Rewriting the Trash Ending - Chapter 13

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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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13.

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The Trurail Merchant Guild Master entered the reception chamber alongside the Chief Steward, both bewildered by this unexpected summons.
“Strange, this is. Called out of nowhere like this.”
“Didn’t you say Henry was imprisoned not long ago? Perhaps this is a warning on account of that?”
The Chief Steward’s words made the Guild Master’s brow furrow.
“Tsk, tsk. I knew this day would come. I told him again and again to play by the rules, but…….”
It was common knowledge that Henry tampered with goods destined for the Grand Duke’s house.
No matter how ignorant Northerners were reputed to be, one had to read the room and adjust one’s schemes accordingly.
Surely quality mattered when delivering to the Grand Duke’s household?
By comparison, he considered himself far more scrupulous than that imprisoned fool.
He charged high prices, yes, but he never pawned off goods that were entirely unusable.
“Ah, you’re all here already.”
The Trurail Merchant Guild Master and the Chief Steward bolted upright at the sight of Lumiere entering with her lady-in-waiting, a shock of recognition crossing their faces.
Could it be that the Princess herself had come in person?
“Your Highness, we are honored by your presence.”
They fumbled through their bows, lowering themselves with an almost painful deference.
Lumiere gave a slight nod and settled into her seat.
“I’ve reviewed the price quotation you submitted.”
“Then—shall we proceed with the contract signing today, Your Highness?”
The Guild Master’s eyes gleamed with anticipation.
Once the contract was sealed, he could finally escape this cold, disagreeable land.
But.
“Redraw it.”
“I beg your pardon?”
Normally a stamp would have concluded the matter, but this……what was this?
“The price you’ve put forward simply doesn’t make sense to me.”
“If I may ask, Your Highness—what exactly is the problem?”
Lumiere slid the quotation across the table with a dismissive flick.
“None of the incidental costs are properly itemized. How am I supposed to make a judgment based on this?”
The Guild Master’s eyes flickered toward the lady-in-waiting.
Her expression was rigid as stone—it was clear she disapproved of the Princess meddling in their internal affairs.
Northerners’ resentment toward the Empire was legendary, after all.
He nodded in understanding and forced a laugh.
“Ah, it seems Your Highness has not yet been fully briefed on Northern circumstances.”
“Northern circumstances?”
“Northern commerce involves so many variables that it’s difficult to calculate each cost individually. Surely you understand?”
The Guild Master glanced toward the lady-in-waiting, seeking her agreement.
But the response was not what he expected.
“What does that have to do with anything? Didn’t Her Highness just order you to bring a revised quotation?”
“Ah, but if we review it again, it will take considerable time, and then I cannot guarantee on-time delivery. Are you truly willing to accept such a delay?”
Lumiere’s smile turned glacial.
If he dared pressure even the Princess herself like this, what must he do to the servants?
‘And he speaks as though Northern commerce thrives by anyone’s grace but his own.’
Her violet eyes grew colder, more distant.
“If you lack time to review, then bring the goods first.”
“Your Highness?”
“Payment will be made once I’ve examined both the merchandise and the revised quotation. Surely that’s acceptable?”
“Your Highness, this is no small sum we’re discussing. To demand the goods upfront—that would be most difficult for us.”
“And yet if the sum is fair, I would naturally pay it without hesitation. So what exactly is so difficult about it?”
He fell silent for a moment, his jaw tightening, before he spoke in a tone laced with quiet threat.
“Your Highness, if you press us further, we may have no choice but to cease Northern operations entirely. That would be unfortunate for you, would it not?”
The North was inhabited like anywhere else and had its necessities, yet there remained certain things that could not be easily replaced.
Salt, pepper, luxuries for the nobility.
Above all, the spices that the North did not produce could never be surrendered.
The Guild Master’s brazen confidence stemmed from long experience—such pressure had always worked on lesser functionaries.
But this crossed the line by far.
How dare they attempt to test her nerve.
“Chief Steward.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Do you truly believe we must continue trading with them?”
…….
Tera fell silent, the weight of the question pressing down on her.
Keeping the Grand Duke’s Castle running smoothly was no trivial matter.
But the moment they had threatened her in the Princess’s presence, they had forfeited any claim to compromise.
It was no different from insulting the Grand Duke himself.
After a pause.
“…I shall defer to your will, Your Highness.”
Lumiere let out a soft laugh.
There.
That was the Chief Steward the Grand Duke’s Castle deserved.
“Then we consider the arrangement dissolved.”
“Your Highness, if you sever ties with us, finding another merchant company capable of conducting trade all the way to Winterheim would prove difficult, would it not?”
“Why should that concern you?”
The Merchant Guild Master and the Chief Steward exchanged anxious glances.
The ceremonial wares had all been brought at great effort from the Empire specifically to sell to the Grand Duke’s household.
They had come intending to offload inferior inventory, and if they could not dispose of it here, their losses would be catastrophic.
“Your Highness, it is only natural that a merchant seek profit.”
“Ah, profit.”
Lumiere nodded as though inviting him to continue.
“Yes, without proper compensation, there would be no reason to travel to such a remote place, would there?”
“Compensation, you say……”
“Yes, we too must earn our living. And so……”
She, who had been listening quietly, suddenly posed a question.
“Have you ever heard of Amberbark?”
In that instant, the air grew taut.
“In the Northern Region, it grows so abundantly we use it for kindling, or fashion it into furniture.”
“Why would you ask such a thing……”
She watched them struggle to force a smile, then laughed softly to herself.
“There’s profit enough in it. You’ve certainly made a handsome return selling it elsewhere, have you not?”
The faces of both men drained of color as though cold water had been poured over them.
In her past life, she had overheard a conversation between these two by chance.
It was merely common firewood here, but in foreign lands, it commanded prices hundreds or thousands of times higher—a luxury item of the first order.
They altered its name, falsified its origin to claim it came from distant shores across the sea.
They had monopolized Amberbark using methods not unlike those medieval merchants employed to deceive the world about the source of spices.
“From now on, I intend to strictly control all external export of Amberbark.”
“Your—Your Highness!”
“Anyone exporting it without authorization will be prosecuted for smuggling. See that you remember this.”
Amberbark was a tree that grew only in Winterheim.
If the Grand Duke’s household regulated its export, those merchants whose principal commodity was Amberbark would face ruin.
Lumiere turned to leave.
The two men cried out in alarm.
“Smuggling? But it’s merely common wood! This is unjust!”
“No, we can revise the quotation, please grant us just one more chance……!”
She paused her stride for a moment.
“Then you should have accepted my proposal without hesitation from the start.”
Had they done so, she might have shown them some mercy. But they were the ones who had spurned their final opportunity.
“You won’t be making the journey to this remote corner again.”
“Your Highness, Your Highness……!”
She departed the audience chamber, leaving the two men to their desperate pleas.
Tera followed quietly behind, her tone one of surprise and realization.
“I had no idea that common firewood scattered throughout the Northern Region was valued as a luxury in foreign lands. So that is why you wished to change suppliers.”
“Do you truly think I would make such a demand without first devising a solution?”
She laughed softly as she walked.
From this day forward, she would no longer be at the mercy of foreign merchants.
If they wanted access to Amberbark, they would have no choice but to court the Grand Duke’s favor.
“How shall we arrange the National Wedding preparations?”
“Find me a reputable merchant guild with a foothold in the Northern Region. There’s no need to go to the trouble of preparing everything in Imperial style simply out of deference to me.”
“As you wish.”
Lumiere felt a quiet satisfaction at Tera’s increasingly deferential manner.
She could see that the Chief Steward had acknowledged her as the lady of the house.
Yet one thing nagged at her: today’s business was bound to stir up gossip, no matter what.
Not only had she imprisoned a merchant, but she’d severed a long-standing trade relationship in the bargain.
To those ignorant of the full circumstances, her actions could hardly appear in a favorable light.
Still, unlike her past life, she’d at least taken the first step correctly—the rest would resolve itself in time.

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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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