Chapter 31
Marchioness Aine was middle age woman with beautiful features, it seemed that she maintained her beauty regularly with herbs, potions, and other items . She was brunette with brown eyes with a height of 5 feet and 9 inches . She also had a son named Julius who was 18 recently but he was in the Imperial capital's knight academy completing his initial training .
"Greetings to the Marchioness, as you guessed this time we came to meet father and Marquis since we wanted to complete a deal regards to the soaps we provided this time around but it was fortunate to meet you today . " Joseph greeted Aine and later mentioned his intentions .
"Hmm . . . I heard from Steve that you were the one who supplied the Rose soaps in the city this time around . Well, good luck with your venture . Meanwhile, who are those friends of yours over there?" Marchioness said to Joseph .
"Let me introduce you, this is John, Eva, Jay, Josephine, and Sally . As for Phillip you already know him . It is John who made those new soaps which are being circulated in the upper noble circles nowadays . " Joseph introduced his friends and waved to Phillip so that he can present the gifts which were prepared to Aine . While John and others greeted Aine .
Marquis Ray was a tall man with blonde hair and a sharp face . He had strict as well as a jolly air around him . He looked like a man who had been through a war but understood the importance of life . During his younger years he had followed the kingdom's army in war and had made great achievements for himself and his domain and hence he had this air around him . Today he wore luxuriously with a Black cape, black shoes, and white gloves . He wore a full sleeved leather shirt with a sleeves furry coat on it with a white shirt inside which could only be seen on neck and borders of leather shirt with a black pant . The borders of his hands were cuffed like most nobles clothes . And it seemed that recently the nobles had started using buttons and new designs from the snake's family and it had become quite popular because of its comfortability .
Marquis Ray very much understood the importance of trade and commerce and hence he promoted commerce and merchants in all of his domains but there were certain norms like slavery which he couldn't fight as it would require a lot of money, strength and political will to achieve his aim so he never declared his intentions to anyone and acted like most of the noblemen . But certain businesses like the Food and Pearl industry were under his family's control as they were very strategic to them . Most of the nobles also controlled the food circulated into their domain .
As they were conversing Marquis and Frank came in the room with the butler leading them inside .
While laughing Marquis came inside the room and said to everyone in the guest house "Well well well, everyone is having a happy conversation this time around . You might be John which was being talked about earlier when I talked to Joseph last time and you guys might be the friends of John and Joseph, Aine please show them the house while we discuss our business dealings for now . Well we can converse later on"
Aine led Eva and others and let them discuss their business matters as she understood from her years of experience .
Aine turned to Eva and others and offered to lead them in the mansion .
"Why don't you guys join me and tour the mansion while they deal with matters of their own"
"Okay, that won't be a problem . " Eva replied without thinking much and let John and Joseph finish their dealings first .
Only Phillip and Marquis Ray's butler remained while others left the room .
"It seems you have been quite jolly these days Joseph" Frank asked Joseph after he was done watching from the sidelines .
"Well, I got Information about who was targeting us just yesterday so I guess it was a good occasion to feel happy . " Joseph smiled and deliberately revealed this information to Marquis and his Father so that they can understand that they cant use Intel as a potential bargain chip this time .
Both the Marquis and Frank were shocked but thought they were bluffing and hence they decided to probe them a bit .
"So who might be targeting you guys and the soaps you produce?" Frank asked in a probing tone .
"Well lets first sit and have drinks first" Marquis signaled his butler and decided to have the conversation in a relaxed environment unlike the tense one .
Phillip then handed over some of the documents to Frank and Marquis which were already prepared by him .
"This was some of the information which we collected after coming to Pearl city . So what do you think dad?" Joseph knew that his father would mostly ask him this question and hence he was already prepared .
Both the Marquis and Frank looked at the documents one by one and they were very shocked because a lot of information matched while there was some information which even they didn't know about . Like how one of Joseph's brother was plotting with a Duke from the west . Plus from the authenticity of the information, they knew that Joseph's eldest brother Max was recently in the Blackwolf Duchy at the western part of Aelius Kingdom . Max and some of his cousins had allied with Blackwolf duke because duke too was in the business of soaps and hence their interests matched so it seemed Max had quite an ambition by hiding his purpose all this time while allying with the Duke at the same time .
"I think the information they have this time is very credible since most of the facts match with our information while some of them need to be verified . What do you think Frank?" Marquis asked Frank in a serious tone after looking through the papers .
"Well 3/5th of the information has matched with us and it wasn't that bothersome since there was bound to be a leak from your brothers sooner or later . However Duke Blackwolf supporting Max and your cousins from behind the scenes would be quite troublesome . However, it won't be a problem for now as Duke could only help them in the form of funds and his own connections since his domain is quite far in the west while we are in the south, additionally with our support you guys don't have to worry much if our deal is finalized . " Frank thought and gave his opinion to everyone present in the room .
"Hmm . . . Joseph tell me one thing how did you get this much information about the people eyeing you guys? Or have you always hidden your spies and decided to show your cards today?" Marquis was very curious and hence decided to ask them .
"Well, it was John who got this information from one of his partners this time around so we thought we should at least make preparations beforehand and reveal it to you guys . " Joseph thought and decided to throw it all on John's head as he didn't want to reveal John's deal with Vlad and Diana .
"It was anyways expected that Duke Blackwolf would make a move on us sooner or later since our interests conflicted but it is a good thing that we got early information on Max and your cousins so can take preventive measures this time around" Marquis told Joseph and John while he didn't probe further on John's source of information . Marquis didn't hold back if it was Frank's son or not because after using the soaps this time both of them had decided to support them and it would be a good opportunity for them to claim another market and source of income while it was inevitable that there would be treachery and betrayal in a big family where everyone hoped to acquire more power .
Frank was of the same opinion as he had already experienced the same thing with his brothers when he was young and decided not to interfere in the rivalry and treachery between the siblings and cousins .
Both the Marquis and Frank looked at John very curiously this time around as they didn't expect John to have a partner who had such a detailed network when it came to information gathering and decided not to probe further as everyone had their secrets and got back to business .