Chapter 74

Liliana smiled awkwardly as she spoke, but Lady Liston shook her head.

“What could be a stronger motivation than the heart?”

Lady Liston looked at Liliana with determined eyes as if she had already decided.

“You must steel your heart even more. Even if the nobles raise their voices and urge His Majesty to welcome a new empress consort or empress, you must not waver. On the contrary, you need to push back harder and prevent them from saying such things. Do you understand?”

Liliana nodded earnestly. Seeing her determination, Lady Liston felt slightly reassured.

“What do you plan to do about Gabriel’s faction?”

“We’ll have to discuss other terms. If they don’t accept, the deal will fall through. Fortunately, we’ve been on the receiving end with Gabriel’s faction.”

Liliana mentioned that she had tipped off Vail before the secret ledger of the Kurd merchant guild was exposed to the world. Lady Liston nodded as she sipped her tea.

“The Gabriel faction is more human than the direct line; they know how to be grateful. They didn’t give everything to His Highness, and His Highness gave them good information, so it’s not a lopsided relationship. They can back out whenever they wish.“

“Still, I’d like to renegotiate the terms. To do that, I’ll need to secure more leverage.”

Lady Liston nodded in agreement. When she gestured to her maid, the maid handed over a thin document she had been holding.

When Liliana took it and looked through it, she found a list of newly established merchant guilds.

With the Kurd merchant guild being transferred to the imperial family and its future uncertain, more people across the country started venturing into commerce.

“After Her Highness mentioned business in her letter, I conducted my own investigation.”

“There are certainly a lot.“

“Less than half of them will survive. The Gabriel ducal family has suffered significant losses, but that doesn’t mean they’ll sit idle. To establish a business, you must secure your position quickly and firmly. Do you have something in mind?”

Lady Liston spoke logically, as one would expect from someone who deals in information. Liliana nodded but appeared somewhat lacking in confidence.

She was clever, but she had never run a business before.

As a princess, she couldn’t dare to engage in business, and as an empress consort, such endeavors were beneath her, which was quite ironic.

However, Liliana studied by poring over books and newspapers and brainstorming ideas. She planned to propose her idea to Lady Liston for advice.

“I thought it would be good to start a business that could generate long-term profits and create a positive impression among the empire’s citizens.“

“That’s a wise decision.“

“And it shouldn’t require too much initial capital… It shouldn’t be something too many people are already involved in.”

As Liliana mumbled to herself, eliminating candidates through a process of elimination rather than getting to the point, Lady Liston burst into laughter.

“Even if it’s strange, I won’t laugh. Please, go on.”

Liliana blushed as Lady Liston saw through her hesitation. She placed her hands on her lap and finally got to the point.

“I’m thinking of hiring spirit summoners to establish a business.”

Although Lady Liston didn’t laugh as promised, she gently offered advice.

“That will be very difficult. Extremely so.”

Carlo was a prosperous nation. Even the poor rarely starved or froze to death as long as they worked.

Those with nothing to inherit and no education frequented the labor offices, cleaning, serving, or caring for children.

However, because Carlo was so prosperous, specific individuals were overlooked.

Those were the spirit summoners.

In unstable countries like the Kingdom of Nieta or the Duchy of Laove, mercenaries and spirit summoners were often hired as bodyguards.

As a result, commoner or low-born spirit summoners desperately made pacts with spirits to earn a living.

If they were skilled, they became bodyguards; if not, they took on tasks such as irrigating dry fields, proving to be highly efficient workers.

In contrast, spirit summoning was more of a hobby enjoyed by the nobility in the Carlo Empire. The guards in the imperial palace and various estates were meticulously managed, so the crime rate was low, and there was little need to hire spirit summoners.

Moreover, with well-maintained reservoirs, there was rarely any need to summon water spirits.

Occasionally, a spirit of light would be summoned to pray for a pregnant wife or a patient, but that was the most common use.

Lady Liston, still puzzled, asked,

“As Her Highness knows, spirit summoners aren’t particularly needed in the Carlo Empire. If necessary, we can bring them from the Duchy of Laove.“

“But the Duchy of Laove is far away and quite isolated, so hiring from there takes a lot of time and money.“

“That may be true, but…”

If they were useless, there would be no reason to hire them. And because there was no reason to hire them, the spirit summoner employment market had never developed.

Lady Liston found it challenging to understand why the intelligent Liliana would bring this up, knowing this fact.

Liliana, sensing Lady Liston’s thoughts, became even more cautious.

“The empire is wealthy, and I intend to exploit that wealth. I’ve thought about various possibilities, and first…”

Liliana pulled out a small, shiny stone from a small pouch. It was round and pretty, though it seemed like an ordinary pebble—yet there was something strange about it.

Upon closer inspection, a tiny area on the stone’s surface glowed with a transparent green light. At first glance, it resembled an uncut gemstone.

However, to be honest, it was too small and unimpressive.

“What is this?”

As Lady Liston’s reaction wasn’t favorable, Liliana blinked rapidly as if expecting this and feeling embarrassed.

“It’s a spirit stone. I tried making one myself to see if it could be a viable business… but since I haven’t formed a contract with a spirit, this is the best I could do.“

“Oh, it’s adorable.”

Lady Liston quickly composed herself and praised the half-finished spirit stone. But the more she did so, the more Liliana’s head drooped.

Lady Liston had to console Liliana for quite some time. She remarked that the pebble was indeed very pretty and that Liliana could use spirit magic without a contract!

Only after this did Liliana’s face brighten slightly.

“I didn’t know Your Highness was a spirit summoner. Why didn’t you reveal this?“

“I haven’t formed a contract, so it’s a bit embarrassing to call myself a spirit summoner.”

Liliana blushed, her expression shy. She held the crude spirit stone in her hand, recalling the process of creating it. She could still feel the sting in her ears from all the scolding Chuchu had given her.

* * *

Liliana was in a position where she could start a business if she wanted to. Lady Liston and Count Lackl spared no expense in providing financial support.

However, Liliana did not desire money itself. She wanted the money to sway those aligned with the Gabriel ducal family.

To achieve this, she needed to carve out an entirely new path, and for that, Liliana had to spend her days in the imperial library, reading books that spanned history and economics.

She still felt sorry for having to chase after Lucia for advice.

In the end, what she found was the spirit stone.

Excitedly, Liliana tapped Chuchu, who was dozing off on the desk.

“Chuchu, look at this. Is this real?”

Liliana pushed a page of a book toward Chuchu. Rubbing her eyes, Chuchu slowly got up.

“Lily, I’m sleepy…“

“Just check this for me, please? If you do, we can go for a walk together. How about that?”

At the mention of a walk, Chuchu’s eyes lit up. Lately, Liliana had been so busy that there weren’t many days to go for a walk together.

“Really? We’ll really go for a walk? You’re not too busy?“

“Of course. If you help me, I think I’ll have time.”

As Liliana coaxed her, Chuchu approached the book. For a moment, Liliana wondered, “Can spirits even read the empire’s language?“ But Chuchu effortlessly read the text, which was no more significant than her hand.

Chuchu crossed her arms and scrutinized the book’s contents before stepping back, as if it were nothing special.

“Huh, I thought it was something amazing!“

“Why? What does it say?“

“It’s so obvious! Do humans really need to write this down in books?”

Chuchu even seemed disappointed. Liliana looked back at the book.

“The great spirit summoner Lophis planted spirit stones and seeds in a barren land, and the ground turned to gold in no time. Homeless spirit summoners joined Lophis, and together, they founded the nation of Love.“

This was a sentence from a book documenting the unofficial history of the Duchy of Laove. Although the Duchy was once a harsh and barren land, it was now a beautiful, forested place.

If this were true, it meant spirit stones could be used to rapidly cultivate wasteland.

Beyond the eastern wall of the Carlo Empire lay vast stretches of barren land. After long wars, they abandoned the land that couldn’t be salvaged and kept the fertile land to make it even more prosperous.

The empire-abandoned eastern lands had no walls built around them, and since no other country coveted them, they remained desolate and lonely.

If that land could be quickly developed, it might even become a city that could rival the border city of Arsen.

“Chuchu, how do you make a spirit stone?“

“A spirit stone? You just need to blow some air into a rock.“

“Just like that? Is it easy?“

“Of course!”

TL NOTE: A more advanced chapter of this story is already up on the site. Visit dusk blossoms for more advanced chapters and stories.