Abandoned Empress's Survival Manual Beside the Male Lead - Chapter 33

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 33
The basket was heaped full of eggs easily three times the size of ordinary ones. Each thick shell gleamed with a lustrous sheen, as if someone had carved and polished silver into these perfect forms.
Bridget added with evident satisfaction.
“It appears that feeding them consistently the diet Your Highness the Imperial Concubine recommended has kept the chickens in ever-improving health!”
The maidservants, who had been bubbling with excitement all morning, eagerly joined in.
“At this rate, won’t they start laying eggs ten times this size?”
“There’s no such thing as an egg like that in the world!”
“That’s right! Even in the Southern Region, where food is supposed to be plentiful, I doubt they produce eggs this magnificent!”
“An egg that size, three people could share it and still have their fill!”
I let out a dry laugh amid the maidservants’ pealing laughter.
‘I really shouldn’t be using the Reproduction Edict so carelessly.’
If eggs bigger than the chickens themselves started pouring out, that would be a catastrophe.
There was a real danger that people would whisper of Black Magic being practiced within Gonet Castle. And since Sherkan carried half-barbarian blood, there were more than enough people willing to believe such vicious rumors without question.
And yet…….
And yet, to have harvested such luscious eggs in such quantity!
I couldn’t keep the smile from my lips either.
“Bridget. At this rate, the castle won’t be able to eat through all of these, will it?”
“I was about to mention precisely that, Your Highness. These past several days, the chickens have been laying such excellent eggs that after feeding all the castle folk, some twenty eggs remain untouched each day.”
“Twenty eggs?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
I felt my body trembling.
It was only recently that I’d been counting out eggs in miserable fractions of 0.15!
Of course, the gifts from the Emperor were astronomical in value.
But the debts were equally astronomical!
I hadn’t yet been able to convert the imperial gifts directly into coin. The quantities were so enormous, and besides, to be honest——
I was wary of Sherkan’s gaze.
‘If I had my way, I’d immediately put everything toward paying back the debts.’
But he could tell.
Sherkan hated the sight of me spending my own money.
Hated it, rather—abhorred it.
If he ever learned that I’d sold even the personal gifts I’d received and used the proceeds to settle debts……
He’d be furious beyond measure.
That was how Sherkan was.
He might grow so enraged that he’d sell off all the maidservants and cast me out as well……
‘There’s only one way.’
To gradually sell off portions of the imperial gifts and convert them to coin.
Then use that as capital to earn far greater sums.
Especially now that I possessed this remarkable power—the Reproduction Edict.
“Bridget.”
“How may I serve you, Your Highness?”
“How were the eggs sold?”
“The castle receives daily visits from produce merchants who sell their wares, so we sold the eggs to them.”
“Is that so? They bought all those eggs?”
“Yes. In fact, they even asked whether we’d have eggs like this to sell tomorrow, saying they would buy however many we could provide.”
“So they’re planning to resell them elsewhere at a markup.”
One of the other maidservants ventured a question.
“Your Highness, wouldn’t it be better if we sold the eggs directly ourselves?”
I fell into thought.
The eggs affected by the Reproduction Edict were remarkably large and tasted extraordinarily good.
They were the sort of ingredients that would be prized in upscale restaurants where the nobility and wealthy commoners dined.
Wealthy people never stinted on spending for delicious food.
‘Demand for these eggs will skyrocket, no question.’
The maidservant had a point. Selling directly would yield far greater profit than taking a middleman’s cut.
‘But……’
I was focused on something else entirely.
The merchants themselves would assume we’d soon begin selling direct, eliminating them.
‘What if we maintained the relationship instead?’
They’d be grateful, wouldn’t they?
More than that—every noble house, every merchant guild buys fresh vegetables and fruit daily.
Produce merchants were outsiders with legitimate reason to enter the castle every single day.
‘This place is a decaying novel where plots and schemes and power struggles reign.’
The nobles of House Gonet still rejected me.
Though I’d gained the Imperial Court’s favor by summoning the Sun Spirit, they regarded me with the same disdain as before.
I had no desire to court their approval in the first place.
But neither would I allow them to dismiss me entirely.
“Bridget.”
“Yes, Your Grace?”
“Tell the produce merchants who come looking for eggs that House Gonet will no longer be selling them directly from now on.”
I paused, collecting my thoughts before continuing.
“Instead, regularly monitor the market demand and prices. Find out how much our eggs are selling for in the high-end restaurants, once they incorporate them into their dishes.”
Demand for Reproduction Edict eggs would skyrocket as time went on.
The more word spread, the more people would want them.
‘The eggs have only just started being laid a few days ago, so there hasn’t been much buzz yet—but the merchants still recognized their quality and practically rushed to buy them.’
What would happen when the rumors truly began to circulate?
The price of eggs would inevitably continue climbing.
‘The current price is nothing but the floor.’
“Some of these merchants will assume we’re ignorant of egg prices and try to drive them down even further. Make an example of a few—cut them off decisively.”
That way, the other merchants would think twice before trying to manipulate the prices.
“Understood, Your Grace. I, Bridget, shall slowly bind the produce merchants with profit and become Your Grace’s faithful puppet.”
‘That’s not quite what I meant!’
Though I suppose the gist is the same.
Controlling people through profit was one of the classic techniques of intrigue, after all.
The produce merchants who became loyal to House Gonet would prove enormously useful.
With careful attention to developments, it wouldn’t be difficult to gather secrets about the nobles—weaknesses they’d rather keep hidden.
‘What else can I do? My position here is precarious.’
I had to leverage whatever assets a former Imperial Concubine could offer, however meager.
I was just setting down the eggs with a smile when it happened.
Suddenly, my entire body was lifted off the ground and pulled into someone’s embrace.
“…?”
Gasps of surprise rippled through the servants. I saw Bridget expertly slip the egg basket from my hands, then discreetly back away.
And then…
“Sherkan?”
A cool breeze wrapped around me.
The moment he stepped into the dining hall, the very air of the small space transformed.
The chattering servants, who hadn’t been ordered to silence, all fell abruptly quiet.
The chill of the outside air still clung to his shoulders, carrying the faint scent of winter ash and cold.
He was the kind of presence that made anyone instinctively step back.
And now I was in his arms.
Sherkan pressed his face into my hair before lifting his head.
“I hear you were sick the entire way back to Home Territory?”
“…It was only motion sickness.”
“That’s not what I was told.”
“Sherkan.”
I gave him a pointed look as I spoke.
“That’s hardly the greeting I’d expect after time apart.”
Sherkan let out a short laugh.
“Listen…”
He was holding me, about to give orders to the servants, when he suddenly paused and furrowed his brow.
“Where did all the servants go.”
“…?”
Only then did I realize that the small dining hall had emptied—only the two of us remained.
Sherkan made a soft sound of disapproval, then strode out of the dining hall still carrying me. He casually kicked the door open with his foot, startling the servants who’d been waiting outside.
“Your Grace. Is there something you require?”
Sherkan glanced at them once, then faced forward and spoke curtly.
“Prepare a bath. As quickly as you can.”
“At once, Your Grace.”
Sherkan continued toward the second floor.
But then…
‘Why won’t he put me down?’
That’s when it happened.
Sherkan suddenly brought his nose close to my neck and breathed in deeply.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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