"Thank you for helping me ".damien said flustered while he scratched the back of his head.
"Your welcome, but you stand up for yourself with facts or you'll be their new punching bag".she said.
" Thank you for the advice".
" It's not like I am in any position to say that". She thought as she shook her head.
"The Three of you please follow me ". She spoke, as she wanted to speak with them privately about the terms and conditions.
"Um excuse me,but what are getting paid ". Auleria asked seriously.
" Please excuse her". Mateo as he covered her mouth to prevent her from saying.
"It's not a problem, it's in her right to know her pay but you seem close ".
" We've known each other for years".
" Oh that's good getting to know each other won't be as hard anyway your pay will be 3 gold per person every month".
"Wow that's alot, usually a baker or chef is paid 1 gold per month". aurelia thought.
"I am paying, that much because I expect us to be super busy when we open and I also expect diligence from your side to make it work ".she said, as she noticed aurelia facial expression.
" We promise to work hard". Damien spoke with determination.
"I am going to need, the three you to sign a magic contract".
" Excuse me, but what are we signing them for"
" It's a deal to not reveal the menu recipes , even after you stop working for me before that I am going to tell you a few things". She spoke.
Elizabeth:" I would like to purchase your recipes from you but of course you will get full credit as the creator".
Elizabeth:" So if agree we'll negotiate on the price and settle it when you're ready,so if you agree with the terms and conditions go ahead and sign it".
" Okay, so how do we sign". Mateo replied.
She explained to them the protocol and guidelines that they are expected to follow and they signed the magic contract and put a drop of blood on it and completed the process.
" You can go home, I"ll have Jacob call you when we ready".I said
" Thank you, goodbye".they said, as they waved as they left.
"I'm glad,I got that done so we can get to opening the shop as soon as possible and the people I choose as bakers seem like hard-working people, I hope I don't regret my decision of choosing them".
"It's really scary, knowing you might get executed any minute and here I thought my past life was terrible,at least I had days off work where I didn't have to meet my co-workers or so-called family members but now I can't even do that". She mumbled in a daze
.
"U-um excuse me,Miss,miss".Jacob called out.
"My lady, are you alright". Marie said.
"Um,yes".she murmured, as she snapped out of my thought.
"I am sorry,what where you saying".I said.
"We've been calling you for a while My lady, mr Jacob came to tell you the people you told him to contact are here".(Marie)
"Oh thank you, let's go and meet them".
She spoke as she stood up while Marie and jacob led the way to where they were , Jacob introduced us to the construction crew and interior design as we sat down and we went down to business.
"Please,take a sit".
"Miss,we heard you wanted to talk with us.
" Yes I do, before that let me introduce myself".
" I'm miracle grace(Elizabeth), it's a pleasure to meet you".
" Hello, my name is Matthew, this is lily, josh and maya". He said, as they found a sit and sat down.
" Hello". She waved back at them.
" So do you have any ideas on how you want it to look like".
" I have a few". She replied.
As she explained what she envisioned and wanted it to look like , thankfully they understood what she wanted to convey as they also give suggestions on their expertise on how to make it better in terms of color, furniture, placing as she listened carefully and they reached a conclusion.
"So,how long do you think doing everything will taken because I'd really like it to be done as soon as possible".
" Miss,our construction crew usually uses magic so it makes it faster than not using magic".
" So depends, if you have the capital we could get more people, work for certain amount of hours and utilize magic to speed up the pace, say about about 5 days".
"Wow, that is fastest than I expected to be normally it take months to complete the process well,I am complaining as this isn't bad for me so we can open as possible".
"So,what will the total cost of everything being done".
"Miss, it will be about 200 gold coins
but you need to pay 100 gold coins before we get started".
" I understand, I hope you'll get started as soon as possible".she said
"Jacob, do you know anyone that installs oven ".She said,while she asked Jacob.
" We also install ovens".they responded, while as she talked to Jacob.
" So,this is how it feels to be a protagonist from another world where everything I need drops into my lap , I'm not complaining though but i feel like going to get annoying later on, it's like when favorite show comes on but you've watch that episode over and over again that even when you hear something remotely similar, you want to find the source and destroy it". she thought
" That's good , I would like you to get the ovens from this address". She handed him a piece of paper.
"Oh, I almost forgot take this so the owner knows it's me". She spoke as she turned around and give him something from her dress.
"How much will take for the oven installations". She asked.
"Just about 6 gold coins,miss". John answered.
"No problem".
"Mr Jacob, I won't be able to come every time as I would like so I want to hire you as a middle man to help me to check on their progress from time to time and communicate with aurelia,mateo, damien then pass the message on to marie for me ".
"I would love to ".he answered as he gave a thumbs up.
"Thank you". She said, with gratitude and a smile
.
She finished her business with the crew and jacob then she said goodbye to both as She and marie made out of the building to the alleyway, were they stopped by before coming here, as elizabeth changed her appearance to the original way it was.
"My lady, are you done".she whispered, as she was checking if anyone was coming our way.
"I am done, let's go".
"Okay,my lady".
They walked towards the carriage and stepped in,she asked marie if they any good restaurant nearby.
" Marie, do you know any good nearby restaurants".
" There are, my lady depending on what you want".
"Choose one and tell the coachman where to go".she said, then she conveyed to the coach man about where to go next.
"My lady, where are here"the coachman said.
We left the carriage, entered the restaurant and took a sit while a waitress came to take our order.
"So what would you like to order". The waitee asked.
We ordered what we wanted,the waitress brought our food as we dined, I observed the surroundings, the decor and ambience of the restaurant, we finished our meal and made our we out.
"Marie, what's the time now".
" It should be around 5:00pm,my lady".
"Okay".
"I really hope I don't meet the duke, when I get back but there is high chance, I will after all he does get back my 5:30pm,from what I read in novel since elizabeth wanted to get closer to the duke, she took note of his time off work and waited for him when she was younger".
"To bad she wasn't appreciated and eventually stopped, I am happy I am didn't have to go through that and having marie to communicate with the people outside is great, since it will be suspicious for a noble lady an engaged one nonetheless to be going out to the capital frequently". She thought, as i put my hand on cheek and looked out the moving carriage.
They finally reached the marboul mansion as they stepped out of the carriage, she noticed only the head maid coming to welcome her back.
"Welcome back, My Lady". She said
"Umm, So the servants from this morning didn't come to welcome me back, I take back what I said about the duke ".she thought
" So where are the servants that bid me welfare this morning". She asked as she stared at the head maid.
" There is so much work to be done this mansion in shape, so they didnt have time, even I couldn't pull them away".the head maid said
"Does she think I'm an idiot,one word from her could easily get them to come".
"That is imposs-".marie tried to say but was cut off.
" Tell them to work hard, I would like to take a rest". She said, as walked past her without giving her a glance.
" I understand,my lady and I will try to get them to come next time".she said,as she rolled her eyes at her words.
She made her way up the stairs and to elizabeth room,she opened the door and laid down on the bed while marie got the bath ready, marie helped her out of her clothes and she got into the bath, at first when she got here she arrived didn't like being helped with getting dressed but now she's am okay with it but she still bathe by herself and sometimes get dressed on her own.
"Miss, why didn't you say anything back there,it was obvious that she was lying".
"Because, I didn't want to make trouble and most importantly to lazy for that".
" But still I can't believe what just happened to the future empress no less, I can't wait for you to become empress and show everyone".
" Pft,ha Ha ha Ha". She burst into laughter and couldn't stop.
" My lady, why are you laughing". Marie titled her head and asked.
"I am sorry,but who says I am going to be empress".she said, as she wiped off the tear from her eyes.
"But aren't you, his royal highness the crown prince fiance". She said, as she looked at me with a confused look.
"I didn't know you were this naive and cute under that cold exterior".I said,as her face turned different shades of red, which I didn't think was humanly possible.
"M-my lady,please stop teasing me".
"But I am telling the truth ". I said, with a serious expression on my face while her face turned even red which is impressive may I add.
" My lady, you still haven't answered my question". Marie said as she held her cheeks.
"Yes I am, but he hates me".she said as she had the impulse to pet marie's head even though she literally a head shorter.
" I'm sure that isn't true because he would have dissolved the engagement if it were and plus you're better now".
" Marie,why did nobles marry other nobles".she asked, as she smirked.
" To make connections, to increase their influence and make the next generation more powerful as most nobles have more mana compared to commoners". Marie answered.
" Correct , the emperor and empress love their children but won't agree to calling of the engagement without any solid reason and I'm still useful to the crown prince that's why he hasn't gotten rid of me".
"But my lady how are you useful".
she asked, while she helped me out of the bath and helped changing me into a blue night wear.
"Because even though I'm not favored but I am still a descendant of the duke,so he can't just dissolved the engagement as it will be seen as a direct disrespect to the marboul household because of its influence , so he's trying to get enough power to dissolve the engagement without repercussions and for now I am a shield to protect him from dealing with nobles who want their daughters as the future empress".
"I think I understand,my lady but why don't you try to get closer and slowly make him accept you, so he won't get rid of you".marie said
"You are right,that is an option but I want him to continue hating me".
"But I don't understand, my lady as you said he's trying to gain more power to get rid of you isn't better to get on his good side".
"Do you think I would marry someone who trying to get rid of me because I wasn't as nice before even though, It wasn't like I belittled anyone , bullied anyone or kill anyone".At least not yet anyway she thought.
" And if a day comes that he doesn't like me anymore since it's been shown through out history then I will really be doomed, that's why we were doing those things earlier to protect ourselves".
"I understand, my lady but I don't think opening one shop would do anything".
"That's just phase 1 of my plan and the reason I wanted you to sign the magic contract is that I don't know who i can trust"I said, as she brushed my hair.
" my lady, I know you can't trust me yet but i will do my best to help you achieve it ".she said, all fired up.
"Okay, I just need to be loyal and help me communicate with the Jacob and magic construction crew this coming week and tell me if anything is wrong as I can't keep leaving the estate everytime". She said
" My lady are you planning to leave the estate for good".
"Once my plan is complete, yes I am,I am planning to take me with you when it's complete".
"Thank you,my lady".she said, as she bowed.
"You can rise". She spoke as she watched Marie with a smile on her face.
"Aren't going to miss it".
"There isn't anything to miss".
she continued brushing as we both said nothing in silence and then i climbed into the bed and said goodnight to marie as she left the room.
"Today, was a better than I thought it would be,the magic contract is really useful and I can find allies without being afraid of them leaking important information and this magic storage will really in handy".
"I better get to sleep elizabeth's tutors are coming tomorrow". She murmured and slowly closed by eyes and went to sleep .
I want to thank everyone for reading this chapter and the previous ones and please don't forget to vote, thank you once again.