"Come in."
Connor knocked lightly on the door and only entered after hearing Theus's voice.
He cleared his throat softly, a hint of a smile appearing on his usually steady face.
"Young master, your shops had a remarkably successful opening. On the first day alone, we sold over two thousand units—all of our stock sold out in just a few hours."
"Soap sold the best. Laundry soap did fairly well too, but olive oil sold only so-so."
Theus nodded and smiled as well.
There was no other reason for it—their treasury was nearly empty now.
Castel's town hall had long since spent its last gold rum, and his private treasury had nearly exhausted all its cash as well, leaving only jewels and antiques that were difficult to liquidate.
Heaven knew how Connor, the butler responsible for managing Theus's purse strings, had endured these past few days. He had never heard of a lord spending every last gold coin in his coffers. If not for Theus's firm attitude, he would have refused to let Alexei take any more money from here long ago.
"Don't worry, old Connor. I told you before—if I can put out gold coins, I can bring them back in."
Connor nodded approvingly, though he was still somewhat astonished.
It was not as though no lord had ever considered making money from their own subjects, but the results were often terrible. Those poor people valued money immensely and refused to part with it no matter what.
Yet Theus had managed it. It had gone so smoothly that Connor found it unbelievable, utterly impossible to understand.
Theus glanced at him and smiled even more brightly.
"I've always insisted on hiring the islanders to work, and I've never delayed their wages. What do you think of that?"
Connor fell silent