Chapter 670 - Not The Only Loser
Marquess Samed was just about to retort that how could he be better than the King?
However, in the next moment, he held his words as in this situation, he hoped that she would deem him better than their Ruler.
King Ophire was the one who had broken the promise in the true sense.
'She wished to not let the public know about her involvement in the matter regarding the policies.' He recalled the crux of her intentions back then.
While he had only informed the King about it, only after he was threatened to do so, the King was the one who had revealed it to the masses.
However, he defended his actions by stating that he had only mentioned it to his Ministers.
'The ministers then revealed it to the nobles who were present.' Marquess Samed was both in awe and terrified by the King's talent of twisting things to work in his favor.
Yvonne too had come to the same conclusion by now.
However, she had no intention of letting the Marquess off the hook so easily.
'I don't care if he was threatened or not.' She added, bent upon making him pay for what he had done.
While he might not be entirely at fault, he was still the one she had trusted but he kept her in the dark for so long.
Therefore, punishments were due and lessons needed to be learned to ensure that such mistakes were not repeated in the future.
"Marquess, I understand that you could not lie to the King." She nodded, donning the appearance of an understanding and obedient child.
Marquess Samed felt tears of relief brimming in his eyes at her kind words but he had reacted too soon.
In the next moment, Yvonne's gentle appearance transformed into one that the tutor would fear for all eternity.
With her wide amethyst eyes blinking at him, the little girl seated before him curved her lips into a slight smile.
"However, things need to change from now on." She whispered, her eerily lovely voice sending shivers down his spine which straightened right away.
'You already changed the way I address you.' The tutor grumbled in his heart but nonetheless, he nodded, accepting whatever it was that she wished to change.
Yvonne sneered when she saw his nod which made her nod as well because that would be the best for the both of them.
"First things first." She raised her stubby little finger in the air to point out the number of changes that she had prepared for him.
Marquess Samed felt something amiss but he did not let his hesitation appear on his face as he was willing to do anything to go back to how things were in the past.
Pleased with his behavior, the little girl got right to the matter at hand.
"No more lies." She declared in a stern voice which gave him no room for any objections.
"Everything related to me or things that might affect me or my family and friends." She continued when she saw him sitting silently to pay heed to everything she said.
"I need to know everything." She asserted her condition which he was not supposed to say no to.
"No exceptions!" She concluded her first condition with him nodding in quick acceptance to what she had proposed.
Marquess Samed did not wish to get on her bad side as she was his best pupil and also his business partner whom he did not want to lose.
Therefore, he was willing to agree to everything she said as he indeed was at fault for what had taken place in the past and was guilty about it.
Making use of his earnest plea to get back in her good books, Yvonne decided to not go easy on him.
"Now, let's talk business." She smiled but that smile made him gulp his saliva.
Marquess Samed was just thinking of CLOVER and how she was an indispensable person to him and in the next moment, he heard her mentioning business.
This made him sit ramrod stiff, fretting that she would cancel the contracts between them.
However, what he had forgotten was that doing so was impossible.
"CLOVER's one-year contract of doing business with the Samed fief has already ended, hasn't it?" She inquired which reminded him that what she had said was the truth.
She could not end the contract as the period of validity for that contract had come to an end during the plague.
They had not met at that time so there was no way to renew it until now.
Thus Marquess Samed sat on pins and needles as he waited to see what she was about to say.
"I know that this is a crucial contract for the Marquess," Yvonne mentioned after noticing his current anxious state.
"However, shouldn't the Marquess compensate for the trust that he had broken?" She muttered in a low voice but it was enough for him to hear.
'What is she planning to do?' The tutor's palms felt clammy due to the sweat pouring out of him at this very moment.
As he watched, the little girl raised her three fingers in the air.
"This is the second condition." The kind tutor corrected the mistake that she seemed to have made.
This was the second condition but she was holding up three fingers which made the man shake his head at his pupil who had forgotten basic numerical in the short period that they had been away from each other.
Yvonne snickered at his words before shaking her head in response to his correction.
"Thrice the price." She stated the meaning of the three fingers.
The contract with the Samed fief would only be renewed if he paid CLOVER thrice the price of what they had discussed in the past.
While CLOVER sold its soaps at a cheaper rate, to purchase them in large quantities would still put a toll on the budget of the fief.
What Yvonne proposed just now was not a profitable offer for the Marquess in the least bit.
If CLOVER raised its prices out of nowhere then the soaps he purchased from them would have to be sold to his citizens at a hiked-up price as well.
Though even this hiked price would be much better and affordable compared to the prices that Earl Blaise sold his soaps for in the past because CLOVER's quantity of soap was much larger than the Earl's.
Thus Marquess Samed was left between a rock and a hard place with the offer she had just made.
Yvonne smirked when she saw the conflicted look on his face as this was exactly what she hoped to achieve by placing this condition before him.
"Aren't you a shrewd businesswoman?" Marquess Samed muttered after mulling over what she had suggested just now.
Once he purchased the soaps at thrice their original price, he would have to sell them at the same price to his citizens.
However, he never could burden his people in this way even if it was not as bad as compared to the soaps they had purchased in the past from Earl Blaise.
The only way to keep his citizens away from the sudden inflation in this price would be to incur a loss himself.
He would have to purchase the soaps at a hiked-up price but sell them to his citizens at the original rate that they were used to.
Thus his citizens would not be burdened by the inflation of prices and Yvonne would be able to enjoy a higher profit on her products.
The only loser here would be Marquess Samed who would have to incur a loss as he would be paying for the difference in the price from his pockets.
'This way I won't be the only loser here.' Yvonne smiled sweetly but Marquess Samed was in no mood to appreciate the brilliant smile she had displayed.
"Doesn't the King pay you well for being the Royal Tutor?" She mentioned off-handedly as there was no way that the King would hold back when it came to the education of his daughter and the playmates.
Marquess Samed choked when he saw the look of sarcasm on his pupil's little face.
'Since he pays you so well and you are so loyal to him. Why don't you use that money to bring me some profits?' She held that same smile as she gazed at him.
At this moment, Marquess Samed realized that if he wished to continue being wealthy, he should keep in mind to not get on her bad side as she was more than capable of diminishing the wealth that he had worked hard to accumulate over the years.