Rise of the Legendary Emperor

Chapter 174: Amber’s Talent

"Speaking of construction works, here's the agreement for the dam, King Don"

King Edward gave the agreement scroll to Don.

Opening the scroll, he quickly read the contents on the scroll and nodded.

"I don't have a king's seal yet, but I'll sign with this"

 Don held out his hand as Arrora stepped forward and made a small cut in his hand with her dagger.

Don put a drop of his blood where he needed to put his king's seal and wrote his name using the brush that Ken used to draw. The cut instantly healed and surprised King Edward.

After signing the scroll, Don introduced the ones standing behind him

"King Edward, meet Ken Ragnail, he's one of the heads of engineering in Everlight and will oversee the dam construction"

"King Edward, it's a pleasure to meet you"

"Likewise, Lord Ken"

They shook hands

"And this is Joel Berkfloth, head of intelligence"

Joel was excited to hear his title as he stepped forward and bowed slightly

"It's an honor to meet you again, King Edward, Princess Amber"

Knight already said that they don't need to address the other royalties using the usual honorifics as it would make their king look weak. Joel didn't understand Knight's logic but he had to follow him, besides King Edward didn't know that he's not a noble but a commoner.

"Yes, I remember seeing you in the gathering, Lord Joel"

King Edward knew that intelligence head means he's Don's spy as he shook Joel's hand

"This is Stodemar, he's the commander of the infantry and a skilled builder"

Don didn't tell Stodemar's last name since it would reveal his identity as a dwarf. Stodemar stepped forward and removed his black helmet and revealed his human-like face as Princess Amber doubted how'd he be an effective fighter when he's a little shorter than an average human.

"Honor to meet yeh...you"

Arrora giggled inside when she heard Stodemar's trying to hide his thick dwarven accent as he quickly shook Edward's hand and stepped back.

"you have met these two already, Arwen, commander of the long-ranged unit, Adria, my personal guard plus personal assistant"

King Edward shook their hands and smiled as Princess Amber noticed the ugly drawings on the table.

"King Don, if you don't mind me asking? what is that?"

Ken let out an embarrassed smile as everyone had a good chuckle

"Let me show you, come on"

King Edward and Princess Amber followed Don to the table

"This is the blueprints for the restaurants and tea houses"

King Edward brought Amber with him to get her a role in DOn's business empire. He realized that he didn't even have a single business up and running but he had faith in him, plus maintaining a close relationship with a grandmaster who could reach heavenly realm is nothing but a great strategy.

Also, Edward didn't think Amber working under him as a disgrace or humiliation but an opportunity for her and his family to reach new heights.

Until now Amber was painting and designing each room's interiors in the castle but it was time to put her talents to achieve something big.

"King Don, if you don't mind"

Princess Amber inspected the plans and took the brush in her hand

"Be my guest"

He wanted to see what she's planning to do as she nodded and flipped the blueprint to the blank side.

Everyone stared at Amber including Don with wonder as she started to draw without even using drawing instruments like caliper or divider that Ken used.

While she was drawing, Stodemar elbowed Ken and he chuckled signifying his previous ugly drawings. Unlike the paintings she showed him before, he could understand what she was drawing right now.

"And finished"

She put down the brush and surprised everyone with her version of the blueprint for the restaurants and tea houses.

"What do you think? King Don"

King Edward asked him with a proud smile

"Can you explain the plans? Princess Amber"

Don asked as everyone stepped closer to the table as she looked at Ken 

"Don't mind me, Princess, we can only gain new knowledge and educate ourselves by being open-minded to learn from anyone "

Princess Amber was pleased to see that he didn't get offended by her taking over his plans or altering them because most men wouldn't like it when they were being corrected by women, especially young ones.

She nodded with a smile and started to explain her plans

"Unlike the one big floor plan, I propose a three-floor plan for the restaurants"

"Three? Why?"

Don asked

"Because King Don,you're going to compete with Royal dine, they were doing this business for decades, so you should have something they don't"

She paused for a moment and went on

"As you may or may not know, Royal dine branches have no accommodation for customers who travel from a distant land, the nobles might go to high-end taverns and more rich people prefer renting a manor"

The commoners were rarely able to afford the prices of Royal dine so Amber did not include them.

"You can set up the restaurant on the ground floor, then on the first floor, rooms for customers who wish to stay the night, you can charge them however you want, it's not my area of expertise "

Don felt a little simple-minded realizing that he didnt think of this idea

"What's on the third floor?"

Arrora asked with a curious look 

"For people who prefer renting a manor, you can set up more lavish rooms than the rooms on the first floor"

Don nodded and appreciated Amber's idea in his mind

"It's just a rushed plan, if I had more time, I can plan the exterior of the building, lawn, fountains and things like that attract people"

King Edward wanted to get her into Don's circle as Princess Amber had her own plans. She wanted to provide for herself rather than being a typical princess in the castle spending the royal treasury. When her father said about Don's plan, she wanted to use her talents to be more than a princess, she desired to be a designer, and Don's businesses were a good place to start her journey as one.

Looking at the impressed faces of the people in the hall, Princess Amber had faith that she would get the role. Don on the other hand knew that there are no free lunches in this world and guessed their intentions. And after seeing a glimpse of her talent, he wanted to see what she could really do.

"Alright, Princess Amber, how'd you like to show us what more you can do? of course, I won't use your skills for free"

Don said and turned to talk to King Edward but he Princess Amber quickly said

"Fifteen percent of the profits"

Everyone was shocked to see her transform from a naive charming princess to a professional. But Don wasn't surprised as he always guessed that there's another person hiding beneath the naive charming princess face and he liked this version of her more than the first.

"Five"

"Ten percent and I'll do the interior plus exterior designing for all your businesses"

"Deal"

Don held out his hand as Princess Amber shook it with a smile and closed the deal.

"King Edward, I hope you're not offended by this deal"

Don said as King Edward shook his head with a smile

"On the contrary, I'm happy for my daughter, King Don, she always wanted to be more independent and explore the world outside of Sigalla"

King Edward patted Amber on the back and continued

"This will give her the chance to do just that, plus, I'd be at peace knowing that she's under the care of you, King Don"

As long as Amber works for him without any funny ideas like becoming the queen, he would treat her and King Edward with respect and treat them as allies.

"What about the tea houses?"

Arrora suddenly asked as tea houses meant more for her than the restaurants

Amber pointed at the drawing beside the plans for the restaurants

"Father said you're targeting the commoners as your customer base rather than nobles, am I right?"

"Yes"

"I have a better idea, why don't you serve it in the restaurants too?"

"Rich people often avoid the things that commoners use, in our case drink "

Don understood if the nobles knew that tea is served for the commoners in another place, they wouldn't drink it at the restaurants thinking that drinking a drink favored by the commoners is a shame.

"Then you simply need to change its name and recipe, for example, add more flavors and sell it at the restaurant"

When she mentioned the flavors, Arwen suddenly remembered that Amaryll gave him the tea with a touch of cinnamon because he always liked the smell of cinnamon.

"Adding flavor, I don't know about that"

Don showed a little skepticism when he heard Arwen's voice

"It might work, your majesty, not long ago, Amaryll gave me the tea with a touch of cinnamon and it was quite good"

Princess Amber grinned

"See, King Don, add more flavors, change the name, sell it at the restaurant, sell the original recipe at the tea houses"

"It's a good idea, King Don"

King Edward said as everyone waited for his response.

"I think I might have a better idea"