Baron Fischer provided all the materials he had gathered. Maybe he was just waiting for an opportunity. The documents included an analysis of why the flowers’ price was inflated and information about the sellers.
‘I wanted to know if Brantley’s plan to become a dealer and take revenge on Duke Eisen is feasible.’
This was the original reason I sought out Baron Fischer. That’s why I came here without Brantley.
‘Of course, I did get a bit of help from my dad to come here secretly.’
I had asked him to keep Brantley occupied for a while. Dad had smiled as if he had received an unexpected gift and agreed.
“Dark Moon, today we have special training. Come to the training grounds.”
Brantley responded to Dad’s call with a puzzled look. And Dad had a fiercely eager expression as he prepared his practice sword.
Anyway, that was all about it—
“But seeing the materials firsthand, this is actually a much bigger problem than I thought.”
The well-organized documents were too good to keep to myself.
“Did you inform the public about this?”
“I did. But no one listened. Now even the newspapers have turned their backs on me, so there’s no way to spread the word,” Baron Fischer spoke sadly.
He seemed hurt by the world’s indifference.
‘And rightfully so. Besides, he has also being attacked.’
The harsh words written on the door were no different from malicious comments. But there was still a way.
“You should write the report yourself, Baron Fischer. I’ll publish it through the Royal Academy.”
He shook his head as he understood my intent.
“It’s no use. No matter how much I shouted, no one listened. Why would it change now? The Academy will just get bombarded with hate mail.”
“This time, they will listen.”
I spoke with conviction.
“To make people pay attention to a specific opinion, timing is crucial. It wasn’t there before, but it is now.”
“Timing?” Baron Fischer looked confused.
I answered firmly, “Yes, the perfect timing.”
***
“The conclusion drawn from the evidence and analysis we’ve reviewed is this:
No matter how much the price rises, no longer anyone was willing to pay for the variants.”
Grandfather reading the report aloud, exclaimed with admiration, “This is excellent. Detailed evidence with rational, clear arguments. And most importantly, it has come to pass just as stated. It’s more like a prophecy than a report.”
A satisfied smile spread across his face.
A few days ago, the report co-authored by Baron Fischer and me was published.
Grandfather had the report presented at a national council meeting, inviting journalists and representatives of the commoners.
The response was explosive. Even the newspapers that had ignored Baron Fischer began writing articles about the report.
The price of Morning Glories, which had already been showing signs of decline, plummeted.
Particularly, the price of , which had suddenly risen, fell again.
“Well done, Baron Fischer.”
At Grandfather’s praise, Baron Fischer was flustered.
“I just repeated what I’ve always said. It was Her Highness who refined it into a report that people would listen to.”
He gave the credit to me.
Grandfather asked, “Hanelope, how did you know that people would listen if it was presented as a report?”
“It wasn’t the report that made people listen.”
Grandfather’s eyes widened at my answer, “Then what was it?”
“People were finally ready to listen.”
When the price of flowers kept rising, everyone was obsessed with it. Blind belief in something without substance is fanatical. At that time, no matter how persuasive the argument, it wouldn’t have been accepted.
“Recently, the inflation has been sluggish. People started to realize that the price had already crossed thresholds.”
But it would have been hard for them to admit outright. They needed a trigger to break their belief. And that was the role of this report.
“This report only confirmed the doubts that people couldn’t voice.”
What the people attacking Baron Fischer feared was precisely this part. So, as the price trends of the Glories started to show signs of decline, they attacked and isolated Baron Fischer to prevent him from voicing his opinions.
“Ha! In the end, humans only hear what they want to hear,” Grandfather summarized my words in a single sentence.
“Well done, Hanelope.”
Grandfather smiled contentedly and looked at Baron Fischer.
“You’ve worked hard too, Baron.”
“Th-thank you, Your Majesty.”
“I will hire you as a researcher at the Royal Academy. Conduct all the plant research you desire.”
Baron Fischer was so astonished by Grandfather’s words that he couldn’t close his mouth.
Being a researcher at the Royal Academy was every scholar’s dream. It meant receiving full support to conduct any research one wanted.
“Th-thank you! Thank you, Your Majesty!”
“Enough with the gratitude, go prepare to operate your new laboratory.”
Baron Fischer left the palace with a look of disbelief at his good fortune.
But once it was just the two of us, Grandfather’s expression darkened. He now revealed the concern he had hidden in front of Baron Fischer.
I knew the cause of his worry.
“Grandfather, you’re as worried about the crash as you were about the boom, aren’t you?”
Grandfather nodded.
“You understand well. Extremes of anything have side effects.”
Although the price decline wasn’t a crash yet, it was only a matter of time if things continued as they were.
That was also a concern I had while writing the report with Baron Fischer.
I spoke up, “Grandfather, what if we did it this way?”
I shared my thoughts with Grandfather. He listened quietly and then nodded.
“It’s a reasonable idea. I will instruct the finance minister to review it.”
“But first, we must uproot the problem. Otherwise, it will only lead to new speculation.”
“By the problem, you mean Duke Eisen? Do you have a good plan?”
“Yes. You can look forward to it.”
I said with a bright smile.
Grandfather’s expression turned mischievous, “It seems you’re planning something interesting again. I look forward to it.”
***
Duke Eisen got down from the carriage, boiling with anger.
He had just returned from the temple.
No matter how much he manipulated the media and tried to raise the price, he could not stop the decline in the price of the flowers.
There was only one way to maintain the rage.
“Creating a new variant that would capture everyone’s attention!”
However, the temple, especially Yenna, who was tasked with creating the new mutants, was not responding favorably.
What she had produced was merely a mundane imitation of existing hybrids.
“She’s been distracted lately with doing volunteer work in an attempt to revamp her image. This caused her to neglect the making of new hybrids.”
Creating a hybrid was a difficult task, but Yenna could create them quickly and easily thanks to the power of the Prache.
Prache lent its power exclusively to Yenna.
“Despite such privileges, she produces nothing but these subpar creations!”
Of course, from Yenna’s perspective, it was an unfair situation. With a variety of patterns of mutants already created, she was running out of ideas for new and unique patterns.
In any case, Duke Eisen was in a foul mood.
To make matters worse, even Jacob was causing him trouble.
Not only had he lost his own investments, but also those of his social club members were putting him in a desperate situation.
He had even stolen land documents owned by Duke Eisen. By the time Duke Eisen found out, the documents had already been pawned to a moneylender.
“Even my own child doesn’t listen to me!”
Duke Eisen habitually visited the auction house again, hoping to get answers. But as soon as he entered the auction house, he was disappointed.
“Cancel the transaction! The price has dropped to half of what I paid! What? You can’t refund it? You b*stard!”
“Give me my money back! Do you how I got the money? It’s the money from selling our family’s estate!”
The auction house was noisy with people who had lost their investments.
‘D*mn it. I shouldn’t have come here. I need to leave.’
Just as Duke Eisen turned to leave in a hurry, a sharp voice rang out behind him.
“Isn’t that Duke Eisen?”
“He’s the one who said the price of would go up. I invested everything based on his words!”
“While we were buying that junk at high prices, he must have sold everything off and made a fortune!”
‘D*mn it, I lost a lot of money too, what are they talking about!’ Duke Eisen gritted his teeth.
Of course, the original plan was to buy up the flowers at low prices, create a scarcity, and sell them once the price went up.
‘But the price dropped before I could sell!’
There was no one willing to buy at the already excessively high prices.
Just as Princess Hanelope and Baron Fischer’s report predicted.
“Hey! Say something!”
People started approaching Duke Eisen one by one.
The guards who accompanied him tried to protect him, but they were no match for the angry crowd.
“Did I force you to buy it?”
“What did you say, you b*stard?”
“You made your own choice, so why are you taking it out on me—argh!”
The moment Duke Eisen shouted back indignantly, a hand grabbed him by the collar.
That hand roughly dragged Duke Eisen out of the crowd. It pulled him to somewhere inside the auction house. Only when they reached a lounge did the person let Duke Eisen go.
Due to the rough release, Duke Eisen stumbled and fell.
“D- Don’t hit me!”
“I wanted to save you, Your Grace.”
Duke Eisen looked up to see a man with his face covered by a black veil standing before him.
He was the famous trader, Mut.
It was surprising that someone who rarely appeared in public had saved him.
Duke Eisen was bewildered.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost. But don’t worry. I chased them all away.”
“Th- Thank you.”
As Duke Eisen stood up with Mut’s support, a sharp memory suddenly flashed through his mind.
“Yes. A noble person will appear to save you from the spirit. They will provide you with a treasure to escape the crisis, so you must accept it, no matter the cost or sacrifice.”
“Pay attention to someone who seems suspicious and secretive. They may not reveal their face, but they are more trustworthy than anyone. This special person will bring you an unexpected, shining treasure. Do not miss this person.”
The man in front of him matched the description given by the fortune teller.
‘Could this man be my benefactor?’
