"Good morning, Mr. Roselle."
At the greeting, Roselle Gustav froze for an instant, but he quickly recovered and bowed in return.
"Good morning, Miss Charlotte."
Meanwhile, his gaze quietly swept over her.
Unlike the girl who had been covered in blood that night, pale-faced and looking as though she had just escaped a nightmare, Charlotte Sauron had clearly dressed with care today. Her long reddish-brown hair had been braided into an intricate ring, and her light-colored jacket outlined her slender waist. The skirt that reached her shoes spread gently as she curtsied. There was little lace at her collar and cuffs, but it only accentuated the fairness of her skin.
Before transmigrating, he had long since had his standards spoiled by heavily retouched photographs online. Yet the beauty of this young lady from the Sauron family lay in more than her features and figure. She possessed a refinement cultivated little by little through her upbringing and etiquette, while her outfit was more streamlined and airy than those of the noblewomen in Roselle's memories. It was hard not to steal another look.
Any more staring would be rude. I need to maintain my image, preserve the goodwill I've worked so hard to build... With difficulty, he tore his gaze away and looked toward his father and Charlotte's father.
The two barons had already exchanged greetings and were heading together toward the drawing room beside the main hall. Etiquette dictated that the younger generation follow their fathers inside and wait until their elders had exchanged pleasantries before formally offering thanks, so Roselle bowed and gestured for Charlotte to go first.
She nodded demurely and lifted her skirt to follow. Her graceful movements made Roselle, who had spent the past few days surrounded by thoroughly rustic maids, steal another glance despite himself.
Just then, a servant came in from outside to announce that a young gentleman had come to visit. He had given no advance notice, but had specifically asked to see the Gustav family's young master.
Here for me... Confusion flickered across Roselle's face, but he nodded.
"Please show him in."
A moment later, a young man in a dark-blue coat entered the entrance hall. He had black hair and blue eyes and looked about twenty. His clothing and cufflinks suggested a well-off family, but his manner lacked a nobleman's composure and seemed more enthusiastic.
"Roselle!" As soon as he spoke, he noticed Charlotte standing nearby and hastily lowered his head in an awkward bow, though his eyes secretly lifted toward her. "I'm sorry. I didn't know you had another visitor today, let alone such a beautiful and noble young lady."
The instant Roselle saw him, his previously disjointed memories came flooding back, and he recalled the young man's identity. He cleared his throat and introduced him.
"This is Miss Charlotte Sauron, daughter of Baron Raoul Sauron. Miss Charlotte, this is Green Randall, a friend from my days at military preparatory school."
"Good morning, Mr. Randall. Thank you for the compliment." Charlotte smiled and greeted him, then turned to Roselle and asked curiously, "Roselle, you attended military preparatory school?"
Different levels of familiarity, different forms of address... Roselle felt a surge of delight. Knowing that his earlier actions had earned him a good deal of Charlotte's favor, he nodded.
"I once dreamed of becoming an officer."
As for why that dream fell through, you'd have to ask the previous Roselle... Muttering inwardly, he turned to Green.
"What did you want to see me about?"
Green glanced at Charlotte, clearly hesitant.
Realizing this was a private matter between the two of them, she lifted her skirt and prepared to leave. However, the voices of the two barons drifted out from the drawing room again. Clearly, there would be no opening for their children to join the conversation anytime soon.
She could only stop at one side of the entrance hall for the moment, maintaining a gracious smile as though she were simply waiting for her elders to summon her.
Only after the girl had moved away did Green Randall continue.
"My father has agreed to that matter you mentioned before."
Roselle was taken aback.
Seeing this, Green hurriedly lowered his voice and reminded him.
"The printing house beside the Ruler Church in the Lower Korus District. Didn't you say you'd help me ask whether the baron was interested in buying it?"
With that reminder, Roselle finally dug the matter out of a corner of his memory.
A month before his transmigration, Green's father had owned an old, poorly run printing house and had been eager to find someone to take it off his hands. Knowing that the Gustav family had considerable connections in the Bols District, Green Randall had brought it up once, partly to sound him out and partly to ask for help.
At the time, Roselle had only promised to ask his father. However, Baron Leon Gustav was a conservative nobleman more familiar with traditional sources of income, such as land and estates. He had no interest whatsoever in an industry that required management and carried the smell of ink, so he had rejected Roselle's suggestion.
But things were different now. Roselle's mind was filled with knowledge from another world. Although he had forgotten all sorts of details, the broad outline of its development remained clear.
Having spent several days in this world, Roselle could plainly tell that his family's finances were not as impressive as their outward appearance suggested. A new idea immediately came to him.
He suppressed his excitement and made his tone sound casual.
"Father is still considering it. Can the printing house still operate?"
"Of course!" Seeing a glimmer of hope, Green immediately nodded. "There just aren't enough orders, and most of the workers have left. My father originally planned to sell the machinery and the building separately, but if the baron is willing to take it over, the price is entirely negotiable."
Roselle fell silent, but inwardly he was calculating rapidly.
A printing house... Charlotte, standing at one side of the entrance hall, heard those words, and her expression shifted slightly. Suddenly, she had a direction for the money-making plan she had failed to come up with over those past few nights.
Newspapers-or, more precisely, the media.
Of course, this world already had publicly distributed printed materials. City halls posted notices and bounties, the major guilds circulated internal bulletins, and churches had booklets containing excerpts from the Holy Bible. Trier also had literary magazines and academic journals published on a monthly basis. But in a provincial city like Sushit, popular media aimed at ordinary citizens, merchants, lawyers, cafés, and the lesser and middling nobility was practically nonexistent.
News spread through acquaintances, prices had to be learned by word of mouth, and lost-and-found notices could only be posted outside churches or at city hall entrances. Information about theater performances and auctions spread even more slowly.
If I gathered all this information together and published it once a week, then switched to twice a week or daily once circulation picked up...
Official notices, merchants' advertisements, church publicity... As long as newspapers become a necessity, all of those will mean gold louis.
Of course, to build circulation, an innovation like this would inevitably lose money at first. And money was precisely what Charlotte lacked most right now. Baron Sauron would never voluntarily provide her with startup funds for a commercial idea that sounded so undignified.
If Mr. Green is willing to put up the money, I could contribute only the idea and take a share of the profits. He's from a merchant family, so he'll surely be willing to participate if there's money to be made. The problem is how to speak to him without going through Roselle... Charlotte's thoughts raced as she desperately tried to hold on to the gold coins slipping away before her eyes.
Just then, she heard the conversation by the door gradually receding. The two young men seemed to be heading to the Lower Korus District to inspect the printing house in person.
No, I have to go with them and find a chance to talk to Green... Charlotte hesitated, then looked toward the inner rooms.
Even just a few decades ago, an underage noble girl going out alone with two young men would have caused a scandal among the nobility. Fortunately, social attitudes had gradually become more open. In places such as Trier and Backlund, salons and art exhibitions where young people could socialize had become fashionable. Interaction among the younger generation had instead become a trend, a badge of their rebellion against tradition. Besides, Roselle had helped Charlotte only a few days earlier, and Green was accompanying him as a friend, so it did not seem too problematic.
More importantly, this might be her last chance to put her money-making plan into action.
She sent a servant inside to inform Raoul. A moment later, the reply came back that her father had agreed to let her go out, provided her personal maid accompanied her the entire time and she returned to the mansion before noon.
It looks like Father and Uncle Leon are really hitting it off. He doesn't want to interrupt their conversation over something this minor... Charlotte breathed a sigh of relief, though she also felt inexplicably guilty.
Charlotte took Lila with her in the Sauron family's carriage, while Roselle and Green boarded the Gustav family's carriage. The two carriages set off one after the other toward the Lower Korus District.
Both Roselle and Green seemed surprised that the beautiful girl had suddenly decided to accompany them, but Charlotte had no time to worry about that. She watched the carriage ahead through the window, thinking about how to put her "newspaper" plan into practice.
I'll have to explain to Green how weekly or even daily newspapers cultivate readers' habits, as well as where the profits come from... I'll also need to settle the profit split. I probably won't get much for only providing the idea. If I can convince Father to contribute some of the startup funds... It'll be hard to get around Roselle on this. For some reason, he's interested in that printing house too. Could the earliest form of newspapers in this world originally have been meant to emerge in that young nobleman's hands...? Charlotte gazed at the buildings and pedestrians sliding past outside, her eyes unfocused as she thought.
She had not considered whether the idea was feasible. On Earth, newspapers had been a perfectly viable business before the internet became widespread. Nor did they depend on technical limitations; it was entirely a matter of having the idea.
This was far simpler than the technical details she could not remember no matter how hard she racked her brains!
Soon, the carriage stopped beside a street engulfed in a noisy din. Charlotte stepped down with Lila's hand for support, and air mingled with coal smoke, horse manure, and some sort of ink smell immediately filled her nostrils.
She frowned instinctively and saw Roselle and Green standing beside the Gustav family's carriage ahead, discussing something in low voices and occasionally pointing at a two-story building.
The building's sign had faded. Its street-facing door stood half-open, and several unopened bundles of paper covered in a layer of dust were piled outside. It looked as though the place had not operated in a long time.
This isn't a case of too few orders. There must be no orders at all. No wonder Green's father is so eager to sell... Still, that's perfect for a newspaper with a small initial print run. And with all sorts of factories nearby, there'll be no shortage of paper or ink... Charlotte surveyed the surroundings with satisfaction. Just as she approached the two young men conversing in low voices, she suddenly felt a chill down her back.
A gaze had passed through the noisy street, the crowds, and the carriages to settle on her.