After three or four days of travel, they finally arrived at the small kingdom, where they were greeted by the duke. He introduced himself as Leopold Cooper, a man no older than 30, who, upon seeing Alesha, did not hesitate to greet her courteously. He even offered her his arm to guide her to the mansion, but she only walked beside him, making her rejection quite evident. Even so, the duke showed off everything he had, trying to impress her. In his opinion, there was no woman who could resist the riches of a nobleman. Ritter simply walked behind them, along with the other guards.
"I heard about the annulment of your engagement. If you allow me to say so, the crown prince has lost a beautiful woman," Leopold flattered.
"I know, I am too much for him. If he hadn't moved on with someone else, I was planning to break off the engagement myself. I really didn't like him, and being empress is not to my liking. I'm fine being a countess," she replied.
This was to let the duke know that she was not impressed by high status. They both walked until they reached a room, where he invited her to sit down while they served some tea. Ritter remained standing at the door.
"Your escort, he seems familiar," the duke mentioned.
"He should be. This is the young Marquis Ritter Escalante. He kindly offered to be my escort."
"Marquis Escalante? Oh! Of course, I apologize for my disrespect. Come in, Marquis, you can join us."
The duke knew that the Escalantes, despite only having the title of marquis, were important and influential people in the empire, even on par with the Von Hansens.
"There's no need for apologies. I should have introduced myself sooner. But I see that I am impressed by the beauty of Lady Von Hansen," Ritter mentioned.
The duke laughed at Ritter's words.
"And who wouldn't be? She is a charming lady. Anyway, I don't normally do business with women, but your father spoke very highly of you."
"I believe my father tends to exaggerate. But here is my proposal."
Alesha handed him a folder containing detailed information about the business, the profits they could obtain, and what it all entailed. The duke was impressed that she had done everything in detail. It even included some market statistics showing the popularity of the product, which was cotton fabrics, which were having good acceptance in the market due to how cool the clothes made with them were. She had come up with this idea months ago, and it was her father who helped her start the business, which had generated good profits for them so far. However, her father warned her that Duke Cooper was something special and didn't believe women were suitable to run his family's businesses.
"To be honest, Lady Von Hansen, I have always believed that women are not cut out for business. But I believe you are the exception. Your father was right to speak so highly of you," the duke mentioned after finishing reading the folder.
Alesha was surprised by the answer. She thought it would be much harder for him to accept, and from the moment he arrived, he had shown his arrogance.
"I am glad to hear that. As you can see, the profits are very good, and by expanding the business further, much more will be obtained."
"I have no doubt about that. We'll sign the contract when the king's representative arrives. In the meantime, I invite you to rest, and I will send for you later for dinner."
"Thank you."
Alesha was guided by a couple of maids to the guest area, as were Ritter and the guards, so they could all rest.
Meanwhile, Leopold entered his study where an elderly man was already present. He greeted Leopold cheerfully. This was the Duke's grandfather, who had taken care of him since he was a child. But the older man quickly adopted a serious expression and sat down.
"Are you really going to do business with that woman? Women are not good at that; it's an insult from Duke Von Hansen to send that young lady," the old man complained.
This man was the one who had been putting sexist ideas into his grandson's head since he was a child, believing that women were only there to serve as good wives or, in some cases, lovers.
"Sir, all the data delivered by Lady Von Hansen are excellent. She is the one who started the business; her father only financed it. Thanks to her profits, she was even able to return to her father the money that was used for that business," explained Leopold.
"Nonsense, her father must have done it all. Women know nothing; they only know how to raise children and obey," replied the old man.
"Fine, continue with that thought, I will continue with business," replied Leopold.
"I won't allow it! Either Duke Von Hansen comes, or there's no deal," demanded the old man.
"Then go and tell that to Lady Von Hansen," With that said, Leopold left.
"Of course, I will!" Shouted the old man.
Meanwhile, in the palace of the capital, Delia was in a study, with a pile of documents on the desk. She looked at one; everything written there was difficult for her to understand. She didn't understand what she was supposed to do; they had simply sent her the documents by order of the empress with the notice that they were now her duties and that with the classes she had had, she should already know what to do, as they were simple tasks.
"I... I... Is the prince still in a meeting?" She asked one of the maids who were standing at the entrance.
"Yes, Your Highness, he will be out of the meeting until late."
Delia looked down; she didn't know what she should do. What if she signed something and it turned out badly? Soon there was a knock on the door, and it was the same maid who had brought the documents.
"Your Highness, I have come for today's work. The Empress requests that they be delivered."
"What? They were for today? But..."
A male servant entered and picked up the pile of documents, and although Delia wanted to stop him, they didn't give her time to say anything, as they left. As they walked, the maid looked at one of the documents, but nothing had been resolved.
"Her Majesty was right, she's useless," the maid scoffed.
Both the servant and the maid laughed. They knew that when the empress saw that nothing had been done, she would scold the princess.
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