As soon as Alex exited the carriage and while he helped Anika and Wenammy to get out, he noticed a few disguised smiles on the Nobles and their wives and a mocking smile from Viscount Tom and the King. The Princess looked puzzled, probably wondering what happened during the voyage. As soon as Alex joined the group of Nobles, the King said:
“If anyone had any doubts about why these beautiful women are with you, after hearing Miss Pearl and taking a look at your troubled face, I suppose no one doubts any more. I guess congratulations are in order, or it’s still too soon, considering how carefully you act in the matters of the heart?”
“I… it’s too soon, my King. We need to get to know each other a little more.”
As they walked up the stairs, the King asked with a big smile:
“That means you still don’t know which of them you like more?”
The Nobles that were near them, faced Alex, wondering why he looked so nervous. After a few seconds, he answered, making them jolt:
“I suppose I like them all in the same way, and we already talked about our future together. I guess it will be a different relationship, me with three women…”
The King tapped Alex’s back while looking around with a big smile, to judge the reaction of the Nobles and their wives:
“Nonsense! Every man will envy you, I am sure! Getting three wives, each one a member of the most powerful races in this World, is not for everyone! Even if you had five wives, I wouldn’t think less of you, as long as you provide a good life for them, love them and respect them in the same way! As long as you are all happy, it’s all good!”
The Nobles around and their wives agreed with big smiles and wishes of happiness for the future, with Alex feeling awkward and thanking them for their kind words, while the three women near him had big smiles on their faces.
As Alex was walking along the corridor that led to the dining room, a servant approached him and whispered into his left ear:
“Sir, a messenger arrived bringing a request for a meeting with Marquess Seth Perry and Earl Marley Barker as soon as possible, regarding a licence for Sir’s methods for the lands.”
Alex whispered back:
“Tell them to come here tomorrow by the middle of the morning.”
The servant quickly went away to deliver Alex’s message, and the King questioned him in a whisper:
“A problem, Alex?”
“Not really, my King, just a message requesting a meeting. It also means that I must postpone my departure, it seems there are a few matters that I need to take care of before leaving.”
The King slowly nodded and tapped his back with a smile, disguising the matter of their whispering from the Nobles around.
…
While waiting for diner, Alex placed on the table in front of the King the box that Aya Martin gave him to sell, and the Princess gasped at the sight of such an exquisite collection of jewellery. The King gave the box to his daughter and after checking them, she passed it to another Noble, and as soon as everyone had a glimpse of the box, the King started the auction.
The diner got delayed because the auction got heated up with a few auction battles with two or three Nobles outbidding each other, trying to buy a necklace or a bracelet.
When the final piece was sold, Alex delivered the empty box to a maid, together with a paper with the amount the buyer had to pay in the next few days as it was agreed in the beginning, because some jewellery was sold at such a high value, that the buyer would need some time to gather the full amount.
When the food was brought by the servants and maids, the group of Minstrels and dancers entered the dining room, and when one of the Minstrels approached the table and bowed at the King and Alex, Anika got up and cleared her throat.
“Aham… before you start, I want to give a warning to the dancers. Despite how good and sexy you dance, you are forbidden to approach Alex or tempt him by placing your body against the table, right in front of him, as you did at lunch. You can do that to the King or any of the Nobles, but the first that dares to squeeze her boobs or butt against the edge of the table in front of Alex will get a fork stuck to her head.”
Anika sat down with everyone staring at her, completely dumbfounded. The Minstrel made a forced smile and said:
“Milady, that is a strange request, because tempting our male audience is part of the show, it makes things more interesting!”
Anika answered with a serious face:
“You won’t think it’s interesting when I stick a fork in one of them. The only ones that are allowed to do any kind of sexy dance to Alex are me, Wenammy or Pearl. Any other woman will have to face my wrath. Mermaids are extremely jealous of their partners, and I find myself in a situation where I need to share the man I love with two women. I already made a huge effort at lunch not to squeeze the neck of one of your dancers. I won’t repeat my warning, but make sure your dancers keep that in mind.”
The Minstrel looked at Alex with begging eyes, and he only shook his head:
“Don’t look at me like that, you heard her. I won’t overrule her, because Wenammy and Pearl are also waiting to see if I agree with Anika or not. No way I am going to risk having the three of them angry at me. I am sure your dancers can dance all they want without getting near me, there are plenty of men in here to make things interesting, like you said, without the risk of blood splattered over the food.”
The King, Viscount Finley and Viscount Tom were doing their best to hold their laughter, but that last sentence from Alex was too much for them. They began to laugh, and the Minstrel looked at them, puzzled, like everyone else. The King spoke between all the laughter:
“Ahahah! Welcome to the married life, Alex! Ahahah! You thought what, that everything would be a breeze with a Fairy, a Mermaid and an Elfian at your side? Human women are jealous enough, but any of those three is difficult to deal with if another woman approaches you, as you just found out!”
The Nobles and their wives joined the laughter, and Alex heard a few jokes and mockery because of how surprised he was. Ghar looked around in silence, wondering why they were all laughing because it was only natural for a female to be jealous of their partners. Okami forced a smile while staring at the serious Anika, thinking that Mermaid forgot about her and Shinatobe. Or maybe she didn’t, but she kept to herself the fact that Alex had more women in his life, besides those three near him.
The Minstrel walked back while thanking Alex for the opportunity to entertain the King and after a quick talk with the other Minstrels and the dancers, they started the first song, making an improvisation about a young man married with three jealous women. The dancers did what Anika said, they danced and teased the men, without getting near Alex.
Food kept on coming, refiling the empty platers, and wine was gulped down while the Minstrels played and sang, and the dancers entertained Alex’s guests. When the final music ended, the same Minstrel approached the table and spoke after making a deep bow at the King:
“King Otto, it was our greatest honour to perform for you. We dreamed of an opportunity like this for far too long, and I hope we were able to make your diner a little more pleasant. I also want to give my thanks to the fine Nobles and their beautiful wives. Earl Alex, thank you for trusting my company to perform for you and your guests today.”
The King smiled and spoke:
“It was indeed nice, eating while hearing your music. Despite the way Anika frightened your dancers, they were splendid. I hope your group one day finds an opportunity to perform at my Castle, I will make sure to gather a big audience to hear your.”
The Minstrel made another deep bow:
“You are far too kind, my King. We are only a mere group of Minstrels and dancers, used to perform to the general public on the streets. Having the opportunity to perform today at lunch to Earl Alex and tonight to the King and his guests, is more than we ever dreamed of. We will for sure clear our schedule to accept your invitation, any time you wish to hear us again, my King. Earl Alex, we also want to thank you for your care. The rooms that were granted to us, are amazingly good, I still can’t believe the maid said those were only simple rooms! The food that your staff served to us at lunch was delicious, and if you allow us to retire now, we are going to have diner and rest after this performance.”
“By all means, you all deserve to eat and rest after what you did. I will see you in the morning before you leave, unless you want to entertain us again at lunch, with the well-deserved payment, of course. No way I would want to have you work for free, no matter how honoured you all are, for performing to the King.”
The Minstrel smiled, and after a quick look back to see his company smiling and nodding at him, he faced Alex again:
“It will be our pleasure to perform during lunch tomorrow, Earl Alex. If it’s not too much abuse, can we visit the lands around? I heard there were wonders everywhere, and despite we are all very happy with our accommodations, we are not used to be locked up inside a Castle, we prefer the open air.”
“I suppose we can arrange something to your liking in the morning, to keep your group occupied till lunch.”
When the Minstrels and dancers made one last bow and left the dining room, Alex looked around and asked:
“Any of you wants a visit tomorrow to some of my facilities? Or you prefer to go again to the hot spring?”
The Nobles smiled and one of them, an older man with grey hair, asked:
“Earl Alex, I don’t want to sound rude, but up until today, you always refused a visit to your facilities. What changed?”
“The meeting yesterday in the Chamber of Lords. It came to my attention that a lot of changes are happening recently, and not many Nobles are happy with it, mostly because of me. I am talking about the commoners that fled from the lands where they used to live and suffer, to come here, to get paid and to have a better life. I think you all heard about my meeting in the Chamber, five years ago, when I told you some of my ideas to increase the production of the lands. I remember that some of you laughed and mocked me.”
Alex looked around and saw a lot of embarrassed looks. He then continued:
“I also said five years ago that if the commoners were paid for their work and received better treatment, their production would increase three or five times more. Some of you thought that I was crazy, while others laughed. Now, I am going to start the second phase of my plan. I am going to disclosure my methods to the lands, free of charge, forgetting about the payment of a licence, if, the ones that want to learn my methods, also pay the commoners for their work. I don’t need to point out the fact that with big harvests there will be more than enough money to increase your wealth and to pay your workers. Of course, you can also say that you are going to pay your commoners, and never do it, and that will make you lose the opportunity to learn other things from me, as soon as I discover what you did.”
The Nobles gasped. That was what they were asking for the last four years, when they noticed how much Alex’s lands were producing each year, by using his secret methods. In his first year, the harvest was bigger than any of the other lands around, and it kept on increasing each year, making all the Nobles wonder what Alex was doing so differently from them.
The same grey-haired Noble asked, with a puzzled face:
“Are you going to tell us, and no one else? And why you said it was phase two? There will be a phase three?”
“I will tell you and the ones that supported me in the Chamber of the Lords, not only yesterday but over the past five years. It’s my way of showing my appreciation for your patience and trust. Phase three will be to disclosure my methods for the lands to the other countries of the alliance so that they can also improve the lives of their commoners. I am predicting a lot of changes in the nearby future, and food, together with happy people, will be a very important key part in the years to come.”
The Noble made a slight smile:
“I won’t be a fool and laugh because I did that five years ago and you completely shut my mouth over these past few years. I came to realize that you are very accurate with your predictions, so I will just thank you for teaching us. Judging by your words, I suppose you will let us learn your methods for the lands, and keep to yourself for a little while longer everything about your facilities, correct?”
Alex nodded:
“That is correct. My breweries, vineyards, distilleries and several others will be secret for the time being. When the ones that I teach my methods for the lands start to pay their workers and grant them a better life, I will slowly teach them more. I can’t disclose everything at the same time because the changes would be too big to deal with. It’s better if you learn and build your facilities step by step like I did. You need time to make the buildings and to train the workers while making sure the quality doesn’t decrease. In a rush to gain money, you could try some short-cuts that could lead to disastrous situations.”
The older Noble raised his cup and said:
“I believe in you, Earl Alex, and I can’t wait to learn from you! To a great future, and big harvests!”
The sound of cheering resonated in the dining room, with Alex making forced smiles left and right.