Coquettish Veirya
Sisi couldn’t engage in intercourse in her current shape. She now drank fruit juice instead of alcohol and strictly turned in at midnight. I decided not to let Sisi know I had successfully proposed to Vierya for the meantime after thorough deliberation, opting to just send her an invite when the time came. That way, we could avoid risking a miscarriage.
Leah sat up, albeit in a wobbly manner, when I arrived back at the tavern. Veirya came over and took my cape off me: “How is. Her Majesty? I heard. She hasn’t been too well. Recently.”
I couldn’t tell Veirya that Sisi was pregnant with my child… Eventually, I responded, “She’s not doing that bad. She doesn’t look as though she’s suffering. She’s probably just slacking off. Don’t worry about her.”
Relieved, Veirya nodded: “Do you. Have any plans. Tomorrow? If you don’t. I want. To visit Her Majesty.”
Although Veirya was no longer Sisi’s vassal, since we bought the North, Veirya remained loyal to Sisi, evident from her desire to see Sisi while we were at the imperial capital. I felt somewhat guilty. Truth be told, I wanted to go and check out the assets Achilles left behind for me, including his building, factory and company, tomorrow. I wanted to visit all of the places to exchange some words with the people there. It would take me approximately half a month to finish up. By then, Ross would’ve arrived in the North, which was perfect, as he wouldn’t think that we deliberately headed to the South.
“I have plans tomorrow. I’ll be going to the factory, building and company to finish up the handover.”
I went over to the bed and stroked Leah’s head and told her to continue sleeping. I then turned my attention back to Veirya again: “You don’t need to follow me, though, Veirya. If you want to see Queen Sisi, then go head. She’s doing fine, so she’ll grant you an audience.”
Sisi was no idiot. I knew she wouldn’t provoke Veirya on purpose… I’d assume so… Sisi didn’t stand to gain anything from provoking Veirya. As a matter of fact, she’d get on my bad side. Sisi wouldn’t do that. Therefore, I was fine with letting the two meet.
Veirya looked at me from my embrace, conveying with her eyes that I would end up in trouble if I went somewhere alone regardless of where that was. Nonetheless, the majority knew that I wasn’t one to go picking trouble.
“Veirya, you really don’t need to worry about me. I’m safe in the imperial capital. Plus, it’s not wise to bring you along. Achilles has only just been buried. Not even a handover of his assets is considered something worth being joyous about. It’s best that I go alone. I’ll leave Leah in your care.”
I wasn’t taking over his assets with a smile owing to Achilles’ tragic death. If I brought my wife and child along, I would be perceived as gross as a vulture that would eat someone’s corpse, too. Achilles was my friend, so I should’ve felt sad, not a winner.
Veirya nodded. I then went over to sit down at the table: “Veirya, you and Leah sleep. I need to go through the things Achilles left me.”
I suddenly recalled the letter Sisi sent me that I had yet to read, figuring I could read if after Veirya turned in. Speaking of which, Sisi didn’t mention when I saw her.
“What’s up with the letter? Was it just to inform me of her pregnancy?” I asked myself.
Veirya sat down on the bed and hugged petite Leah. I dimmed the lamp and opened Achilles’ book that he kept a meticulous log of. Achilles’ company’s main business was reselling importing goods. It wasn’t retail. Rather, it was a transit station of sorts. The business in the South would send goods to Achilles in the imperial capital. Then, Achilles would sell the goods to businesses throughout the entire nation. The business was in good shape. Even though wasn’t filling up racks, the income and expenditure were balanced. Achilles’ company hadn’t changed for months. By the looks of it, he stopped focusing on the company.
I didn’t need to look at the building for it wasn’t a flourishing unit. The company’s profits could easily provide enough money. I placed the two books aside. It left a bitter taste when I saw his handwriting.
I picked up the factory’s book. Compared to the previous two, the factory’s book was obviously newer and had fewer entries. I presumed it was the first factory in the entire empire. They mainly produced fabric goods. Given Achilles’ network, he didn’t need to worry about leads. In saying that, the profit was as much as I anticipated. The income was very close to the expenditure despite the monthly souls being decent. The factory was unable to demonstrate the advantage of a machinery-powered factory.
“Normally speaking, such a large factory should be able to steamroll the fabrics industry. Why is Achilles’ factory unable to rake in profits?” I questioned.
I decided to go and see for myself since I had no idea what the cost of the fabrics was supposed to be.
“Can we drop the price and prioritise a quick turnover over higher profits to swiftly conquer the market? I have a feeling Achilles didn’t comprehend the power of a factory,” I thought.
Factories don’t just amplify production abilities; they also reduce prices. That would allow us to overrun all man-powered production businesses and totally monopolise the market.
Before pursuing revenge, I needed to sort out what Achilles left behind for me. They were Achilles’ lifetime of work. Hence, I couldn’t allow them to go down the drain. One more important thing was that I was going to need to rely on them to support my livelihood going forward. If I couldn’t profit from them, I’d be relegated to watching Leah and Veirya starve to death. The two were going to live alongside Queen Sisi and the nobles in the future. I wouldn’t be able to keep up with their spending if I didn’t raise my income ceiling.
As I contemplated to myself, I heard rustling sounds behind me, compelling me to turn around to see Veirya carefully sit up from the bed.
“Veirya, what’s the matter? Did something happen?”
“You. Should sleep together with us,” answered Veirya after a short silence.
Puzzled, I asked, “What’s the matter?”
“I feel worried. Without you with me,” replied Veirya. Veirya climbed out of bed to approach me. Veirya tugged my arm after silently scanning the books.
I inwardly exclaimed, “What’s Veirya doing? Is she being coquettish?! Veirya wants to sleep together with me?!”
I stood up and shut the book. Achilles’ incident and death taught me something: family is always the most important. As for his business, I could look at it at another date.
I put out the light.
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