Allice’s POV
Is this a dream?
It must be a dream, obviously. Just yesterday, a single moonlight flower was easily valued at 20 billion Fran, but now 10 billion? This makes no sense.
“Your Highness. This is a dream, right?”
Raios was next to me, smoking a cigar while reading the newspaper. “No, Allice.”
He flipped the newspaper to the next page with a flick and chuckled as if he had read something amusing. “This is reality.”
“…”
“Do you want to see?”
Thud. Raios handed her the newspaper. I flipped through it as if in a trance.
<Why Did the Price of Moonlight Flowers Halve Overnight?>
“Lie,” I mumbled.
Yes, it’s a lie. That can’t be.
I pinched my cheek hard. It hurt. That was strange. If it were a dream, it shouldn’t hurt like this. Which means…
Did the price really drop by half? Suddenly, I felt a realization as if cold water had been poured on her.
This can’t be!
* * *
Dana’s POV
“10 billion per flower?”
“How is this possible!”
The next morning, I woke up to a noisy uproar.
“We trusted the Windsor family and invested a large sum in moonlight flowers. Now you say it’s halved?”
“The credibility of the Windsor family is this low?”
Recently, the nobles who had won the auctions for moonlight flowers were flocking to protest.
“I bought moonlight flowers when they were 20 billion each. Who buys a flower at that price? I bought it thinking of reselling!”
“And now overnight, it’s halved? What kind of misfortune is this!”
With the head of the family, Viego Windsor, away on business, it fell upon Carl Windsor, the head of the moonlight flower project and the deputy head of the Windsor family, to handle the situation.
Carl spoke with a deliberately relaxed smile and a trustworthy voice. “I will find a solution immediately. Please, everyone, calm down.”
Ah, he shouldn’t have said that. I held back my laughter.
There’s no solution, Carl Windsor. Rather, as time passed, the problem would snowball. How would he handle it?
Carl’s POV
After somehow appeasing the protesting nobles and sending them away, the exhausted me muttered to myself. “Who would do such a thing, incurring such a loss?”
The final auction price was 20 billion. The price had been skyrocketing, so it could have sold for more on the black market. But to blatantly sell it for half!
Why would anyone sell it for half the price, even at a huge loss? There must be a very complex plot behind this. The work of the Catholic? Or… Someone with a personal grudge.
“Uncle, are you alright?”
At that moment, Dana approached me cautiously, her face full of worry and concern.
“You don’t look well.”
“Dana.” I managed a weary smile. “You’re the only one who worries about me. I’m fine, don’t worry.”
“If you say so, I’m really glad.”
Dana looked down at my hand sadly, the hand that had beaten Huan yesterday. “Is your hand okay?”
“What? Hahaha!”
My hand, of all things! The innocent concern for my niece brought a smile to my face, even in such a difficult moment.
“Dana, I’m a Windsor too. Didn’t you know that military experience is mandatory for all Windsor men? This is nothing.”
“But still.”
“Don’t worry about me. I’m not going to be hurt by punishing such a scoundrel.”
Then Dana’s expression darkened. “I actually had something to tell you.”
She hesitated for a moment, then took something out of her pocket. A transparent envelope with a dessert inside. It was chocolate.
“This was part of my snack today…” Her voice trembled as she spoke. “It was found to contain a strange drug component. Thankfully, my secretary discovered it before I ate it.”
“…”
“I’m scared, Uncle. What should I do?”
My lips tightened.
Someone tried to drug Dana? With an illegal substance traded only on the black market?
Who would do such a thing…
At that moment, the tangled threads began to unravel.
The love potion. And someone trying to win Dana’s heart.
Huan.
A person who could easily navigate back alleys and the black market.
Huan.
Someone who had easy access to moonlight flowers and bore a personal grudge against me enough to incur a great loss.
Huan Rolland.
It was him!
He must have tried to force Dana to ingest the love potion. Not only that, but he also had easy access to the moonlight flowers because of the project. Didn’t he just recently send a bouquet of moonlight flowers to Dana, as seen by my own eyes!
Huan must have been the one who sold them at half price on the black market!
Fueled by vengeance for being beaten!
Huan, an ungrateful wretch!
However, I didn’t show my realization, but only smiled at my innocent niece. “Don’t worry, Dana. I will protect you.”
“Yes.”
“Just don’t eat anything for now. Your uncle will take care of your food. Understand?”
“Yes.”
Dana’s POV
I smiled meekly. Looking at his hand, shining with the ring – the patriarch’s ring, a holy relic, I said, “I trust you, Uncle.”
Carl Windsor. You must feel the need to protect me now. In a year, when you want, in the way you want, you’ll kill me. Right, compared to Carl, flower-head-like Allice and stupid Huan are nothing.
You’re the most dreadful person, Carl Windsor.
* * *
After that day, the moonlight flower market froze.
“Until a few days ago, everyone was eager to win the auction…”
Her mind went blank. She couldn’t believe this reality.
“Why isn’t anyone buying them?”
It was absolutely freezing. No one was selling, no one was buying. Sellers and buyers both avoid transactions, fearing even the slightest loss.
It was exactly three days later, during this tense stand-off.
“Lethe.”
“Yes, Milady.”
“Release 10% more of our stock. The price is…” I thought for a moment and decided. “5 billion per flower.”
In just three days, it went from 20 billion to 10 billion and now to 5 billion. The market was seized by immense shock. Some holders of moonlight flowers quickly put their flowers up for sale at 5 billion, and a few bought them, but… That was only for a moment.
“Sell another 10% at 3 billion.”
“Yes.”
On the fourth day, moonlight flowers were sold for 3 billion. Those who had held onto the flowers flooded in to auction them off. But now, there were no buyers. It was natural, given the drop from 20 billion to 3 billion in just a week.
In just a week, it dropped this much. It might drop more. Just wait a little longer. Then you can buy it cheaper. Buying now would be a loss.
…But do I really need to buy it?
Finally, that thought began to circulate.
The market is built on people’s psychology. In just a few days of this psychological turmoil, the market collapsed dramatically. A vast number of sellers rushed to auction their moonlight flowers, but now, no one wanted to buy them. And that wasn’t all.
“Allice, this is too much.”
Allice’s friends who bought moonlight flowers through her. They began to protest.
“I haven’t had the flowers long since buying them from Allice, and now the price drops like this?”
“What is this? I bought it expensively, and suddenly it’s so cheap?”
“Allice. You need to do something. As the person in charge of this business, you have to take responsibility!”
“Thank you, Allice. You’re the best.”
All those friends who took the moonlight flowers with such words.
“Did you know, Allice?”
“Did you sell it to us at a high price, knowing the price would drop?”
Now, they were throwing away doubtful glances and accusations at her.
“W-what should I do?”
Allice was anxious. It was an unthinkable situation, even in her dreams, and she had no idea what to do.
“What to do? What to do? What to do?”
Her hands trembled. She had no idea what to do first in this situation. It seemed like a total disaster.
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