City of Desire [Kingdom Building]

Chapter 78: Interview

“Cousin is really forcing us,” said Lancel, as he looked at the letter sent by Prince Grelt.
 
“Can you blame him? The emperor is going to die in a few years, and he did not have support to wrest the throne from the hands of the crown prince,” said Count Darrow, with obvious frustration. 
 
“What are we going to do with it?” he said, looking at the letter. Count Darrow didn’t answer his son for a few seconds.
 
“Such things couldn’t be done hastily. We need to wait for a chance,” said Count Darrow, slowly, as if wanting his son to reflect on those words. 
 
“Cousin might not want to wait for long,” said Lancel, to which Count Darrow looked up into the sky. “He might not wait that long,” he replied and sighed.
 
For a few minutes, nobody spoke, lost in their thoughts.
 
“I have decided on Benz’s replacement,” Lancel spoke. Count Darrow just looked at him. “It is Sam Walters,” he replied, to which the Count shook his head. 
 
“He is worse than Benz.” The Count disagreed. “He is a yes man, not fit for a position,”
 
“He is not,” said Lancel defensively. “Chose someone else,” said Count Darrow and Lancel wanted to argue, but his father’s tone did not book any arguments.
 
“Who do you want me to choose?” he asked finally, controlling his anger. “There are few people, any one of them would be better than Sam Walters,” he said, much to his son's anger.
 
 
….
 
The door of the establishment opened, and the carriage came inside. A few seconds later, Carla and Maeve walked out of it.
 
“She had taken longer to return than she had said before leaving,” said Margaux. It was supposed to be a single-day trip to Deerpond, but it took three days. I am just glad she had returned with everything sorted.
 
“There were some small problems, she had to deal with,” I said. Margaux did not ask. I am sure she will ask Carla later.
 
Click!
 
The door opened, and Carla and Maeve walked inside. “Has everything gone well?” I asked them as they took the seats opposite of me.
 
“Yes. The things and the staff will arrive in a Greltheven by afternoon,” Carla replied. I nodded and turned to Joana.
 
“I have made changes according to specifications. You can check them now and if you need something more, you can ask Margaux,” I speak. “Ok,” she said and walked out of my office with Margaux.
 
As the door closed, my expression became serious. “There was not much trouble, was there?” I asked. She had been short in our correspondence. I am sure there had been more than she had told me.
 
“There was a little, but your friends had helped a lot. The delay was because of excessive paperwork,” she replied.
 
As I had said, even if Lieutenant General is blocking the path, he won’t be able to do much, especially when we are doing everything by law. They had created some hurdles, but those were passed.
 
“From tomorrow, we will have an in-house spa,” I said. I don’t think any brothel in the world had them.
 
“The girls are very excited about it,” she said with a smile before her expression turned serious.
 
“It is going to be very expensive to run it,” she added. “Yes, it will, but the benefits it will provide would also be great,” I replied. 
 
The cost of operating the spa would be three to four million crowns. As the treatments I want the girls to have been not cheap, many of them require magical materials. If I wanted to, I could have finished the expense within a million, but I want the best.
 
Only through it, I will be able to provide the best experience to my patrons. So, they will not leave, even if the entire street is filled with competition.
 
“How’s everything here?” she asked. “All good,” I said with a smile. 
 
In these two, the profits of the establishment rose greatly. From three and a half million a night, it went to four and a half million and increasing every day.
 
I have to thank two things for it, one is the expensive wine, and the other is Norman. The patrons are using his place like a rest stop. The moment my gates opened, the patrons from there would rush in.
 
I heard he was hopping mad about it and tried to poach even more of my girls.
 
He shouldn’t be angry, given the money is making. He is making good money, and I heard; he is planning on opening another brothel.
 
Well, this one will need to be a red-light area. He had already stretched the limit of the city, having five brothels in the entertainment district. No matter how powerful his family is, the city will not permit him to open another brothel here.
 
The entertainment district needs to be much bigger with many other businesses before he will be able to open another brothel here.
 
Click!
 
I was discussing things with Carla when the door opened, and Margaux and Maeve walked inside.
 
“Is everything good?” I asked Maeve, “Yes, everything is perfect.” She replied with a smile. “Good, make preparations today. I need the spa to be opened tomorrow,” I said to her.
 
“It won’t be a problem,” she replied.
 
The deal had cost me eight million crowns: a pretty good deal. Both of the siblings have ended up making a profit. I had needed to be spent seven million extra on new equipment and material.
 
Some of which have arrived yesterday and some will today from Namdar and Meldhorn.
 
It was quite a hard deal. Maeve and Rip were quite opposed to her working in the brothel. 
 
I had directly told them there would be no deal if Maeve did not sign at least a one-year-long employment contract.
 
Maeve is quite good. She used to work in a famous spa chain in Namdar, even headed one for a few years, before branching out to start her own.
 
She had signed a one-year contract and, I am sure, I will be able to retain her after. Even if she left, it is enough time for me to find someone capable.
 
“How is the recruitment going?” I asked her. “Two have accepted. More will respond soon,” she replied. 
 
I had asked to her hire more people. 
 
She had a staff of twelve, which is barely enough to handle the eighty girls, but I need more, at least double. 
 
As I will bring new girls in a few days.
 
I am leaving for the Owlspring in two days. While the Namdar is big, Owlspring is not small either.
 
Most importantly, it is a city of merchant state, and I will get more variety there. Not only in humans but also in non-humans. 
 
Sadly, I could not bring the non-humans here.
 
The laws of empire might be a little loose here, but they are not that loose to bring non-human or the one with obvious non-human blood.
 
Maeve stayed for a few minutes and left, with Carla and Margaux, to prepare for the things that will come. 
 
I worked till it is time to leave for the guild. There are a few things I have to do at the guild, I should be finished in two hours.
 
Twenty minutes later, the carriage stopped inside the guild, and I walked inside the guild.
 
For forty minutes, I moved around the guild, before stepping into my office, with thick papers in my hand. 
 
Knock Knock
 
I was working when a knock rang out and Jill stepped in with the envelope in her hand. “This had come for you, Mister Silver,” she said and gave me the envelope. 
 
I took the envelope and couldn’t help but became surprised when I saw the seal on the envelope. It is the personal seal of Count Darrow and not the seal of the city, which he uses.
 
I looked at it for a second and tear open the envelope, taking out a letter, which only had a single line.
 
‘Well, it seemed like I will have to stay here longer than I had thought.’ I thought as I put away the letter. Lord Darrow had invited me to his mansion at four.
 
I don’t want to go back to the establishment before going to Count Darrow. It is better that I stay here and finish the work. 
 
Hours passed, and soon, it is time for me to leave. I walked out of the guild. A few minutes later, the carriage reached Count Darrow’s mansion.
 
“Remus Silver,” I said and gave the letter. “You are clear to go, Mr. Silver,” said the guard after looking at the letter.
 
The carriage entered the compound, and I walked out and to the door. One of the assistant butlers was waiting.
 
“Mr. Silver, please,” he said and let me inside, to be precise, at the back, where there is a huge garden. 
 
Count Darrow and his son were standing there, looking at the beautiful red rose, which was glowing gently, while letting out a wonderful fragrance.
 
“Count Darrow, Lord Lancel,” I said and bowed. He turned to me slowly. “Come, young silver, walk with us,” he said and begin to walk, while I followed, with one step behind as etiquette requires.
 
I did not speak, just followed them. They have called me here and they will reveal it, eventually.
 
“What do you think of the city’s taxes, young Silver?” asked Count Darrow after more than five minutes.
 
The questions stumped me, and I had opened my mouth to answer with polite words but closed it upon seeing him looking at me from the corner of his eyes.
 
“What taxes are you referring to, my lord? Personal or business?” I asked, and a faint smile appeared on his face. “Both,” he answered.
 
I did not speak for a second, as those words are not light, but seeing the expressions, I decided to speak what I have in my mind. 
 
“From my view, both of them are too high,” I said finally. “You merchants always want lower taxes,” said Lancel angrily. I did not reply to that.
 
“Why do you think that young silver?” asked Count Darrow. “We are a trade city, my lord. The lower taxes mean more trade, more trade will bring more revenue.” I said simply.
 
“We control the route into the empire. So, the taxes should be higher, instead of being lower,” said Lancel.
 
“While we do control the route, raising taxes higher will stagnate the trade,” I replied. Lancel opened his mouth to say something, but the words did not seem to come out of it. 
 
Which made him glare at me and look at his father, who still has an unchanging smile on his face.
 
“You are right in one way, but lower taxes bring their own problems, like overpopulation, dumping of low-grade goods and other things,” he said.
 
“Yes, it does, which is why we shouldn’t depend on the taxes alone.” 
 
“The city should diversify, from offering financial services to manufacturing to tourism. We could try many of these avenues to increase the revenue of the city,” I said, and for the first time, I saw the mask on Lord Darrow’s face slip for a fraction of a second.
 
“What will happen whe…”
 
Lord Darrow asked another question, and then another, and not just about taxes, but also about policy and other things. Sometimes, Lancel would chip in, but it is mostly Count Darrow asking and I am answering.
 
I may seem like answering all the questions calmly, but my back is drenched.
 
I know the gravity of my words and some of them could get me in huge trouble, but it is better to put them out in the open.
 
“You have some opinions, young silver,” said Count Darrow with that unchanging smile on his face. 
 
“More like extreme views,” quipped Lancel.
 
“To me, they feel right, my lord,” I said. To which he smiles. “I will contact you when I have more things to ask, young silver,” he said.
 
Knowing I had been dismissed; I bowed once again and walked away. At the entrance of the Garden, the butler was waiting for me and sent me to the door.
 
“What the fuck was that!” I cursed as the carriage walked out of the gates of the mansion. I could tell it was an interview, but for what I don’t know, nor do I care, as right now, my mind was flooded with repercussions, my words might cause me.
 
I should have been careful, but I threw that all into the winds, and now, I might face punishment for that.

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