It was soon early afternoon, and Rein, a sour expression plastered on his face, found himself in the main building facing his father. He knew what was about to come-- his father was about to discuss the meeting with the Everlasting Pavilion Alliance as a form of Rein’s education. Rein had long grown bored of such discussions. He did, however, understand the necessity of learning from his father.
“The Everlasting Pavilion is one of, if not the largest merchant alliance group in the Minhr Nation. However, its operations are not limited to here. It is a multi-empire merchant alliance, for example, it operates in the Zoh Empire to our east as well. Take note of the fact that we, the Minhr, have had a long history of wars against the Zoh. Thus, the Everlasting Pavilion maintains a stance of neutrality in all politics to maintain their operations across countries.”
“Now, I’m sure you’ve gleaned that Everlasting Pavilion wants us to join as one of their subsidiaries. They naturally want to expand into the nomadic tribes of the desert up north, which is incredibly challenging because of…?”
Sir Hehr looked at Rein and his query clearly indicated that this was Rein’s time to demonstrate his understanding.
“Many of us in the Minhr Nation have long regarded the nomadic tribes of the Golden Desert to our north to be barbaric, and this was obvious with the citizens’ pervading attitudes during our border skirmishes. The reason we call them barbarians is that they appear uncivilized, and only once one of our ancestors traveled through their tribes on a whim, did we gain an understanding they too had their ways. This understanding, as well as the connections this ancestor of ours made during his travels, allowed us to build business relationships with many of the tribes.”
“Other companies lack our understanding, especially because they still regard them as mere barbarians, and thus we have an absolute monopoly over the metal and other unique resources that the many tribes mine in the desert.”
Sir Hehr nodded at his son’s reply in satisfaction.
“Precisely! Luckily the ties of our… past family with the desert tribes broke due to the previous war, and they chose not to reestablish ties. Thus, we, the exiled branch, could profit off their miscalculation.” His father’s words made Rein snicker in his heart.
“Only with demonstrated understanding can trust be built! That is why you must always revise the many notes and understandings of the tribes that our ancestors have written down over time, even if you have already read them countless times.”
Rein could only inwardly complain that he had indeed reviewed those notes countless times, yet his father still demanded him to scrutinize said notes repeatedly...
“Now, back to the matter with the Everlasting Pavilion. Obviously, we might get access to a string of customers by joining them. However, it is not so simple. Even if there is more demand for the metals from the desert in the future…”
Sirr Hehr once again looked at his son. Rein thought for a moment before answering.
“It is unlikely that we can meet any particular increase in the demand, because the tribes of the Golden Desert are nomadic. Their roaming lifestyle means that the stationary mines may not even be easily manned.”
Sir Hehr nodded again, feeling increasingly satisfied with his son.
“Yes, and if we join as a subsidiary and don’t meet the expectations demanded by the bureaucratic higher ups, it would be an absolute disaster for us. Of course, I am confident in my own abilities, but the nomadic tribes are the nomadic tribes-- they travel around the desert and simply aren’t capable of carrying enough metallic resources to satisfy a large merchant alliance like Everlasting Pavilion.”
Sir Hehr paused for a second, before overcoming his hesitation and expressing his thoughts.
“I am actually suspicious that the Everlasting Pavilion actually knows of this, and only wants to use our channels with the nomadic tribes to infiltrate the desert mines. That probably wouldn’t sit well with the nomadic tribes…”
“Rein, my son, I hope you can further increase your understanding of power and interests in our discussions. Business negotiations, well, any negotiations, always come from a place of power and interests, whether that strength be of money, connections, more knowledge, more understanding, good looks-- in the case of women, beauty, or in the case of men, handsomeness… all can play a role in your business negotiations, and...”
Rein naturally recognises his father’s speech patterns-- his father was obviously about to make a prolonged concluding statement and end the discussion. He could not resist cutting his father off.
“Do not worry, father, I will continue to strive to understand different kinds of such methods on the negotiating table, and act as necessary to mislead and gain an advantage.”
Sir Hehr looked at Rein and wanted to finish his statement, but even he himself realized his concluding statements were always the same and repetitive.
“Very well. Make sure to head over to your fiance’s mansion today. Your engagement to her is an agreement between our two merchant families to work hand-in-hand on equal grounds in an expansive cooperation to a few nearby towns. They must be concerned about the visit from Everlasting Pavilion today. That, too, was a reason for my rejection.”
Rein sighed with relief. He felt that it was good for his father to reject the Everlasting Pavilion. He had grown up with Meynan and they’ve already long gotten used to each other. His time with her was always joyful and she had long expressed her desires to him. If his father had not rejected the Everlasting Pavilion, he would have been placed in an impossible situation...
He had actually been feeling anxious about Everlasting Pavilion’s visit last week. It was only today, after his father rebuffed Everlasting Pavilion’s offer that Rein could relax and enjoy the weather.
As Rein stood up to leave, his father dragged him back with a hand on his shoulder.
“Son. I hope your mind isn’t still preoccupied by what happened with the main family, yes?” Sir Hehr seemed fully aware that Rein still had rather deep-seated distaste towards the incident of their exile, even if he was extremely young at the time.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“When I changed our surname, I picked Hehr from a long list of historical records. Do you know why?” Sir Hehr tried to make eye contact with Rein, but Rein dared not meet his gaze and casted his eyes downwards with a shake of his head.
“The surnames in this world of ours originated from connotations associated with a sound, combined with a throaty or hissing noise. Our new surname Hehr is the sound of a sigh-- that is to let go, to not dwell on past events that are no longer of consequence to our future. The throaty noise in the end is just an ancient custom-- surnames are representative of a family line, and it is imperative that all who utter it put in a bit of extra effort to pronounce the surname, as a form of respect.”
Rein understood in his mind, yet his heart couldn’t quite fully comply with his father’s wishes. He could only divert the subject to avoid the feeling of discomfort.
“Meynan is surnamed Jeihr. Does that mean anything?”
“The sound ‘Jei’ has a sort of feeling of incisiveness, so it’s likely to have some meaning linked to some type of … aggression,” mused Sir Hehr. He opted to drop the topic and waved for Rein to visit his fiance.
As for their original surname, Rein was too young at the time-- by now he simply could not recall what it was. His parents never mentioned it, and the housekeeper that accompanied them in their exile also avoided the topic.
When Rein exited the Hehr Mansion, a carriage manned by a servant and pulled by a black stallion was already waiting for him. The carriage had a clear ‘Hehr’ symbol carved onto the two sides in a dominating fashion, and the wood used was expertly lacquered and polished as seen by the reflection of light off the surfaces. It was clearly a high quality travel arrangement pre-arranged by his father ahead of time.
Traveling to the Jeihr Mansion was going to take too long on foot, and it would be respectable to leave and return well before the skies darkened.
Looking up, Rein noticed that the originally clear blue sky during early afternoon was now thoroughly covered with thick gray clouds. However, a bit of sunlight still peeked through a few of the gaps here and there. He felt it was a pity that the rare good weather in the Golden Desert Town had left after merely half a day.
He hopped into the carriage, and settled onto an extremely comfortable, soft velvety red seat. He pulled the blinds to the carriage close before speaking to the carriage attendant.
“Make haste!”
The black stallion galloped and pulled the embellished carriage forward. After a while, Rein arrived at another quadrangled mansion that had a clear ‘Jeihr’ signboard above the gateway.
Waiting in front of the gate was a elderly man that many in town referred to as Steward Xeer. His long white hair was neatly swept back and hung down just below the back of his shoulders, and he was dressed in a neat traditional blue tunic. It was well known that Steward Xeer had served the Jeihr merchant family as far back as anyone’s memories could go, so he was well known and well respected.
“Welcome, Sir Hehr. Please come in. Sir Jeihr is already waiting for you.” Some servants had already begun referring to Rein with a heightened level of politeness.
“Thank you, Steward Xeer. My father would be overjoyed to see you still healthy and active at such an age.” In fact, Rein was rather amazed that this elderly man had remained sprightly for so long.
The townsfolk had long suspected that the man might very well have trained in some body manipulation magics to remain alive so long. Steward Xeer only ever gave a wry smile when questioned, and opted to remain silent about the topic.
“I am just well taken care of by Sir Jeihr,” was the elderly man’s reply.
The two entered the Jeihr Mansion, going through the center gate before turning ninety degrees to walk down a hall, then turning ninety degrees again to exit a side doorway into the main courtyard.
Unlike the Hehr Mansion’s center pond and pavilion, the Jeihr Mansion was significantly larger. This allowed its center courtyard to be a massive garden with various different types of flora. Stone steps lead the way through the garden, and the path was lined with lamps that would light up during the night.
At the center of the garden was a bamboo hut within a small bamboo clump. One could call it a small bamboo forest, but the clump was so meager that such a description would be misleading.
At first, Rein thought he would be meeting Sir Jeihr at the main building, but Steward Xeer instead led him towards the bamboo hut.
Weaving through the bamboo clump and entering the bamboo hut, Rein came face-to-face with Sir Jeihr and his fiance, Meynan.
When Rein saw both Sir Jeihr and Jeihr Meynan, he couldn’t help but do a double take. He expected to first have a discussion with Sir Jeihr regarding Everlasting Pavilion first, and perhaps afterwards, he would be able to see Meynan.
He then noticed Meynan being absolutely dolled up and ravishing, and could only inwardly exclaim at Sir Jeihr’s shamelessness. The man was clearly using his daughter, dear precious Meynan, to test Rein’s heart and combat whatever Rein’s father may have decided with regards to the Everlasting Pavilion’s invitation!
Of course, Rein did not express this outright and only scolded Sir Jeihr in his heart as being excessive in his actions.
Meynan, only recently, became regarded as one of the beauties of Golden Desert Town. It happened recently, because Meynan, like Rein, was about to become an adult. In fact, she would turn sixteen a few months earlier than Rein, the age at which the Minhr Nation considered someone to be of age. By now, Meynan already had a rather curvy figure.
Although Rein tried his best, especially with Sir Jeihr around, he could not resist looking at Meynan’s beautiful slightly pointed face, small red lips, and meeting her big eyes. All this was framed by silky black hair partially arranged to form a crown on the top, while the rest flowed past down below the shoulders.
Upon observing all these doll-like details, Rein could only again lament the excessiveness of it all. Sir Jeihr truly made his daughter put maximum effort into her appearance for this. Perhaps, Sir Jeihr, in his heart, felt incredibly threatened by the Everlasting Pavilion and was pulling out all his cards…
Rein simply could not help but recklessly run his eyes down Meynan’s body. She was wearing a tight fitting turquoise sleeveless double-slit dress that fully demonstrated her slender figure, moderately endowed breasts, smooth arms and long legs. His eyes especially lingered for an extra blink of the eye on side-slits that were so high that Rein doubted if she even wore undergarments. Naturally, he could not resist the cleavage window hole toward the top of the dress either. At this point his eyes ran back up to meet her eyes.
Meynan felt a bit shy, but bravely met Rein’s gaze. If anything, she had stood as still as possible, even slightly arching her back while Rein’s eyes were roving all over her body. Not only that, she had intentionally moved her legs to further open up the side slit of the dress for Rein’s eyes. She was also brought up under merchant ‘etiquette’, since she grew up in one such family.
Truthfully speaking, she felt quite proud of herself. She clearly had the goods that would keep this future husband of hers interested. When Rein did look back up into her eyes, there was a moment in which she felt their gazes communicate a sort of softness toward each other.
Meynan was fully aware that with men, there was often a higher degree of lust involved. For her, she had long realized that what was most important was whether the man would back her when it mattered most, and Rein’s presence through their growth had long etched itself into her life. She had long found it unsettling without spending time with Rein everyday.
Her only regret today was that it was actually her father who had ordered her to dress up, no doubt because of the reported Everlasting Pavilion offer to the Hehr merchant family that came through the Jeihr’s information channels. She would have loved to dress up and play with the ‘horrible’ Rein’s attention as she pleased! In fact, she had intentionally done so quite a number of times in the past already starting from her early teenage years!
“So, how is my daughter? How is the Everlasting Pavilion?” Sir Jeihr, rather satisfied with Rein’s reaction, jumped directly to the important questions in his mind.