“…Thank you, then I’ll gladly accept your kindness, Mr. Royce.”
After gazing at the delicate little wooden box for a moment, Finihiya offered a gentle, faint smile to express her gratitude to Royce.
Mr. Royce gifting her tea leaves was most likely because he knew she was from St. Margaret theocracy.
She didn’t refuse this gift from Mr. Royce.
After exchanging a few simple words of courtesy, Mr. Royce’s expression finally took on a more serious look.
“Our president will be away for these two months, having gone to the northern branch, so for matters regarding the sale of the elixir, I am the one responsible.”
Hmm?
It was a bit strange for Mr. Royce to suddenly bring this up, so she tilted her head slightly, showing a puzzled expression.
But then, she seemed to understand the reason for this sudden explanation, and a faint, resigned smile appeared on her lips.
After the association learned about her and Darlian’s identities, by rights, the one to meet and speak with her should have been the president.
Yet, this time, it was still only Vice President Royce who came.
To avoid unnecessary misunderstandings, Mr. Royce naturally wanted to clearly explain the reason behind this.
After muttering almost as if to himself, Mr. Royce turned to look at the maid standing beside him, lifting his chin slightly as a signal.
The maid holding the tray immediately understood Mr. Royce’s meaning. After bowing politely, she quietly left the room.
It wasn’t long—just a short while.
The door was opened again, but the person who entered wasn’t the young maid from before. Instead, it was an elderly man with graying hair and a monocle on his right eye.
The elder’s attire was somewhat reminiscent of a butler. He carried a dark wooden tray, and walked over to place the tray to Mr. Royce’s right.
The elder leaned in and whispered into Royce’s ear.
“President, I’ve counted it three times.”
“Alright.”
After Royce nodded a few times, he turned his gaze back in her direction.
With a broad smile, he pushed the tray covered with a vivid red cloth toward her. “Lady Finihiya, this is the profit from the sale of the elixir for this past week. Please have a look.”
Profit?
Though she had more or less guessed that Mr. Royce had called her over to discuss the profit share from the elixir, she still couldn’t help feeling a bit surprised when it was actually confirmed.
After pushing the tray in front of her, Mr. Royce lifted the red cloth covering it.
On the wooden tray, dozens of gold coins were neatly stacked together.
Sunlight poured into the room through the open window, making the coins shine brilliantly.
As she shifted her gaze to the coins, Finihiya noticed there was also a piece of paper with writing on it beside the stack.
“This is?”
She asked in confusion while picking up the sheet.
It was only after holding it in her right hand that she realized there were three sheets stacked together.
The pages were filled with all sorts of words and numbers. As she scanned through the figures, Mr. Royce offered a timely explanation.
“This is the record of the number of elixirs sold and the profit generated this week. The total comes to seventy-three gold coins.”
Seventy-three gold coins?
Hearing the number, Finihiya’s hands suddenly froze, and then she looked up at Mr. Royce with a slightly astonished expression.
“This sales figure and profit are just from Ronan Street alone. Going forward, our association will steadily expand production and supply the elixir to each of our branches.”
“Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Royce.”
At his words, Finihiya politely expressed her appreciation.
To achieve such an astonishing sales figure in just one week—honestly, it was beyond her expectations.
Although she had considerable confidence in the original shampoo liquid she produced, at first her optimistic hope was merely to have an income of a dozen or so gold coins per month.
“It’s not hard work at all; this is simply the contract we agreed upon with Miss Finihiya. Our Belgrade Association should be the ones thanking Lady Finihiya for granting us such an important opportunity.”
Seventy-three gold coins…
And this was just one week’s sales.
“Does Lady Finihiya have a personal account at a bank?”
“Hmm?”
As she was letting her mind wander while looking at the stack of gold coins before her, Mr. Royce suddenly asked another question.
“If you have an account at a bank, we can directly deposit your share in your account from now on.”
A bank account…
If asked whether she had one, she did.
However, her bank account was only usable in the theocracy and a few neighboring countries.
Relations between demons and humans had always been tense, so naturally the banks there wouldn’t have expanded their services deep into demon territory.
With these thoughts, Finihiya looked up at Royce and shook her head slightly.
“No.”
The gentle shake of her head made a lock of golden hair fall onto her chest.
Seeing this, Royce continued to ask, “If Lady Finihiya needs to open a bank account, please let me know. Coincidentally, someone from Mardinson Bank is visiting our association right now.”
“Mardinson Bank is the most influential and reputable bank in the city.”
Upon hearing this, Finihiya lifted her delicate hand and tucked the strand of hair behind her ear with her index finger.
After thinking for a moment, she nodded lightly.
“If it’s convenient, I’d like to open a bank account. Since you say so, Mr. Royce, please trouble yourself to help me open an account at Mardinson Bank.”
“Certainly.” With that, Royce turned to the man with the monocle. “Go and invite him in.”
“Yes, President.”
The man replied simply and then strode out the door.
***
Brilliant white stratocumulus clouds floated across the deep blue sky, and dazzling sunlight poured straight down.
Finihiya raised her hand to shield her forehead, as if the brightness stung her eyes.
By the time she left the Belgrade Association, the clock tower in the distance was already pointing to noon.
Though Royce had warmly invited her and Danila to have lunch together, due to Finihiya’s timid and trouble-averse nature, she politely declined the offer.
Darlian seemed not to have come.
Most likely, she was busy with what happened earlier this morning.
Finihiya sat with dignity and grace inside the carriage, quietly gazing at the city streets outside the window.
After the festival celebrations, the demon citizens on the streets had returned to their usual rhythm of life.
The unique festive atmosphere that had filled the streets before had now faded away completely.
She watched for a while, and then, as if something came to mind, Finihiya quickly withdrew her gaze and forced a somewhat dry smile as she asked Danila, who was sitting opposite her.