As soon as I entered the garden, I saw that Tabitha, Solana, and Ethel were sitting together at a table out in the sunshine. We’d all been cooped up indoors for several months, so the people of the Northern Realms were looking for any opportunity to get some sun.

My mother and Ethel looked the same as always, but the past few years had changed Solana significantly. She was seventeen at the time, and her training to become a lady of the court was complete. All that was left for her at that point was a political marriage to one of House Feldrast’s allies, which she naturally resisted. In the original timeline, she was able to stave off marriage and loss of much of her freedom by acting as a regent that functionally ruled the Realm of Northwind while he studied in Hinnom.

Like Armond and me, Solana’s skin was unnaturally pale. The fire resistance conferred by the [Hellfire] Talent prevented one’s skin from tanning naturally, so many of the highest nobles in the Northern Realms had paper-white skin.

Solana’s jet-black hair hung below her shoulders, and her emerald eyes always seemed to carry a hint of belligerence. Until my parents were certain that the lineage was secure with the birth of Merrick when she was ten, Solana was trained in governance. It only made sense for her to harbor some resentment toward me. Yet, it was rare for Solana to direct any of her anger my way. She was smart enough to know that the loss of her birthright was not my conscious choice.

“Hey, Thale,” Solana called out with a smile as I entered her view. “Would you like some tea?”

“No thanks,” I said. I had always been more of a coffee guy. Unfortunately, coffee only grew naturally in the southern reaches of Caligo: a continent that had only been discovered thirty years before. A bag of roasted coffee beans cost three gold pieces in the Northern Realms. “Do you know where Nina is? I need to get a package back from her.” Ethel would probably have some idea where Nina would be.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Oh, she just came running through her holding a small wooden box,” Solana said. “That must be the package you’re talking about.”

Nina wasn’t in Feldrast Manor, but she left the wooden box with Sir Walter. Upon retrieving the box filled with powdered Adderall, I immediately began walking toward the home of the richest man in town: Sendrick Grimhold.

I was allowed into Sendrick’s office within minutes. Apparently, the line, “The next Count of Northwind has a business proposition,” was appealing or strange enough to catch his attention.

Sendrick Grimhold dressed modestly, considering the wealth of resources he had at his disposal. He wore a plain blue tabard, beige breeches, thick leather boots, and a woolen cap. His outfit was basically Ferrum’s equivalent to a T-shirt and jeans.

I knew from my memory of [Ferrum Online] that Sendrick was the head of a veritable trading empire. Dozens of merchants throughout the continent of Rubigo worked for the Grimhold Guild. In the early game of [Ferrum Online], the Grimhold Guild was by far the most reliable way to acquire anything the players would need on their adventures.

Though they didn’t hold a monopoly on any one market, you could bet that an agent of the Guild would be present wherever there was a profit to be made. Considering that the Guild took a 20% cut on any profit made by a subsidiary merchant, I knew that its total yearly profit was more than 100,000 gold pieces.

I had recently sped up my production of the focus-drug so that it would be completed before Sendrick Grimhold left town. His presence in Sableton allowed me to move my plan forward slightly faster than expected.

“So, you wanted to speak to me, Lord Thale Feldrast?” Sendrick Grimhold said with a professional smile plastered across his face. I could tell he suspected this was all a huge waste of time, but my proximity to such a powerful position meant he wouldn’t readily risk offending me.

“I have a product here…” I said, placing the wooden box on the table between us, “that will change the world of Ferrum forever.”