Prologue
“Myne has finally succumbed at the Gilberta Company. Prepare a room and a magic tool,” said the messenger sent by the guildmaster, who was in the Merchant’s Guild.
Freida’s light-brown eyes narrowed sharply. I knew this day would come, she thought as she looked up at the butler beside the messenger and ordered him to begin preparing immediately.
“I believe that my grandfather will have sent a messenger to the Gilberta Company as well. It will not take long for Benno to arrive here with Myne. Let us be as ready for them as we can. I will enter grandfather’s room myself.” Freida touched the thin chain that hung from her neck at all times and pulled it up. Attached were two keys. One was the key to her grandfather’s room and one was the key to the safe within it.
With her attendant Jutte at her side, Freida entered her grandfather’s room and opened the tightly locked safe within. Inside were the magic tools that he had purchased from nobles using the full extent of his fortune. Originally there had been ten, and now there were only a few. They had been necessary to save Freida’s life from the Devouring, the same sickness Myne had.
Her grandfather had used these tools to buy time while he used his connections as a widely influential merchant to eventually secure an agreement with a certain noble, saving her life in the process. But it was impossible to tell when a noble might change their mind. The leftover tools might one day be necessary to save Freida’s life once again.
Freida, touching the bracelet on her wrist given to her by the noble, closed her eyes.
“Are you certain about this, my lady?” Jutte spoke to Freida, having sensed her slight hesitation.
Freida sliced away her brief bout of indecision and reached inside the safe. “Quite certain. Myne is the first friend I’ve ever had, after all. If a magic tool is the price for getting her to join our store, then so be it.”
The necklace-shaped magic tool in her hands was so old that it would likely fall apart if handled improperly. No matter how much money you offered to a noble, the only magic tools they would ever sell to commoners were similarly old and on the verge of breaking. The nobles were ripping them off for sure, but it was that or death.
“Myne will understand.” Myne had created a new kind of hairpin, one sewn from thread. There was no mistaking that she had designs for many other new products in her head. She was a veritable golden egg, so valuable that the Gilberta Company — one with a sharp eye for profit, rapidly rising in status and wealth within Ehrenfest — would temporarily register her just to secure their hold on her. Freida wanted that golden egg fiercely. Her senses were screaming at her to get Myne on her side immediately.
However, her heart wasn’t filled only with greed. Myne was indeed Freida’s first friend, a girl her age, sick with the same disease and working towards the same career. Freida wanted Myne by her side. She wanted for them to support each other, even after she was forced to leave and live in the nobles’ district. She wanted that with all her heart.
If Myne wanted to survive, she would have to form a contract with a noble, just as Freida had. The Gilberta Company would be no help with that, but the guildmaster of the Merchant’s Guild would. If Myne were to join them, they would be able to secure a more favorable agreement for her.
“If Myne is staying with Benno out of gratitude, we need merely make her feel more gratitude for us. Saving her life will do just that.” It would be nice if that gratitude alone were enough to make Myne switch sides, but human emotions were not changed so easily. In which case, she just needed to remove her other options. Freida would make as many plans as it took to get her hands on what she wanted.
“My grandfather told Benno that each of these were worth a small gold and two large silvers each, but in truth, they are worth two small golds and eight large silvers. Benno had said that Myne could pay for them, but will she still be able to if the price is so much higher?”
“What will you do if she cannot pay?” murmured Jutte in a neutral tone.
Freida smiled. “She will need to join the Othmar Company. Even a large gold in losses would be worth Myne’s employment.”
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