Soon enough, there was a knock at the door, and the butler introduced Peter, the representative from the Fellwood Guild, who had come to finalize the trade agreement with the Gravestone Duchy. Peter was a short, stout fellow with pudgy fingers and a thick nose. His soft blonde hair was cut into a bowl shape around his head, and he smiled pleasantly at the Duke with silver-gray eyes. Lifting a few thick folders filled with papers, he said, "I’ve got everything right here, sir—Your Grace, that is—all dotted and in line, reviewed by us at the Fellwood Guild, and your Mr. Lawrence—ah, that is to say, Your Grace’s lawyer, whom we spoke to a couple of months ago."
Peter placed the documents on the desk and began to open them, laying them out for the Duke to finalize. Maxwell bemusedly thought, I have a lawyer, a small smile playing on his lips. That’s right, I have a lawyer. I’m rich; I can afford one now. He chuckled to himself at the amusing thought of having a lawyer. But then again, if he had a lawyer, why wasn’t the lawyer present with him right now?
"All right," the Duke said, settling into the comfortable chair once again. "Let’s see what we have." He picked up the documents and began reading through them.
"Is there a problem?" Peter asked, confused by the Duke's actions.
The Duke glanced at him and then noticed the concern on his butler's face in the background. It seemed that reviewing documents before signing them wasn't entirely normal in this new life. But then again, how was he supposed to know he was signing the correct papers in the first place?
Chalking it up to cultural differences, the Duke replied, "No, no problem. I just wanted to skim through this one more time before I sign."
"I see," Peter responded with a concerned nod, exchanging a worried glance with the butler, who returned it with a polite but stern smile.
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"Do you need anything, Your Grace?" Sefton asked, maintaining his professional demeanor, though a hint of nervousness showed through his smile.
It was odd seeing the butler so uneasy about him reading a document, so Maxwell decided to take his time. He read line by line, moving from one document to the next, and noticed that there were three copies of the same document. As he read through the first one, he realized the others were identical. Essentially, the Fellwood Guild would provide citrus trade at a market discount and a slight reduction in trade taxes for about five years. After that, the taxes would return to normal. The agreement seemed straightforward, with a staggering amount of fruit being imported, both in terms of quantity and variety. Some of the fruits he recognized, like oranges and lemons, but others, like Lema Fruit and Kasaka, were unfamiliar to him. Still, everything appeared correct, and based on his limited knowledge of trade, it all seemed reasonable.
He took out the pen and held it over the document, ready to sign. However, a new problem arose when he realized he didn’t know exactly how the Duke typically signed these documents.
Once again, Peter asked, “Is there a problem?”
Maxwell shook his head and said, “No, just thinking about something else.” With that, he decided to sign as Maxwell Gravestone. To his absolute delight, he found that the Duke’s muscle memory was wonderfully intact. A brilliant and clean signature soon adorned the line, and he was surprised at how crisp it looked. He signed twice more, and each signature was a perfect mirror of the last. Muscle memory truly was something to be in awe of.
"Excellent," Peter said, collecting the documents and placing each into a different folder. He handed one to the butler before addressing the Duke. "If there’s nothing else, then I shall be off."
Maxwell nodded, watching as Peter left the room with a satisfied smile on his face.
“I shall put this in the safe, Your Grace,” Sefton said, holding the folder. “And when I return, I’ll brew another cup of coffee if you desire.”
Maxwell nodded again. Sefton’s coffee was quite good, and he still had a lot of work ahead—understanding where he was, who he was, and what was happening around him.