All of the color drained from Roland’s face, and he gave a half-hearted nod before returning to his original position. Reiner placed a hand over his mouth and turned away from the royals before him, his shoulders trembling slightly. He probably thought Roland had gotten what he’d deserved. In fact, looking at the faces in the room would show that many of the nobles there thought the same thing. It seemed that Roland was disliked by a lot of his peers.
Once things had settled down, the subject returned to sampling the lotion. Though there was nothing dangerous about the product, it was possible that some people would find that the formula irritated their skin. Kris explained that in the event of irritation, it would unfortunately mean that person wouldn’t be able to use the lotion.
“Just to be safe, I will test it,” the empress’s lady-in-waiting volunteered, holding her hand out to Kris. The woman’s eyes were glimmering with anticipation.
The empress seemed disappointed, but her position made it difficult for her to be the first to try the product, so she stood back and watched as her lady-in-waiting tested the lotion.
“This is very good for those with dry skin, as well as those who are prone to getting cracks on their hands,” Kris remarked.
The elven merchant felt the stares of the other maids grow more intense.
“Are you trying to win the favor of every woman in this castle?” the empress asked.
“I have no such intention, Your Majesty,” Kris replied, “though, I will say that even setting aside anything I stand to gain from these products, I genuinely believe that every woman should try them at least once.”
The empress’s lady-in-waiting had finished testing the lotion during their discussion, and she began inspecting the hand that she’d used it on. Kris thought that she was perhaps imagining it, but the lady-in-waiting almost seemed like she was in a trance.
“With that, I shall proceed,” Kris said and poured some of the lotion onto the empress’s hand, instructing her to thoroughly massage it across both of her hands.
The empress followed her instructions, and after she finished massaging the product into her skin, she held a hand up toward the ceiling. “This is amazing,” she marveled. “It’s absolutely incredible. In fact, it may even be the best gift I’ve ever received.”
“I am honored, Your Majesty,” Kris replied.
The empress stared up at her hand, completely dazzled by the effects of the lotion. The very next moment, an unsettling smile replaced her look of amazement as she asked something that completely took the elven merchant by surprise.
“This lotion is absolutely lovely. Would you consider selling the recipe and production rights to the Magnolian Empire?”
And with that, we return to the present.
“Lady Kristie? Can you hear me?”
The empress’s voice brought Kris back to reality. Her mind had been wandering through the events that had led up to this moment, but now she had to steel herself and face Her Imperial Majesty.
Kris made up her mind and spoke. “Your Majesty, I am terribly sorry to say that it would be difficult to consider such a proposal. I must also note that Margrave Reiner played a role in the development of these products, so regardless of what I think, it is not a decision I can make on my own.”
“You’re wrong,” the empress replied, completely crushing Kris’s desperate attempt at a response. “Margrave Reiner is a subject of the Magnolian Empire. Therefore, the margrave must obey any command from his emperor or empress. This is your decision, Lady Kristie. So, what do you say? Will you sell the recipe and production rights to me?”
This empress is terrifying! Kris thought. She felt the strong thumps of her heart racing and glanced at Reiner for help, but he turned the other way in a very obvious manner. You useless man! She cursed the margrave internally, then let out a deep sigh and thought, I’m sorry if this doesn’t go well, Sir Reid.
She mustered the courage to speak again, carefully choosing every world. “Regarding whether I will sell the recipe and the rights, I am afraid I cannot sell them,” she said, clearly stating her refusal of the empress’s offer.
The nobles in attendance were audibly disgruntled, shouting things such as, “What a display of arrogance!” and “This is blatant disrespect!” Kris thought she heard Roland’s voice among those who had voiced their displeasure.
“My business has staked its fate on developing and selling these products. If Your Majesty intends to exploit the power of the imperial throne to take them from us, we will have no choice but to leave Magnolia. Even if I were to agree to such an offer, I would likely be expected to offer the throne the rights to any other product I develop in the future. I don’t believe I would be able to do business under such circumstances, Your Majesty.”
“Is that so...?” the empress said, trailing off as she seemed to ponder something.
Kris didn’t want the empress to repeat what she’d considered an unreasonable demand, so she came up with a compromise. “While I cannot sell the recipe or production rights to either the lotion or the conditioner, it would be my pleasure to fulfill Your Majesty’s orders with the utmost priority. Of course, we will also do everything in our power to ensure that there are no defects. This right to priority supply will be exclusive to Your Majesty. I humbly ask that this may suffice.”
Kris had always intended to prioritize any orders from the empress, but such consideration carried more weight as an actual verbal contract than an unspoken agreement. Now that she had made this promise, her business had a public responsibility to ensure that the empress always had the highest priority when it came to fulfilling orders.
After hearing Kris’s suggestion, the empress stared right into the elf’s eyes for a few moments. Eventually, a cheerful smile appeared on her face. “Very well. It is indeed unfortunate, but I will accept this ‘right to priority supply.’”
Despite stating that the merchant’s response was unfortunate, the empress seemed thoroughly pleased with the outcome of their negotiations. The nobles in the chamber voiced their disbelief at the empress’s reaction, crying, “Your Majesty!” and “Are you quite sure?!”
In contrast to the shock on display, the empress remained dignified as her voice resonated through the chamber. “All is well. Nothing that Lady Kristie said is untrue. If royals begin stripping the people of their rights, this empire will be forsaken by its subjects and make its way toward destruction. We should use this opportunity to stringently reassess matters of rights and privileges, both for the sake of those affected by such matters and any wonderful products that may be created in the future.” She slowly turned to the emperor and gave him a meaningful look. “Do you agree, Your Grace?”
“The empress is right,” His Imperial Majesty announced to the chambers, standing up as if he had been waiting for her signal. “Moving forward, we will be more rigorous when reviewing matters of rights and privileges. Naturally, the production rights of conditioner and lotion, as well as any associated privileges, will belong to the Kristie Trading Company and the Valdia Mark. Are we in agreement?”
The nobles gathered in the chamber all silently bowed their heads in agreement with the emperor’s words. After the emperor finished his declaration, the empress turned to Kris and gave her a playful wink as if to say Sorry about that!
Kris scowled as she slowly turned to face Reiner, but he looked away again, not trying in the slightest to hide that he was avoiding her gaze.
Were Reiner, the emperor, and the empress working together this whole time? Kris wondered. Did the empress only make such an unreasonable request so they could set this precedent?
As that thought crossed her mind, she remembered the satisfied look on Her Imperial Majesty’s face after they had come to an agreement and realized that the empress had never wanted the recipe or the rights to the production of her products. She had simply wanted to secure priority rights to those products, or some other proportional benefit.
Kris slowly looked back at the empress to confirm whether her suspicions were correct. The monarch was hiding her mouth with a fan, but it was clear from her eyes that she was smiling. After looking back at the events of that day, Kris figured that she was the only one who hadn’t been privy to this plan and that she’d been dancing in Their Majesties palms. The empress had not only got what she’d wanted, but they had succeeded in using Kris to rein in the behavior of the other nobles.
Kris thought back to what Reiner had said on their journey: “The capital is a hotbed of corruption.”
Upon realizing that she’d been fooled by this whole charade, Kris’s pride as an experienced merchant was slightly injured.
I never want to come to this castle again, she thought sincerely.