Chapter 25

~ What the Merch? ~

Narrator POV:

Diana and Elsa wait in the same room in silence, mainly because Elsa had to order her to stay silent for a while, as the Queen wanted to relax while drinking her hot cocoa and just, in general, to get herself ready for whatever it is that's about to come when this 'beast' Rosa shows up with apparently exciting news on somebody else's business.

But because of that, the Maid just writes on a notepad in silence and because of the pencil hitting it over and over, is making this ever so quiet room into a room where the Queen is itching to ask her maid what she's scribbling for so long. But the Queen won't do it, she has an idea that it's just what the maid wants to happen. However, the sound somewhat irks her.

While on the maid's side of things, she's trying to come up with names for the chocolate brand that she's going to make with Rosa in secret, without the Queen knowing. She writes some and then deletes some and then repeats the same process, it has to be perfect, something that could be remembered for ages to come, something that could roll off the tongue when you say it, something that would make people buy it.

And most importantly, something which the Queen would like, or at least reflect her in some way, after all, it is mainly for the Queen... So Diana tried things with 'ice' words, but she soon understood that it's going to be a lot harder than she imagined. For ice, snow, and words of that same manner just don't mix well with the word chocolate. Because the moment she uses any of 'cold' terms, it doesn't make sense for the chocolate to be then consumed as hot chocolate, which is what the Queen likes doing... A lot. Maybe she could use chocolate on her nude body as an invitation for the Queen... Thoughts for later.

She also had the thought of using words like 'Royal' or 'Queen', but she thought that it might bring trouble and problems to the Queen if people won't like something named after her, not to mention the fact that some people just might not know what they are allergic too, consumes it and gets health problems, all of it can come around and tarnish the Queen's reputation, so that's out of the question, even if things like that won't happen, Diana just won't risk it.

And there's no way she'll go basic and generic, nope, she will brute force through it and create a name for it that speaks of Elsa somehow, it will happen.

Obviously, it's going to be a huge success anyways, for this chocolate will be available for the masses, instead of just those who have enough money to spend, manufacturers and makers of such things don't realize that it's better to target broader areas than niche groups like nobles when it comes to these 'noble' treats and of course the nobles might not even let them do it, but for Diana and Rosa, such problems don't exist.

Besides it will actually be fully solid for the first time because Diana knows how to make solid chocolate, she'll just have to teach the method to whoever will the supplier and maker that Rosa finds be, and boom, Elsa's chocolate will be made. All of it will be as if angels came down from heaven and supplied even the common folk with chocolate...

"I GOT IT!" Diana shouts out loudly, starting the Queen who if not for her ice powers would've dropped the now third cup of chocolate to the floor.

"What! What is it?" Elsa says standing up, putting down the cup on the table.

"Oh... Oops, sorry for not staying quiet, the Queen can sit down and relax, nothing is wrong, I just came up with something half decent" Diana says back.

"And does this 'something' have to do with the paper you were writing on?" The Queen asks sitting back down.

"Indeed it does"

Elsa waits for something more, but unexpectedly Diana says nothing else, so she asks it herself "And what was it?"

"That would be a secret for now"

"A secret? From me? I didn't think you have those"

"Everybody has secrets, I am no different, it's just that I share most of me with you, but even so, there are some things that are either unshareable, or it's not the right time for you to know... This is the case of the latter"

"Okay... And how long is till the 'right' time?"

"Hopefully soon, if everything goes according to the plan"

"Oh, so now there's a plan involved?"

"There was always a plan involved"

"Is that plan a secret as well?"

"Most of it, but the basic idea behind it is getting the Queen to like me"

"So basically just like almost every other plan that you come up with?"

"Precisely"

Elsa sighs and picks up the cup again to drink, Diana seeing that the conversation is over, for now, goes back to write on the paper, so she wouldn't forget it, not that she needs to, this will haunt her for a while, at least until it happens. But for now, might as well play around with different variations of the same thing, to see if it can become even more perfect.

So the room goes back to silence, that's being interrupted repeatedly with writing sounds from a simple pencil. And it stays like that for a while, until somebody knocks on the door.

"Come in" The Queen says and a random guard walks in.

"Ma'am, a big... A very big Woman just showed up, with Olaf on her head, apparently, she was summoned... But she doesn't look all that pleased, should we let her in?"

"She looks displeased? Why does she look displeased?" Elsa asks nobody in particular looking to the side, but the guard thought it was directed to him, so he tries to answer.

"Um... If I had to guess, it'd be the reason why she's here... Some of the guards noticed that the woman kept wanting to throw away a piece of paper, but held on to it at the last second, and every time she did that, her irritation rose up"

Elsa blinks at the answer she didn't expect to get and then turns to her maid, who's smiling sheepishly. While Diana says "That's Rosa alright"

"Diana"

"Yes, my Queen?"

"What did you write?"

"Oh, something that was guaranteed to get her here, don't worry about it"

"What did you write?" Elsa asks again.

"Well, I am sure that you'll hear it, the moment that Rosa comes inside this room"

"..." Elsa stares at her maid, should she order her to stop smiling? ... Maybe next time, let's not keep this woman, who's very big waiting "You can let her inside" The Queen says to the guard, who nods and leaves after bowing his head.

In a few moments, both of them hear, big and fast steps coming closer towards the door. So Diana quickly does what she needs to do. And that's getting behind the Queen... Some may say that using the Queen as a shield is a bad thing, but Diana would disagree, it will ensure her survival after all.

And Elsa just stands still, because she's overall confused, her Maid is standing behind her, while she hears steps from outside the room when she can't even hear the guards' armor make a sound when they walk, but that might be due to her not paying attention.

Elsa expected the door to be torn off when she heard the loud steps behind it stop, but she didn't expect soft knocks to come instead.

"C-come in" The Queen says with a slight pause. And the door finally opens, revealing Rosa to the Queen, and Elsa's eyes slightly widen... So that's what Diana meant by 'beast', it's a mean... But accurate description. Even Olaf looks imposing when on this woman's head.

Rosa scans the room, spotting the grinning Diana behind the Queen. So Rosa curtsies and greets the Queen "Hello, Queen Elsa, my name is Rosa, the proud owner of Rosa's Park and many more establishments"

During the time that Rosa used to scan the room, Elsa instead used it to get out of the initial shock from seeing the woman "It's a pleasure to meet you, my maid has mentioned you several times, it made me want to meet you"

"Really? Well, I am glad, but I do hope that I can make a good first impression"

"So far it's been a pleasant experience" Elsa comments at the woman's worries.

"Mhm, what I meant to say is that I hope it stays that way"

"What do you mean?" Elsa asks.

"Well, the girl behind you, needs a stern talking to, a very stern talking to" Rosa says as she gets repeatedly closer to the two.

"Uh-uh-uh Rosa, you'll be doing no such thing, so how about you sit down and we have a calm conversation instead" Diana says still smiling.

Rosa only squints her eyes at the smug maid, then looks at the Queen and goes slightly back to sit down, giving up for now.

Elsa does the same "So, Rosa, why does Diana need, as you put it 'a stern talking'?"

"Because of this letter... It can't even be called a letter" Rosa says while uncrumpling the paper, but then remembering that she has a second one that's still somewhat nice looking in her pocket, takes it out instead, while putting the crumpled one in her pocket.

"This here is what this paper says: 'You are to return Olaf the snowman back to the castle in two hours if the Queen doesn't see him back in the castle, the Queen is obligated by her power to close down Rosa's Park... A note from Diana - That's what you get for bribing Julie" Rosa raises her head after she finished reading and can't help herself but crumple up the second paper.

Elsa looks at Rosa in disbelief, who's looking behind her at Diana "Can I have a look?" She says to Rosa, gaining her attention.

"Of course, Queen, sorry that it's crumpled" The Woman says as she hands over the paper.

"It's fine" Elsa says and quickly reads the paper, then again and lastly once more...

"Diana, what is this?" Elsa asks after, not looking back at Diana.

"That, my dear Queen, is a 1000% way of getting Rosa to come here, instead of me going to her" Diana answers happily.

"... So, were you planning on sending Olaf away anyways? Even not as a 'bribe'?" The Queen questions.

"Nope, I had another letter for that, the original, which you saw me write before Julie asked for a bribe, I wrote two of the letters that Olaf had to deliver on his back... By the way, amazing job, Olaf, you've completed your mission and finished the adventure successfully, now you can be proud of yourself" She answers the Queen first, then says to Olaf who's happily sitting on Rosa's head, he nods in return while smiling.

"Can I see this 'original'?" Elsa asks finally turning around to face Diana.

"Of course, here it is" Diana quickly hands it over to the Queen, she had it ready.

Elsa takes it and reads it out loud "On the account of disrespecting Diana Frost, the personal Maid, and property of the Queen, by bribing Julie. You are ordered to arrive at the castle in two hours, failing to do so will have its consequences"

"Aaah, the original" Diana muses out loud "It would've worked anyways, obviously Rosa would know that it's me who wrote it, but just in case of it being true, she'd take no chances, however, it still had the chance to fail, which is why the sequel was needed... With the inclusion of Olaf... She basically had no choice of coming, for she had to return him"

"So... You used Olaf?" Elsa asks slowly.

"Hmm... Olaf" Diana gets the snowman's attention.

"Yes, Elsa's maid?"

"Do you feel particularly used?"

"Um..." Olaf looks at himself "No? I feel great" He says happily, but then continues "I got to see a lot of new things, but for some reason, a lot of people that I saw were wearing similar clothes to Elsa's maid" He says to himself.

"Well, there you go, Queen, I didn't use him, I made him feel great" Diana turns her gaze back at Elsa.

"Lady Rosa, after we talk things through about why you wrote to Diana... You may have half an hour with her, for this 'stern talking'" Elsa says, now facing Rosa.

"Wait, what? That's not fair" Diana complains.

"What's not fair is this woman having to come here without a valid reason" Elsa says back.

"She had a reason to come here" Diana continues.

"Oh yeah? And what's that?"

"Bringing Olaf back from his adventure"

"Yeah and who sent him on this so-called 'adventure' to begin with?"

"Me, but it's still a reason"

"It wouldn't have been a 'reason' if you didn't do it"

"Perhaps, but if I didn't do that, then I would've sent the original letter, with something else as a bribe and nothing would've changed, at least this way Olaf had fun"

Elsa looks at the maid for a moment, then turns to Rosa who's been silently watching the two "You may now have an hour with her"

Diana's eyes widen "Wha-" But she gets interrupted by the Queen quoting the original letter and staring straight at the maid.

"The personal Maid and property of the Queen... So you put yourself in this situation because it means as my 'property' everything that I say, goes, right?"

"Mhm" Diana looks at the Queen in silence and can only agree with that statement with a simple nod.

"Well, there you go, Lady Rosa, you have an hour with her" Elsa says turning to face Rosa again, who's been silently watching the interaction of the two.

"Thank you, Queen Elsa, I appreciate it" She says appreciatively.

The maid looks between the two and finally sighs, accepting it, besides, she can't help and smile to herself, as she now has some private time with Rosa, she will be able to ask if she has any news about the chocolate business. Even if she will have to go through one of Rosa's lectures.

"Fine, so be it, Queen Elsa, but why not punish me yourself?" She stills asks.

"Why? Because if I did it, you'd actually be happy about it... Which is weird, to begin with, I don't understand how somebody can be happy with punishment but that's just how you are, so Rosa is better suited for it"

"Ah... Unfortunately, I can't refute any of what the Queen just said..." Diana lets out sadly.

"Now, let's continue with the actual reason why Lady Rosa had to come here" Elsa says, finally having dealt with her troublemaker of a maid.

"Rosa's fine, Queen Elsa" Rosa says back.

"Just Elsa is fine as well" The Queen says also.

"Okay, Elsa it is"

"Olaf, how about you go to Anna" Elsa says getting the snowman's attention, he nods and climbs down from Rosa's head, then from her arms by holding on to her muscles, and eventually he makes it all the way to the ground.

"Bye, Elsa, miss Rosa and Elsa's maid" He says and leaves the room.

"Wait... why did he say me last?" Diana mutters to herself.

"He's quite cute" Rosa says to the Queen.

"He can be, yes" Elsa answers.

Diana POV:

"Rosa, so what's up with this competitor?" I start the topic at hand.

"Well..." Rosa raises a big bag she held in one of her hands and opens it "The thing is, is that it concerns you, that's why I sent Julie to you"

"I've been out of the public's eye for months now, can't they just move on already..."

"I don't see that happening any time soon, for..." Rosa reaches her hand into the bag and takes out something that I never suspected to see.

"No way... A sewn doll of me? Really?"

"Crocheted, actually" Rosa corrects.

"Same thing... Can I check it up close?"

"Yeah sure" Rosa hands over the doll to me.

I look at it closely, then turn it around to look at the back, it looks pretty well done, somebody actually paid quite a penny for the one that worked on it... Or the worker got ripped off, one or the other.

I stare at the doll for a bit more... Then at Elsa, who's looking at me holding the doll, just as same as Rosa is and I hum to myself.

"So, what is this doll about?" I ask Rosa, putting the doll on the table, so Elsa could look at it if she wants to.

"Well, the competitor, Anton's Saloon, are the ones selling this doll of yours and a few other things, but I don't have them, I've sent one of my workers to buy one thing... But, it's not exactly a bought item either"

"What do you mean?"

"Because it was 'free', apparently, you have to spend enough money to get one item out of three at random if the information is correct"

...

...

What? Am I a happy meal toy now?

"So they are using my likeability to get profit and popularity, huh?"

"Seems like it" Rosa comments.

Elsa quietly looks at us then asks me "So... Is this situation bad?"

"It could be, but I think that Rosa is fine, right?"

"Well, yes, I am, but once you left the job, quite a lot of 'regulars' stopped coming, so it did put a pause in profits"

"Yeah, well that was obviously going to happen, but it's better that way, because if they come only for one thing, then they would leave eventually, mainly because most of them would get bored of me, quote on quote 'rejecting' them"

"Indeed, that's why I was never worried, eventually everything stabilized and now we are pulling in profit again, it's still not as high as it was with you, but in a few months, we should pass even that" Rosa says right after.

"Nice, so, to answer the Queen's question, this is not a bad situation at all, the only problem is that they are using my name for themselves"

"Yeah, that does sound pretty bad" Elsa comments.

"Mhm" Rosa hums in agreement.

"I actually think that it's a genius idea" I say, making both of them look at me ridiculously.

"... So are you not going to do anything against them?" Rosa asks me.

"Nope"

"Huh..." Rosa looks at the doll on the table and starts reaching for it, but I quickly grab it. She raises her head to look at me.

"What? It's mine now... It is me after all" I say to her smiling.

"But I bought it?"

"And?"

"So it's mine?"

"Right, right... Does it have your name on it?"

"No...?"

"Well..." I take out a pencil and quickly write a name "Now it does and... It's not yours"

"..." Rosa stays silent.

"And it's also not mine, it's the Queen's, look!" I turn it back and on the back is written Elsa's and I put it on the table again.

"It's mine...?" Elsa asks me.

"Yep!"

"Why do I need it exactly?"

"You never know when one might need it, so you can keep it"

"Okay?"

"Wait... Wait... I get it now" Rosa suddenly says.

"Oh? Did you now?" I ask smugly.

"Yeah, I am certain about it"

"Well it took you long enough"

"Get what?" Elsa asks confused.

"Diana isn't going to do anything herself, but she will let others do it for her" Rosa answers.

"And?" Elsa asks for a continuation.

"And just like she 'took' the doll for herself... Well for you, but that's not the point"

"I disagree, that's the most important point" I quickly say, but Rosa ignores me.

"She's going to hire people to make products of herself and then I and my barmaids will have to sell them somehow and all in her name, is that correct?" She explains her theory to Elsa and then turns to me for confirmation.

"Almost, you missed a few things, but that's about it. And I already have a few ideas"

"I did?"

"Yep"

"Well, would you care to explain your plans?"

"Sure" I say "Now, why is this a genius idea to begin with? Well because I don't work in Rosa's Park anymore, so they saw that your establishment stagnated a little bit because of that, therefore they tried capitalizing on that, in more ways than one. And what better way to try and get popularity than taking somebody else's? That's exactly what they did and it worked for them, so it's a great idea"

"Okay, you like what they did, we understand, but how is that 'great' for Rosa?" Elsa asks me, trying to move the conversation along.

"Because it's also a very bad idea at the same time"

"How so?"

"It's a double-edged sword, actually it's more a sword to them than Rosa. With this experiment, we can clearly see that people went to them and spent money just to get a doll of me, or whatever else it is that they have... So it worked out for them... But, Queen Elsa, what would happen if Rosa, and her bigger and more popular place... Partnered up with the actual Scarlet Angel and together we sold our own 'gifts' which would have far more quality in their work because we can actually afford to pay for it?"

"Everybody would just go to Rosa's Park for it? And Their establishment would just end in bankruptcy? Oh..." Elsa answers me, at the end getting where I am going with this.

"Exactly, so as I said, we will not do anything for two months or so, to let them get that popularity, that way, they will have more of a demand for these 'dolls', so they will order more and once we see that they do... That's when we strike, they will lose customers fast and now with wasted money on their own dolls, they will have less money for anything else, therefore going into an unfavorable position of economic crisis"

"And in those few months, we will work on our products in secret, so that we'd be ready, but we will have to meet less to not make them think that something's up" Rosa says.

"Not necessarily, we could just put a decoy of sorts, that way they won't suspect what's coming to them"

"That's not a bad idea, what are you thinking? Our one-day comeback won't work well, because we don't want to let them know that you're available"

"Yeah, so..." I quickly look at Elsa, can't mention the chocolate business yet "The decoy can be thought of later, we have time. Anyways, here's the plan"

"I'm listening" Rosa says, slightly leaning forward.

"First, you will need a double agent of sorts, by that I mean, what you need is one of your workers to get all of the available items of me from them. Second, she will have to carry and show them off in your own workplace for a while, that way some customers will be prompted to question where she got them. Third, she will act all secret-like while trying to answer, with written papers and stuff, that way the more 'loyal' customers, might call her out on treachery of Rosa's Park, once it gets out of hand, you stage and act out a somewhat public firing of that worker, obviously, it will be fake, but only us will know about it"

"Oh, so we are taking some of the things we did before and smashing them together? This is great, what's next?" Rosa comments interested.

"Because of those first steps, there will be more people that will go to Anton's Saloon for those dolls and once Anton hears that one of your workers got fired for carrying the dolls, he will most likely try to go even stronger on this 'profitable' idea, thinking that it's finally his chance. But that's where the plan continues. Five, because that should take at least a month to do, we don't want to speed through the execution, we can start getting ready to put our own products on the line, by advertising the decoy, which we don't have yet, but that's for later. Six, While the decoy is in effect, in the following week we get all of the made products inside the storage buildings for when they are needed. Seven, the decoy is finished and we immediately advertise and throw around random rumors about our upcoming and secret products, while the word gets around we get ready for our last and final step. Eight, Total domination!" I finish enthusiastically.

"Good, I like it! Now, about the products, what do you have in mind?" Rosa asks me.

"Hmm... Something very, very special... Lottery"

"... Lottery?"

"Yep"

"Why?"

"Because when you do a lottery yourself, there's practically no chance of you losing it... And that's exactly what we are aiming for"

"Ha, okay, lottery it is, well, let's show them that they shouldn't mess with a Crimson Rose that has a Knight by her side"

I nod, while I throw a look at Elsa and she's just watching us both silently without blinking.

"Queen?" I call out to her.

Elsa snaps out of her daze and looks at me "Huh?"

"Is everything alright?"

"Yes, yes... It's just that it's really weird seeing you... All serious like this... It's strange" Elsa says somewhat perplexed by my plans.

"Oh, yeah, Diana can surprise people sometimes with her randomness" Rosa talks to the Queen "But, when it comes to doing her job, she's always serious about it, I am quite surprised myself that the Queen hasn't seen that happen yet" She adds.

"Well... Because she's never this serious when around me, if anything it's quite unsettling to see her like this"

"Well, obviously, because when it comes to the Queen, it's not a job, it's a pleasure, so there's no need for me to be that way" I said beaming.

"Mhm..." The Queen only makes a noncommittal sound.

"So... Darling" Rosa calls out to me "What do we begin with? You do have actual ideas for items to put in the lottery, right?"

"Of course... Queen Elsa" I get Elsa's attention again.

"Yes?"

"What do you think of doing some posing with me?"

Elsa blinks in slight confusion "Posing?"

"Posing" I repeat myself with a nod.

"... Sure?" Elsa agrees somewhat reluctantly.

"Hehe, great" I chuckle to myself, making Elsa's reluctant look deepen.

~ End of Chapter 25 ~