The week since the meeting with the Mage association passed by quickly, and today was the day that the product would be put on sale. I had no doubts that the potion would sell thanks to the clever marketing scheme that the prince had organized: everyday since the meeting, demonstrations of the potion's power were held in the common sect and the noble sect, the person advertising the potion would call out someone visibly injured from the crowd and ask them to drink the potion, thus they would be healed and everyone would see its wonders. So I was pretty sure the shops selling the potion would be flooded.
Also he had named the potion the 'Delton healing potion' in my honor. The name was displayed on the label of the potion bottle that they were going to sell it in. I also made sure to give credit to Olive the Alchemist who had helped me with creating the potion. I cut her a share of ten percent of the earnings.
Despite that excitement I had another music lesson scheduled with Dimitri today, however I had already finished learning all the songs in the book he had given me so I wasn't quite sure what we were going to do today.
Today I was wearing a simple yet Lacey white dress, I was also wearing my hair down, possibly because someone told me they liked it like that.
In addition to Dimitri's company, Alice, Lucian and Rosalie were coming over for tea. Alice and Rosalie had managed to become good friends since the Mage tournament and I was exited to see them, moreover I was really looking forward to seeing Lucian again who I hadn't seen in a while.
I was sitting by my uldreyin in the drawing room that I kept it in, when Auberon opened the door and bowed to me and announced that 'Lord Dimitri Vassaltross' had arrived. Auberon held the door open so that Dimitri could come in. To my surprise Dimitri was holding a large white canvas and what looked like an artist's box.
"Good morning, Riley."
"Good Morning, Dimitri. What do you have there?" I asked curiously eyeing the art equipment.
"Well, I wanted to ask your permission to paint you while you are playing the uldreyin." He said smiling.
He wanted to paint a picture of me? How cool.
"Of course!" I said excitedly. "Do I get to keep it afterwards?" I asked.
"Uh, no." He deadpanned. "I'm going to sell it." I frowned, but I guess he could do what he wanted with his art work.
"So I'll get a cut of the profits right?" I smiled widely anticipating his answer.
"No." He deadpanned again.
"Okay, so start playing the uldreyin and I'll just paint you."
He set up his canvas on an eisle and organized his paintbrushes and colors before he began to paint. I just happily played along until a few hours had passed and I had run out of songs to play, and tea time was encroaching on us so I needed to go and get ready for my guests.
"How far are you?" I asked.
"I've finished all the important parts, I just need to paint the room in the background but I'll finish it up another time."
"Okay that's great, you should probably stop now and we can continue another time because I have guests coming over. By the way, would you like to stay for tea? I have a few guests coming over that you know, so it might be fun."
"Sure, thank you." He grinned, wiping his paint-covered hands on his apron.
Agnes insisted that I change into more suitable clothes for a tea party with nobles, so I did as she pleased and changed into a different, fancier dress.
Alice and Rosalie arrived soon after wearing beautiful gowns.
Alice wore a large flesh coloured grown that was decorated with embroidered flowers, spanning from the bottom of her dress all the way up to her shoulder.
Rosalie's dress was a satin salmon colour. It had elbow length sleeved and have her a nice shape. She looked grey in it.
Soon Lucian joined us, dressed in a fancy knight's uniform than I hadn't seen him in. This uniform was adorned with more gold threading and a visibly more expensive material - apparently he had gotten a promotion and was now part of an even more exclusive part of the Knights Order, he was part of the special fraction of the Order that I had first met back in Willow's Town. He was now going on missions with the second prince, Alucard, Cornelius and other very respected knights.
"I've been promoted to a third rank noble now." He said.
"Congratulations Lucian! Have you wrote to Elsbeth to tell her?" I asked giddily.
"No, not yet, but I will soon." He smiled.
"Congratulations, that's truly impressive. You must be the first knight ever to rise up in the ranks so quickly..." Complimented Alice.
"Indeed. They will probably give you a mansion of your own, now that you are a noble." Said Rosalie, smiling shyly at him. Her obvious affection for Lucian was obvious. I tried to hide my grin behind my teacup.
"Yes, they already offered me a few, and I chose the Volvedenian estate on the on the west side of the noble sect." Said Lucian, his boyish grin breaking through.
I realized that he had chosen a house quite close to The Marcellus mansion which meant that he was going to live quite close to Alice. Was I dreaming or did I sense a certain connection in the air between Alice and Lucian?
"That house is very picturesque, brilliant for painting landscapes on those green hills." Commented Dimitri, his artist instincts taking over.
"Besides the views, I chose it because it was quite close to the palace and the knights Order, so I could rush over in case of emergencies."
I know he said he chose it for practical reasons, but I still guessed that Alice was part of the reason he picked it.
"So Riley tell me everything that's happened, since you haven't been living with me. I want to hear all the juicy details, and don't you dare skip out the part about you getting better acquainted with prince Geoffrey..." There was a suggestive tone in her voice as she talked about the prince. As if she was hinting something more.
"You're aquatinted with prince Geoffrey?" Spluttered out Rosalie with a mouth full of ice cream and berries.
Lucian gave me a surprised look, even Dimitri raised his eyebrow at me. Why on earth did everyone jump to the same conclusions about our relationship?
"It's nothing like that, I promise. We've only had to spend some time together because of the new healing potion I developed, that the Royal family will be selling and producing for me." I explained.
"Yes, father told me you had created some kind of miracle potion, and that you were practically giving it out for free at 7 bronze per bottle."
"It's so that everybody will be able to afford it." I explained.
"I saw one of the demonstrations of the potion when I was out shopping. It was truly incredible, a man who hadn't been able to walk for years was able to stand up after drinking it. I'll definitely send my maid to go and buy some tomorrow." I noticed that Rosalie had finished her ice cream, but she still looked like she was craving more sweets, so I offered her some cheese cake.
"Riley, where did you get these cakes? They are so scrumptious." Asked Alice as she took another spoonful of the cheesecake.
"Well my magical artefact stores lots of recipes, which I get my cook to make for me." I explained, yes I did save a lot of recipes on my phone, which meant that I wasn't really lying to them.
"What a strange artifact..." she mused.
Alice, Rosalie, Lucian and Dimitri continued to chat about life and other nobles and about genreal other-worldly things. I breathed in the fresh clear air of this place, my new home, I really liked it here: I had a beautiful estate, money, power and good friends. It wasn't at all the world I had pictured myself living in when I turned 19. I had imagined college dorms and takeout dinners and endless studying. Seems destiny had different plans for me, I would be sure to make the most of it.
"So we'll all be going to the Von Esterheim hunting party next week?" My attention snapped back when I heard Alice ask this.
Yes, that was right. I remembered Alucard and Sinjin inviting me to that.
"Yes, I am." I replied first. "Is it a very fancy party or is it more casual?" I asked wondering If I would have to wear a corset the whole time.
"Yes Riley, you'll have to sinch your waist for the soirée." Alice chuckled at me. Ugh I hated corsets.
"The Von Esterheim's are the most influential family under the Royals, thus they always invite the most upperclass of the society. All the first and second rank nobles, some of the third rank rank nobles, and a few business partners of theirs, or some other famous people." She began to explain.
"Everybody sleeps over at their castle for three nights, and we celebrate the midyear with food, drink, hunting, games, magic and swordplay."
"Cornelius told me that it was really just a chance for the nobles to show off their talents and wealth..." Scoffed Lucian.
"Yes that too." Added Alice, laughing. "So you must remember to bring your best clothes with you so that you fit in with everyone else." She warned, specifically eyeing me.
"There have been a few situations in past years where seasoned guests of the party mocked the newcomers. Don't let that be you. Forget the pretense of this being just a simple soirée, this is an event where you can make connections and broaden your horizons, if the wolves and the vultures don't get you first..."
"Wolves and vultures?" I raised my eyebrow at her.
"The other nobles." She answered back nonchalantly, as if calling her fellow nobles animals wasn't a big deal.
"In particular, there is a group of second rank noble ladies that are competing for Sinjin and Alucard's hand in marriage, so you had better be in top form and keep your eyes open because they will do anything to discredit the other ladies who they think are standing in their way." It sounded like she describing schoolyard bullies to me. Well if I had made it through high school without being bullied, I wasn't going to let some nobles in another world bully me.
"Don't worry though. Alice, Rosalie and I will look out for you and Lucian." Assured Dimitri.
"Thank you guys." I replied, but I wouldn't need protecting.
For the next hour or so we continued to chat and laugh before we decided to say goodbye. It was decided that we would all meet next at the Von Esterheim mansion for the soirée.
I still had a few hours before dinner time, so I decided to go and find Agnes and have the chat that I had wanted to have with her for a while.
"Agnes." I called as I entered my bedroom. There she was in front of my wardrobe packing away my shoes in a neat organized fashion.
"Milady." She curtseyed to me.
"Could you spare a moment to talk with me?" I asked.
"Of course milday." She answered back sweetly.
"Please have a seat," I gestured toward the two cushioned chairs that were next to the balcony that overlooked the sea and the forest.
"Agnes, I want you to be really honest with me." I said gently yet firmly to her.
She nodded firmly, to let me know she was serious.
"Agnes. I want you to tell me everything that's wrong with this kingdom. I want to know all the harrowing details. Tell me about the poverty and tell me about unfair practices and tell me about everything that keeps you up at night about this kingdom." I requested. I had to know all these things, because if I didn't understand them, how would I be able to help anybody. Agnes was the best person to ask this, because she had feet in both worlds, she had worked as a maid for many years and thus got to see the noble side of life, but being a commoner she was also exposed to the side of life that I hadn't gotten to see.
"You are a strange lady, Milady." She said smiling at me, which made me smile. "I find it strange that a lady in your position would want to know all the bad things about this kingdom..." she said looking at me curiously.
"Because I'm going to fix them. I will fix all of this country's problems." I know I was being optimistic and possibly delusional, but if I wasn't able to make it happen, I would die trying, since that was my only purpose in being here, really.
She glanced at me with an unreadable expression but then began to talk. "First let it be said that I love the kingdom of Girannon and that I am proud to be one of its people." She said sounding truly proud and patriotic. "However this land has many faults. There are so many people that starve to death in the common sect while there is an unbelievable amount of riches and wealth in the noble sect, even a fraction of which could cure the hunger and poverty experienced in the outer sects of Gismead." I noted that there was huge inequality here, and since people were starving and hungry maybe I could set up soup kitchens and hand out free meals. Perhaps I could talk to Prince Geoffrey about having a few of the potion factories built in the common sect, which would help create jobs for some people.
"Education is also a problem. While the best education is available it comes at a mighty cost which most commoners are not able to pay. Thus most children are sent to go and work, and those who cannot get jobs just wonder the streets, aimlessly causing trouble." She tutted, as if a few children were popping up in her mind.
Perhaps I could set up an academy for poorer children, I could hire some teachers to teach them, immediately Dimitri came to my mind, I'm sure he would make a wonderful music and art teacher.
"There is also a lot of gender inequality down in the noble sect." She tilted her head and sighed. "Women just aren't seen as men's equal, and when a women gets pregnant she is thrown out of her house onto the streets to beg. I have seen many cases of girls on the streets begging for work, with little children in their arms. They are often abused by corrupt and evil officials since they are left so vulnerable on the streets like that."
That sounded awful. Perhaps a safe house for women would help, but what work could I give them? Besides the potion factories, I didn't know what work I could offer them...
"Lastly, the filth." She said as she scrunched up her nose.
"Filth?" I asked, wanting her to elaborate.
"In the poorest parts of the common sect, filth lines the street. There is broken glass, dirty cloths, piles of old wood, the smell of dirty water, feces, just filth. Moreover, because off all the filth, rats and rodents find nice places to burrow and build their nests. The rat population is huge and they are all covered in filth, those blasted rats sneak into all the homes and eat all the food and bite the children." She shook her head, her face distorted in disgust just thinking about it.
Maybe I could start a cleanup project, wherein I pay people for every pile of rubbish or filth they clean up. I can melt down the broken glass and reuse it or sell it off to someone, I could use the pieces of wood to make various things: chairs, tools, etc. perhaps those can be the jobs I provide for the women.
I already had a list of so many thing that I had to do. Which one would I start with?
"People in Gismead are also deeply religious, and worship the gods of magic and the other gods daily." I cringed, I hadn't been worshipping anyone since I got here.
"However there are no places of worship for the people to go to. The only hall of magic is in the noble sect, and for the poorest of the poor who have nothing left except their gods, worshipping them is the only thing they have left. It would be lovely if they had a proper place to do so." She said in a melancholy tone.
This problem was probably the easiest one to solve, I could just commission architects and artists to build monuments of the different gods of magic around the common sect. That could potentially lift the people's spirits and make the common sect more aesthetically pleasing.
Wow, I had a lot of work to do. Not to mention I had thought about opening up a restaurant and cafe to sell and make my recipes. Actually, I could still do that, and I could let the women from my women's shelter work there.
Thinking about fees, another question popped up into my mind. "Agnes, the end of the month is coming soon, and I just realized that I don't know how much I am supposed to pay everyone here for their work." I felt pretty embarrassed that I hadn't thought about it sooner.
"Oh yes!" She said, as if she too had forgotten. "Well milday, servants get paid at the end of season, with a mid-season wage in the middle of a season, so in total we get paid six times a year."
I had learned through study that there were only three seasons with different weather in Arteria, Arteria had a long season called 'flowering' - the first season which was a mix of summer and spring, where flowers blossomed and bloomed throughout the season. Then there was 'falling' - the second season wherein the flowers started dying and the land started to prepare for the third season. The third season was called 'frosting' - wherein everything got quite cold, I was told that it rarely snowed in Gismead, but the weather was still cold enough that you had to wear a good coat.
So, Agnes had told me that servants got payed in the middle of and at the end of each season, so a total of six times a year.
"For the heads of the house, Mr Bard and myself, we get paid 5 silvers each time. The other maids and butlers get get 2 silvers each time. Lastly, the cook gets 3 silvers each time." She told me, I tried not to gasp in shock. That was so little compared to what I had. I literally had a trunks of gold and jewels in my safe room room as we spoke while they were only making 5 silvers each time, which meant she was only making 30 silvers a year. I didn't tell her that I would because I felt like she would try and talk me out of it, but I would double all of their wages.
At the present, all of their wages combined wouldn't even cost me a gold coin a year. I would definitely at least double their wages. Just from their wages, I could see that the gap between the rich and the poor in this kingdom was humongous.
Tomorrow would be the end of the mid-flowering, meaning that I would pay them tomorrow. After my talk with Agnes, I went to the safe room to go and get out some money for them. I made sure to take out double the amount that Agnes had told me and then placed the coins in my bedside drawer.
Tomorrow I would go to the Mage society to have a magic lesson with Sinjin, I also wanted to find out more about this magic exam from him. Then I would go to the harbor side of Gismead to look for property to make my restaurant/cafe. Oh busy days were coming.