Reason #25: it would be the beginning to my doom (1)

Ever since discovering the beautiful library and her new favorite spot, Ivy has been in an excellent mood for the whole day.

Her mind now only thinks about the variety of books she will find and how soft that sofa will feel when she enjoys them. Whenever she thought about it, it puts a smile on her face.

Even until dinner time when she was together with the Prince, she couldn't stop that happy smile on her face.

When the prince saw her smile, he was happy that his plans to (domesticate) make her feel comfortable is working.

And so while they sat next to each other having their dinner, he asks her,

"how's life living at the palace so far? Are you enjoying your stay?"

He smiled as he gazes at her while she smiled back brightly at him.

"Yes! Everything has been excellent, no, everything has been perfect actually. I'm so amazed by the palace's hospitality that if I could leave them a review, I'll give them a 10-star rating!"

"That's good to hear." he happily smiled as that was precisely the reply he wanted to hear from her.

"I visited the royal library earlier, and it was marvelous! I can't wait to go back there tomorrow. There is just too much to see there. It's sad to see that not many people at the palace visiting it."

As she smiled and happily shared her experience with the Prince, she notices the Prince's expression suddenly turned gloomy.

"Leon? Are you ok? Did I say something?"

"No," he forces a smile, "I'm fine. I'm just glad you are having a great time here. I knew you would love the library."

"Ah, yes!" She smiled brightly again as she remembered the magnificent library in her head, "I enjoyed it very, very much."

The Prince happily gaze at her reaction again, seeing that she is falling deeper and deeper into his trap.

"but, " she suddenly says, and it made his eyes wide open, "I wanted to tell you that I think it's better that I go back a few days."

She gently puts her knife down and looks at him.

"Leon, I've been thinking, and I know I promise you that I stay until your coming of age, but the longer I wait, the more work keeps piling at home, and it wouldn't be right to stay here that long to have fun either. So maybe if I could come back at a later date..."

Then the prince stops her with his finger and said

"who says you're here to have fun?"

"huh?" The prince words surprise her as she pulls his finger away. "then why did you bring me here?"

The Prince smiled, and as he snaps his finger, Sir Jacobs appeared.

"Your highness, here is what you have requested," said Sir Jacobs as he handed him a black folder.

"Sir Jacobs? Why is Sir Jacobs suddenly here?"

She asked as she is getting a more and more ominous vibe from the Prince.

The Prince stayed silent and just charmingly smiled as he handed over the black folder to her.

"What is this?" she asked, feeling afraid to look at its contents.

"Why don't you open and read it yourself?"

Ivy gaze at the black folder. Although she was, VERY, reluctant after experiencing a similar incident this morning, she had no choice but to open it and face her doom.

She opens the folder slowly, and she was surprised that inside was just a blank piece of paper, and so it made her go," huh?"

Then a similar pattern begins as Sir Jacobs steps in to explain.

"That's the status report for his highness coming of age ceremony."

"but it's empty."

Sir Jacobs smiled and said," Yes, it is indeed. That is because nothing is done yet."

"I see...huh?" Ivy suddenly notices something strange from Sir Jacobs's words, and so she had to confirm," but isn't his highness ceremony just a little over a month away?"

"Sir Jacobs calmly smiled at her again and nodded," Yes, you are right again, Ms.Ivy."

Ivy is a smart girl. She knows where this conversation is going, and so before it ends where they want it to be, she immediately rejects "NO."

"No?" the Prince says as he gave her an intense look.

Ivy didn't care about how the Prince looks at her; she just turned her gaze away while folding her arms and repeated her words. "N.O. No"

To her surprise, she thought he would retaliate, but instead, he said," Ok."

"Huh? Ok?" she turns and looks at him again.

Prince Leon just sighs and shrugs his shoulders "there is nothing we can do, then we'll just hire someone else then."

When Ivy heard the word "hire," she immediately stops him and asks.

"wait, you said you hire as in with money?"

The Prince took a glance at her and let out a faint smirk while Sir Jacobs began to explain,

"Yes, we have been looking for someone temporary to help plan for the ceremony. It was originally the queen's duty to plan it, but his highness has been handling such events since she passed. However, the work has been piling up a lot lately due to the southern border matters that his highness had to postpone his ceremonial duties. At this rate, we may even have to postpone his highness ceremony."

"Wait, postpone?!"

When Ivy heard the possibility of the Prince's royal ball being postponed, her fear of scenario two would happen made her shiver.

(Author: she analyze scenario 2 in the previous chapter, so go reread it)

So she had to say something to stop scenario 2 from happening. Therefore she said

"Wait, that wouldn't be right. We can't postpone the ceremony."

Then Sir Jacobs hide his cunning smile behind the folder he's holding and said

"But it's going to be too difficult to find someone to help now, and passing this responsibility to someone else at this busy period would make his highness image look poorly.

We had high hopes when his highness recommended Ms.Ivy. He said that you would be perfect for the position, but since Ms. Ivy has declined, there is nothing we could do."

Ivy clenches her fist. She knows it's a trap because there is no way that they couldn't find anyone to help, plus she knows nothing about planning ceremonies, but she couldn't let the possibility of scenario 2 from happening either.

The Prince notices that her face began to sullen with uncertainties. So he held her hands and tried to reassure her and said

"Sir Jacobs will be by your side to guide and assist you in the whole process. All you need to do is to overlook and make sure that it's running along accordingly."

But Ivy's face still looks uncertain, so the Prince shoots out his final blow and said

"We will also give you exclusive rights to all branding and marketing under the royal name for your store."

Ivy's face immediately changes, her eyes began to turn serious as she looks at the prince and said

"Forever?"

The Prince nodded.

"If and when I need you to do a photoshoot for our new merchandise?"

The Prince was a little reluctant but nodded in the end.

Then Ivy gave a deep thought as she held her chin and posed like the thinking man.

"What about my pay? How much were you planning to hire for?"

She turns to Sir Jacobs for her answer.

"Well, since it's a managerial position and a short term contract. We usually give out this much."

Sir Jacobs held a single finger at Ivy.

"Ah," Ivy said, "so it's 100 silvers?"

*********

(Author: sorry for the temporary interruption, but I believe I should give you an education corner on how money works in this world.

In this world, the money value is as shown below. 

Copper -lowest value-

One copper can buy a piece of bread at the market,

Bronze = 10 coppers

One bronze = could buy you a loaf of bread.

Silver = 100 bronze

One silver is equivalent to a 1-night stay at a commoners inn.

1 gold = 1000 silver

One gold is equivalent to a one night stay at a five-star hotel.

1 gold bar = 10,000 gold coins

One gold bar could get you a small house by the prairie.)

And so with the explanation above, coming back to our story

********

"Ah," Ivy said, "so it's 100 silvers?"

Sir Jacob continue to shook his head.

"1000 silver?"

Ivy continued her guess, but Sir Jacobs just kept on waving his finger, and so he smiled and said

"We pay 100 Gold Bars."

"WHAT!!!!!!!"

Ivy immediately stood up from her seat when she heard that ridiculous amount of figure.

"Huh? Why????? That's too much. Especially if it's only for a temporary position."

Both of them smiled because they know they finally caught her attention.

"This is not just an event Ms. Ivy. It's THE event. It's our highness's big celebration, after all. It only comes once in a lifetime. For a royal banquet like this, it's considered fair pay."

Ivy sat down and immediately went back to her, thinking pose again.

In her mind, she thought

<100 2 100 gold bars? That's crazy. That means I could settle my retirement fund right here now in just a month. can't even save coins after being business for years, and yet these people can offer me bars month?? It's too tempting to be true .....>

While she paused her thoughts and looked at their cunning faces

She thought again

<this feels like a scam... hmm, what should I do?>

The Prince can tell that Ivy is tempted but still hesitating and so to close the deal, he immediately asks Sir Jacobs to pull out a contract.

"We've prepared a written contract with all the terms and conditions that we've mentioned, and of course, Sir Jacobs had already added the branding and marketing rights to Pretty Mirror in there as well. Would you like to have a look your self?"

Ivy took the contract and read the contract word by word, ensuring that everything is as stated.

She felt uneasy before, but to her, nothing is more reassuring than a hard copy black and white contract.

So she began to show a smile and said

"Ok, deal."

Both of the men kept their excitement within and just calmly smiled. While Sir Jacobs took out a pen for Ms.Ivy to sign, she points out.

"But this contract must end exactly on the day of the ceremony at 12 midnight after the royal ball, and I must have the money by then. These are my last conditions, is that ok?"

The Prince was curious about why she had specifically added that term, but he did not care because he already got her where he wanted, so he nodded ok.

After seeing the Prince agreeing with her final terms, she immediately signed the contract without further delay and smiled.

"I look forward to working with all of you! Please take good care of me until the end of the ball."

While she offered her hand, waiting for his handshake, the Prince just grab her and pull her into his arms and say ok closely to her face.

Ivy blushed, and she turns her gaze away and said

"Make sure we maintain a professional relationship, ok."

Inside the Prince's heart, all he could think about right now is

"Step 4: CHECK"

****************

Author:

You'll be surprised, but this is a real sales technique that people often use in real life, but please use your powers for good and not like the above. (^_^;)