Is this a dream?
Of course, it must be a dream. Just yesterday, a single moonlight flower was easily worth 2 billion Fran, but now it’s 1 billion Fran? What kind of nonsense is that?
“Your Highness. This is a dream, right?”
Raios was reading a newspaper while holding a cigar beside her. “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.”
“…”
“Want to see?”
Thud. Raios handed her the newspaper. Allice flipped through it as if in a trance.
<Why Did the Price of Moonlight Flower Drop by Half in a Single Day?>
“Lie,” Allice mumbled.
Yes, it’s a lie. There’s no way this could happen.
Allice pinched her 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, Allice felt a realization as if cold water had been poured on her.
This can’t be!
* * *
“1 billion per flower!”
“How is this possible!”
The next morning, Dana woke up to loud shouting.
“I trusted the Windsor family and invested a large sum in moonlight flowers. But now they’ve dropped to half?!”
“Is this all the Windsor family’s reputation amounts to?!”
Recently, the nobles who had won the bids for moonlight flowers were flocking to protest.
“I bought moonlight flowers when they were 2 billion each. Who would buy a single flower for that price? I bought it thinking I could resell it later!”
“But now, it’s dropped to half overnight. What kind of disaster is this!”
At that moment, Viego Windsor, the head of the family, was away on a business trip. Thus, it fell upon Carl Windsor, the head of the Moonlight Flower business and the deputy head of the Windsor family, to resolve the issue.
Carl spoke with a deliberately relaxed smile and a trustworthy voice. “I will find a solution immediately. So, please, everyone, calm down.”
Ah, he shouldn’t have said that. Dana held back her laughter.
There’s no solution, Carl Windsor. In fact, as time went on, the problem would only snowball. How would he handle it?
Rather, as time passed, the problem would snowball. How would he handle it?
After finally appeasing the protesting nobles and sending them away, Carl Windsor, utterly exhausted, muttered to himself while racking his brain. “Who would do such a thing at such a loss?”
The final auction price was 2 billion. The price had been skyrocketing daily, so it was certain it could have been sold for an even higher price on the black market. But to intentionally sell it at half price so openly!
Why would someone take such a massive loss just to sell at half-price? Clearly, a very intricate conspiracy was at play. It could be the work of Catholic people. Or maybe… someone with a personal grudge.
“Uncle, are you alright?”
At that moment, Dana cautiously approached him. Her face was filled with concern.
“You don’t look well.”
“Dana.” Carl managed a weary smile. “You’re the only one who worries about me. I’m fine, don’t worry.”
“If that’s really the case, that’s a relief.”
Dana looked at his hand. It was the hand that had beaten Huan the previous day.
“Is your hand okay?”
“What? Hahaha!”
His hand? His naive niece’s question made Carl laugh. Even in such a dire moment, it made him smile.
“Dana, I’m also a Windsor. Don’t you know that every Windsor man must undergo military training? This is nothing.”
“But still…”
“Don’t worry about me. There’s no way my body would get injured just from punishing a worthless scoundrel like him.”
At that, Dana’s expression darkened.
“I actually had something to tell Uncle.”
She hesitated for a moment, then took something out of her pocket. A transparent envelope with a dessert inside. It was chocolate.
“This was served at my tea time today…” Her voice trembled as she spoke. “It was found to contain a strange drug component.
“What?”
“It was a type of… aphrodisiac usually only found on the black market. Thankfully, my secretary noticed it before I ate it.”
“…”
“I’m scared, Uncle. What should I do?”
Carl’s jaw stiffened. Someone tried to drug Dana? With a prohibited 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 Carl, enough to incur a great loss just to get revenge.
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 his 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, that ungrateful b*stard!
But Carl showed no sign of his thoughts as he smiled gently at his innocent niece. “Don’t worry, Dana. I will protect you.”
“Yes.”
“Just don’t eat anything for now. This uncle will personally provide you with food. Understand?”
“Yes.”
Dana gave him a sweet, innocent smile. She gazed at the ring on his hand—the deputy head’s ring, the holy relic—and said, “I trust you, Uncle.”
Carl Windsor. He must feel the need to protect her now. Because a year from now, he planned to kill her in the way and at the time he desired.
Compared to Carl, naive Allice and foolish Huan were nothing.
You’re the most terrifying human being of all, Carl Windsor.
* * *
After that day, the moonlight flower market froze.
“Just a few days ago, everyone was desperate to win the auction…”
Allice’s mind went blank. She couldn’t believe this reality.
“Why isn’t anyone buying them now?”
It was absolutely freezing. No one was selling; no one was buying. Sellers and buyers both avoid transactions, fearing even the slightest loss. For exactly three days, a fierce standoff continued.
“Lethe.”
“Yes, Milady.”
“Release 10% more of our stock. Set the price at…” I thought for a moment and decided. “500 million per flower.”
Within three days, the price had plummeted from 2 billion to 1 billion and now to 500 million. The market was seized by immense shock. Some holders of moonlight flowers quickly put their flowers up for sale at 500 million, while some hastily bought them, but… that too was short-lived.
“Release another 10% at 300 million per flower.”
“Yes.”
On the fourth day, moonlight flowers were sold for 300 million. Now, those who had been holding onto the moonlight flowers rushed to auction them off, but there were no buyers. After falling from 2 billion to 300 million in just a week, it was only natural.
If it dropped this much in a week, it could drop further. If they waited a little longer, they could buy them at an even lower price. And if they bought now, they would only suffer losses. But did they really need to buy them…? Finally, such thoughts began to spread.
In the end, the market was driven by people’s psychology. And in just a few days of that psychology wavering, the market collapsed rapidly. An overwhelming number of sellers rushed to auction off their moonlight flowers, but now, no one wanted to buy them. And that wasn’t all.
“Allice, this is too much.”
Friends who had purchased moonlight flowers through Allice started to complain.
“I haven’t even had these flowers for long, and now the prince has dropped like this. What am I supposed to do?”
“What is this? I bought them at a high price, and now they’re suddenly so cheap?”
“Allice. Do something about it. This is Allice’s business, so you need to take responsibility!”
They were the same friends who had said, ‘Thank you, Allice. You’re the best,’ while receiving moonlight flowers from her.
“Did you know, Allice?”
“Did you know the price would drop but still sold them to us at such a high price?”
But now, they started to glare at her with suspicion and accusations.
“W-What should I do?”
Allice was anxious. This was something she hadn’t even imagined in her wildest dreams, so she had no idea what to do.
“What to do? What to do? What to do?”
Her hands trembled uncontrollably. She had no idea what to do first in this situation. No matter how much she thought about it, this situation—it felt like she was completely screwed.
he he he
So. Clever. Wow. Truly impressive! 😳