Thrown Into A New World: Let The Punishment Begin!

His patience was something he had inherited from his mother while the Earl’s short temper had been passed on to his younger sister, Mae.

He had long known about the business rival who had popped up one fine day, pushing their family business into troubled waters.

However, he had never panicked but was confident that his father was capable of dealing with this small company without any issues.

Though now it seemed that CLOVER had managed to gain a firm foothold in the commoner market and was even able to pose a threat to his father’s sense of security.

For a man as proud as his father to be worried about some newly founded business, it meant that CLOVER was a serious threat to their family business.

Looking at that troubled expression on his father’s face, Standley did not know how to reveal the matter that had been on his mind.

.....

However, this could not be kept a secret for long so he chose to use this opportunity to mention it as well.

“Father, there is something else you should know about this CLOVER.” He initiated the topic and without waiting for another second, revealed everything he had heard about it.

Since he had been staying at the Academy with the other boys for the past many months, he too had heard about the gossip surrounding the sons of the St. Claire and the Tanner family.

The two good friends were often heard praising a new product that was given to them by their younger sister after she had visited the Valente fief.

Anyone with a functioning brain could deduce that the object they were talking about was related to the business named CLOVER that was located in that fief.

“Maybe CLOVER is planning to launch new products into the market.” Stanley surprisingly inferred exactly what the new business was hoping to achieve soon enough.

Earl Blaise had no way of knowing the gossip circulating in the Academy and hence had been clueless about this well-known news among the young boys.

However, just like them, he too was curious as well as startled to hear this news.

“What kind of product?” He interrogated his son, impatient to learn more about this matter.

Until now, there had only been one soap that had been circulated in the commoner and noble markets.

Though the Hagen family had developed a new method to create soaps for CLOVER, the end product was more or less the same thing.

CLOVER’s soaps were often seen as an improved version of the Blaise family’s soaps.

This was because they both had come from the same family, the Hagen family, and the process of making soaps had been improved over the years by the head of that family.

Though Earl Blaise had asked his men to try and recreate this new method, they had not achieved success until now.

Therefore, while they were still using the method they had attained in the past, CLOVER was gaining popularity with its better and cheaper version.

Now to hear that it was coming up with new products was setting off alarms in the Earl’s head.

If CLOVER gained any more popularity then it would succeed in pushing his business out of the market entirely.

This would be a severe blow to his business as well as his honor if this rumor turned out to be true.

“How should we deal with this now...?” He muttered to himself while thinking of ways to improve his business while also hindering CLOVER’s growth.

Seated on the other side of the couch, the young boy could not continue watching the troubled look on his father’s face.

Hence he cleared his throat to reveal the suggestion that he had to help their family business out of this potential crisis.

“Father, why don’t we lower our prices a little?” He voiced out his opinion which he had kept concealed within him for too long.

If this had been in the past then he never would have given such a suggestion.

However, ever since a competitor had shown up, they had been able to rival their sales and had later taken over them in terms of profits.

It was a given that CLOVER had gained a name for itself as a commoner-oriented brand by selling its products for a much cheaper rate than them.

Right now, the Blaise family business was running solely by selling its soaps to the nobles as they refused to use the same items as commoners.

However, this would not be sufficient for their business and it would, sooner or later, run into losses.

Therefore, to rectify this situation and regain some of their lost clients from various fiefs, Stanley thought that lowering their prices would be a good decision.

“We might be able to resume some partnerships if we move ahead with this plan and also gain a positive impression from the commoners.” He kept rambling about the advantages of following his plan, oblivious of the darkening face of his father who was listening to everything he said.

The Blaise family had only sold slivers of soap to commoners at a high rate as it was initially a product meant for nobles.

It was already something they needed to be grateful for, so hearing his son give out such a preposterous suggestion, Earl Blaise was beginning to doubt his heir’s wit.

“Don’t ever say such a thing in my presence again.” He rebuked him through gritted teeth, unwilling to go along with the plan his son had come up with.

Stanley was stunned for a second after being chastised in such a stern tone, one which he had not heard for a long time now.

Though he could not grasp where he had gone wrong, he chose to obey his father lest he received punishment for being rude.

Therefore, he nodded before lowering his head to display that he would be careful of what he said out loud in the future.

Earl Blaise’s anger eased by a large portion when he saw how sincere and obedient his son was and thus chose to forgive him.

After all, Standley would be his heir and carry on the Blaise family name in the future.

Therefore, he could not bear to stay mad at him but decided to teach him the right way to deal with such matters instead.

“Find out more information about CLOVER’s new products once you return to the Academy.” He instructed his son about what needed to be done and saw him nod once again.

Stanley would never go against his father as he respected him immensely.

For this reason, he would follow the instructions given to him and would do his best to be of some use to his father in pulling their family business out of troubled waters.

“I will keep my ears open for any rumors going around the social circles about CLOVER as well.” Earl Blaise continued revealing what he planned to do and even glanced at his Butler who had been silent until now.

The butler was sensible enough to decipher what his master expected of him and thus had already decided who he would assign this task.

With this, their reason for arriving at this Parlor had now come to an end so Stanley wished to leave.

“I shall visit Mother before returning to my room.” He announced as he rose from his seat.

His mother had been sick since he had returned from the Academy, hence they had not been able to spend time with each other.

However, he was making time from his busy schedule to visit her whenever he could.

Therefore, before he could head back to his room, he had planned to meet her so that he might check on her once again.

When Earl Blaise heard what his son wished to do, he did not stop him but allowed him to leave.

As he watched the boy walk out of the room, he glanced at his butler with a question in his eyes.

“Master, Madame has recovered by most parts but feels fatigued and refuses to step out of her room.” He disclosed the report he had received from the maids serving the Countess.

Ever since Countess Blaise had returned from a tea party held at the Leopold family, she had been withdrawn and refused to meet anyone.

She had also moved out of the room that the husband and wife shared in the past by stating that she was ill and did not want the Earl to be infected as well.

She even rejected all invitations to dine with the family and had been staying in her room during meal hours, not wishing to step out under any circumstances.

In fact, she had not even attended any social gatherings in the past few weeks.

It had been over a month since she had begun acting differently.

In the beginning, the Earl had been worried about her health but she constantly refused to let him visit her by using her illness as an excuse.

Suspicious about her actions, he had asked his Butler to look into this matter and this was when they learned of what had taken place at the Leopold family’s tea party.

The rumor about the Earl purchasing a precious piece of jewelry for a woman other than his wife was indeed true but he had never expected it to be exposed by the Marchioness in the presence of so many other noble ladies.

When he finally discovered what had influenced his wife’s aloof behavior, he panicked but it wasn’t for the right reasons.

He was worried that his pride as a noble would be tarnished if people were to hear that his mistress wasn’t a noblewoman but a commoner.

Therefore, he had maintained a distance from her to avoid further rumors and had been doing his best to get closer to his wife despite her obvious attempts to stay away from him.