Grand Duchess Isabella Lilly stepped into her estate mansion and everyone tensed. The air around her gave her a regal feeling that made people bow in front of her.
She was one of the most revered people in the Grand Cheshire Empire and someone everyone looked up to.
However, despite her power, no one wanted to approach her, not even her family. The only one who looked her in the eye was her half-brother, the emperor. He was someone who had inherited the fae blood along with her.
And even then, her brother was cautious when speaking to her.
No one had ever dared to talk to her as an equal…at least, not until today.
'That shopkeeper…not only was he not intimidated by me, but he also seemed to know what to say. And his solution…is not something I ever expected anyone to tell me.'
Truly, it felt like an ingenious idea the more she thought about it.
If she allowed her people to make their own decisions, then they would become responsible. At the same time, the people in power who enjoyed far too much authority would be put in place as well.
The only problem would be to keep an eye on the people themselves. But with her magic, that was not a hard thing to do for her.
"Grandmother, you are back."
Isabella Lilly turned to look at her daughter Isabella Ruby and the younger girl looked like a replica of her when she had been younger. The only difference was the air around her and her human ears.
"Yes, I am back. Call everyone for a meeting. I have a new rule to announce to them."
The duchess told her granddaughter and the female quickly left to call other people.
A lot of changes needed to be made in the duchess's territory starting today and a lot of new establishments needed to come forward.
But more than that, she needed to spread the word of god's representative she had met today.
God had answered her prayers and in return, she wanted to spread their name far and wide.
______
"And, done. Even I have to say that I outdid myself with this breakfast."
I told myself as I looked at the slice of bread and the soup in front of me. The food was the bare minimum of what I could cook with the ingredients left to me and I immediately felt the need to buy a fridge next.
After all, if I had a fridge, I could keep my ingredients cooler for longer.
"Tsk, but then I will need to pay for electricity and that is 5 faith points per month. It is far too expensive."
I felt a sudden irritation under my skin as I thought about my current situation. I had somehow traveled to ancient times but the thing that worried me the most was still capitalism.
Was there no way to get rid of such a thing?
"Ugh, I better not complain. For now, I should head out and gather what I can. I need to be back before it is rush hour time."
Rush hour was the time near noon when there was abundant light and people were out and about. That was also the time there was the most traffic outside my store.
So naturally, I wanted to take advantage of that time and attract customers…and gain some potential faith points.
Early morning air was fresh and I almost sneezed as the cold air wrapped around me. But the rising sun would make the day warm soon enough.
I entered the carpenter's shop where these people were beginning their work and I looked around for a cabinet to buy.
I had a sofa and I had a table. Next, I needed a sturdy cabinet where I could keep my papers. All the ones I currently had were filled with books.
"Huh-! A customer so early? What can I help you with, sir?"
The carpenter asked and I pulled myself together.
"I am here to buy a sturdy cabinet for my shop…"
As soon as I said that, I felt another person hurrying toward me. The new person was dressed immaculately and had a shady look on his face.
Even his voice sounded shady…or maybe it sounded like this to me because I was used to hearing such a voice from the fake salesmen that try to scam me daily.
"Welcome sir. What can I help you with today? If you're looking for something for your shop, then something like this might be more your style—"
The salesman took me toward a highly decorative cabinet with ornate borders and a lot of designer elements. It was beautiful from inside as well, but did not have enough space.
It seemed to be more of a decorative piece rather than a unit for storage. It was also highly expensive and out of my budget.
Seeing the expression on my face, the salesman decided to deploy another tactic—comparison.
"Excuse me sir, but you need to realize something. This beauty here is so much better than the failure of the product back there. Look at that plain cabinet and then look at this beauty. Which one attracts you more?"
The salesman asked me and I looked at the 'plain cabinet' he told me about.
It was twice the size of the current cabinet he was trying to sell me and it was much more durable as well. Even the wood was of a better quality.
I noticed how the carpenter looked angry when his work was called a 'plain cabinet' by the seller and I turned toward the carpenter.
"Sir, do you get paid money per piece or do you get a cut?"
The carpenter looked startled at being questioned suddenly by me but he answered me.
"I usually get paid the same amount, regardless of the piece. So you can choose whichever one you want."
With that, my decision was made.
"Sir, have you made your choice? So, where should I deliver this beauty to—"
"Hmm, you said that the plain cabinet is a failure, right? Then, you won't mind lowering the price for the failure for me?"
I asked the shopkeeper and he looked tongue-tied.
"I…that is…not how…sir, you can't possibly choose such a shabby thing?"
The shopkeeper asked me and he tried to be shameless to make me choose the one he wanted.
But little did he know that I could be even more shameless than he could be.
"Hmm, but that's the one I want. Surely, you would not make it cost a lot of money since it's a failure?"
I asked, being even more shameless.
Truthfully, I did not even feel bad about ripping the shopkeeper off. I was too used to doing this because of my modern upbringing that told me to save all the money I could.
And the one who did the actual work was going to get paid the same regardless.
"You won't rip me off, right, sir? Otherwise, I won't have a choice but to tell everyone how I got sold a failure at a high price."
The shopkeeper finally noticed that there was no way out of this situation.
He had completely fallen for my trap.
"I…Y-You are completely right, dear customer. I cannot sell such a failure at a high rate. I will give you the new price immediately. Please wait a moment."
He told me and I looked at the carpenter. He looked satisfied to see the shopkeeper in such a panic.
"You have a good eye, sir. That decorative cabinet will break down in a few months since it is fragile. But the one you bought will last you a long while…if the termite doesn't get to it."
Well, that was a concern for a future me.