"Huh? What is it?" Nora asked.

"While we were eating this morning, I thought I needed to buy a new store to produce potions for us to sell, but now that I think about it, we don’t really need to do all that because it would just cost me more than half of my remaining gold coins to get us just a small workstation. Besides, the costs of getting all the ingredients would be a lot as well, so I doubt that plan would ever work. But after considering my other options, I realise there are other safer routes available for me to explore." Austin explained vaguely to Nora, but she was even more confused by what he had just said.

"I don’t think I understand what you...mm."

Austin instantly pressed his lips against hers and nodded in understanding of her confusion as he pulled away from kissing her. "It’s fine, Nora. I’ll fill you in along the way. But first, we need to do a little bit of shopping, okay?"

"Shopping?"

"Yes, my love. There’s so much to do but you have to trust me. I’m certainly going to make us so rich, we’ll be swimming in gold coins for years." Austin vowed as he pulled Nora out of the room to go shopping.

Some time later, Austin had dragged his beautiful wife out of their lodged room and the two were now far from town.

This location was a territory belonging to the only elven noble in the kingdom, and within this territory there was a large and beautiful mansion.

The stone walls of the mansion were tall and the gardens surrounding the building were well kept as well.

At first glance, anyone could easily see that the mansion was very old, but despite its age, it was maintained perfectly and was in good condition.

Inside the building there was a long hallway that ran through its interior.

It was lit by torches on the walls that cast a warm glow across the polished floor, and within this hall, someone could be seen walking along it at a brisk pace.

The person was a male elf and he had the appearance of a fifty-year-old human.

His name was Cedric and he wore a black medieval-style tunic with dark trousers and a leather belt fastened neatly at his waist.

His clothing had no decoration to speak of but it was well kept and tidy.

Anyways, Cedric had a calm expression on his face as he hastened his steps toward a door at the far end of the hallway.

Of course, appearances among elves meant very little when it came to age.

This was because unlike humans in this world, who rarely aged past a hundred years and never truly reached two hundred, elves on the other hand were capable of living up to three thousand years.

Their lifespans were so far beyond that of humans that what might look like a fifty-year-old elf could actually mean something else entirely.

In other words, Cedric could very well be over a thousand years old already, or even above two thousand, but no one truly knew and neither was he interested in telling anyone his true age.

Pushing this notion aside, Cedric reached the door and knocked three times. "Forgive me, my lady. It is Cedric." Cedric said, and silence followed from the other side.

Then after a moment, a feminine voice said. "Come in."

Cedric pushed the door open and stepped inside.

The room was large, spacious, and dimly lit.

Across the room was a grand four-poster bed whose wooden frame was draped with heavy fabric that covered most of the bed, making it difficult to see anything or anyone clearly on the inside.

Rowena’s long blonde hair was currently spread out and matted across her pillow as she lay on the bed.

She was wearing a simple cloth that barely concealed how massive her chest was and how flawless her skin was, as she rose to sit up on the bed while gently rubbing the sleep from her eyes with the back of her hand.

Her tousled bed hair fell loosely around her face and shoulders as she blinked slowly in the dim light. "Why have you come here so early, Cedric?" Rowena asked with a slight yawn.

Since arriving home last night, it wasn’t until a few hours ago that she had finally decided to rest, which would explain why Rowena was still feeling sleepy right now.

"Forgive me, my lady, but there’s a young man waiting outside with a female wolfkin, and he said he would like to see you. He’s a human by the way, and he said it’s urgent."

Hearing what Cedric had just said, a single thought coursed through the beautiful Countess’s mind.

Humans had been known to harbour disgusting behaviours.

Maybe it was because they had short lifespans unlike elves, so rich individuals and noble humans developed this sick superiority complex of wanting to rule over the weak by making them live like slaves and servants in their households, while promising them that their families would be treated well if they surrendered their dignity.

Rowena had seen and heard about humans treating each other this way and she completely loathed this nature that humans had developed a habit of over the years.

In other words, this so-called human must have heard about the troubles the Countess was facing, so he had come here to provide her with his ’salvation’ in exchange for her dignity.

In a nutshell, the human was probably wishing to have a trophy slave he could rule over, and Rowena wasn’t interested in being anyone’s pet.

"A human, huh." Rowena said softly and Cedric replied calmly.

"Yes, Countess."

"Well, tell him I’m not interested in listening to what he has to say." Rowena plopped back down on the bed as she gave Cedric her orders.

"I did, my lady, but he requested to see you specifically."

"Then tell him I am unwell and won’t be seeing anyone for the day."

"Already did, my lady, but he requested to see you still."

"Just tell him I’m currently in the capital city and won’t be returning until three months from now."

"I have done that too, my lady, but he said he still knows you’re in here."

"Then what exactly did he tell you for you to feel it was necessary to bring this to my attention?" Rowena asked in a slightly annoyed tone as she raised her head to stare at Cedric.

"Forgive me, Countess, but the young man outside said he has the recipe on how to create a 20% impurity-free stamina-enhancing potion, and he would like to form a business partnership with you."

"What?!!"

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A/N: Thank you so much guys for the comments, reviews and power stones. It has truly lifted my mood and it’s allowing me to feel even more eager to write and upload more Chapters for you guys.

So please, tell your friends and colleagues about the novel as I try to do my best with the hope of winning this contest I’m participating in.

I’m currently fifth in the ranking, so I’m hoping for more of your support as I try to win my first participation in a contest in this platform.

Thank you so much once again, and have a great day.

Peace.

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