Chapter 442

Chapter 442

She knew that he trended to be bogged out by such trivia and she also knew that the workers were part of her family.

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Zach had been busy taking care of the aftermath of defeating the royal princess. It had not been easy trying to keep the business from expanding beyond his control. He had to find a balance between the wages he was paying to the workers and the amount of work he was getting out of them. Otherwise, he would have ended up following the same path as the princess. Thankfully, he had better business sense and a better transportation method to get rid of his worries. But he still had many other things to consider while slowly letting the business expand further. Although the business was spreading into new markets, there was barely any resistance. It was a novel product that people had only heard about. But now it was gradually becoming available to the masses at an affordable price. For that reason, there was a high need for market research and investigation. Zach felt that by observing the needs of the customers was the only surefire method of expanding a business without risk. As he didn't have anyone under him who was capable of seeing the market trends based on the modern knowledge he had in his brain, he felt the need to go out himself and spend some time in the market to learn some more about his customers. While Zach wanted to go alone on this venture so as to avoid people making a fuss over him, Brittany was adamant on not letting him go alone. "You don't have to follow me out. I want to keep a low profile." Zach told her his intentions so that she would not follow him as he went out. Unfortunately for him, Brittany wasn't willing to do so. "I understand. I promise to quietly follow behind you. I won't tell anyone about your identity." Brittany offered a halfway compromise, but Zach was cursing in his heart. He knew that she would be like a flashing beacon light when he went out. Not only was she extremely pretty but she took her job as a maid quite seriously. Even the slightest movement of her body was respectful towards her master. If she tagged along, Zach was of the opinion that his identity was as good as revealed right there and then. It was as if she wanted him to proclaim his status to the whole world by following him around respectfully like a royal attendant. Zach wanted to reject her outright but the hopeful expression on her face stopped the words in his mouth. He almost bit his tongue in the effort. Left with no choice, Zach left the residence to take a look into the market so that he could devise the best strategy to cope with the dynamic market demand for his product. Brittany didn't show it on her face, but she was bursting with happiness when Zach finally agreed to take her along. Although her princess had asked her to try her best to adjust to the new reality of her life, she had been having some difficulty doing so. The reason was that she just couldn't get used to the freedom that came with it. It felt like she had too much time on her hands, and it made her want to scream in frustration. It was hard to get rid of old habits. She wasn't used to thinking and making decisions on her own. Now that she was free in the truest sense, she couldn't think or do something for herself. Zach found it extremely pitiful, but he decided to give it some time. He needed to give her a supportive cushion so she would be able to find her place in the new world. Since Brittany was also going to be following behind him, Zach found it unnecessary to try and hide himself from public view. He changed his visit from a clandestine one to a public one. Doing so would also give him an idea of the impression he had on the people. A warm welcome would obviously mean that the public was either too greedy for the benefits he was giving them, or they were thankful for everything he had done for them. And he would obviously know if there was something he wasn't doing right. The general public had a thousand ways to say that to his face. Zach asked for a carriage to be arranged for his departure. The carriage had to be casual and not too flashy. He didn't want to attract attention any more than was necessary. Only Brittany accompanied him inside the carriage while the driver smacked on the horses' backs to usher them forward. It didn't take long before they made it to the edge of the marketplace. Although the roads weren't very narrow, it was still frowned upon to bring one's carriage into the marketplace. Even the top families in the past had to leave their carriages behind before walking on foot inside the area. It was a norm that seemed to have come into existence with time and was considered an unspoken rule. This wasn't Zach's first time, so he knew what he had to do. "Ask the driver to stop here. Let's get off." ordered Zach. Brittany hastily pulled the curtain inside the carriage that kept the driver from peeking into the carriage and conveyed Zach's orders to him. The driver instantly pulled on the reins of the horses and brought the carriage to a standstill near the edge. He jumped down from his seat and opened the carriage door respectfully before taking a few steps back to allow Zach and his maid to get off. "Don't go anywhere. I'll be back as soon as I am done." Zach gave the driver his instructions before walking away from the carriage under the scrutinizing gaze of the masses that seemed to be burning with the desire to scour his identity. It didn't take long before someone figured out his identity. Not long after, there were whispers everywhere, all of them about him. It was as if these people wanted to tell him that they knew him in the most roundabout way possible. Some of the naivest ones were still afraid of him following the incident at Greenland. They kept their distance while the others who were attracted by his identity as a Viscount tried to pull him towards their shops so as to make a handsome profit off the rich person. Zach politely declined their attempts to guide him to their shops. Zach wasn't interested in every other thing. Therefore, he wanted to visit the shops manned by the Smith family and those affiliated with the Smith family so that he could interact with the consumers directly and gain feedback. The importance of consumer feedback was absolute while doing business. Any change in the market demand could be preempted through consumer feedback. He was only intending to figure out how the demand for sugar was faring with the revised prices of his product following the depression that Princess Candice had caused. Therefore, he wanted to visit the shops manned by the Smith family and those affiliated with the Smith family so that he could interact with the consumers directly and gain feedback. The importance of consumer feedback was absolute while doing business. Any change in the market demand could be preempted through consumer feedback. When Zach arrived at the establishments of his family which were located in the heart of the marketplace, he was surrounded by the workers. They had long since got wind of the fact that he was paying them a visit personally. The whispers seemed to have spread through the fastest means possible. After all, it hadn't been very long since he stepped into the marketplace. Some of them were cheering happily as Zach had given them better livelihood and better working conditions that allowed them to rest and spend time with their families as well. They had experienced the work life balance in its truest sense for the first time in their lives. How could these people not be grateful to the person who had made it all possible for them? If anything, it made them want to work even harder for the sake of this person so that they could somehow repay his favor. Since they couldn't work overtime for him, the least they could do was to acknowledge his efforts and show their respect to him. Each of them had a wide smile on their face as they tried to approach him while spewing out several compliments for his new policies. But Brittany stood in front of Zach like a mountain, a beautiful and desirable mountain that one couldn't help but want to explore. "Keep your distance. Don't delay master's business, please." Being a maid of the royal family of Aschar dynasty, she had been trained quite well. Brittany performed her duties fervently and kept anyone from approaching Zach without his permission. Zach found it fascinating as well. It wasn't as easy to control a mob as it seemed. Brittany had used a few words to keep the mob at a distance. Usually whenever the workers found him, it turned into a long discussion followed by several suggestions and demands. Zach wanted to avoid that for the time being.