My Lady Chef { La Vita Series } - Volume 1

Chapter 29: Business Tour - Part 2

Ely's POV:

Surprisingly, my husband owns a lot of food-based shops.

Two cafes. Three bakeries, a sweets shop, and a restaurant in the shopping district aside from a few jewelry stores and clothing shops in the 2nd district.

But I noticed that they are geared to attract the elite or the middle-class merchants that can afford it.

"Pierce. Has my husband thought of opening a business that can attract the masses?" I asked him.

My husband's secretary has somehow softened his stiff attitude towards me ever since we had them over for lunch yesterday. He still maintains a bit of professional distance but whenever I ask him stuff, he gladly answers them with a smile.

"Well....he had plans to open two cafes in the third shopping district where a lot of the middle and peasant classes are always doing their purchases. He says that there may be a future in catering to the two other classes," he explained to me. "Does Milady think the same?"

"My husband is very progressive but I believe that there will come a time when the distance between the nobles and working classes will lessen. There is a lot of potential if we offer something affordable to the common folks."

"I believe so as well." He gave me a warm nod. "The problem is...the funds and opportunities are at the hands of the privileged which is why I am happy how the duke uses his capital earned from his shops to provide jobs to the working class. Did you know that his lordship bought the shipyard and started a profitable shipment trade just to give jobs to the lower and middle classes who were struggling at the lower ring?"

He must be referring to the slums or lower ring which was located on the outskirts of the city.

"That is pretty generous..." I clapped my hands together.

"Yes. He is indeed a rarity amongst the lords." he nodded." because of him, the crime and poverty of the slums have lessened in the past few years."

Wow. So my lord husband is a shrewd business person and a philanthropist.

"Then...the shopkeepers and staff at his businesses. Are they all middle class as well?"

Pierce nodded as the carriage stopped in front of a more silent area. I looked out and saw that this was the first district where there were bigger, more elegant shops, and the people frequenting them were all dressed extravagantly.

"This is our last stop milady. In the first district, only the higher nobles and royalties frequent these establishments. The duke owns the popular sweets shop "La Petit Creme" and the cake cafe "Memories" although not many people are aware of this. He also has investments in about 5 of the 15 small cafes that are popular with the nobles."

I get why my husband does not scoff at the piddling cost of my suggestion to reward the knights monthly. With his numerous businesses, he can very well afford it.

As I got out, Linda was silently by my side as Pierce gave me a tour of the popular establishments first which was
the sweets shop.

The interior was a simple white and light blue but the way several jars of sweets were displayed strategically made people feel like they were kids again. There was a small section where people may sit while waiting for their order and the cute display case had some very basic but well-wrapped sweets and a few unique candies like caramel lollies and peppermint sticks.

When Pierce introduced me to the 4 women who were in charge of the shop, they all blushed and curtsied in tandem. I smiled and shook each of their hands. The effect was a stunned silence followed by a flurry of thanks from each flustered girl.

"Have you thought of offering candies by weight? It will allow for people to try out new flavors without ordering too much of each." I told Pierce after he showed me the shop.

"That is not a bad notion, Your Grace. But we usually offer the candies in very stylish jars. Do you happen to have an affordable solution if we are going to implement this?"

"Simple. We use paper bags or washable bags that our customers can use over and over again so that there is zero wastage and garbage. A cute branding strategy is to have the logos in our packages so that more people will know.

The employees of the shops were stunned as I talked to Pierce more about some of my ideas. I guess not many high-end ladies who go there do not usually discuss items and ways to market them with Pierce.

But they soon relaxed in my presence when I asked them to offer me a taste of the shop's best sweets.

Since the shop was not that busy because everyone must be eating lunch, the girls and I bonded over which sweets do they like and somehow I managed to come up with a few more suggestions for Pierce.

By the time I left, the girls waved to me enthusiastically.

"It seems like you put people at ease, milady. I do not think the shop girls have ever liked a lady as much as you." Pierce laughed as I waved one last time to the girl before they went back inside.

"They seem like hardworking girls. I love women who try their best." I looked at Linda who had a few bags of sweets jars in her arms. "They even gave us some sweets."

"Well...technically your husband owns the shop so.." the secretary wrote on his notepad before his head swiveled to the right. "Is that...?"

I also found myself looking that way until I saw a huge horned horse riding this way and on its back was...

Ezran.

I thought he would be at court all day. Why is he here?

I asked Linda to load the bags into the jar while my cheeks reddened as I felt my heart racing the moment I realized that I was looking forward to seeing him.

And to think he ignored me for just one night. I was reduced to wondering when will I get a glimpse of him because of that.

Oh my god. I cannot be missing him right?

Somehow my traitorous heart just kept beating even faster when I felt him behind me.