Chương 208: Chapter 191. Business Deal Developments

" Hapu..."" Hapu... Hapu..." King Alan and Princess Alice took a concerned bite of the ice cream at first. They, like all the others, were still somewhat fearful of the reputation that milk had. Once I explained that I had found the correct way to make it safe for consumption, they began to eat it. After the first bite, the flavor of the ice cream spread into their mouths, and they took a moment to fully enjoy the taste.

After that, their eyes began to sparkle, and their slit irises widened and looked like Human pupils. I remember reading in my old world that cat's pupils would dilate if they were happy." Do you like it?" I asked a question, somewhat awkwardly as they had stopped moving for a moment." Hapu... Hapu... Hapu..." Princess Alice ignored my question as she continued to consume the ice cream in her bowl. King Alan however, lowered the bowl in his hand a bit and answered my question." Yes... Mat... Joh..."

King Alan didn't seem to know what to call me. I decided to give him an answer." As long as we're in private with people who already know, you can just call me "John". Anywhere else, please, stick with Matthew, King Alan."" Well, John, I'll be honest, you were right, I've never tasted anything like this. Neither has My Daughter. She's always had a sweet tooth and as you can tell, she seems to really enjoy it. And you said that you had other products made from milk, John?" I nodded to King Alan's question.

I was also quite happy with the fact that he and Princess Alice enjoyed the ice cream. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't expecting a new customer for my products." What kind of items?"" A few drinks that can also be used as ingredients, mostly in other desserts and pastries. Though there are ways to use them in savory dishes, but I haven't started trying to recreate such dishes yet. There's also cheese. It's a savory food that's goes well with a lot of things, I personally think it's best when it's on a sandwich.

Preferably melted."" Melted?"" Yes, I don't know how to explain it other than saying cheese is capable of melting and covering other food. It adds its own flavor to food as well as sometimes enhances other food that it's paired with."" This sounds like something I need to try!"" Well, sorry, but I don't have any with me."" Why!?" King Alan seemed to be genuinely sad that I didn't have any cheese with me. It was almost funny to think that a King was this sad that he couldn't have any cheese."

The reason he doesn't have any with him is because he wasn't expecting to showcase his products. He only expected to deliver a letter and hear my orders regarding it." Warrick spoke for me. King Alan turned to Warrick and began to speak to him." Wait! Warrick! The way you're so calm about this! You've already tried this "Cheese", haven't you!?"" Alan, stop screaming, you're going to pop an eardrum. Yes, I have tried it, I didn't get to try the melted version, however.

If you'd like to try it, I suggest forming a deal with John before he heads back home." With Warrick's words, King Alan turned to me with a gleam in his eye. But I was surprised to find he wasn't the first to speak. In front of King Alan, Princess Alice popped in front of him by moving around him from behind. Her yellow eyes resembled her father's at the moment." Dad! We're going to make a deal, right!? You know how popular this could be!"" Well... Thanks for making my position somewhat difficult, Alice."

Princess Alice was excited by the prospect of more ice cream. I looked behind them and I had seen that not only did she eat what was in her bowl, but she proceeded to eat what was left in her dad's bowl as he was busy speaking to Warrick. I think I found a new customer for sure. King Alan, at this point, seemed to be thinking up a way to have a fair trade and not be bent over a barrel in this deal."

Relax, King Alan, I'm not going to do this dishonestly, I just ask you pay market price for the goods and what will be needed for shipping, unless you'd like to send people to grab it yourself."" What is the market price?"" Good question, King Alan. From what I understand from my Advisors, a gallon of this ice cream should go for 6 silver coins."" 6 silver coins for a gallon of it?"" Yes. I thought about lowering it, but my Advisors tell me that it shouldn't go any lower.

Considering we're the only ones who produce it, the rarity adds to it. If you wish to buy in bulk, I'm sure my Advisors will offer a discount for moving so much product."" Wow, that sounds great! That should work! Right, Dad!?" Princess Alice seemed to be doing the business deal negotiations for King Alan. It's quite strange how a bowl of ice cream has gotten more words out of her in 5 minutes than the last hour combined. King Alan seemed to be mulling over the idea.

He seemed to have thought up something and began to speak to me. Stolen story; please report." I think the best way to have this work is to have My Daughter go and try the products. I'll allow her to decide on the terms of the trade deal after that!"" Huh?" Warrick was surprised by King Alan's words. Even I was." Wait, King Alan. Why would you be so okay with sending Princess Alan away with a stranger? She doesn't even like Humans that much right?" King Alan nodded to my panicked words." Yes, that is a fact.

But, I haven't seen her speak this much to a Human before. That and she takes after her grandmother when it comes to business sense. I think it should be fine. You don't plan on hurting a Foreign Princess, right?"" No, I would never."" Then it should be fine? What about you, Alice, do you want to go? If not, I guess I could send 1 of your Brothers or sister?"" No, I'll go, Dad!" Princess Alice gave a spirited answer to King Alan."

Alice, relax, they'd go to a place where Little Sarah is, I doubt they'd be mistreated or anything...." King Alan began to think about something after he said that. it seems like he just thought up an idea that he really likes. If I had to guess, I'd say that he's thinking something along the lines of using me to heal whatever emotional or mental scars that Princess Alice has. At this point, I don't really care. Having another revenue stream for my Business was something that sounded very pleasant to me.

It would mean that I would be able to hire more people that could look after the dairy products for me. I then would be able to laze about after doing the daily paperwork needed of a Lord in the future! Which means more time spent with Sarah and Anna and our future kids! That sounded great to me!" It's fine, Dad, I'll go! You said it yourself; I have a similar business sense to Grandma Katie! That means I have the best sense of all 7 of us! So, it only makes sense for me to go!"

While she spoke about it like it was the obvious choice to pick her, the slight saliva dripping from the corner of her mouth suggested that her stomach had just as much a part to play in this decision for Princess Alice as her business sense did." John, will it be alright to accept Alan's request? I don't want to force you into this."" Yes, it should be fine, she's Friends with Sarah, right? Why not then? I'm sure Sarah would love to see her again.

If you can, let Asha, Sharon and Cynthia know they're allowed to come to Paradise whenever they'd like as well. Friends and Family are always welcome."" Okay, as long as you're alright with it." Warrick asked me if I would be alright having another person live in Paradise for a while. Truth be told, there was still a lot of open real estate in Paradise. Cleaning one up to let a Princess stay there for a few weeks should be easy." I guess, she'll stay until the Summit?

King Alan will bring her back to Bestia along with some shipments of dairy products that Princess Alice will decide to buy. The payments and the like can be figured out by my Accountants at the time. Oh, also, I guess we should gather Princess Alice's belongings to bring with us, right?"" I'll request the Servants to bring it to your carriage, John."" Carriage?" King Alan said something confusing." Alan, have them bring the luggage here." Warrick spoke to Alan about what he should do. Oh right, he doesn't know."

King Alan, I can teleport to Paradise from Blackstone. It's due to a Contract I have with a Spiritkin."" You're a Summoner and a Paladin? Wow. I guess Warrick unlocked that for ya!?"" Yes, he did, King Alan. Also, Warrick... Can you pass me a piece of paper and a pencil? I need to write a letter really quick." King Alan went to his Servants so that they could collect Princess Alice's belongings. While he did that, I asked Warrick for a letter." A letter?" Princess Alice didn't understand."

Yes, it takes around half of my mana to transfer myself to Blackstone now. Since I'm going to bring you as well as some luggage, I'm going to pass out from Mana Exhaustion, if Sarah isn't there, you need to hand the letter to whoever is, since I don't want anyone thinking you're a criminal trying to kill me or anything."" Who would think that?"" My... Citizens can be... A bit... Protective of me, I guess?"" Why do you sound so unsure?"

I shrugged my shoulders at Princess Alice's question and began to write a letter with basic instructions. Things like who she is, what she's there for and to please bring Sarah or Anna to me so I could wake up. By the time I finished it, King Alan returned with 2 large suitcases." Is that everything Princess Alice needs?"" Yes, this should be sufficient." Princess Alice gave me a quite business-like answer." Uhm... Considering I've been here for about 3 hours now, I can make the jump back home.

Are you okay with leaving now, Princess Alice?" Yes, that works, just... Let me have a few minutes to say goodbye to my Dad first, Marquess John."" Take all the time you need." Father and daughter left the room for the hallway right outside of it to have a private moment together." So, John. How have you actually been? How are Sarah and Anna?" Aqua began to speak to me." Honestly, I've been a little stressed. I had no idea how nerve wracking working as a Diplomat could be.

Sarah and Anna seemed to adjust to it well, but we're all happy to be back in Paradise. I'm not too excited about having 2 Foreign Princesses staying in my town at the same time. I just hope nothing bad happens."" Yeah, I find that High-Ranking Nobles never can sleep well at night. Unless they're the bad kind." Warrick commented on the stress I have." I think it should be fine in time. I mean... It feels like all the work I've done for the past year, is about to pay off. I just need to keep pushing a bit longer.""

Till you can relax and only work as a Town Lord?"" Yeah, this whole "ice cream" thing, it's great, but the work is somewhat killer. It limits the amount of time I can spend with Sarah and Anna. Well, that and all the other things I had to do. But dairy products are what topped the list so far."" How much work do you think you have left?"" With the added orders that Bestia could have... I'd say a week and a half? I'll be able to produce enough to satiate King Alan and his family.

Once the winter solstice passes, it'll be about 6 months before my schedule clears from making sure production is unencumbered by outside forces."" Because your business will go public?"" Exactly. We have the factories, we have the ingredients, the only factor to be concerned about are the routes to deliver them. But with some practice over 6 months. That should be a non-issue. I plan on delivering Blackstone's shipment myself. That's when I'll end up making that road we spoke of before.""

I'll have the payment for the dairy products ready."" I wonder how many people would be shocked that I'm going to be doing that long road for free?"" Probably a lot."" I'm ready, Marquess John!" Princess Alice came bursting into the room after Warrick commented on my question. I turned to look at the father and daughter. They seemed to have something of a tearful goodbye. Regardless, we prepared for the warp. A burst of black light appeared next to me. Paula appeared and readied the Portal without much fanfare."

Now we just walk through?"" Yup." I offered my hand to Princess Alice as we both carried a suitcase each of her belongings. I now noticed she had placed my letter in her cleavage. Considering how slim she was, I was surprised at the size of her chest. Before I got caught staring, I turned back to the Portal. These 6 weeks of no intimacy with my Wives is starting to affect me badly. We walked through the Portal. As soon as my feet touched my office floor. Everything went black.

I heard some shouting from what sounded like familiar voices, but the pull of my unconscious couldn't be stopped.