Ti passed, and the two were finally done eating, but Rowena asked a question that had been on her mind for a while.
"How exactly did you save her?"
"I don’t recall all the details, but I think she was trapped between this realm and a different one. According to what she said, I just removed a bunch of papers that seed to be so kind of seal, and it appeared to have freed her from where she was."
"So that ans soone must have sealed her there, right?"
"It seems so, but as for why, I don’t know."
"Since she’s a dragon, she’s most likely to know what happened in that forest centuries ago. She might even know the reason behind the changes that occurred there as well."
"Yeah, she should."
"Anyways, without her help, my people wouldn’t have been so relieved to see that forest finally clear of the fog that had plagued it for centuries, so I can’t help but feel glad she did what she did."
Austin smiled in understanding, and he couldn’t wait to et the dragon lady.
He also intended to thank her for everything she had done, which only made him want to see her sooner rather than later.
"So, what had my friend looking so gloomy and worried when I entered your study earlier?"
"You noticed?" Rowena asked, her eyes widening in surprise.
"Anyone could have seen how worried you were. Besides, as your friend, if I couldn’t notice sothing as simple as that, then what kind of friend would I be?"
Rowena felt genuinely touched by his words.
At the ti she had been standing at the window wishing her friend would arrive to lift her sad mood, she had been half joking, because she knew there was no way Austin could ever know what she truly wanted.
Besides, at the ti she had thought he was still lying unconscious in his room.
But to her surprise, he had not only woken up and co to lift her mood, he had also noticed how troubled she had been, and this only reassured her that she had truly made the right choice in having Austin as her friend.
"So, what was it?" Austin asked once again, and Rowena explained everything to him.
Starting from how her territory had always been dependent on imports from other nearby territories.
Things had been going well for months despite a nearby earl having increased the prices of transported goods.
But now that Blacksand Forest had been cured of its plague, Rowena thought it would be nice to reinvest in reviving her territory’s agriculture.
To do that, she needed new agricultural tools, seeds, and a few other things.
However, these could easily be purchased from the nearby earl, but since he had heard about the stamina-enhancing potions and how they had beco a hot topic across the kingdom, he had decided to demand astronomical prices from the Countess.
If she refused and turned to other nobles, there was a very high chance they would do the sa.
This was because many of these nobles were closely aligned in their interests most of the ti.
Of course, they didn’t truly like each other the way friends did, as they considered themselves rivals despite being closer to each other than to other nobles.
So if one of them decided to inflate prices against her, the probability of nearby nobles doing the sa would definitely be high.
That was the extent of a noble’s greed, and this had been the root cause of her worries.
In other words, Rowena knew she was in a deep conundrum right now.
And as for what to do about it, she truly didn’t know.
Affording new weapons for her garrison guards wouldn’t be easy either, which only made her even more worried about what other options she had.
Accepting their demands would only encourage them to inflate prices even further, and that was sothing Rowena didn’t want to see happen.
Of course, she had the money to pay what was currently being demanded, but if she did and it continued that way, it would only be a matter of ti before she beca bankrupt again.
*Sighs* Rowena sighed deeply as she explained everything, and Austin couldn’t help but smile as he stared at the ceiling with that familiar smug look on his face.
It was a look Rowena had grown used to recently.
"What’s so funny?"
"You are."
"? What about ?"
"I can’t believe my friend is so worried about sothing as trivial as that. If Earl Darragh, or whatever you called him, is inflating prices, then we’ll simply put him on a blacklist."
"What do you an?" Rowena asked with a curious and intrigued look on her face.
She didn’t know what he ant by blacklist, but sohow, from the way it sounded, Rowena could sense it could be used in a retaliatory context, and that was why she wanted Austin to elaborate on what he had said.
"Look, my dear Rowena, our product is the most sought-after potion in the kingdom right now, right?"
"Yes, it is."
"So, with the way demand is rising, it’s only a matter of ti before other kingdoms get wind of what our products can do. And if the royal family hears of this, don’t you think they’ll do whatever it takes to ensure we don’t look elsewhere when a rival kingdom cos knocking with astronomical offers? They’ll be forced to offer us riches beyond our imagination, just to ensure we provide the royal army with the best potions for whatever war they’re involved in."
"You’re right, but what does this have to do with the earl and the other nobles?"
"If the king becos a direct patron of our potion production, do you think that earl or anyone else would want to be on your bad side?"
"..." Rowena stayed silent as she pondered his suggestion.
However, Austin wasn’t done yet. "Alright, let’s say the plan involving the royal family sounds like a long-term solution compared to what we need right now. In that case, we can always offer a special kind of service for the products we sell."
Austin continued. "We can arrange special delivery to specific noble territories, with transportation costs included in the offer. This would ensure our products reach their doorsteps, possibly at special discounts tailored to specific nobles."
"However, we’ll also maintain a list of nobles and any territories associated with them, made available to all aristocratic families. This list would serve as a reminder that any noble associated with those households won’t be receiving our potions, and if we do sell to them, it would be at a price that would leave them penniless. In other words, this blacklist would be a subtle way of marking them as our enemies, and in situations like these, no one would want to side with a household that can barely offer them anything beneficial, unlike us, who would be the main and only source of the 20% healing and stamina-enhancing potions in the kingdom."
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