My Contract Husband Resembles the Male Protagonist - Chapter 58
“So, I was thinking, instead of waiting until winter, why don’t we go to the capital a bit earlier?”
I said, looking at the calendar.
The timing was close to when the winter training started.
The Emperor usually stayed with the knights at the beginning of the training to boost their morale and returned to the capital around the mid-point when the full-scale mock battles began.
“The time when my father leaves the capital and the Emperor leaves the palace overlap. This period is perfect.”
I drew a long circle on the calendar.
“We can stay in the capital during this time. It will actually be safer.”
“But there’s a chance you might run into people you know, Miss Enya.”
“Don’t worry about that. I have disguise potions.”
I had disguise potions that I carried with me regularly.
They weren’t enough to use daily, so I had been saving them.
“Unless they’re as skilled as my father or the Emperor, no one will suspect a thing.”
“Are you really saying we should go to the capital?”
“Dale, do you dislike the idea?”
He hesitated, looking deeply troubled.
I closed the thick curtains to block the draft coming through the window.
“You can feel winter approaching. It’s getting much colder, and this house will be very drafty without buildings around to shield it.”
The house built on the hill was beautiful, but that was the problem. It wouldn’t be well protected from the wind.
“It’ll be better if we have the house renovated for a while. You know we need to leave the house for that, right?”
I tried to persuade Dale.
“Right. At the end of the year, the capital does a big tree decoration. Have you ever seen it, Dale?”
“…Yes. Once or twice.”
“They decorate the trees with Luminous Stones, right?”
“Mostly, yes.”
At the end of the year, it was customary to decorate not only the shopping streets but also the trees along the bustling roads with Luminous Stones, celebrating the safe arrival of the year’s final season.
However, there was a significant shortage of Luminous Stones supplies this year.
‘The frequent rains should have caused the minerals to absorb groundwater, but that didn’t happen.’
But Grunwald had a substantial amount of Luminous Stones deposits.
The Viscount of Kiedland primarily mined raw gemstones that fetched a high price.
Luminous Stones weren’t particularly lucrative.
Yet, the price of Luminous Stones was 1.5 times higher than usual this year.
“Kellefelt would recognize profitable items, but the production method for the hoe is limited, and it’s neither a necessity nor military equipment, so it’s not something they’d immediately focus on.”
And it’s winter.
Who would be interested in agricultural tools in winter?
Right now, the priority was securing winter goods and stockpiling food.
Agricultural tools like hoes wouldn’t be useful until spring.
“The closer it gets to the end of the year, the more expensive Luminous Stones will become.”
Kellefelt’s guild was in charge of supplying Luminous Stones to the entire capital.
Until the previous emperor, they weren’t the unrivaled guild they are now.
It was the current emperor who elevated the Kellefelt guild to its unshakable number one position.
Among countless merchant guilds, only the Kellofelt Guild did not swear loyalty to the former emperor.
I looked at Dale.
“If there’s a shortage of Luminous Stones, the Kellefelt Guild will try to bring in supplies from abroad.”
“They’ll bring them in at a higher price.”
“Preparation to decorate the streets will start in about ten days. By then, all the goods need to be ready.”
I looked at the calendar.
“A trade deal around the eighth day would be ideal. By then, the price will have increased by two to three times. If we wait too long, they’ll place orders with another kingdom. I need to inform the lord.”
“Miss Enya.”
Dale called out to me, looking worried.
“It’s a good plan, but it won’t benefit you at all.”
Dale seemed to be confused about why I was so determined to help Grunwald.
“Your health is what matters to me. I don’t want you to overwork yourself.”
“Thank you, but I’m not doing this out of pure goodwill.”
“Then why…”
“In a place I sometimes dream of, they had a method of selling even useless items.”
Dale widened his eyes at my words.
“When selling something valuable, they would also push the buyer to purchase items they didn’t need.”
Dale’s eyes grew even wider as if hearing this for the first time.
“In order to buy something they really wanted, they had to buy something they didn’t really need as well.”
“Such methods existed?”
“When trading Luminous Stones, I’ll subtly include the hoe. I’ll say they can’t buy the Luminous Stones unless they also buy the hoe. But I won’t excessively raise the price of the Luminous Stones.”
I smiled brightly.
“It’s called bundling.”
