“Hahaha. I wonder if the rumor has spread that we are dealing with the Empress from our merchant group, for they have sent a bundle of gifts and asked us to deliver a letter directly. Hahaha!”
“……Really?”
“Yes. Hahaha. This is the first time we’ve received so much contact from the nobles since our founding. Hahaha.”
“……So?”
As my voice grew faint, I could feel Raven becoming increasingly impatient next to me. That foolish merchant laughed cheerfully, apparently oblivious to Raven’s gestures.
“Of course, not just anyone can become part of Her Majesty’s administration!”
The merchant’s laughter filled the reception room, making my head ring.
“But there were some decent children from prestigious families among them. They are flawless enough to keep by Her Majesty’s side…… Huh? Raven, why are you crossing your arms? Hahaha! It looks like you’re making an X sign. Hahaha!”
Raven, who had been desperately sending signs, despairingly shook his head.
“How did you become a merchant leader with such obliviousness?”
“What?”
“Rumors are truly amusing, aren’t they?”
I laughed brightly and tore the catalog I had been looking at with force.
“We are not even in the midst of trading yet, but a false rumor that we are has spread.”
“Em, Empress! Wh, what is this!”
“We merely looked at the catalog and lightly discussed trading once. I wonder where this false rumor of us trading came from.”
I propped my chin and tilted my head as I looked at the merchant sitting in front of me.
“It feels like I know who spread such a rumor.”
“Em, Empress. Wh, what are you saying…… It’s natural for us to be the big merchant group in the Empire…….”
“I know you’re a big merchant group. But why do you think I’ll trade with you? That’s up to me.”
“Yes, yes?”
The merchant stared at me with a confused expression for a moment but soon regained his composure and retorted.
“Hahaha. This is quite…… Empress, do you know why everyone is eager to trade with the big merchant group? Because of the monopoly rights they possess. The exclusive rights to famous designers, the exclusive rights to ornaments made in the workshop.”
The merchant spoke passionately, spitting as he spoke.
“The tableware that Raven said was okay during our last meeting is an item that can only be handled in our merchant group, not in any other. Empress.”
The merchant raised his head with a proud expression.
“Our merchant group owns a vast collection of famous collections. Something that would make the ambassadors of the Eteria Empire drop their jaws…….”
“So you recklessly spread the rumor that we are trading?”
The merchant stopped talking and foolishly adjusted his clothing. I gazed at the merchant leisurely, propping my chin and then opened my mouth.
“You’re right in what you say. It turns out you have monopolized some designers or brands.”
“Of course. That’s unique to our merchant group…….”
“Also, very unethically.”
“What?”
The merchant looked at me with a bewildered expression, and Raven next to me also looked at me with a surprised face.
“You demanded exclusivity from the designers or brands before they grew big, didn’t you? With an exclusive period of one hundred years.”
“A hundred years?!”
Raven took a sharp breath in surprise. I feigned checking some documents that I had prepared earlier and tossed them onto the table.
“A hundred years…… Can a person live for a hundred years?”
“Raven. Is that a question? Obviously not. Once they contract, they can’t get out until they die.”
Raven looked incredulously at the documents I had thrown on the table and hurriedly checked them. The merchant’s face on the opposite side turned red.
“The, the contract is under my authority…….”
“And you force them to use your workshop as a condition for monopolization. Of course, you take 30% of the sales for the use of the workshop.”
“30% of sales?! This thief!”
“Is that all? The supply fee is 50% of the sales. There’s no separate highway robbery.”
Raven opened his mouth wide, and between the document and the merchant’s face, he shouted as if to be heard.
“If the creator can only take 20% of the sales, isn’t this outright labor exploitation?”
Those who barely made ends meet by selling goods were reduced by 20%. To terminate the contract, one had to cough up ten times the sales made so far. The number of deliveries to be made in a year was also absurd.
“What a wicked act.”
The merchant’s face changed red and pale at the blatant insult.
“The contract is strictly my right! I’ve explained everything and they agreed to it! Your Majesty!”
“That may be. Who would say no when you promise to help them escape the immediate peril, even if they know it leads to a cliff? You took advantage of people’s desperation.”
“What, what’s the problem with that?!”
“Levanfell.”
I ignored the merchant’s question and called Levanfell beside me. Levanfell nodded to my call and replied.
Male lead is a Destined Young Husband (Female-dominant)
One-sentence summary: Wife-master, listen to my explanation!
Li Ruantang, a young lady from a prestigious family, stumbled and fell. When she woke up, she saw a noble and beautiful young man sitting by her bedside, wiping away tears.
The young master had slightly reddened eyes, and his every move exuded charm.
The sight made Li Ruantang’s eyes hot and her heart flutter. After all, she had made a bet with the young master Meng from the neighboring family. If she couldn’t marry a husband before the end of the year, she would have to admit defeat and give up the jade she had worked so hard to obtain.
Outside the window, the flowers were in full bloom.
Rather than losing the bet, the jade, and her face, Li Ruantang calculated that it would be better to seek marriage with the young master in front of her, killing three birds with one stone.
…
Meng Jun never thought that an accident during a spring outing would lead to them rolling down a cliff and into a river, yet still survive.
Now they were trapped in an unknown village, and Meng Jun had overheard that the family who had rescued them had their own intentions.
After all, it was Li Ruantang who had lost her mind and sought marriage first. He was only trying to protect himself!
Glancing at Li Ruantang, who was listing her own merits, the young husband’s voice softened, and he blushed as he lied, “W-wife-master, Wife-master, don’t you remember me?”
The young husband’s voice was clear and handsome, coaxing Li Ruantang’s heart to be soft and sweet, and she spared no effort to protect him.
It wasn’t until they returned to the capital that Li Ruantang suddenly remembered.
When they had fallen off the cliff, in order not to implicate Wei Yunruo, whom he secretly admired, the young husband had instead pulled her, who was slightly farther away, down the cliff with him…
Short summary by Yuushi L: Initially, the male lead (ML) liked another girl, while the female lead (FL) liked the ML. Both fell off a cliff. The FL temporarily lost her memory, and the ML, fearing others might take advantage of him, claimed FL was his wife while they were staying in a village. Later, when they returned home, the FL regained her memories and remembered that the ML liked someone else, so she kept her distance from him. However, during their time living together in the countryside, the ML’s view of the FL had completely changed. From this point, his pursuit of the FL begins.
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