Chapter 21

I smile a little at the sight in front of me. It has been a few years since Lys attacked us, and we have grown very strong. We are now a new kingdom instead of an island near Lys. We are now called Solaris, and the capital city, our only big city at the moment, is Stellaris.

Yeah. My naming sense is not really good. Our Lunaran family is the moon, Solaris kingdom is the sun, and now Stellaris is the stars. When I explained it to Melisandre and the others, they immediately agreed because they said it was a beautiful name.

Lys, as expected, did not like it when we declared independence, but they could not do anything about it. At least anything big. The reason? Their money did not allow them to hire more mercenaries.

My plan is working. By selling their main product at a very cheap price, they start to struggle to get customers. They even try to tell others that their wine is better, but it is all a lie, as the customers notice it when they try Lyseni wine.

Our wine is better, and we always deliver the best wine, while the wine coming from Lys is a mixed bag. Sometimes, you will get a barrel of delicious wine, but the next one will not taste the same. It can be delicious, but most likely, it will be sour or less delicious than the previous one.

Because of this, the customer will always buy things from us because they know that we will deliver the goods and it will always be the best.

This is also the reason why my family name is known throughout the Narrow Sea. We are known as the merchants that sell high-quality goods at a cheap price. On Essos, we sell our goods to Braavos, Lorath, Pentos, and Myr. As for Westeros, we still only do trade with the North and Dorne.

The North has become our best trading partner. They are honest people. We give them goods, they give us money. We are friends to them, and they welcome us as family. Of course, some of them wanted my merchant to join their family by offering their daughter, but unlike in Dorne, they did not try to drug my merchant and let them make one of their daughters get pregnant.

Speaking of Dorne, that place is dangerous. Melisandre already reported to me about them bribing thirty people in the crew to get information about why we can produce a lot of food. Unfortunately for them, they did not know anything about it and could only offer their service to smuggle higher quality goods from us and inform them of anything they could get.

Of course, those people did not know that the one they were bribing was a double agent for me. Those people are the ones informing me about the territory they spy on and give the ones bribing them half-truth information.

Not much information needs my attention; even then, others can handle it.

I use all the money from the trade to expand the city and ensure my kingdom will flourish.

"My lord, can I come in?"

I snap from my thoughts when I hear Melisandre's voice.

"Come in, Melisandre."

A second later, I can see Melisandre and Willem enter my office. The two of them bow at me, and I say.

"What is it?"

"My lord, we come here bringing you the monthly report."

"It is already that time of the month, huh? Very well. Tell me the report I need to hear."

"Of course, my lord."

She takes out the first few papers and says.

"The first one is the monthly profit we make. We managed to make two hundred thousand gold coins. This is a clean profit after paying for the maintenance of the ship and paying all the crew."

This is a lot of money. I can get a lot more if I increase the price, but I have decided not to do that. We did not need more money as I had more than sixty thousand tons of gold blocks in a single large chest, and I had three large chests full of gold blocks. There is a lot of gold underneath my house in the Minecraft world.

"We also get a lot of other currency from Myr and Lorath. Do you want me to exchange it in Braavos?"

"No. Let's store it instead of exchanging it for Westeros Currency."

I suddenly get an idea and say.

"You know what? Let's give that currency to the Iron Bank as an investment. It will not be enough to make me a powerful shareholder of the bank, but it should be enough to make me a shareholder."

Melisandre smiles and says.

"It is enough to make you a shareholder, my lord. Do you want to use your position to reclaim your throne?"

I release a sigh and say.

"No. I want to use that position in case the Iron Throne tries something stupid against us. They have a lot of debt to the Iron Bank, and if I have a voice in the bank, I can pressure them not to mess around with us."

"Of course, my lord. I understand. Do we need to keep investing in the bank using other currencies?"

"Aye. Make sure we have some of the currency for an emergency, but you can give the rest as an investment."

"I understand."

"Anything else?"

Melisandre takes out more paper and gives it to me.

"These are more marriage proposals, my lord."

"Urgh. Tell them that I did not want to marry at the moment."

"And they are not worthy of your affection, my lord."

"Right. Anything else?"

"There is an invitation for you to attend a party from Dorne. The one inviting you is House Martell, my lord."

"Nope. I don't want to attend their party. I don't want my identity to be exposed."

According to Willem, my face resembles that of the Queen, my mother. It is not a lot, but I still have some resemblance to her. I don't want them to notice it, especially when they are from the family where my Good-Sister comes from.

"Very well, my lord. I shall write a rejection letter."

"Thank you, Melisandre. Anything else?"

"Another invitation, my lord. With the winter about to end, Lord Eddard Stark wants to invite you to attend their First Spring Celebration. He wants you to be the special guest at the celebration."

I think for a few seconds before saying.

"When will this celebration happen?"

"Lord Eddard says that spring will arrive in a month."

"Very well. Tell him that I will attend the party. Also, make sure to ask him to inform us a week before the party or at least tell Horo when he is there."

"Of course, my lord."

I nod and say.

"Anything else?"

"Nothing at the moment that needs your attention, my lord."

I nod and look at Ser Willem.

"What about you, ser Willem?"

"I come here to inform you that the group that I trained for a year is ready. Their loyalty is unquestionable; they will never inform others about our secrets. They are in great shape and form. I have trained them to be the perfect knights. Lastly, they are fearless. They shall never falter against monsters in that world."

I nod and smile a little at that news. My next plan can finally be done.

"Good. It is time for us to explore the End."