The Herb King

177 Another Deal

“You seem to be confident about yourself. Unfortunately, I’m more interested in practical benefits.” Aethelwolf chuckled. ‘Did she think that I would fall for her charms?’

Julie Irish felt her cheeks reddening from embarrassment. “You!”

Aethelwolf adjusted his sitting posture and said. “How about this? You give me thirty percent ownership of your restaurants and I’ll give you the second half of the book I gave you.” There was a cunning look in his eyes. He had already planned this from the start.

Julie Irish gritted her teeth. The book she got from him was actually just the first half. ‘Dammit!’

“First was our wine shops and now you are even extending your hands into our restaurants. I have underestimated you, Aethelwolf!” She muttered through gritted teeth.

Aethelwolf could feel her anger, but he just nonchalantly glanced at her. This was the world of the merchants. You need to be more cunning than your counterparts if you want your business to flourish.

“Fine! I will give you thirty percent of our restaurants, but you’ll have to give us the right to use the brand of your clothing shop. I heard that it will be open for business in a few days.” Julie Irish didn’t want to lose out this time. This man always has the upper hand in their negotiations.

Aethelwolf narrowed his eyes. The intelligence gathering of the Urgel Household was superior to the Reynolds Household. She even knows a few things about his clothing shop.

“I can’t agree to that. The value of my clothing shop’s brand is a lot more than you think. Let’s do it like this instead. I will give you the manufacturing rights, but all the clothes you make according to our designs must be sold to us. I know that your Urgel Household is also in the clothing business, but believe me, you will lose more than half of your customers once we open our business. To tell you the truth, we can manufacture the clothes on our own. I’m only doing you this favor since we are allies.” He said with a sharp look.

.....

Julie Irish fell into silence upon hearing this. This was what she was afraid of. She tried to gather more information about his designs, but none of his seamstresses betrayed him. Aethelwolf must have given them favorable terms for them to remain loyal. It was already a mistake on her part to investigate her allies and if she forces him, Aethelwolf might not be amicable with them anymore.

In the end, Julie Irish sighed as she shook her head. She knew that she was defeated once again. “Alright. I agree with your offer. We will talk more about this after dinner.” She muttered in a low voice.

Aethelwolf grinned as he nodded his head. “It’s a pleasure to do business with you, Miss Julie.”

Julie Irish snorted without looking at him.

Even though she was still angry, she couldn’t deny that his food was amazing. She might not be able to eat the food of their servants anymore.

After dinner, Aethelwolf brought Olivia and Julie Irish to his study.

They discussed about the deal for over an hour. Julie Irish didn’t even bother to bargain with him anymore. She was afraid that the man would exploit her weaknesses to gain more.

“I will let Hyacinth make the terms and conditions. We will send the documents to your mansion tomorrow. You should go back and prepare the transfer of ownership for your restaurants.” Aethelwolf said.

Julie Irish stood up and said. “Alright. I’ll take my leave now.”

“Hold on. I think you have forgotten something.” Aethelwolf stared at her with a smile.

“I thought you were only seeking for practical benefits. You don’t need to send me off.” She muttered coldly before storming out of his room.

“Papa, I think you made her angry.” Olivia whispered to him.

Aethelwolf shrugged. “Just let her be.” He said as he stroked her hair.

Olivia nodded her head. “Okay.”

At the entrance hall, Albert saw Julie Irish heading out of the mansion. He immediately walked up to her and said. “Miss Julie, I’ll take you to your mansion.”

“There’s no need.” Julie answered coldly.

“Sir Aethelwolf might scold me if he finds out that I have neglected our guest. Please.” Albert insisted.

“Fine.” Julie relented when she saw his sincere expression.

Albert led her to the carriage. He wondered why she was so upset. ‘I thought they were on good terms. Did the two of them fight earlier?’ He didn’t want to intrude into their private matter so he chose to remain silent.

Before the carriage could set off, Hyacinth jogged towards them.

“Wait!”

“Miss Hyacinth?” Albert stared at Hyacinth in surprise.

“Miss Julie, Sir Aethelwolf told me to give this to you. He wants to apologize for making you upset.” Hyacinth took out two bottles of wine.

Julie Irish furrowed her eyebrows as she looked at the wine in her hands. It was the wine that was served to her earlier.

Julie’s face softened as she took the wine bottles. “Tell him that I forgive him.” She said with a light smile beneath her veil.

“I will send your message to him.” Hyacinth nodded her head. “Please be careful along the road.”

Julie nodded her head. “Thank you.” She then said to Albert. “Let’s go.”

Inside the carriage, Julie stared at the wine bottles with a smile. “He really knows how to make an apology.” She muttered.

Meanwhile, Aethelwolf stood on the balcony as he watched the carriage leave his estate.

Olivia sat on the railings of the balcony as she asked. “Papa, do you like that elder sister?”

Aethelwolf shook his head. “No. I’m just curious about that woman. Who knows, maybe she looks ugly behind that veil.” He replied jokingly.

Olivia raised her head and stared at him. “I think that elder sister is very beautiful. I can feel it.”

“You think so?” Aethelwolf smiled as he rubbed her head.

Olivia nodded. “Mn.”