Kyle immediately sent a confidential letter instructing Shiloh to submit a license reissue application to the palace. Once the official in charge confirmed her application at the end of the month, the license would be sent to her.

‘Could you come by the shop again in about a week? I’d like to show you the business plan.’

Shiloh’s words came back to him, and he sat down at his desk earlier than usual. He kept his eyes fixed on documents for more than half a day, reviewing and processing them one by one.

Only when the orange sunset wrapped softly around the spires of Montewarre Castle did he close the files and stand.

“A business plan from someone like her is bound to be rough.”

Kyle rolled his stiff shoulders and muttered without expression.

Someone with so little experience in the world couldn’t possibly have put together anything substantial.

His plan was to skim through the report as a formality, get a sense of her financial situation, and then decide definitively whether to invest the minimum needed to keep her from struggling, or to leave her to manage on her own.

*

‘Have I missed anything?’

Shiloh stared at the business plan she had copied at the print shop, breaking into a cold sweat.

Jingle.

The shop door opened earlier than expected, and Kyle appeared.

Shiloh jumped to her feet and went to greet him.

“Thank you for coming. Please sit here.”

She pulled out the chair across from her.

Her sweat-damp hands trembled faintly.

“The baker’s license should be sent out around the end of the month.”

Kyle sat down and said it without inflection.

“Thank you. Could you wait just a moment while I finish up? Please help yourself to these.”

Shiloh’s gaze, which had briefly gone to Kyle’s face at the mention of the license, returned to her documents.

The plate she set in front of him held strawberries, grapes, and macadamia cookies, arranged prettily and invitingly.

Kyle set down his fork and watched her, absorbed in her papers.

Aware of his gaze, Shiloh hurried to finish organizing the documents, tapped them against the table to align them, and spoke in a trembling voice.

“I’m sorry for making you wait. Here you are.”

The neatly organized business plan passed into his hands.

Kyle took it with an air of indifference and said casually.

“Shall we eat first?”

“Pardon?”

Shiloh’s eyes went wide.

“We can review the plan at our leisure.”

He slid the plate toward her.

“I’m fine. Please go ahead.”

Kyle looked at Shiloh’s slender wrists and then lifted his gaze.

“Have you eaten dinner?”

“No. I couldn’t get anything down……”

Kyle’s eyes tightened slightly.

“Hmm…… then let’s go through the documents quickly.”

Kyle flipped through the pages with an impassive expression.

As his brow drew together, Shiloh swallowed dryly with a stiff face.

The plan, organized into dozens of pages, covered the background and rationale for the business, a feasibility analysis, marketing approach, financial management plan, pricing policy, various business models, and contingency strategies.

Kyle paused on one page and stared at it.

He couldn’t take his eyes off the statistics laid out at a glance using charts and diagrams.

“You said this is your first business venture?”

Kyle tilted his head slightly.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“This business plan is extremely professional. I’ve reviewed quite a few, having invested in various things.”

Shiloh smiled shyly at his praise.

“Thank you.”

It wasn’t anything special to her. She had simply drawn on her experience writing reports at her old company. If anything, she was disappointed that she hadn’t been able to conduct proper market research on the bakery industry to incorporate into the plan.

Even so, his praise made hope rise in her that she might actually receive the investment.

But since nothing had been decided yet, she reminded herself not to get ahead of things.

“Dough business? What is this?”

Kyle tapped the word ‘dough’ with his index finger.

“I looked into what kinds of bread customers buy most at our shop. Morning rolls and croissants for breakfast were the most popular.”

“I see.”

“Dough is bread frozen before baking. I thought it might be worth selling at a low price. It reduces the labor of baking, which eases the staffing burden, and customers can bake warm bread whenever they like in a communal or personal oven.”

Kyle looked at Shiloh’s focused expression with quiet attention.

“If the business grows and a second or third location opens, it could also be supplied to them.”

“……”

“Of course, that’s all on the premise that the current shop does very well. If the investment grows and the shop keeps thriving, I don’t think it’s out of the question.”

“……”

“I’ve also thought about promotion.”

“……”

“People are interested in what famous people eat, so I’m thinking of sponsoring tea parties held by well-known figures in social circles. I’ve also considered partially funding theater productions in exchange for having an actor eat our bread on stage.”

“Hmm……”

Shiloh poured out her vision without pause, and Kyle watched her with what seemed like genuine curiosity.

She held his attention as she turned a few more pages.

“Looking at the pricing policy, because we select only quality ingredients, our ingredient costs run quite high.”

“Couldn’t you raise the prices? Looking at the financials, it seems like it’ll take a long time to pay off the loan as things stand.”

Kyle’s expression clouded slightly.

“I want to offer decent bread at a reasonable price. It’s profit to me, but to the people buying the bread, it might be their meal for the day.”

Shiloh quietly looked away as Kyle stared at her too intently.

“I plan to keep the prices on everyday bread low, and offset ingredient costs by pricing the special line breads and cakes relatively higher. Cakes in particular sell well to noble households for celebrations and ceremonies.”

Shiloh showed him a neatly organized breakdown of the age, social standing, and purchasing purpose of customers who had bought bread from her.

Kyle rested his chin in his hand, deep in thought, then spoke in a serious tone.

“I mention this in case you’re not familiar with the law, but even if you raise prices, the maximum margin on bread for sale is thirteen percent.”

“I see. Thank you for telling me. Once I’m selling more bread, I plan to teach the everyday loaves to staff and have them handle that, while I focus on the breads that require more advanced technique.”

“You intend to hire staff?”

“If the investment is substantial enough. It’s still just a plan for now……”

“So how comfortably you can work depends on the size of the investment.”

Kyle stroked his chin.

Shiloh watched his expression and fidgeted with her hands.

“What did you think of the business plan?”

“There’s nothing to object to, particularly……”

Kyle’s brow furrowed slightly.

“Any suggestions……”

“You know bread better than I do.”

“……”

“How large do you intend to grow the business?”

“I want to give back more than what you’ve invested.”

“……”

Kyle crossed his arms and smiled wryly.

‘What is he not satisfied with?’

Shiloh, watching him from the corner of her eye, raised her voice slightly.

“I’m not just going to inflate the size for the sake of it, so don’t worry. Even when I create new items, I’ll always be watching how customers respond.”

Kyle quietly held out a fork with a strawberry on it toward Shiloh.

She took it without thinking and put it in her mouth with a puzzled expression.

Shiloh chewed with both cheeks puffed out and watched Kyle’s face.

For some reason he let out a small laugh, then immediately composed himself.

Shiloh swallowed and waited anxiously for his answer.

After a long pause, his lips finally parted.

“I’ll invest. Let’s work out the terms.”

At Kyle’s words, Shiloh let out the breath she had been holding and smiled with relief.

“Thank you.”

She couldn’t stop her lips from curving upward and pressed her hand over her mouth.

He leaned his elbows on the table and tilted forward.

She had noticed it before, but his shoulders were broad in a way that didn’t suit an imperial physician, more like a warrior.

“Let’s set the monthly interest rate at five percent. It would be best to pay off the high-interest loan first.”

Telling her to pay off the loan first meant the investment he had in mind was at least enough to cover it.

Her heart beat hard.

“As for profit sharing when there’s surplus beyond the loan interest……”

“……”

“Let’s do nine to one.”

“That means…… I get nine and you get one?”

“Nine for you, one for me.”

Shiloh’s eyes flew open.

“Is that really enough for you?”

Kyle had been silently stroking his chin and finally spoke.

“Until the shop grows, it’s fine. Once it’s larger, we can renegotiate the terms.”

“Thank you. Truly, thank you.”

Shiloh bowed repeatedly.

It felt like a dream.

She placed her hand over her chest where her heartbeat was thundering.

Her heart beat hot and alive, telling her this was not a dream.