he said 'I'll remember this' as in 'I will remember this act of kindness in showing me around' for 'You impudent wench! I'll remember to pull some strings and remove you later! Bwahahaha'.
Benjamin shook in anger as he saw Duke 'assault' the poor and hardworking employee, Anna.
[What 'evil' is that man doing to that hard-working lass?!] Benjamin thought as he stepped forward to stop Duke's 'misdeeds'.
As Duke was about to go to the queuing lines, he was suddenly interrupted by a voice behind him.
"Anna, I'll take care of this. You may go and take a short break for now… What seems to be the problem here, sir?" An old man's stern voice suddenly crept behind Duke.
"Sir Benjamin!" Anna's eyes shined as she saw the respectable figure stand up for her.
[I'll never forget this! Older gentlemen truly are the best!] Anna developed a strange crush towards her elderly benefactor that day. I guess she still had a lot of unresolved daddy issues.
"O-Oh, what is it?" Duke flinched as he asked, thinking to himself: [Did I do something wrong???] Duke questioned as he looked at the obviously hostile manager.
Benjamin: "What are your intentions in entering the Bank, good sir?"
"Oh, I was just about to wait there in the queuing line to ask for a loan. Your nice employee over there directed me there so I could trouble them with my problems, haha…" Duke tried to smile back at the hostile old man trying to defuse the tense atmosphere.
[What!? What true 'evil' is this?! Assaulting an employee wasn't enough, now he also wants to disturb the other customers waiting in line?!… I must make sure to finish his goal as quickly as possible to minimize any more incidents!]
Sadly, Duke's smile only served to make the old man even more wary as the tense corrupt-looking smile of his tingled Benjamin's danger sense.
"Come with me, sir. I will process your papers myself" Benjamin forced himself to move forward so as to not disrupt any other person there.
[Ha! You won't be able to make any more disturbances if it's just the two of us!] Benjamin victoriously thought to himself.
And so, Duke's wait was immediately cut in half by his benevolent benefactor Benjamin who had decided to take Duke's matter into his own hands.
[What a nice old man! And here I thought he was about to scold me or something... Turns out he just wanted to help, huh. I guess you should really never judge a book by its cover!] Duke thought to himself.
Unaware that it was BECAUSE he was being judged that his waiting time was cut short, no longer needing to wait through the long line because of Benjamin's o so misplaced prejudice.