“You are late, Duke Arthur.”

“I apologize for the delay, Lady Fiona.”

Facing me is the Prime Minister, Duke of Hastings, Landon Hasting’s daughter. She is a famous celebrity throughout the entire Empire. Starting a conglomerate at such a young age, she is known as a prodigy among geniuses.

She is also well known as the “Frost of the Empire”, delicate yet beautiful. Her long Platinum Blonde combined with her Azure blue eyes leaves a lasting impact on everyone.

...though the whole Empire praises her, she remains as the cause of my headache…

It is all because of the rule her father brought into effect to make sure Lady Fiona doesn’t start a company at the age of 11.

“May I know the reason for your delay, Duke Arthur?”

...well, it would become a hassle if your business partner is lazy and incompetent…

“Duke Landon failed to inform me of the change in the location of our meeting…”

“Oh...I suppose it is not your mistake then.”

“Your fiance kinda troubled me too…”

“My fiance is your brother, Duke Arthur”, her eyes kinda got cold.

Is talking about William a no-no?

“Duke Arthur, may I ask you one question before we start?”

“Of course, you may.”

“The reason you gave up your position of Crown Prince is to avoid civil war, right?”

...did Duke Landon inform her?

“Father didn’t inform me.”

She can read minds?!?

“No, I cannot.”

“...”

While chuckling, “I specialize in reading expressions. And now for my question, what I told you is the truth, right?”

...dealing with her is going to be troublesome.

“It is as you say, Lady Fiona”

“So I was right. At the end of the day, the cause of my current condition is you, the incompetent Emperor, and the empty-headed Crown Prince.”

*blink**blink*

“Lady Fiona, you do realize that I could report this to them, right?”

“Would you, Duke Arthur?”, she leaned while having a smirk on her face, “As far as I know, your relationship with both of them is quite shaky, right?”

...has she figured out everything??

“No, there are many doubts still left…”

“Lady Fiona, could you please stop that?”

“Ha-Ha~~ I am sorry, it is a bad habit of mine. So, is it true?”

*sigh* ”It is. Have you also figured out the reason?”

“Yes, but it is of no importance to me...What I want to know is, how you despite being on bad terms with the Emperor, managed to get a Duchy?"

Ahh...thank goodness, she doesn’t know this.

“You are surprisingly easy to read, Duke Arthur.”

“Stop...I demanded conditions in exchange for the crown prince’s title. Various things happened and right now, I am having a Duchy in my hand. So, shall we start discussing our business?”

I don’t know why...but talking with her is kinda nerve-wracking.

“Eh~ but I have lots of questions left to ask…”

...is she sulking?

“You will be having more opportunities in the future. But right now, time is kind of tight.”

*sigh* “Fine...So tell me, what do you expect from Luxica, Duke Arthur?”

...she switched back to her business tone.

“Better food supplies, I have heard Luxica is exceptionally good in food-related items.”

“And you are not wrong. But what do you really want, Duke Arthur?”

No use feigning ignorance, huh...

“I want to jump-start the stagnant economy.”

“Stagnant Economy?”, she asked me questioningly.

Though, she is good in business...she is not  experienced in territory management 

“An economy being stagnant results in flat job growth, meaning no wage increases. The people have been living the same way they did 19 yeast ago. I want to change that.”

“I see...and, why Luxica?”

“Luxica, despite being a large company,  has their product’s prices low. The quality is great too.”

“My my, thank you...but, what is in it for us?”

“You will be the first company to settle upon the lands of Ellen. So that me-”

“More support and belief from the citizens, right?”

“Right.”

As I thought, she is good at handling business.

“And I expect, reduction in tariffs?”

“...”

“Ohh~~ Duke Arthur, you do plan on reducing the tariffs exclusively for Luxica, right? After all, we are going to be the first ones settling down.”

“How much?”

“80% reduction in tariffs and some extra conditions…”, she said while leaning back on the chair with a smug look.

Leaning forward, “And what might the conditions be?”

“A building for Luxica made by Ellen.”

“That can be done”

Ah...Deja-vu

“Complete protection for the goods we are sending in.”

“...Go on.”

“For the next two years, no other group than Luxica can sell in your territory. That goes for Elz, too.”

This kid must be joking…80% reduction on tariffs? and Elz can't be on business for the next two years? She is trying to monopolize everything...

“10% reduction in tariffs.”

“Eh?”

“The building can be built by Ellen, but the material costs must be supplied by Luxica.”

“Wai...Wait, Duke Arthur. Wha-”

“Your goods must be and will be protected by your guards.”

“Let me spe-”

“Two months later, Elz will be standing against you in the same line.”

“What are you talking about, Duke Arthur?!?! If this goes on, it’s better for me to close the deal.”

“Lady Fiona, answer my question.”

“Pardon?”

“Luxica might be a huge company, one that you built with all of your hard work throughout the year. But why hasn’t Luxica exported any of their goods to other countries?”, I said so while leaning back into the chair.

Lady Fiona leaning forward, “I...I just want to make sure to cover every part of the Empire before moving on to other countries.”

“Is that so? Then why didn’t you reach out to Switon(when it existed), you could have easily done that.” 

‘Th...That...”

“Let me say the reason...Luxica for the past three months neither faced profit nor loss.”

“Ho...how do you know that?!? That’s a company secret!! Only me, my father, and the other trusted employees know that!! I am going to report this to the emperor right away!”

...she is freaking out.

“Calm down, Lady Fiona. I understand your reason for concern. But you might regret it in the future for leaving soon.”

...I understand why she is feeling this way. My relationship with the emperor is not that big of a secret, but knowing the ins and out of a multi-level company is not that simple. Two years later, if someone started leaking out information about Elz, I would cut them down on the spot.

Of course, I got the information through Jane. Though I have no idea how she gets them, she never tells me.

“...”, she sat down with a crazy look.

I didn’t notice this...but she is just as outstandingly beautiful as the rumours say. Ah...this not the right time for thoughts such as this.

“Marquis Clifford, Count Byron, and Count Capell”

“What of them?”, she inquired.

“Who are they?”

“They are closely related to our families.”

“I see...Lady Fiona, would you believe me if I tell you that they have been embezzling money from you?”

“What kind of nonsense are you speaking, Duke Arthur? They are my family’s trusted individuals.”

...good, this should be a good lesson for her.

“The same individuals created various shelf companies to charge money for actions that have never been done..”

“Wh..Shelf Companies?”

“Yes...take a shell company, give it history and transaction data only to let it rot on the shelf for years, you get a shelf company. But the catch is that these companies are always on the move, from one criminal’s name to another.”

“I know what a shelf company is...but criminals?”

“Yes, shelf companies can be bought and sold. So, your ‘trusted individuals’ gave some money to criminals for their signatures. Of course, the criminals never know that they are the owner of a company.”

“So, how did you find them?”

“Luckily for you, I have managed to find documents that contain the noble’s names. Right here.”, once I showed her the document, her face began grinning ear to ear"

“If you accept my conditions, I can give you these documents, Lady Fiona. Leave the fish and aim for the shark next to it.”

“I’ll do it. Please give me the documents.”

Suddenly a thought came into my mind, “Oh...I have another question.”

“Yes?”

“You are good at reading expression. It must have been as clear as day for you. But why haven’t you found them out?”

She is good...no, probably one of the best in reading expressions, so why?

“I knew they were up to something but I couldn’t exactly pinpoint my finger on what.”

“So you lacked insight and evidence. But now that you have these, what exactly do you plan on doing to them, Lady Fiona?”

“Well, if I can think of this as an investment, I have to bring out maximum profit. So of course, I’ll be emptying their vaults.”

“She is just like you. An abnormal child”...I agree, she is a

“An abnormal child.”, I whispered out accidentally.

“Did you say something, Duke Arthur?”

“Nope...are the documents fine, Lady Fiona?”

“They are perfect.”, she said so pleasantly.

“Well, it was a pleasure doing business with you, Lady Fiona.”

“Haha...same here, Duke Arthur.”, a monotone.

She started walking towards the front door, just to turn around suddenly,

“I must truly thank you, Duke Arthur. Soon, I will be sending a file regarding all the information for our deal”

“Don’t worry, I acted for my own convenience. And yes, I am waiting for the deal to be successfully placed.”

That Jane...she shoved all the documents towards me. I had to go through thousands of papers to find the one  Lady Fiona is holding.

“Good night, Duke Arthur. We will meet here next week at the same time to finalize our deal.”, she told while sitting inside the carriage.

The butler by her side suddenly whispered something into her ears…

“Duke Arthur, are you available two weeks later?”

“Depending upon the occasion.”

“Good...I have found my escort for the graduation ceremony. We will be talking about this next week. Bye!”

“Wa-”, the carriage started to move, so she leaned out of the window.

“See you, Duke Arthur!! Oh and, please you are banned from wearing those shabby clothes to the ceremony next week. You have to be prince-like...oh-wait, you are a prince. Well, whatever, also practice your dancing skills”, and there she goes.

Eh? Escort...graduation ceremony...no way, there is no way I am going...and Lady Fiona’s mood switch way too often...it’s almost to the point of being funny.

While having such thoughts, I move to one of the back alleys.

“So, until where do you plan on following me?”

In the next instant, surrounding me were hundreds of daggers thrown with the intent to kill.