Two days ago, during Vivian's first meeting with Bermont...
"And the Grain subsidies... let's not even start with that! It's a vicious cycle I tell you!" Bermont cried out.
"Vivian? Are you ok? Your face's twitching again..." Bermont started to sweat as Vivian was releasing an ominous aura...
"No no, please continue..." Vivian calmed herself down with everything she got.
"Ah! Hoho, still interested in my stories are you? I don't know why, but when I talk to Merchants the get so rowdied up at this point. One of the reasons I'm so bored to death with business meetings! Huu, if only everyone was as willing to listen like you miss Vivian!" Bermont praised.
"A-Ah, yes..." Vivian half-heartedly answered, guilty of her past thoughts.
"Ah, where was I again? Ah yes! The Grain subsidies, as you know, since the price of Grain has been *Cough Cough* raised by our noble institution, I'm talking about the Consulate of course, haha... The people have been having a hard time, paying for basic food. N-Not that it's the Consulate or Nobles faults! No no, I'm not implying anything, ok?... So I try to help out Lyons citizens through Grain subsidies. But it simply isn't enough-..." Bermont continued to talk and talk, but what Vivian had noticed was how tense he was when talking about the Consulate and Nobles. Bermonts tone of voice just convinced Vivian about her previous assumptions.
"...And so that's how I defeated the Lord of the Seas after the Queen Kraken injured it during the battle of Black Water! truly one of my most known feats if I say so myself. Hoho" Bermont's rant ended another hour later, once again, totally off topic...
"Ah, what was I talking about again? Ah yes! The Colossal White Titanicus King Elephant or known as the Imibala Mkhulu in Bush-kin-" Bermont began ranting again but was immediately stopped by Vivian.
"S-Sir Bermont! Enough! I-I mean, yes, how interesting! But as it is already late into the night I wish to get to the point of my visit!" Vivian exploded.
"B-Business is it milady?" Bermont drooped when he heard it was time to talk about contracts, commissions, and such.
"Yes... Business" Vivian stared Bermont straight in the eye as she continued: "From our shor- long talk I have finally realized something" Vivian confidently smiled as she put down the teacup she was holding.
"And what is that milady?" Bermonts drooped face turned prudent and distrustful for a while.
"I learned that I can trust you" Vivian confidently spoke.
"And why do you say that milady?" Bermont's distrust became even more prominent.
"Well, I'm going to be totally honest with you... From the beginning, I already had a hunch who you truly are, but I confirmed it through our talk... You, sir Bermont, are the true leader of the Humanitarian Faction within the Consulate! And sir Philippe is nothing but your representative!" Vivian proclaimed.
"What do each of the members of the Humanitarian faction all have in common? First of all, you all have oddly flourishing fiefs despite constantly lacking in money! What's up with that?! Shouldn't you be the richest of all the Southern factions? I mean, simply from looking at Nisse, sir Philippe's fief, and Lyons, two of the most flourishing fiefs in the South, shouldn't you two be raking the most taxes? After I looked into it, I saw a pattern, all of the Nobles under your faction each have policies instated in their fiefs that helped the common man! For example, the Grain Subsidies and other Subsidies for Wool, Salt, etc. Sadly, those Subsidies are no different from charity from which you buy the full product and sell them for 50%? Isn't that simply too inefficient?" Vivian ranted out her logic.
"Well, what choice do we have, the faction that wants cheaper prices are small in comparison to the greedy bastards within the Consulate... But that still doesn't mean I'm part of the Humanitarian faction now does it? What if I'm simply a kind-hearted Lord?" Bermont continued to question Vivian.
"Well, my last reason for thinking you're the mastermind behind sir Philippe... is your background. You, Sir Bermont, was a commoner, to be more specific, a fallen Noble from the Nessi-Medici Family!" Vivian revealed the backstory behind Bermont that everybody seemed to have forgotten due to his legendary feats as a great Admiral of the sea.
Sir Bermont or Sir Satrius Nessi Bermont was from the Nessi-Medici family, a family that was much like the Lateri-Medicis who was also a sub-branch of the prominent Archducal Medici family.
The Nessi served under the main branch as trusted butlers and maids for generations, but when one of their own was wrongfully framed for an assassination he did not commit during one of the Medici's inheritance feuds, the whole Nessi family was banished and stripped of their title as Nobles by the Medici. Even worse was the fact that it was Bermont's parents who were framed and executed for the assassination.
Bermont hated the fact that his father and mother who were the most loyal of servants within the household, even to the point of naming their son after the Medici founder, became scapegoats for the debauched and ungrateful Medici family...
Luckily for the Nessi though, due to the deep cultural significance of being a merchant to all the Medici family branches, their members despite being Butlers and Maids as their main professions, were taught and practiced the arts of Mercantile trade from a very young age, and so they still had a lot of businesses under them despite being only a sub-branch. Such was the weight of the Medici name within the Empire that even their servants waited on them had businesses of their own!
And since everybody within the Medici circle already knew that Bermont's parents were scapegoats, he, the pitiful orphan, was "gracefully" and "mercifully" forgiven by the main branch.
[A bunch of hypocrites] was what Bermont thought of them.
Using the last remaining money Bermont had on him from the secret inheritance his parents left, Bermont was able to buy a ship!
And through a series of unfortunate, or fortunate encounters, depending on how you saw it, Bermont sailed South and met the love of his life, Sally Bermont, of the prestigious Bermont family, and thanks to his great renown, or notoriety, again depending on how you saw it, successfully married into her family. Becoming the Lord of Lyons and soon quickly rose within the Brune Navy as the legendary Admiral he was today. Earning the awe of everyone.
In addition to his already amazing rags to riches story, Bermont was even elected (Even though he really didn't want to) as the Consulate's Head Chairperson due to his innate skill, talent, and prestigious title as Lord of Lyons!
Truly a happy ending for everyone, a man whose everything was stolen from him becomes a great Lord, the people got a Lord that truly cared for them who even gave back most of his income as Charity, and Brune obtained the fiercest Admiral that roamed the Crimson Seas! Everyone was happy...
Sadly, not everything ends happily as over time, the money Bermont earned through taxes and seafaring could no longer sustain the growing population of Lyons and was forced to rely on the dastardly Medici's who began to approach him again like they were family due to his newfound position.
"The sly bastards probably even began calling you oh~ Satrius~, like you were best friends all of a sudden, right? Sir Bermont..." Vivian angrily speculated.
"KU-HAHAHA! I've never seen a lady curse as elegantly as you do ms. Vivian! Fine, you got me... If you give me a plan that I think might just work, I'll follow it as long as I can get away from those Medici leeches!" Bermont proclaimed, becoming part of the Pendragon's faction.
Bermont's approval was the main reason Philippe was easily convinced by Vivian during her visit at a later date.
[Huh, if only my sweet wife could curse less crudely] Bermont sighed in his mind as he thought of his sleeping wife upstairs.
"Give me the RTS contract, sir Bermont. And I'll make sure that Lyons, no, the whole South will never starve again! Just give me a foothold in this politics business, sir Bermont, and I promise you...
I promise you, you'll no longer be paying those tiresome Subsidies!..." Vivian declared as she explained her plans further.
[I just need the RTS contract and ms. Nuir would be fully on my side] Vivian thought to herself.
"Ha! Your plan is so simple and crazy that it might just work! Madam Vivian, please count me in!" Bermont shook Vivian's hands and escorted her out as she left.
After Vivian left, Silvan was next to meet with Bermont that evening.
It was his chance to turn the tides, sadly, he was too stupid to realize that Bermont had already switched sides and only bragged and made a fool of himself in front of the already hostile Bermont...