In the northern region of the city, where the Roth Empire’s embassy was, Cayrols made his way out of his study and passed an envelope to the waiting butler. He wore a serious expression on his face as he said, “Send this letter to Prince Josh via a messenger falcon.”
“Yes, Master.” The butler accepted the envelope with both hands before hurrying away into the backyard.
Cayrols was just about to return to his study when a series of slightly urgent footsteps sounded from behind him. “Father, I have something to speak to you about.”
A tall and thin young man approached him quickly from the courtyard outside. The young man’s hooked nose bore a slight resemblance to Cayrols’ and he had a head of brown hair. His face was of a slightly sickly pallor, but he seemed to be in high spirits as he quickly made his way over to Cayrols.
“What do you want to speak to me about, Ryan?” Cayrols asked with a smile. He had always been very benevolent and loving toward this frail second son of his.“Father, after you return to Rodu and are debriefed, will you be staying in Rodu and no longer act as an ambassador here in Chaos City?” Ryan asked.
“That’s right. If everything goes according to plan, I’ll be assigned a role in Rodu and stay there. That’s why your mother and sister went back to Rodu a month ago. You’ll be returning to Rodu with me.” Cayrols nodded in response. He had mentioned this to Ryan once before; he was wondering why Ryan was bringing this up again.
“Has it already been confirmed…” A slightly dejected look appeared on Ryan’s face.
“After returning to Rodu this time, Prince Josh has promised me a higher-ranking position in the capital. This is a good thing; why do you look so depressed?” Cayrols asked with a smile.
“I…” Ryan’s expression was a little hesitant.
“Go on, you can tell your father anything. Could it be that a girl caught your eye tonight?” Cayrols chuckled. Ryan was already 18 years old, officially an adult.
Ryan scratched his head in a slightly embarrassed manner, and replied, “It’s… it’s Young Mistress Gloria of the Moreton Family. I was thinking that if we’re going to leave Chaos City in half a month… I was wondering if you could come with me to the Moreton Family manor so I can ask for her hand in marriage?”“You’ve got a good eye, my boy. That Young Mistress Gloria is indeed a beautiful and cultured young lady.” Cayrols nodded with a smile. Young Mistress Gloria had left all of the banquet-goers, including Cayrols, with a deep impression of her.
A gorgeous young lady like her would make a fantastic addition to their Earhart Family. Even though the Moreton Family wasn’t a family with a long history, as the Chamber of Commerce became more influential in Chaos City, the Moreton Family was quickly becoming more and more renowned. Even though they were still inferior to the Buffett Family, they could already be considered to be quite a prosperous aristocratic family.
Ryan’s eyes lit up as he looked at Cayrols with an expectant gaze.
“I’ll go the Moreton Family with a marriage proposal soon. President Jeffree and I are old acquaintances, and the Moreton Family has always wanted to expand their business empire to the Roth Empire. I’m sure he’ll make the right decision.” Cayrols patted Ryan’s shoulder with a smile.
…
“Nonsense! The system would never do something like stealing wine! All I did was… borrow some soil from the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti for research purposes, then set up a winery on Francis Island with the exact same minerals and elements contained in that soil sample.
“After that, the system cross-bred the Pinot Noir grapes with the grapes of this world, and selected only the largest and most supple grapes as part of the Pinot Noir number two species. Only the top 5% of those grapes was selected to brew this wine.
“The brewing process was refined, shortening the brewing time required while also improving the wine’s quality. Even though the wine has only been stored in the cellar for a short time, its flavor and texture completely surpass those of the wine from the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. Furthermore, as long as it’s stored properly, the wine can be kept in a cellar for over 300 years.”
The system was enraged and also more than a little smug.
“Have you no shame? You would even stoop so low as to steal soil? Soil created from such methods has no soul.” Mag rolled his eyes, but his eyes were shimmering as he looked at the red wine in his glass.
Domaine de la Romanée-Conti was the best winery in France, and arguably one of the best in the world. It had a long history spanning several centuries, and it only produced 6,000 bottles of wine per year on average. On the market, there was always an extremely high demand for their wine despite their astronomical prices.
In his past life, even Mag was only able to get his hands on one or two bottles of this wine per year, and one would be taken by his father. As such, he was very familiar with this type of vastly renowned red wine of exceptional quality.
“Wait!”
Mag was just about to taste this wine that was apparently similar to Domaine de la Romanée-Conti’s wine when the system suddenly stopped him.
“Hmm?”
Mag stopped what he was doing with a confused look on his face.
“This red wine can only be used as an ingredient for cooking black pepper steak, and is not to be consumed on its own nor directly sold!” the system warned.
Mag put down his glass, and asked, “System, how much money are you going to sell this wine for as an ingredient?”
“With this barrel of wine, you’ll be able to make 1,000 portions of steak, amounting to a total price of 100,000 copper coins,” the system quickly replied.
“Alright, then you can deduct the 100,000 copper coins right away. I’ll pay for this wine by the barrel from now on,” Mag quickly replied.
“You’re not going to barter this time?” the system asked.
“Nope,” Mag confirmed.
“Ding! The transaction was successful; 100,000 copper coins have been deducted!” The system’s joyful voice sounded.
“Alright, that’s the deal done; this barrel of wine belongs to me now.” A smile appeared on Mag’s face as he raised his glass again. Just from the aroma alone, he could tell that the system wasn’t exaggerating when it proclaimed that this wine was superior to Domaine de la Romanée-Conti’s wine.
Paying just 100,000 copper coins for such a large barrel of wine of this exceptional caliber was a huge bargain.
In his past life, bottles of dated Domaine de la Romanée-Conti wines would start at 100,000 dollars during auctions. If there were avid drinkers present at those auctions, there was almost no upper limit to how high the bids could reach.
The system’s enraged voice sounded. “You’ve committed a severe breach of the rules! Your actions will incur—”
“Don’t worry, I won’t sell any of this wine. I won’t profit from it aside from using it in my cooking.” Mag pursed his lips as he cut the system off before taking a sip of wine.
He first detected the mellow flavor of strawberries, followed by a strong earthy undertone. The texture was very full of body and complexity, yet it wasn’t sharp nor overwhelming in the slightest as it glided over his tongue and down his throat. Instead, it was very gentle and harmonious, sweet yet rich.
Even after swallowing the wine, its fragrant aftertaste lingered in his mouth for a long time.
