Chapter 40 : Chapter 40
Chapter 40: Alfred’s Request
After making his calculations, Alfred concluded that even after giving Ryan thirty percent of the profits, the Jurgen Family would still earn an enormous amount.
So Alfred agreed without hesitation.
“Mr. Alfred is wonderfully straightforward!”
“Hahahahaha, no, it is we of the Jurgen Family who should thank Mr. Ryan for giving us this opportunity to cooperate.”
Now that the partnership had been settled, Alfred was in an excellent mood.
“Someone come in!”
Alfred called toward the door.
A young woman entered at once.
She appeared to be something like Alfred’s assistant.
“Mm. Draft the contract for the perfume partnership...”
Alfred instructed the assistant on the contents of the contract.
Ryan listened from the side.
Very soon, the assistant finished preparing the cooperation contract.
There were two copies of the contract.
One for Ryan, and one for Alfred.
After checking that there were no problems with it, Ryan signed it directly.
Alfred immediately signed as well.
Now that the cooperation contract had been signed,
this partnership was firmly set in stone.
After that,
Ryan laid out all the details of the perfume openly, including the raw materials, the Production Process, and the different varieties of perfume.
The same assistant remained at the side, recording everything.
Once Alfred learned the materials used for perfume, he immediately began calculating the cost.
A moment later, Alfred arrived at a shocking figure.
Then, after hearing Ryan’s suggested selling prices, he stared at Ryan with his eyes wide open.
Ruthless!
Absolutely ruthless!
Something that cost 1 Copper Coin to make was being sold for 1 Silver Coin, for a tearful profit of 99 Copper Coins.
No wonder the yearly profit could be so astonishing.
And that was only the basic version.
As for the special versions, with prices easily reaching 50 Silver Coins or even 1 Gold Coin, Alfred felt as though his horizons had been broadened immensely.
But that was still a minor matter.
Ryan had once given Mark’s family an idea.
That was to create custom versions for noble ladies.
They could let those noble ladies choose whatever fragrance they wanted.
The rarer the raw materials, the better, and then sell it at an extravagant price.
The whole point was simple: do not fleece the poor, fleece only wealthy nobles.
Alfred felt as though he had stepped into an entirely new world.
He had never imagined that business could be done this way.
At this point,
Alfred had to admit that he truly wanted to pry open Ryan’s head and see what was inside it.
How exactly had this brain of his been made?
How could he keep coming up with so many unbelievable ideas?
Very soon, the matter of perfume had been fully explained.
But Ryan still could not leave immediately.
At the very least, he needed to teach all of the Jurgen Family’s craftsmen before he could depart.
“Mr. Alfred, just now you said that the first matter was perfume. Now that the perfume partnership has been settled, shouldn’t we discuss the second matter?”
Ryan asked.
“That is true.”
Alfred nodded, then looked at his assistant. “You may leave first.”
“Yes, my Lord.”
Only after the assistant had left the council chamber did Alfred continue, “Actually, the second matter concerns Nila.”
“Hm?”
Ryan frowned.
“Oh, please do not misunderstand, Mr. Ryan.”
Alfred hurriedly explained, “I know you came here for Nila. If I am not mistaken, you intend to take Nila away, correct?”
“That is true.” Ryan gave a slight nod. “Is that not possible?”
“It is not that it is impossible. There is no problem with you taking Nila away. But could you perhaps take her away a little later?”
Alfred asked.
“And why is that?”
Alfred let out a heavy sigh. “It is all because of my daughter.”
“Uh... then please speak plainly, Mr. Alfred.”
“The situation is this...”
Alfred began to explain.
Isabella Jurgen, eighteen years old, was Alfred Jurgen’s only daughter.
Her magical talent had been evaluated as D-rank by the kingdom’s Magic Council, making her the direct descendant with the lowest recorded talent in the Jurgen Family in nearly three hundred years.
At the age of ten, she began receiving basic magical instruction under an A-rank Mage hired by the family.
After three months of study, she still could not successfully cast even the most basic lighting magic. Each attempt only made a faint white glow appear at her fingertips, and it would go out in less than three seconds.
At twelve, she tried to learn a water-element condensation spell. Even after practicing continuously for half a year, the most she could produce was a water droplet no larger than a fingernail, and she could not control the direction in which it moved.
This stood in sharp contrast to her father Alfred’s A-rank magical talent.
At her age, Alfred had already been able to cast intermediate fire magic with ease, lighting ten candles at the same time and even controlling the shape of the flames.
As for the ancient magic books in the family’s collection, Alfred had been able to understand seventy percent of them by the age of fifteen, whereas even with a tutor’s explanations, Isabella could only grasp the meanings of the most basic magic runes.
As a result, Isabella had developed an introverted personality and rarely took the initiative to speak with others.
At family dinners, she always sat in a corner seat with her head lowered toward her plate, her hands on her knees and her fingers curled inward.
Her inferiority complex showed itself in her daily behavior.
Whenever she passed the family training grounds and saw younger members of the collateral branches practicing magic, she would immediately lower her head and quicken her pace, avoiding eye contact with them.
Whenever the family held magic exchange gatherings, she never attended. She always remained in her room on the excuse of not feeling well.
The magic practice platform in her room was covered with a white cloth and layered with dust, clearly having gone unused for a very long time.
The collateral branch members were cold toward Isabella and even showed obvious disdain.
In public, younger members of the collateral branches would deliberately raise their voices while discussing their progress in magic, their eyes occasionally flicking toward Isabella.
This only made Isabella even more withdrawn, and she had even begun to show some depressive symptoms.
The elder members of the collateral branches also paid her little attention.
Alfred did not treat his daughter differently because of her poor magical talent. On the contrary, he felt even more tenderness toward her.
In order to help his daughter emerge from her inferiority and become happier, he often went to the Slave Merchant Guild to purchase lively female slaves.
His purpose was for them to help his daughter gradually become more cheerful.
And that was precisely why Nila had appeared in the Jurgen Family.
To Alfred’s delight, Nila’s lively and cheerful personality had indeed begun to influence Isabella.
Although Isabella had not yet undergone any especially obvious change,
under Nila’s influence, she had already been getting better and better.
Now, all she needed was time.
Alfred believed that if Nila and Isabella spent more time together, Isabella would definitely grow more cheerful.
“Mr. Ryan, I am not refusing to let you take Nila away. I simply want to ask whether you could let her leave a little later, at least until my precious daughter, Isabella, shows some change.”
“This is not a request from the head of the Jurgen Family. It is a request from a father for the sake of his daughter.”
Alfred spoke with utmost seriousness.
Ryan looked at Alfred’s expression and fell silent in thought.
At this moment, Alfred gave Ryan the impression of nothing more than an ordinary father.
There was none of the imposing aura of a family head that he had shown during the earlier negotiations.
After thinking it over, Ryan said, “How about this, Mr. Alfred? I will discuss this matter with Nika and Nila first, and then I will give you my answer. Would that be acceptable?”
“Please rest assured. If Nila is willing, then there is no problem with her staying here. I will not forcefully take her away.”
“Good, good, good. Thank you very much!”
Alfred was overjoyed when he heard that.
In truth, even he had felt rather uneasy when making that request just now.
For the sake of his daughter, he might end up offending Ryan.
That would be a tremendous loss for the entire family.
But before Alfred was the head of the Jurgen Family, he was still a father.
Seeing his daughter in that state pained him deeply as well.
He could not directly refuse Ryan’s request, so he could only ask in the capacity of a father.
Now, it seemed that the result was a good one.
Alfred also let out a sigh of relief.
This way, he could both reach a partnership with Ryan and avoid offending him over the matter of Nila. It was a happy outcome for everyone.
“In that case, Ryan, stay in my castle for the next few days. If you need anything, feel free to instruct Marcus. I will tell him to satisfy your requests as much as possible.”
“Very well. Thank you, Mr. Alfred.”
“Hahahahaha. Since we concluded our cooperation today, I will have a banquet prepared. I hope you will enjoy the meal.”
Alfred called out.
A servant entered from outside the council chamber.
Alfred ordered the servant to prepare a banquet and told the chefs to bring out their finest skills, because today he was going to host an honored guest.
The servant acknowledged the order and left.
Very soon, the chefs began to move into action.
Another servant led Ryan away toward the guest room.
“Honored guest, this is the guest room. You may rest here. If there is anything you need, you need only call for me.”
“Mm.”
Ryan nodded and stepped into the guest room.
Looking at the furnishings inside,
Ryan could not help but sigh inwardly.
As expected of a top family.
Even such a simple guest room had been arranged with this much luxury.
This luxurious guest room covered an area of about forty square meters. The room was rectangular, ten meters from east to west and four meters from north to south.
The door was made of dark solid wood, its surface carved with vine patterns. The handle was inlaid with brass polished to such a shine that it could reflect a person’s image.
The floor was covered with a dark-brown wool carpet. It was thick enough that no footsteps could be heard upon it, and its edges were embroidered with golden patterns.
In the center of the eastern wall was an arched window. Its frame was made of white plaster and decorated with carved patterns.
At the center of the room stood a large bed. Its headboard and footboard were made of dark solid wood, carved with intricate patterns and inlaid with small red gemstones.
In the northwest corner of the room was a small sitting area furnished with two single sofas and a tea table.
Hanging from the ceiling was a chandelier made of eight crystal pendants shaped like teardrops, suspended from a brass chain connected to a ceiling hook.
Ryan showed no courtesy at all as he went straight over to the large bed and lay down to rest.
To be fair, a bed this luxurious truly was comfortable to sleep on.