Chapter 328: Concerns

The sales at the Heine Trading Company were booming. Everything being sold was completely new and unseen by the people, which naturally drew in customers.

For now, most of the visitors were residents of the capital or people from nearby towns and villages, but there were also a few merchants among them.

It must be tough selling in the snow, but it shows they deem it worth the effort. When the snow melts and the weather warms up, merchants from all over will probably gather here. Perhaps even major merchants might come to buy.

“Alex-niisan, what do you think of the current sales?”

I brought this up at breakfast. The one in charge wasn’t Father but Alex-niisan. Father hadn’t said anything, which seemed like his approval.

Fabienne, sitting next to me and eating breakfast, tilted her head slightly.

Fabienne spent a lot of time in the alchemy room. Although she sometimes came along to see the trading company, she probably didn’t have a grasp of the overall sales flow.

Even I wouldn’t have understood without being involved in all the products.

Based on how quickly the products were selling, the amount of materials in the workshop, and what the master craftsmen and employees were saying, I realized sales were going at a much faster pace than expected.

At this rate, we’ll likely need to order additional materials. Snow has already piled up outside, so material procurement might be delayed.

“Yeah, it’s a bit more than we expected, isn’t it? I feel the employees might be overworking a bit.”

“Yes, sometimes they work past the scheduled hours.”

It seemed that not only Alex-niisan but also Sister-in-law Daniela stayed at the trading company until closing. She actually wanted to stay overnight at the company but returned to the mansion daily for safety reasons.

“When the snow melts, many merchants from other territories might come, depending on how much word of Heine Trading Company spreads during this winter.”

“Sales aside, the reputation seems to be quite good too. At this rate, merchants from the royal capital might come as well.”

Sister-in-law Daniela straightened her posture as she spoke, looking a bit more worried than expected. I was concerned as well.

“If merchants from the royal capital all come at once, they might take all of our stock.”

Cain-niisan seemed worried too. He frequented shops in the royal capital, so he might have observed merchants’ tactics there, perhaps fearing they’d buy out everything.

“I don’t think it’ll go that far, but…”

Alex-niisan frowned, but he seemed to consider it a possibility too. We might need to build up our inventory over the winter.

“Alex-niisan, I think we need to place an additional order for materials. The hot cookies seem to be selling well, so we might need to increase production as well.”

“Is everything okay? Is Lady Fabienne overworking herself?”

When I looked at Fabienne, she gave a confident nod, as if to say, “I’m fine.” It seems there’s no issue.

In reality, I just need to speed up my production, so I think it’ll work out somehow. I just have to be careful not to let Fabienne lose her confidence.

“Don’t worry. Fabienne has improved a lot since she started coming here.”

“That’s reassuring. I’ll place an additional order for materials after hearing everyone’s input.”

“Thank you very much.”

I noticed that Fabienne’s face had turned red. She looked happy. My wife is adorable.

After breakfast, we begin with our daily training. This is the same for everyone.

As nobles, we must always be prepared to take action.

“Fabienne, are you feeling lonely?”

I asked Lady Fabienne, who was doing warm-up exercises beside me.

“Not at all. Mira occasionally sleeps beside me, and… Julius-sama is with me as well.”

Her voice trailed off at the end. Probably, both our faces were bright red at this point. It was a relief that no one else was nearby.

Still, Fabienne hasn’t quite managed to call me by just my name yet. She seems conscious of her status as a baron’s daughter. Everyone keeps telling her, “You don’t need to worry about that.”

Daniella, my sister-in-law, is also quite concerned about it and is trying desperately to get Fabienne to call her “sister.” True to her strong family affection, sister-in-law Daniella is especially persistent. Meanwhile, my other sister-in-law, Mika, has a more forward approach, which seems to be a bit overwhelming for Fabienne.

I hope she gets used to it soon, but personality plays a big role in this kind of thing.

“Kyu! Kyu!”

Hearing her name, Mira came flying over. She seems to have quite the sharp ears, even though she was over by Rosalia and Lelie, who were doing their exercises a little distance away.

“Brother, sister, is something wrong?”

Chasing after Mira who had flown away, Rosalia and Lelie came over to us.

“It’s nothing. We were just talking about how happy Fabienne is that Mira sometimes sleeps beside her.”

“Kyu!”

“Oh, I see! In that case, next time, I’ll come sleep beside you!”

“Um, I’d rather have Fabienne do that, if that’s okay?”

Rosalia’s cheeks puffed up like a pufferfish.

Huh? What’s wrong? Fabienne’s face looks like it’s about to boil over. Not just her face—her entire body has turned bright red. Surprised by the sudden change, Mira clung tightly to me.

“Hmph, so you want my sister-in-law to sleep beside you more than me, nii-san?”

“Wait, what? Ah, no!”

What a complete misunderstanding. Now it sounds like I want Fabienne to sleep beside me! I guess my words did imply that, though.

But if I say, “No, that’s not it, Fabienne!” here, she’ll probably feel disappointed.

“Um, well then, should we try it sometime soon? Just kidding… Fabienne!”

I quickly caught Fabienne as she fell backward. I went too far…

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