Chapter 852: New Partnerships
While Howard and Yvonne were on their way out of the St. Claire estate, the Earl had already been informed about their unplanned outing.
Having his etcher at home was an advantage for him as it allowed him to gain information even when he wasn’t around.
Since the Earl was sure that his guards would be able to keep the children safe, he shifted his attention back on the task he had come out to complete.
His wife had asked him to set aside all work for the two weeks that their son would be at home but he had been sneaking in time to get some of his work done while she wasn’t noticing.
When Howard was busy either with his friends or Vonny, Rutherford had been completing his job as the Fief Lord which was something he could not ignore for a very long time.
He had also been teaching his son about how to deal with issues that a Fief Lord might come across once he took over these responsibilities as his heir in the future.
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Though he was being considerate to not overburden the young boy, at the same time he was involving him in the matters concerning the fief just as they had decided to do in the past.
.....
There would be many chances in the future for him to train his son more intensively but for now, this much was enough to satisfy him.
While he was still the Fief Lord, he would do his best to maintain and increase the prestige and value of his fief as much as he could before handing it over to his heir.
This was also one of the reasons for Rutherford to head out this morning.
After Raylene had gone out to keep her appointment with some of the noble ladies, he too had left the estate once he had sorted out the files that had been pending since last week.
His destination was the Commerce Guild which catered to the needs of the noblemen who were involved in the business sector of the Kingdom.
This was a place for the men from various noble families, regardless of whether they belonged to the main or side branch, to build connections and secure their position as businessmen.
It was also a common venue for business deals to be discussed if the two parties weren’t too familiar with each other or had not been acquainted in the field of business prior.
Thus this was selected as the place of meeting by Rutherford for a business proposal that had been sent to him a while ago.
The proposal had caught his attention and the profits coming from it were also to his liking which had led him to agree to a direct meeting.
The other party had reached their predetermined location on time and by now they had already discussed the terms of the deal that would take place between them.
Rutherford was satisfied with the terms after making sure that they were in his favor and the other party seemed to be pleased as well.
The Earl was not just the richest man in Rosenhyde due to his knack for business but he was also the owner of the largest mines in their Kingdom.
The soil of the St. Claire fief was rich in metal so mining them for commercial purposes was one of the biggest sources of their income.
Not just one but many kinds of metals could be found underneath the ground of their fief.
Being connected to the Timar Mountains was also one of the reasons why mining was such a profitable profession for many of the citizens in that fief since there was an abundance of metal ores present there.
The St. Claire family’s main business was exporting different kinds of metals to the highest bidder.
Metal was used in almost every field of business so it was easy for the Earl to make a profit by selling the ores mined from his fief to those in need of the raw materials.
However, the export of metals was just one of the few which Earl Rutherford managed and the rest were also profitable in their own right which had resulted in him being named the richest man in Rosenhyde.
Today’s deal was in connection to the metal business that was the main focus of the St. Claire family as it had been established by their ancestors in the past.
The one who had reached out to him a few days before Howard had returned to the Capital was hoping to form a business relationship with each other.
Feeling that it was a good proposal, Rutherford had come here today and was now sure that he had made the right decision.
“We shall get the papers ready in two days so the signing can take place on the third day.” A gruff, solemn voice arose in the private room the men had been seated in.
Rutherford glanced at the old man who would become his business partner if he were to sign the papers that had been mentioned just now.
His gaze then fell on the other person in this room with them, a young man whom he had not seen too often in the past.
However, he did not waste much time and nodded his head in acceptance of the schedule being proposed.
“I shall await to see the final documents,” Rutherford replied with a subtle smile but the meaning hidden in his words was clear.
He still needed the proper evidence that the terms they had discussed today would be written in the contract to be signed between them.
If there were any discrepancies then no signing would take place and the two men who were seated opposite him had grasped what he had tried to put across instantly.
The younger man’s eyebrow twitched at the distrust being aimed at them but the older man with greater experience only smiled without letting his thoughts appear on his face.
Noticing their silent admittance to what he had stated, Rutherford was pleased and thus rose from his seat as his work here was done.
The two men followed his actions and were soon found standing as well.
“Then let’s meet again soon, Lord Leopold.” Rutherford announced before extending his hand to give the older man a handshake.
He was impressed with the old man’s grip despite his advanced age before he nodded at the younger one standing next to him.
The meeting today had been with the powerful duo of the Leopold family, the previous Marquess Leopold, and his grandson, who were the ones in charge of their family business.
The Leopold family business focused on acquiring and selling jewels of all kinds but they had a special proposal for Earl Rutherford which he seemed to have liked quite a bit.
By the looks of how their earlier discussion had gone, they were confident in gaining him as their business partner once the signing of the contract was completed.
Since a lot of work would be needed before the date of the signing, the Young Master of the Leopold family was eager to return home so that they might get started at the earliest.
Old man Leopold shook his head at the youngster’s enthusiasm but did not dissuade him as this was exactly what he expected from his heir.
His son had no talent for business but thankfully, his grandson turned out to be a genius he could rely on for future generations’ sake.
Rutherford had no clue that this old man had just mocked the current Marquess Leopold but even if he had heard it, he would have only snickered without meddling in it.
After all, he did not have too high of an opinion about the current Fief Lord due to the most obvious of reasons.
Though he had to admit that the old man and that youngster seemed alright based on the little time that he had spent with them in this room while discussing the details of the contract that would soon be enforced between the two parties.
The old man was capable of remaining calm while Rutherford had tossed out some ridiculous yet profitable terms.
Whereas, the young heir of the Leopold family had an acute understanding of what was being discussed and also placed his thoughts forward which had come in handy during their conversation.
Therefore, Rutherford, despite having a not-so-favorable opinion about the rest of the Leopold family members, was looking forward to the business partnership that would soon be initiated between the two families.