Chapter 32: I shouldn’t be thinking as a merchant but as a crown princess

At first, Rishe had looked at her deal from the point of view of a merchant. She'd operated from the standpoint that her task was to design a product with a high profit yield. However, once she learned of the policy Arnold had put into place, she'd had doubts about her plan.

After hearing Elsie's feelings, she'd realized how thoughtless she had been.

I shouldn't be thinking as a merchant but as a crown princess.

Profits and prosperity came from a country's people. And to prosper, to thrive, people needed more than just food and shelter. They had to live without throwing away their dreams and aspirations. They needed hope.

"I doubt this is ideal for you," Rishe said. "But it's all I can offer at this time."

"Actually, I think this is a pretty good plan. You're excellent at picking up on my own thoughts and beliefs. I've rather enjoyed this."

Tully's look of glazed boredom had become one of delight. "However, Miss Rishe, you've still got much to learn."

She recognized that smile. It was how he'd look at her back in her first life whenever she made a mistake.

"Remember what I told you before? You conduct yourself too earnestly—you're transparent. Someone unscrupulous could take advantage of that."

"I…appreciate the warning," Rishe said.

"I haven't the faintest idea why, but clearly you want me and my company. And I'm planning on using you to the full extent of my ability."

Tully's people gave him more exasperated looks. "C'mon, Boss. This is the crown princess you're talking to here. Quit it."

Tully lips curled, sly and savoring. "So, what will you do? I can poke a hundred holes in this deal you're offering me. I bet you'd come up with something even better if I reject it."

Rishe closed her eyes for a breath.

"Oh? And I suppose you won't allow me to take my business elsewhere."

"See? You do understand me! Even though we've only spoken a few times."

"I wanted to avoid this, but you've left me little choice." Rishe turned over her final document.

"What have you got for me this—" Tully's eyes went wide and his back straightened. "What the…?"

"What is it, Boss?"

Shock was written all over his face. His aloof affectation evaporated, panic threading his voice. "Miss Rishe, how the hell do you know about this?!"

"Apologies. I admit I took the liberty of investigating you in my own way." The truth was that Rishe had seen it with her very own eyes, but she couldn't say that.

"As I have written here, I am currently in the process of cultivating some rare herbs. Together, they can be used to make a medicine that hails from the country of Renhua to the east."

The knights who accompanied Rishe to her work in the garden gave her wondering looks. Rishe nodded gravely. "Mr. Tully, do you recognize the symptoms of this disease?"

"This is what Aria is…" Tully trailed off.

Rishe knew Aria Tully very well. She was Kaine Tully's only living family member. Right about now, she would be a bright and happy ten-year-old girl. Her character was slightly more scrupulous than her older brother's, but she was no less curious. Fitting, for the namesake of the trading company. Tully loved her dearly, and that was why he was gathering information from every corner of the world.

"Exactly. This medicine will cure your sister's disease."

Aria had struggled with respiratory infections since she was very young. Rishe had seen it happen in her previous lives. Her older brother traveled the world, peddling his wares as he searched for a way to cure her.

Tully's breaths were ragged, his voice hoarse. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that you know of Aria's illness. I speak to doctors wherever I go. But how do you know about herbal medicine from Renhua?"

The eastern country of Renhua had its own tradition of herbalism that went back centuries. Doctors from all over the world traveled there hoping to gain their knowledge, but it was fiercely guarded. Having spent a life working for Tully, Rishe knew he was among one of the supplicants denied access.

"The apothecary who served my family came from Renhua. She taught me herbalism." That specifically was a lie, but Rishe did know an herbalist from Renhua. Before meeting her, Rishe had been entirely self-taught; her education went in bounds after that. One of the things she'd learned was the medicine she was offering Tully now.

"I did a little bit of digging into Miss Aria's symptoms. If she takes this medicine for a year, she will make a full recovery."

"Why should I believe you?" Tully snorted. "You're not a doctor or an apothecary."

Rishe had anticipated this, so she'd taken measures a week ago. She turned her attention to Tully's staff. "Gentlemen, what do you think? You've already had a sample."

Tully's men looked momentarily shocked. "Do you mean the stuff we took the morning after you drank us under the table?"

"Yes, that's what I'm referring to."

The night one week prior, when she'd followed his men to the inn and challenged them, knowing she would be the only one sitting sober when Tully arrived. On her way out, she had given Tully packets of medicine, saying: "When your employees wake up tomorrow, be sure to give them this."

It was, of course, a hangover cure.

"Well, when I woke up, I felt pretty bad… But the medicine helped, for sure!"

Rishe nodded. "It has a number of effects. It swiftly expels alcohol from your blood and reduces inflammation in the stomach. I made it myself."

"You did?!" Tully's staff stared at her with matched looks of shocked admiration.

Rishe hadn't chosen a drinking game by chance. By giving them an opportunity to try her medicine in advance, she'd hoped to increase her credibility in Tully's eyes. To convince him to take a chance on her.

I admit, I let myself slip into old habits back then, orchestrating things as I did. I fully admit my guilt.

Rishe turned back to Tully. "You're right, in the end. I can't prove to you this medicine will work. But isn't a little hope better than no hope at all? "

Tully was silent, pressing a hand against his brow. "Become a merchant who can pick their clients. Offer values and products that can't be found with anyone else — that's what I say to my employs."

Yes, I know. She had taken his lessons to heart.

Tully wore an ugly grin. "But now the tables are turned, eh, sweetheart?"

"Mr. Tully—"

"We were just bargaining whether I would pick you. But right now, you're the one in the position to pick me."

Tully sat up tall, staring intensely at her. He was a prideful man, but he'd throw everything away for the sake of his beloved sister, even for an unsure bet. He was attempting to humble himself before Rishe. "Please. I'll give you everything I own if that's what it'll take. So, please, give me—"

"I think you've misunderstood my intentions here." Rishe interrupted.

"I will give you the medicine's recipe for free."

"What?" Tully looked at her with disbelief.

"And of course, I will give you the herbs required to make it. There need not be any contracts or negotiations involved, don't worry about that at all."

"Are you kidding me? I was just slithering out of our deal! You're telling me this isn't your trump card?"

"I am using it as a trump card," Rishe said. "But I would never stoop so low as to hold your sister's health hostage."

Tully blinked, thrown completely off, as she went on, "There is, however, something I would like you to understand. Everyone in the slums cares just as much for their families as you do for yours. There are countless people out there sacrificing their own dreams to ensure that their own younger siblings don't end up sick or malnourished."

Rishe clenched both fists as she recalled her conversation with Elsie. "I believe that it is the country's duty to assist them, but I am just a princess. I am powerless to change anything. What I proposed to you is my counter-method, however crude."

If she were Tully, she would have come up with far broader ventures. If she were Arnold, she'd be able to enact political change.

But she was just Princess Rishe—nearly, anyway—with barely any influence to speak of.

"I do not see this as turning the tables on you, Mr. Tully."

Rishe stood and offered him a deep bow. "I simply ask you to consider what I've said."

Silence stretched inside the parlor. Rishe braced herself to be told how naive she was. If this were her previous life as his underling, he never would've allowed her to stake out on her own.

Tully stood from his chair. "You shouldn't be the one bowing to me, my lady."

He dropped to his knees on the floor.

"Mr. Tully?! What are you—"

"I won't insult you by asking you to forgive my insolence." He blew out a breath.

"It seems that I am the one who has much to learn."

"Er, there's truly no need!" Rishe found the sight of her former boss genuflecting to her to be awkward in the extreme.

"A merchant's job is to enrich everyone," Tully said, stubbornly staying on his knees. "And by everyone, I mean the merchant who receives the money, the artisan who makes the product—even the customer who felt the urge to spend their money on something they wanted. Somehow, while I was running my mouth, I managed to forget that."

Rishe was shocked by his words.

"I never considered poor citizens as customers. To be frank…I never considered them at all. Never gave them a second thought. But you're right…Many children are just like my sister." Tully looked up at Rishe.

"Your deal to enrich the many rather than the few is admirable and valuable. My sister's medicine aside, I'm ashamed of my own selfish arrogance."

"Does that mean…"

He nodded and, with all the reverence of a knight pledging himself to his lord, said: "I swear it on my name as Kaine Tully—the Aria Trading Company will do business with you, my lady, in whatever way you see fit."

A wave of relief swept over Rishe, so intense it left her feeling weak.

"Thank you."

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