Lady Sophia and I left Swindfort City at daybreak with some capable guards. On the way to the first supplier on our list, I received some intel from my informants about Price Jumair via Mana-comm. It turns out that he himself was on his way to our destination. So, we'll likely meet. And his presence will complicate things.
"Sigh, Just our luck", Lady Sophia let out an exasperated sigh upon hearing the news.
"Hmm… We will reach there before dawn, and our meeting is scheduled for tomorrow morning. We'll need to prepare for whatever he does, my informants say that he's quite charismatic"
Well, let's be optimistic. We'll try our best to, no, we 'will' secure a fair deal.
***
We reached our destination in the evening, where Sir Dron welcomed us. He was constantly adjusting his tie with his shaky hands with beads of sweat forming on his forehead.
Seeing his nervousness, he must be overwhelmed by having to welcome the third prince as well as Sophia, who is the daughter of a Baron, to his abode. He escorted us to the guest wing, where we were both allotted our own rooms.
After settling in, both Sophia and I were invited to have tea by the third prince, which we were in no position to reject.
As we entered, we saw him sitting on a fancy-looking chair that didn't match the rest of the furniture in the room. It looks like Sir Dron had specially prepared this chair for the prince. He had blonde hair and chiseled facial features. There was something about the way he conducts himself and his unnerving smile that set my nerves on edge.
For better or for worse, he didn't awaken a combat-related class, leaving him out of the race for the throne. But after his engagement to Beatrice, who happens to be a very powerful ice mage, as well as the recent talks about a number of noble houses supporting him, it's clear that he is definitely going for the crown as well.
"Your Highness", we greeted according to the etiquette.
"At ease, please take a seat", he gestured towards the couch opposite to him.
Soon, a maid entered and served us all a cup of tea. After we took a sip, he started, "I assume we both know why we are here. I must commend you, I underestimated you. By my calculations, I thought that it would take at least a few more weeks for the news to reach your ears", he paused to take another sip from his cup.
"Nonetheless, the outcome shall remain unchanged"
"That is for Sir Dron to decide, your highness", I replied, unfazed by his attitude.
He rested his elbows on the armrests of the chair and interlocked his fingers. With a confident smirk, he said, "Hmm, You are Miss Letica, the woman with no records. My lovely fiance warned me about you, you are some secret powerful mage, aren't you? Why don't you stick to your magic, eh? Leave the business to more capable people", he said as he shifted his glance towards Lady Sophia.
Err, I am what, now? A 'powerful' mage?
What does he mean that Lady Beatrice warned him about me? I think there has been a serious misunderstanding here.
Although his words didn't make sense, I made sure that my smile didn't waver.
Now he shifted his legs in the direction of Lady Sophia, ignoring me altogether.
"You know I have a hobby of reading fortunes through tea leaves. And I am quite good at it, if I do say so myself. Would you indulge me with yours?" He leaned forward and picked up Lady Sophia's empty tea cup.
What is he up to?
Lady Sophia flinched, not expecting the prince to start talking about fortunes. She soon composed herself and replied, "Certainly, Your Highness".
Gazing at the cup's base, he began, "According to the leaves, a shadow of disappointment shall cast itself upon your tomorrow morning. And there is nothing you can do to avoid it"
He's talking about our meeting with Sir Dron. Does he mean that he has already settled something, or is he just trying to get in our heads?
Sophia, unfazed by the Prince's words, snarkily replied, "Oh, my dear Prince, that's quite a peculiar hobby you have. Let me guess what yours says", she mockingly looked at the Prince's cup, which still had some tea in it, and said, "It says, 'You've underestimated them once, now you're making the same mistake twice', hmm… I wonder what that means. Strange.."
He chuckled and said, "Haha, I like your confidence. Let's see how much of it is left after tomorrow's meeting", he got up and said, "Well, we'll see each other in tomorrow's meeting. Until then, farewell, ladies. Have a lovely evening", while brushing his hair with his fingers.
With that, we returned to our respective rooms. After what he said in that room earlier, I have a bad feeling about tomorrow's meeting.
I'm pretty tired from all the traveling, so let's call Aria to inform her about the recent development before resting up.
***
The next day, Lady Sophia and I made our way to the meeting room.
"Lady Sophia, Lady Letica, I hope you enjoyed last evening. Now, let's start with our meeting. You called me two days ago, saying that I should hear you out before engaging in any deal with His Highness the Third Prince. So here we are. Let us begin", he started.
As I knew the details about their deal, I led our conversation with, "Sir Dron, as you must be aware, His Highness the Third Prince has made several exclusive deals with major Lithanode suppliers in our kingdom. As far as I am aware, he is going to offer higher rates than the current market price for the next two years if you agree to exclusively sell all your supplies to Rose Emporium. Is that right?", I asked.
To which he nodded and replied, "Yes, I am aware. In fact, here is the contract. That the Third Prince left me with. He told me to show it to you if needed… And I am planning on accepting it", he said, handing us his contract with his sweaty hands.
I continued, "It's easy to see that they are trying to monopolize the raw materials so that their only rival, we, is starved of them. We are their only competitors, so why are you helping them? Once their competitors are out of business, they will have full control over the market. I'm sure you understand what will happen once your contract ends. A market without competition will be as good as a stagnant pond", trying my best to convince him.
If this still doesn't work, I'll have to resort to offering higher rates than them.
"Hmm, yes, I totally understand the consequences of my actions. I'll be helping them become the kings of this industry. I'm no fool to get swayed by some monetary benefits. For now, all I can say is that even if you offered me a better deal than theirs, I'd still choose them. I'm sorry, but I am only trying to safeguard my future"
Well, so much for that… Just why is he siding with the prince? And how is this safeguarding his future? It's not making any sense!
It's just like he told us yesterday, 'A shadow of disappointment shall cast itself upon your tomorrow morning'.
Lady Sophia then tugged my sleeve, shaking her head sideways, "I now understand what His Highness meant by the fortune. The deal was settled even before he reached here. He only visited in person to complete the formalities", she said, dejected.
I looked at Sir Dron, who weakly nodded in confirmation.
"I see. So we had lost even before we started… Seeing that this meeting is pointless, we'll be leaving shortly"
Seeing my defeated attitude on our way to the guest wing, Lady Sophia explained, "The reason he spoke about his future is most likely due to the succession dispute that will soon take place. There have been some speculations about the Third Prince's victory. Sir Dron is probably among the many nobles that are on his side"
Turning to Lady Sophia, I said, "Mmn, I understand. It boils down to power… Hah… I need to clear my head, so I'll take a walk. Let's depart after lunch", saying so, I walked towards the gates.
'Disappointment'- this word perfectly captures my emotions at the moment. I am disappointed in myself for allowing this situation to happen in the first place.
I left the small mansion and headed towards a quiet open field with drooping shoulders.
After taking a seat under a lone tree in the middle of the open field, I pulled out the Mana-comm device, called Aria, and informed her about the situation.
"Don't beat yourself up over this. This situation is out of our hands. I will go and ask Dad for his assistance. As much as I hate to admit it, we can't do anything on our own", she said, calming my storm of emotions.
Before I could answer, I saw the Third Prince making his way towards me from a distance.
"Oh, great. The Third Prince is walking towards me now. Can't he take a hint and leave me alone", I told Aria.
"Wait, is he here? Then act as if you've ended your conversation and just hold the Mana-comm device. And try to make him talk, I'm trying something new. I'll be listening", she said.
"Yeah, sure", without asking any questions, I complied, and stood up, waiting to greet him.
As soon as he reached me, he started "Well, well. If that isn't the face of dis-appointment", he intentionally stretched his tone. "I told you, didn't I? I am quite good at reading fortunes".
Kicking your opponent when they are down, how 'princely'.
"Your Highness", I just greeted and didn't respond to his provocation.
He then haughtily said, "I came here to remind you to show me some respect. I have a message that I want you to pass onto Lady Aria, 'Next time, don't rely on amateurs to negotiate against me. Don't underestimate me'. That will be all".
Is that what we amount to? Amateurs?
Hah, I need to snap out of it! Aria asked me to make him talk. So let's give it a shot.
"Your Highness, wait", I yelled to grab his attention. He turned back, returning to his previous spot.
"What? Going to use your secret magic on me? Let me warn you, any attempt at harming me would be seen as treason. And your execution would be the least dreadful part of the consequences", he said.
There he goes again. Does he think that I'm some sort of secret mage? If so, I should let it play out. It might work out in my favor.
I humbly started, "No, I wouldn't dare. I just want to talk. Since you know so much about us, you must be aware of our objective, Lady Aria's vision about our brand. She wants to make it so that even the common people of this kingdom are able to experience the wonders of magic through her gadgets"
"Yes, I am aware that you cater to the needs of commoners before nobles", he replied.
"Look at our most popular gadgets, namely the refrigerator and the water pump. According to our survey, these gadgets proved to be no less than a life changer for a lot of communities. People on the mainland, far from any oceans, are able to enjoy seafood at an affordable price thanks to the refrigerator. The settlements living in the deserted areas of the mainland are no longer struggling to get clean water", I paused, then asked "Isn't that a wonderful thing? You are the prince of this kingdom, and if anyone, you must understand that our goal is noble. So why are you doing this?"
He smirked and said, "Hmm, yes, and in doing so, you've weakened their reliance on us, nobles and royals. Do you think we live in some fairy tale? The reality is, if the commoners stopped looking up to us, our society would start crumbling. We, the ones in power, must reign over them if we want to remain in power. There is a reason why such inventions and research are kept secret, it's to prevent the power from slipping. So your little fun business needs to stop".
"And moreover, my dear fiance asked me the same thing. So I'm going all out. What are you going to do? As the deals are legitimate, you can't complain even to anyone. So now go on, return home, and make sure to let Sir Richard know of this situation. I'm looking forward to seeing what he does", he said, turning around and leaving once again.
This RASCAL! I can't believe him! He's the prince of this kingdom, and he has no regard for the people living in it! Why should we starve the common people of such miraculous inventions? And not to mention, it's Aria's sweat and bones, not some royal property! Argh, I am so ANGRY at him!
"Letty, Letty, Hey Letty, can you hear me?" Aria's voice from the Mana-comm snapped me out of my rage.
Let's take a deep breath. Hah, alright.
"Yes, I can hear you, Aria. Sorry, I was enraged at the prince. I've calmed down now", I replied.
"Don't let him get to you, Letty. You are not an amateur, and I am very proud of our whole team. By the way, listen to this okay", and all of a sudden, I heard the third prince's voice coming out of the device in my hand, "'The reality is, if the commoners stopped looking up to us, our society would start crumbling. We, the ones in power, must reign over them if we want to remain in power. There is a reason why such inventions and research are kept secret, it's to prevent the power from slipping. So your little fun business needs to stop', cool right? I just recorded this conversation, so maybe we can somehow use it against him", she said.
"What? It was the same words that the prince said. How did you do it? How is that even possible?", I asked.
"Well, as you heard. It is possible. I already had a prototype, which is built upon a Mana-comm device, I just never planned to announce it. It's quite similar to how Mana-comm's transmitter works. We just need to record the signal and have it loop around infinitely until the mana runs out. And for such a weak signal, it should be good for a few months at least. It's a very clever tweak that lets us record any sound", she said.
"Okay, you did some 'typical Aria things' to a device, and now we have a sound recorder. Alright, cool. I think I get it", I said.
Suddenly, a stroke of inspiration hit me, and an idea formed in my mind, "Now that we have this, I may have a great idea. Hear me out…"
After relaying my impromptu plan to Aria, I calmly waited for her approval.
"Do you really want to do this?", she asked.
"Yes, I will see it through", I replied, confidently.
"If you are so sure, you can do it. I won't tell Dad about this just yet. And good luck!", she said.
"Hehe, thanks, Aria. I'll leave right away. Love you!", I said and hung up the call.
"Mm, I love you too"
I made my way towards the mansion, and visited Lady Sophia.
"Lady Sophia, let's quickly have lunch and leave. We are extending our trip and heading towards the royal capital!"