“Master, look! They are making sweets right in front of the shop, so you know what you get!”
Celia was dragging Drak through the shopping district, especially through the sweets section. She was fascinated by all the colourful candies and cakes. In her hands were already heavy looking bags and she still walked around like there was nothing in her arms. Drak himself was walking behind her and had a smile on his face seeing how innocent and lively Celia was behaving.
“Woah! That fruit is in a crystal!”
“You have good eyes. This is our specialty we have in our shop. The clear Candy is made specially to see the fruit. All edible and sweet. Your Masters will be delighted, especially if they are a woman.”
As it is normal for people in Maid outfits, the phrases were aimed at the ones who are behind the Maid. As she was wearing a very expensive looking Maid outfit the Candy artist pulls no stops in his sales pitch.
“I take six! I want to taste them together with our Master and my Sisters!”
“Okay six, I will carefully… Wait, they are also for Servants?”
At that Moment Drak came in front of the Stall noticing how demeaning the last sentence was formulated. As it looks, the vendor is a lower Noble who does not think of Servants as equal citizens.
“A moment please, I will pack six in the shop and bring them out.”
“We want them from the front.”
Seeing the chubby Body the Clerk wanted to sneer, but stopped at seeing the golden Insignia.
“Of course Sir, I will just make the order of this Maid ready and be there right away. Please understand the small waiting time.”
“You misunderstand. I am her Master and want you to pack six from the stall.”
Realising the son of a Duke in front of him is the Master of this Maid he was unable to go inside and had to pack in front of them.
“Of course, Sir. Let me just pack…”
“My Maid will choose which to buy, do you have something against my decision?”
“...no Sir. Young Maid, please choose the ones you want to like.”
“Then I will take that one, that, that and the two on that side… Oh, this one too, it looks marvellous!”
Packing under the scrutiny of the watchful eye of Drak, the clerk started to carefully pack the sweets and gave them over.
“Twelve Silver, please…”
The price was reasonable for Noble offspring. A commoner would be able to eat for that amount for three Months if he was careful, but for Nobles it is supposed to be that high. While Celia carefully put away the sweets, Drak gave the Money to the clerk. Starting to walk away the Clerk reorganised his stall to make it more appealing for the higher born again.
“Not a nice guy?”
“No Celia, he looked down on you. You might need to learn how to read faces more carefully.”
“I still have a hard time with that. Better be cheery all the time and infect the people with a smile.”
“Yes, without you we would be a bit too serious all the time. Will we eat all those sweets today?”
“Not all, even I can not eat that much! But Tomorrow is a nice day with all of us together again, I want to make a nice side table with them for us to relax.”
“Seria will make me suffer with studying while we eat though.”
“She is just worried about you making your dreams come true. All of us are. Although Magic and Ingredient Studies are your strong parts, History and Law are your vices, Master. Please bear with it for now.”
“With you all on my side I can bear with anything.”
“How sweet of you Master!”
Smiling, the two are walking around some more and at the end a mountain of sweets were crammed into the Carriage before being sent to their Mansion by Korn.
-
“Welcome to our Supply Store, we have a variety of tools and materials, how can I help you, our esteemed Guest?”
Arriving at the Supply Store Celia and Drak were greeted by a burly Person. While other beautiful clerks were also around, they mostly ignored Drak for his looks, while still being torn, as he had rather expensive looking clothes on him.
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“Thank you! We need some Materials, as we want to customise a Carriage in two weeks. Can you please show us some reference Materials for my Master and me to look at?”
“As you wish. We have here some nice magical wood and some rare metals, which are of superior quality.”
Examining the Materials Celia took them in her hands and scrutinised them. Seeing the small maid checking them as if she wanted to bend the Materials, the clerk chuckled a bit but wondered if his eyes played a trick on him as he could swear the Adamantite and Elder wood were bending a bit under her dainty fingers.
‘Did I eat something wrong or am I still a bit drunk from yesterday?’
After the look over the Materials, Celia was satisfied and nodded to Drak. Checking the Materials by her was needed, as many sell third tier Materials in their Kingdom and had either other metals melted into or were of bad quality plants. While it rarely happens in the Imperial Domain directly, Noble people from other Kingdoms were never trustworthy, so the Supply Stores were already used to it for some to ask to see samples. Most just touched them or looked at their sheen, Celia was the first to ‘stress test’ them, as those Materials were in the eyes of most people unbendable and indestructible if not under specific manufacturing processes made plyable.
“The quality is pristine! Never had such materials that good in my hands, Master. We can use them directly and not even worry about impurities being a problem.”
“Ha, little miss knows much about Materials it seems. It is true, we have high quality Materials, but it also means we are not cheap, so please be wary about it.”
“No sweat! Master has coin, right Master?”
Taking out a Platinum coin the Clerk was suprised and elated, while the other clerks were staring increduledly at the chubby child. If they had known, they could have made a great bonus, but now they are out of luck. They swore to remember the Face and chubby body for next time.
Noticing the looks like vultures seeing prey, Drak started a bit of small talk with the clerk while explaining their material need.
“We need a half bar of Adamantite, but make it a full one, as it is always necessary for something, Oricalcum we need three bars and Mithril at least five so better make it eight to have reserves. Elder Wood in both board and tile form for engravings and an Arcon Crystal as source for Magic. By the way, what is your Name?”
“Arcon Crystal? Someone loading that per hand? Those things are hard to fit and always have a hard time to hold Magic for long. How about magic Crystals, we have a special one, which has recently appeared en masse on the imperial market. And my Name is Warren, Sir.”
“No, an Arcon crystal is needed. It is just for emergencies, but should be a big one. You never know, when you are in an emergency and want to store all you have just in case.”
“Huh, never thought about it as an emergency, but you are right. If the Magic crystal runs out you can at least hold the wards up, just don’t understand why you would force so much Magic inside in an emergency, but okay.”
“Here are the dimensions of the Crystal needed. We need it in two weeks. And if all is satisfactory, I will always ask for your help later.”
“Th… that big is a bit too much, won’t you…”
“Do not worry it needs the size for fitting into the Furnace to run, the bigger the longer it can hold Magic, right?”
“Well, you are not wrong, but it would cost ten platinum alone for that one, plus the carving…”
“We carve them ourselves, Duke’s secret methods you understand.”
Everyone has their own secrets, and every Kingdom has their hidden alchemical and runic recipes. Even if they are all the same Empire, everyone tries to be higher in the pecking order in their own ways. If School knowledge is the basic bread, secret Methods are the secret spice combinations to make it unique for every Bakery.
“Of course, if you say so much, but for such a high order I need the half up front.”
“Here are ten Platinum, the rest will be paid in full by delivery. Drak Berklin is the Name. Celia our address card, if you please.”
“Of course! Here, I am happy to make your acquaintance, I am Celia! We will definitely become regular customers, if everything is to our liking!”
“I'm also happy to make your acquaintance. Warren, like I said.”
Shaking hands, Celia and Warren finished the transaction. Drak was just handing out the ten Platinum and left with Celia, while Warren was working on the procurement documents for all the items ordered. All in all it was a Transaction of Fourteen Platinum and Drak paid more than half in advance, which made the whole sale already profitable as direct pay to the supplier always made them give a better discount. Better discount means more Money for the Store, which means a bigger Bonus for Warren. The envy aimed at Warren was already starting to manifest into physical form, but he ignored all of it, as they made their bed themselves and he just did what he was supposed to do: Every customer should be handled with dignity and no Customer is lower than the other.
-
“Drak Berklin has again paid a huge sum. He definitely has a hidden income. The question is from where.”
“It is already highly plausible, there is a connection more than using his likeness with the black Merchant. Next Week we will have more information.”
“I need to talk to my Uncle, is it possible or do I need to write a Letter?”
“Right now there are high clouds over the Imperial castle, so better would be a Letter. It might be close to thunder, just hoping for no lightning.”
To School Eleonora in Code the Spymaster often talks in special phrases, which help her in remembering the way to communicate in public. This weather based code is made to explain the current activities of her distant family branches.
Cloudy means there are undercurrents working while Thunder means fights are being fought behind the curtains. Lightning is meant to symbolise a ‘strike’ which means an assassination attempt.
Incredibly, while the Imperial Family is in a blood feud, they would come together, if their own Rule would be in danger. Even helping each other out to become Emperor as long as the Family Blood is not tainted. Otherwise bloody culling is the norm to keep the Empire from breaking into separate Kingdoms.
“So better writing to him directly. Send the Letter per Person, who knows who could peek at it otherwise.”
“As you wish Princess.”
Undercurrents in the Family means fights for the throne. As nearly all Families have their own Seer, the fights are not only being fought over the current Seat, but over Generations. When the Bloodline of their own Branch benefits, sacrifices of oneself are often made without remorse.
‘If I could only warn my Uncle, but this would be too dangerous. Aunt must have seen something in her Ritual, that makes them try to help me somehow.’
While Eleonora worried about her Uncle, she herself thought about multiple plans to help the Empire but foremost her own Family.