"Still I wish to be your sponsor!" Leon confidently declared.
Leon continued as he gauged Cecily's facial expression and could see she wasn't fully convinced this was a good idea. "I'll be truthful Cecily. My situation isn't the best"
Ren couldn't help but open his mouth as he contemplated saying something to Leon but before he could Leon carried on. "Although, I may be the youngest prince of the Maxwell Dynasty. I can say right here that I do not have the support or backing that my older brothers have..."
Cecily maintained her silence as she listened. Although she didn't really know why Leon was saying these things, she was smart enough to gather they held importance to his negotiation and was therefore important.
"However, one thing that I can confidently say Is that even with being the current least 'important' prince. I am still a prince..." Leon spoke emphasising the words 'Important' and 'prince'.
"As I grow older, I will have to perform my duties whether I like them or not and that forces me to interact with nobles of low and high standings. And although they might not approach me right now, they do still take note of my actions."
"And this leads me on to my main topic..." Leon smiled, "If say, I, the youngest prince was always wearing high-quality clothes from somewhere nobles weren't aware of, how might they act Cecily?"
The question was rhetorical but Cecily couldn't help but answer it. "They would find that supplier at any cost. Not only for them to stay on top of trends but to also investigate yourself..."
[Perfect, although it was partially a bait. The fact of the matter remains the same!] Leon grinned inwardly.
"Exactly, now in terms of advertising. That might be the best I can do for right now but I would like to say that I hope you take my proposition as a long-standing situation. As we both grow popular and more experienced who knows what both of us can provide each other down the line. So if you would, think of this as you investing in me as much as I am willing to invest in you!"
Cecily was blown away by the confident and mature aura that Leon radiated when he was handling the business negotiations. And although she felt like she had been led by the nose a bit, she didn't really mind all that much.
Something was giving her a gut feeling that the young man before her was truly remarkable. A hidden diamond in the rough you could say.
Ren too was impressed as he couldn't stop himself from smiling breaking his aloof demeanour. Right now he looked like a proud grandfather.
*****
Leon and Cecily spent the next hour or so talking more in-depth about the situation and clearing up any concerns that Cecily had. She talked a lot about her goals for her Boutique and whether or not Leon was willing to help her achieve that.
Leon seeing no reason to not help her in this endeavour accepted her conditions with open arms. At the end of the day, it only served to develop the Boutique and in turn generate more money.
Leon wrapped the conversation up with an important topic, "Cecily, one thing that I can't negotiate is the fact that myself being the sole sponsor of the Boutique must remain a secret for now."
"Huh? A secret? why?" Cecily changed from her light smile to a face of confusion as she fired off a few questions helplessly.
"Cecily, I do this with good intentions, for you and me both. If you went around advertising that you have my support, you would only be dragged into the political fight for the throne. Which is the opposite of your goal for the boutique, trust me on this..."
"Say, my older brother found news of this, it wouldn't surprise me if they support a boutique of their own with a lot more manpower, money and tailors, just to stomp on any thoughts that I was garnering. Do you understand?"
Although Cecily looked somewhat sad to not be able to boast about being business partners with the prince. She was old enough to realise the gravity of the situation. "Ok, we'll do as you say, at least this way we can remain neutral with every noble and take on the most orders from nobles possible."
"Exactly..." Leon nodding his head, agreed with Cecily.
"Well then, do we have a deal?" Leon asked.
Cecily went silent as she thought it over one last time before replying, "Young prince we have a deal. To happy cooperation!" She spoke charmingly as she reached over to shake Leon's hand.
For the next half an hour, Leon and Cecily discussed contracts and came to a suitable agreement.
Becoming the sole sponsor of the boutique was expensive...
As a sign of good faith, he turned over 350 Gold coins and make the promise that he would continue to give more money to Cecily in the future to handle the finances well. He used an excuse that he didn't bring much with him this time since he was 'popping' out.
Although painful right now, Leon knew this was the right thing to do. An opportunity like this was once in a lifetime.
[I must meet the demands of this place and be ready for the influx of customers after my appearance at the Empresses banquet.]
Leon had many duties he would have to uphold unless he didn't want to run the risk of breaching the contract he signed.
What were those duties?
Simple, for now forth, Leon was responsible for providing the finances for buying materials and other revenue outputs. In return, he would become a partner of Cecily Adams and the Clover Boutique.
He would have a share of the profits and a partial saying in how the boutique advertised going forward but the final decision was always Cecily's.
This would ensure that Cecily was without the doubt the owner of the boutique and even If Leon had any funny ideas down the line, he had no way of acting on them.
"Well then Cecily, I have been away from the palace for too long. I should leave before somebody notices. Good day!" Leon waved goodbye to Cecily and left the boutique, pulling his cloak over his face once more.
Ren did the same as he guided Leon onto a horse carriage and signalled the driver to drive.
****
-Inside the carriage-
"Leon, you surprised me today. Truly, it seems that you have the heart of a businessman, hiding behind that gentle face of yours."
Leon just laughed slightly at Ren's flattery, "Ren, I just felt that Lady Cecily, truly deserved a wider stage to perform on and since I will be needing more money in the future. This opportunity couldn't be passed up." Leon shrugged his shoulders like he had no choice in the matter, which only made Ren smile more.
"Either way, you really do have the talent to become a well-known merchant!"
"That reminds me, Ren, how would I go about getting up a merchant guild without disclosing my identity?" Leon was serious with matter so his previous smiling face had vanished.
Ren too got serious as he gave the matter some thought, "Well... This matter although is complex, isn't impossible. You have a few choices, either you make a trustworthy merchant friend and have them help you on the matter. Or, you take the longer and harder approach, establish the guild from the very roots and take the steps to hide the purpose of the guild deep."
Leon nodded to Ren's explanation. It was true he could take over a struggling guild and reshape and remodel the way they handled business but the downside was, the other guild opposition was most likely already hidden deeply amongst employees and so forth.
The second option was the longer route but in the future would ensure Leon could solidify his roots in the capital merchant war.
Leon "..."
Ren "..."
Both, Leon and Ren, stayed silent for a while until they neared their destination and exited the horse carriage.
Leon had many things on his mind but he finally came to the conclusion on this matter. As they both hopped over the palace walls, obviously with the help of Ren of course.
"Ren, we will proceed with the second option. It's better to not rush these things and have my impatientness for results bite my back, in the future."
Ren just nodded at the young prince as they snuck back into Leon's room through a connecting room window.
[It seems in the future, I'll have to generate more money. The thought of having less than 50 gold coins at his fingertips was a pitiful thought. If I want to complete my plans and live happily with Rosie and Ren.]
[That said, I don't want to be stuck behind a desk 24/7 handling business problems, so I should probably look into finding a suitable guild manager.]
At that thought, someone Leon was friendly with in his past life popped into his head. "I wonder if that old lecherous man Philip is doing well..."