Chapter 69: “A New Maid Has Arrived!”
I’m greeted by the attendees as I walk through the party hall, having managed to avoid falling apart in front of His Majesty Wilhelm and Dietrich. The party was held in the open air, so I could look out to sea and see the harbor of Keene. It’s been nearly two years since the construction of the harbor began, and I’m deeply moved by the completion of this ideal port.
“Hi, Flora! That’s a nice lipstick.”
“This is Herr Ludwig. Thank you for coming here today. And please make no mistake, in this room today I am Frodo von Kern…”
I’m in a bit of a good mood. I don’t care about Ludwig, but it’s nice to hear him say that about this lipstick. Anneliese and I went to a lot of trouble to develop this lipstick.
In the Kingdom of Prois, safflower was only used for oil. That’s why it wasn’t cultivated much, and it wasn’t used as a dye at all. So Anneliese and I went through a lot of trial and error to make a dye from safflower, based on my hazy, half-remembered knowledge. The lipstick that we finally completed is a product that I’m very proud of, and its color and luster can’t be compared to any other lipsticks that have come before.
“Flora is Flora to me. But still… Soon we’ll see each other every day in King’s Landing. I can’t wait for the day Flora comes to King’s Landing.”
“Well… I guess we’ll be heading to King’s Landing in a few months or so…”
I know. I’m turning 15 soon. In three months I’ll be going to school in King’s Landing. Only the highest nobility can afford to go to school in King’s Landing. I think you’d have to be at least a count or above to attend King’s Academy.
If I’m going to attend that school, it means that I’ll be attending as the daughter of the Carruthers Frontier Countess, not as the head of the Kahn family.
I’m quite independent and I don’t really feel like a daughter of House Carruthers but in King’s Landing I’ll be treated as a daughter of the House of Carruthers. If you don’t keep that in mind, you might get into trouble again, so you’d better be careful now.
We’ll need to leave at least a month in advance if we’re planning to travel and prepare in King’s Landing before the Academy begins. I’d prefer to leave earlier to give us more time, but that’s not possible. I’m pretty busy right now. To tell you the truth, I’m more interested and busy developing my territory than attending school in King’s Landing. I can’t say I don’t want to go but I don’t want to…
“Hah! A country girl like you will only be bullied in a sophisticated city like King’s Landing. Come and tell me when that happens. I’ll destroy any coward who’d bother to bully a country girl.
“Your Highness Lutgar…”
He’s 16 years old and he still looks the same. Ludwig and Lutger are a year older than me and they’ve been at school since last year.
“Lutgar’s not being honest with me as usual. Why don’t you just tell him that you’re worried about Flora and that he can come to you anytime he needs help?”
“Hey! Your Highness Ludwig! I’m not! I’m not worried about a country girl! I just can’t stand cowards who pick on country girls!”
Ludwig’s provocation made Lutger very angry. I don’t care. I’m not likely to talk to Lutger about anything.
No, no, no, wait, wait, wait.
I’ve been thinking that since we’ve rarely seen each other it wouldn’t matter, but Lutger could be useful. I’d almost forgotten that Ludwig and I are about to break off our engagement, or he’ll make me marry him. Then Lutger’s knowledge of Ludwig might be worth something.
I’m going to use Lutger to break off my engagement to Ludwig. This is an important point for me at the academy.
“”Ah…”” “
(with a) slamming noise (door, telephone receiver)
And there was the sound of a plate breaking. Lutger must have dropped the plate he was holding in his hand in his excitement while he was talking to Ludwig. Our men came quickly to clean up the broken dishes and the mess. Thank goodness we have so many good butlers and maids besides Isabella and Helmut.
Isabella and Helmut trained all of our men and I’m sure they’re all very good. They’re no better than the Caruthers. I think it’s amazing that the quality of a knight’s family is so similar to that of a frontier count’s family. I’m indebted to Isabella and Helmut for bringing up such men.
“Oh, sorry. I’ll pay for it.”
Lutger is sulking because he’s broken the plate. He seems to know that a white porcelain plate is not cheap. It’s kind of funny, though he’s usually so arrogant.
No, no, it’s all right. I hope you don’t mind, Prince Lutgar.
“No! That’s not how it works! How much?”
Lutger’s going to put his hand in his pocket and ask. Apparently, he’s going to pay out of his own pocket.
“This is a new piece of rococo white porcelain… I think it’s worth over three million Euro for a piece this size.”
Three million?
Lutgar froze with his hand in his pocket. No wonder. It’s hard not to be surprised when you hear that a single plate like this costs close to 100 million yen. We use white porcelain plates for parties like this because we’re a producer, but a normal family would go bankrupt just collecting this many plates.
It’s a world I don’t really understand, but even in this world, and even on modern Earth for that matter, there were many very expensive pieces of porcelain. I used to find it hard to believe whenever I heard stories of old plates costing hundreds of millions of yen. I never thought that I would be the one to make and sell them.
I’m sorry. I don’t have enough on me right now. I’ll pay for it.
Lutger sounded really depressed and said in a very different and quiet voice. It’s good that he’s quiet but I feel bad that he’s this depressed. The Duke and Duchess of Creff could probably afford this much, but I doubt Lutger’s allowance will buy it.
“Chips and cracks are to be expected. So there is no need to be concerned.”
“But!”
You don’t seem to give up when I tell you not to worry. I don’t want them eating at me forever. And the people around me are starting to put their plates down, too. That’s right. I’d hate to break it and have to pay 100 million yen.
Kashan (dynasty of India, approx. 60-375 CE)
And I hear the plate break again. That’s right. I dropped the plate near me and broke it on purpose. I’ll break another one or something.
What are you doing? What are you doing?
“Listen, Your Highness. Dishes are not meant to be displayed. They’re made to be used. And if you use them, they will chip, and one day they will break. To not use a dish because of this is an insult to the craftsmen who made it. There is no need to apologize or pay for broken dishes. We want you to enjoy your delicious food while looking at the beautiful plates. If you do not want to use the dishes and plates that were prepared for that purpose, then let’s break all these plates.”
I’m about to drop another one when Rutger grabs my hand. People around here are watching us, wondering what the hell is going on.
“All right! All right, all right, all right! Just stop it! You’re hurting my heart!
Yeah. It breaks my heart to think that we just broke a billion dollars worth of plates. But I mean it when I say that these plates are worthless if people don’t use them and don’t eat our food.
snapping (e.g. book shut)
incessant blinking
Bic, bic, bic, bic.
Applause started echoing around us. The applause quickly spread throughout the hall and was directed at us. When the applause died down, the attendees took the plates they had put down and started to use them again. It seems that they understood that they could use the plates without worrying about breaking them.
“Flora is as reckless as ever.”
“Your Highness Ludwig… I’m sorry I’ve caused you so much embarrassment…
The opening ceremony and party went off without a hitch.
******
Keene’s open port and it’s been a few days and I’m back to business as usual… and I can’t stop sighing. If I go to the academy in King’s Landing I’ll have to live in King’s Landing for three years even if I can come back occasionally for long vacations.
The realm of the Knights of Khan is developing at a tremendous pace. I’m not just bragging about it because I’m a lord, but it’s a fact that’s clear from the data.
The population of Kernburg is now 1207, almost 6.6 times higher than two years ago. The population of Keene is 872, more than 13.6 times as many. The number of soldiers has risen to 154.
I have three captains who have served me since the beginning, Oliver, Ignaz, and Armand, each with 20 infantry. That’s 63 infantry. And 91 sailors. I told the king I didn’t have a navy, but I do have a navy…
Well, it’s not really a navy. Just the crews that guard and operate the ships. There’s still a crew of simple laborers, but…
Then there’s a new village we’re building all the way west of Kernburg. This one’s not northwest. It’s much closer to the border of the Kingdom of Frasier to the west. There’s a big river there too, and they’re building a new village on the east side of it. It’s a good location, though it’s so close to the border that it could become the front line if tensions with the Frasian kingdoms escalate.
If you go north on the river at the pioneer village, you’ll reach the northern sea. I don’t know if it’s connected to the sea north of the Djerbe River. But I don’t know if the land of the demons to the northwest of Kernburg is like a peninsula or if it’s just a part of the peninsula and the seas to the east and west are not connected to it.
Whether the land of the Demons is a peninsula or not and the northwest sea and northeast sea are not connected, we can expect to make a lot of profit if we seize both the Dierbe River basin and the river basin of the villages we’re developing and control the trade.
With all the new developments and the rapid growth of Kernburg and Keene I’ve been pretty busy. The three admins Victoria introduced me to are helping me with my work, but I still can’t get around to it.
The three of us are so independent of each other, we don’t even know each other’s faces. I’m the only one who knows all three of them, and we don’t even know each other.
Why do we have this system? Because if I put one person in charge of all the work, how do I know and stop that person from cheating or embezzling?
So Victoria told me about the old method used in the Krouk Chamber of Commerce of having several administrators do the same job separately without informing each other who or how many such people were present.
The three of them have been given a great deal of authority over accounting and setting up new businesses. However, since the three of them do the accounting without knowing who the accountants are, if the three of them have different accounts, it’s easy for them to find out that something’s wrong. Of course, there are ways for the three of them to collude and cheat on the accounting, but it’s not that easy to do.
The Kreuk Chamber of Commerce can’t manage everything on its own, so they do it in such a way to ensure that everything is managed properly and without any irregularities.
Victoria introduced me to a young man, Melchior, a middle-aged Valthasar, and an old man, Caspar. These three men don’t know each other or their contacts. They do the same work that I give them. If they get different results, I can look into it, find out what’s wrong with them.
If it’s a simple miscalculation you can just fix it but if it’s embezzlement or fraud you’ll be exposed in a heartbeat so we don’t do anything like that. The three of us watch each other while we work, so we can leave the work to each other with a certain amount of peace of mind, but even so, I’m never free.
You have to go to King’s Landing soon, but you have too much to do! I’m not getting any less work done!
Miss Flora, I have a new recruit I’d like you to hire.
Helmut?
Then Helmut came to me.
“Butler or maid? You can hire the housekeepers as usual, Isabella and Helmut, as you please?”
I don’t give a damn about hiring butlers and maids. I don’t want anyone too peculiar, but these two would never let anyone like that in. They always bring in the best and the brightest, and I’m sorry they have to serve the knighthood.
I can’t let my houseboys have knighthoods since my master is a knight of the lowest rank. Because if they had knighthoods they’d be equal to or higher than me… That’s why the counts on the frontier have counts, but the knights only have nobles. No one has a higher title or rank than my master.
“Please come in and see me and make a decision. Come in.”
Apparently, they’re already waiting outside the door. A woman walks in. She looks…
“Kak, Katerina?”
I haven’t seen her in years. She’s changed a lot. She used to be a skinny little girl with a big belly… But I can still see her clearly. Now I see Katharina, Helmut’s younger sister who’s grown prettier and prettier.
