True to his word, An started working beside Sol as an assistant. She continued her trips to the Iridescent office and managed the company as its head. Oddly, she found Duke Reviarra was against the idea of handing her tasks off to him or Lord Christopher. His reasoning?

‘You’ve built this from the ground up with your own hard work. Your brother and I have little talent in business. It’d appear you’re the outlier in our family, so do as you please. If you ever feel the need to step down, I trust your selection for whoever takes over.’

Sol couldn’t help but smile at her awkward father. The man held such a grand position and yet humbled himself to his own daughter’s talent. Sol handed off a final stack of papers for An to distribute to her store managers.

Just as An was leaving the room, a loud series of knocks interrupted him. It was followed unhesitatingly by a serious voice.

“Lady Reviarra! There’s urgent news from our tier 1 distributors!”

An glanced back towards Sol who had already assumed a sullen look. Receiving her nod, An rested the door open and gestured for the man to enter. Surprisingly, another 6 managers followed after the man into the room exacerbating the situation.

The men genuflected with impantiance written across their visage. Sol waived them from the responsibility and quickly said, “Hurry with the report.”

“Yes! This servant will start with our general conclusion. There’s a hostile conglomerate attacking the Arcgateterritory. In particular, they’re targeting areas that Iridescent has strong interests in.”

Sol rapt her fingers against her desk while listening. Her thoughts traveled miles in seconds as if to peer over the entire Arcgate territory. She had just finished up some actions to disrupt the distribution freezes reported earlier. Sol couldn’t help but question if the two were related. She followed up with the men, “Explain your reasoning.”

“As you're aware, Iridescent strives to maintain genial relations with any merchants. Well, We’ve started receiving tips from them about other subsidiaries underselling almost all major exports Iridescent specializes in. Many of those merchants are also reporting either an excessive tariff when entering our territory or an abrupt rise in bandits. As far as the tariffs are concerned, 3 of the 4 surrounding territories are susceptible to bribery. The last territory has the bandit issue.”

Sol and An’s eyes narrowed at the description. It couldn’t be more clear that someone was targeting Iridescent, if not Arcgate. Sol kept her thoughts hidden, choosing to instead turn her attention to An. Her eyes twinkled in a testing fashion drawing a twitch from the boy.

“An… You’ve often told this Lady about your diverse skill set. What thoughts do you have about this?”

An sighed helplessly to himself. He set himself into a chair and took a moment to consider the situation before giving his opinion.

“I agree with the managers. Someone is targeting Iridescent. It’s hard to consider it an assault on Arcgate as a whole since it’d be the same as attacking Duke Reviarra. Although it’s possible, the Duke doesn’t have any known enemies that would have reason to attack his territory… After all, he was never known for his territory management skills… It would be hard to strike him in session just from that. That makes me think this is targeting Iridescent specifically.”

“I agree with that assessment. Keep going.”

An felt helpless, however he kept elaborating. “Iridescent has already grown large enough to affect the interests of competitors. It’s likely a concerted attack from 1 or more conglomerates…”

His eyes turned to the 7 men listening before questioning. “Have you discovered which companies are underpricing us?”

Each man looked at the other until an elder of the group stepped forward.

“While unverified, this servant has had some minor success in researching this. A few merchant friends were kind enough to warn me about Heaven’s Way, Lyman’s Funds, and Lossless Banquet as just a few examples. This servant previously worked under Lossless Banquet and understand it to be a subsidiary of Lunar Supply.”

An picked up the assertion in the elder’s tone.

“That’s to say Heaven’s Way and Lyman’s Funds might also be a subsidiary of Lunar Supply as well? Interesting. If that’s the case, then it would stand to reason Lunar Supply is targeting Iridescent. If we don’t take measures soon, Iridescent’s future might slip.”

A subtle smile broke across Sol as she listened. She certainly wasn’t disappointed. She broke the stressful atmosphere with her next sentence to the surprise of everyone involved.

“You’re correct. Everyone is. This Lady recognized the attack a few days ago when our distributors retained an overabundance of stock for extended periods. The items frozen on shelves were common consumables, something that should rarely fluctuate in sales volume. I then discussed it with my father and asked a favor. He verified your assumptions. Indeed, Lunar Supply is attacking Iridescent. The problem, unfortunately, extended further though. As Lunary Supply is targeting Iridescent, their backer might also be involved which makes how we handle this tricky.”

“Their backer?” Questioned An as he revealed a curious gaze. Sol’s expression collapsed into a somewhat helpless visage. Sol continued.

“The 4th Prince of Blonsall Kingdom, Prince Roland Blonsall.”

The study turned silent at the revelation.

The managers exchanged concerned gazes, each held their own thoughts. Sol wasn’t blind. She could see the invisible exchange, however she didn’t hold back the information because she trusted her managers.

“No need for this awkward silence. If you have something to say, just say it. Nothing will change the truth that his excellency the 4th Prince has set his golden eyes on my innocent Iridescent.”

There was a hint of taunt and anger littered inside Sol’s tone, something An and the Iridescent managers were unfamiliar with. The group glanced at the young girl in shock. As if she read their minds, Sol pouted.

“What? Is this Lady not allowed to be angry after being attacked? Quickly get your minds rolling. This Lady has already implemented countermeasures for Lunar Supply’s assault, however this Lady refuses to only defend. His excellency being the backer of Lunar Supply is a tightly guarded secret, meaning we, Iridescent, have the capability of striking back without suffering lese-majeste.”

A cunning smile developed across Sol’s face as she continued.

“This Lady knows her employees well. Since when have you men lost your backbone? Has Iridescent’s success whittled away your business acumen?”

“Absolutely not! This servant will hurriedly implement the Lady’s plan and develop a few counter methods.”

“This servant as well!”

“This servant will follow!”

The men genuflected once more and Sol waved her hand to dismiss them. She looked at An with a thoughtful expression.

“Do you think we stand a chance?”

“Absolutely. You managed to catch it early enough, however…”

An glanced across the countermeasures documented by Sol with a furrowed expression. It was clear he noticed something. After reaching the end of the stack, he sighed before continuing.

“However… These countermeasures are only stopgap methods at best. They don’t solve the core issue.”

“Of course they don’t. Iridescent is too small to properly reverse the tide. We can only out maneuver Lunar Supply until a better plan is made. How would you reverse this? Any ideas?”

“None that are legal.”

“How about the illegal ones? Don’t underestimate this Lady. Business is only as clean as its customers and rivals. As the Prince has decided to use banditry as an attack, it’s clear he shows little concern about Iridescent’s safety.”

Sol’s face held a trace of delight and mischief. An could tell right away that the girl was hoping for an excuse to release some stress. Perhaps her heart was more twisted than she revealed. He couldn’t help but chuckle to himself and took a seat.

“Well then…”

While Sol and An discussed countermeasures, Prince Elric Blonsall initiated his next steps to control the throne. After discussions with his mother Empress, he managed to wrest control of most major positions in government and institute his own men.

“Mother, the groundwork is in place now.”

Queen Blonsall indicated for her son to rise while saying, “Good, good.” Her smile was brilliant, however there was a cruel glint that seemed to always float with her gaze. Despite looking at her own son, her gaze remained a measuring perspective as if always testing the boy across from here.

“You’re halfway to the throne my son. Controlling the critical positions is only the first step though. Have you made plans to gain popular support?”

“Yes… Well, I’ve come to mother for advice. There’s been an unusual complication.”

“Oh? There’s something capable of hindering you?”

A wry smile crossed Prince Elric’s face at the comment. The truth of the matter was rather complex and stemmed from competition between two abnormal individuals. Sensing his hesitation, Queen Blonsall urged him on.

“Speak son. You’ll obtain nothing with silence and stonewalling.”

“Well… Has mother heard of Lady Reviarra’s accomplishments?”

“That monstrous child? How couldn’t this Queen hear of her. The court ministers refer to her as an unequalled genius and reference her designs when discussing territory management. Her products have taken the Kingdom by storm as well. Wait, this girl is involved in your troubles?”

Cold sweat perspired after hearing the judgemental tone. Prince Elric couldn’t help but laugh internally at his situation. Who would believe that a 9 year old child would directly inhibit his plans for the throne? Certainly not him. Had anyone asked him years ago, he would have laughed the adviser out of the room.

But how about now? Prince Elric released a nervous laugh before answering his mother.