Moonlight Ball

“Merchant!” Iris raised her voice as she let go of his neck and put her hands on her hips. She then turned to look at Sidrain and said, “If you think they have an innocent personality, you will find that they usually have an unexpected determination to rob you.” Sidrain observed Iris with interest and noticed the intensity in her crystal blue eyes as she stared at the fabric on the table.

The merchant was forced to shrug his shoulders and stammered, “L-L-Lofine is running short of supplies these days, Your Grace.”

“So what?” Iris snapped back.

“So, they aren’t top quality, but these are still very h-h-high-quality.”

“But why do you charge more than a top-class Lofine?”

As a young lady, Iris didn’t know much about the prices of things. She was The Princess of the Magic Tower, and, therefore, all her finances were supervised by Elaine, her teacher. She had no idea how much she earned or how much she spent.

However, after years of being on her own after she’d left the tower, earning and spending money, she’d become familiar with the cost of things. But she didn’t know the prices for the medium-class items because all she bought were top-class products, so she’d only memorized the prices of them.

“This is never, ever more expensive than the top Lofine!” Iris was getting irate as the merchant tried to make excuses, and she couldn’t believe the way he was acting. But she had a trick up her sleeve to catch him out. “All the Lofine entering the capital is supposed to be coming through Mr. Enton, the agent of the Dortrune Union, right?”

How does The Queen know Enton? The merchant quivered, and it looked like an earthquake was taking place in his eyes. Enton was a representative of Gertaire’s Lofine Dortrune. His name was unknown to most experts, but The Queen seemed friendly enough with the representative to call him Mr. Enton. He seemed like an acquaintance of hers, and the merchant was now starting to tremble visibly.

Enton would never say this fabric was a top-class product and would cancel the Lofine contract if he found out that the merchant sold it to the royal family, pretending that it was high-end merchandise. Not only that, he was a man who would sue a merchant for doing such a thing.

“Oh, oh, oh, My Queen!”

“What?”

“I was wrong! Please, forgive me!” The merchant pleaded and fell to his knees on the hard ground.

The other merchants swallowed their screams as they watched the serious situation unfolding. Queen Rosemary’s eyes were not normal, and she even knew the name of the Dortrune’s representative. If she knew the name of Lofine’s Dortrune agent, then she probably knew the names of other Dortrune agents as well.

The other stall owners watched fearfully as the merchant hung onto the hem of her skirt and continued to beg for mercy, “Your Grace! Please forgive me just once! Give me a chance! I want to offer you the highest quality Lofine, Your Grace!”

His pleading was a bit much for Iris’s, and her mind began to weaken again. Seeing the gray-haired old man begging on his stomach made her uncomfortable, so she leaned down and spoke less harshly, “Hey, get up.”

The jeweler’s eyes shone as he watched from afar. That is it! Queen Rosemary has a weak heart! Seeing an opportunity for redemption, he bolted toward her. It was much better to kneel and beg than to lose a huge client like the royal family.

“My Queen!” The jeweler sprinted and then slid on the ground, which caused a plume of dust to rise in the air. He came to a stop right in front of The Queen. Lying flat on the ground, at her feet, he said, “I will treat you very well! I’ll give you the finest jewels. Just this once, please forgive me!”

“Don’t do this,” Iris said, shaking her head.

At that moment, all the merchants knew The Queen’s weakness, and they rushed toward her shouting her name.

“We’ll do our best!” A merchant yelled.

“Could you please make an exception in this case? I’ll give you something wonderful!” Shouted another merchant.

Iris felt like she was in a stampede as the merchants raced toward her from all sides. They roared as they ran, and the ground was vibrating under her feet. Oh my god! Iris was terrified as the people circled her.

Sidrain, on the other hand, burst into laughter at the ridiculous display while looking forward to what Iris would decide. The merchants surrounding them wanted to know if she would cut them some slack or not, and they waited with bated breath for her response.

Iris shouted, “All right, everybody, be quiet! Well, here’s the deal!” Iris’s face was burning red. This job was too stimulating for her to avoid people, and it was difficult to watch them clinging to her feet. But she couldn’t be cruel to the merchants even if they’d made a fool of the royal family.

The merchants bowed their heads and smiled with satisfaction as The Queen looked down at them. However, they all knew her weakness now, that she had a soft heart, and they intended to take advantage of her kindness.

“I’ll reopen the market in a week,” Iris continued. The words she said were far from what they had hoped to hear, and the merchants looked up at The Queen in disbelief as she added, “We will allow all qualified merchants, as well as you, to enter. There will be an open competitive bid for the royal family’s business. Win there, and then your deal will be signed and sealed. If you lose there, you don’t get any deal. I suggest that you win with quality and price!”

The merchants all distorted their faces as if they were about to cry when they realized that The Queen might have a soft heart, but her mind was strong. Queen’s Rosemary’s words were on point. The King also had his arm around her as if showing his support for what she had said.

“That’s enough. See you in a week, folks,” the King said firmly, putting an end to the situation. And thus, a competitive public bid began to secure the business of the royal family.