Chapter 616 - Their Battle Of Words

"Earl St. Claire, please draw your aura back." Duke Obinn Tanner muttered his request in a low voice.

Though his words might sound like a request, Rutherford knew better.

The Duke was much more powerful than he was and thus, he did as he was told.

Duke Tanner nodded at the other man's compliance, appreciative for not making things difficult for him as they were still inside the Palace premises.

The Earl's behavior would only look bad on his part and cause rumors about his tyrannical actions to fly rampantly.

Rutherford had been blinded for a second there but thanks to the Duke's reminder, he regained his composure.

However, Earl Blaise, who had finally been released from the clutches of his opponent's aura, wasn't as appreciative.

Instead, he shot the other Earl a smug look despite having a pale countenance after what he had just experienced.

Marquess Kiron did not wish to interfere in their quarrels while Duke Tanner's headache was only intensifying after taking a look at Earl Blaise being the perfect embodiment of an ingrate.

Noticing her husband's building anger, Raylene patted his arm to help him calm down.

This kind gesture diverted Rutherford's attention from the other man as he was now focused on the soothing smile his wife had shown him.

On the other hand, Marquess Samed was left stranded and feeling dissatisfied when silence had returned to their group.

From a distance away, Yvonne could make out that her tutor was up to no good when she saw the sly look that flashed across his face.

'He just cannot stay away from drama, can he?' She scoffed at him and just as she had deduced, the Marquess truly was up to no good.

"What are your thoughts about this new person called VC, Earl?" The Royal Tutor posed another question even when his first one had gone unanswered.

Duke Tanner who had just managed to halt a scuffle from taking place now glared at his brother-in-law who was trying to ignite another conflict.

'This demon spawn…' He cursed the Marquess but soon stopped when he remembered that his wife belonged to the same family.

Coughing at the small blunder he had made, he decided to only glare at the other man as cursing him would be equal to cursing his wife which he never could do.

The Duke then turned his gaze to Earl Blaise whose face had darkened when that name was mentioned.

After all, everyone standing here had connections with VC, to supply CLOVER's soaps to their fiefs after being contacted by the mysterious owner of this budding business.

The Samed, Kiron, Tanner, and St. Claire fiefs all had formed contracts with CLOVER and had not purchased any from Earl Blaise's business.

In fact, Marquess Samed had an 'Exclusive' contract with CLOVER which gave him priority above all other fiefs.

However, none of them knew how he had managed to accomplish this but that man himself was well aware of why he had received preferential treatment.

'My prized pupil is VC after all.' Marquess Samed had his chin held high as he glanced in a certain direction.

He could feel his brother-in-law glaring at him but he turned a blind eye towards him and shot a sly and slightly eager gaze at his pupil.

Yvonne had been watching from her spot, standing among the children, and rolled her eyes at him.

'Should I applaud you for this?' She scoffed at his proud face which was indeed seeking her praise.

Marquess Samed knew of the reasons why she had started this business.

The first was that she had already made plans of venturing into the business sector of Rosenhyde but had no idea which area to set foot in.

When Mae Blaise had spread those rumors about her, this child had finally made up her mind on what kind of business she wished to set up.

Earl Blaise's greedy ways and his daughter's irksome plan to taint Yvonne's reputation had led her to enter the soap industry which had been monopolized by the Blaise family.

Through her efforts and the support of her family, she had successfully commenced her business, CLOVER, and became its mysterious owner using the alias VC.

CLOVER had managed to win over the commoner market in the few years that it had been functioning and this was the biggest insult for Earl Blaise who had been in this industry for almost a decade now.

Due to maintaining a monopoly in the soap business, he did as he pleased with no one to stop him.

His attitude was an eyesore to many but they had no option but to remain silent if they wished to purchase his products.

To make matters worse, Ocular Caravans, the sought-after traveling caravan, had partnered with CLOVER.

Thus, ever since CLOVER had emerged with its products, those who had been unhappy with Earl Blaise all displayed their support to the new business in their Kingdom.

One among them was Marquess Samed who had close ties with both VC and CLOVER.

He had watched his pupil plan out how she would bring her business to the market and even heard her plans for the future.

Therefore, when he got the chance to see some drama all while boasting about VC, he could not stop himself from doing so.

Fixing his gaze on the other Earl, he waited to see how he would react.

"If only you could sell your products at a lower price then I wouldn't have signed that contract with CLOVER…" He sighed while shaking his head, as though he was regretful about this matter.

By now, most eyes were on this group and they were waiting to see who the victor in this battle of words would be.

They all knew that the Samed fief had a smaller population despite possessing a larger area of land compared to most other fiefs from the Marquess families.

Therefore, it should not be a problem for him to pay for the overpriced soaps sold by Earl Blaise.

However, he had spoken as though the price had been the only reason why he could not make a deal with the Earl.

Rutherford sneered at this man who loved gossip and right now was inciting gossip as well but however one may see it, he did not look upset with this.

One could even say that he was pleased with the way Marquess Samed was speaking about CLOVER in this place where most influential nobles were present.

"Ha ha…" 

While Rutherford nodded in approval of Marquess Samed's actions, Earl Blaise let out an awkward chuckle.

He was well aware of Marquess Samed's contract with CLOVER and as much as it hurt his soul to see that profit slip out of his hands, there was nothing that he could have done at that time.

However, how could he let the Marquess speak up in CLOVER's favor right in his presence?

Therefore, he put on an aggrieved expression as he looked at the silver-haired man.

"You see, Marquess… My craftsmen work hard for the products they make." He sighed, imitating the Marquess's earlier actions.

"And the ingredients we use are of the highest quality too." He added and his eyes scanned the other nobles standing around them.

By this, he knew that their attention was fixed on him so he could finally land the blow that he had been waiting for all along.

'You think that I do not know what you are trying to do here?' He sneered in his heart, aware of the plan Marquess had made to discredit his products while boasting about CLOVER instead.

"So how could I devalue the hard work of my craftsman and also the best ingredients we use just to compete with some new business?" He muttered but his voice reached everyone present here.

His voice trembled a little at the end to give his question a dramatic flair and Marquess Samed could not deny that he was pleased with this outcome.

However, the Earl wasn't done just yet.

Marquess Samed had tried to lower his products to speak highly about CLOVER so he would be more than happy to return the favor.

"Well, I shouldn't be saying this as it may come across as me being bitter but I cannot stay mum any longer." He exclaimed and his troubled expression made the others curious to know more.

Lifting his head, he looked around while uttering the next words.

"How can we just trust some new business and even hand over the fate of our citizens into their hands just to save a few extra coins?" He revealed while putting on a saddened look.

The implication behind his words was so evident that some gasped once he was done.

Marquess Samed raised his brow upon realizing what he had just done.

Earl Blaise was skillful with his words and in just a few seconds, had managed to turn CLOVER into a company that did not pay attention to the quality of their products and cared only for monetary gains.

Why else would they sell their products at such a low price?

The answer was simple thanks to what Earl Blaise had revealed to them.

The quality of CLOVER's ingredients was the lowest of the low which explained how they could sell their products for such a cheap price.

In comparison, this showed that Earl Blaise priced his products in a higher range because he cared for his citizens and used ingredients of the highest quality.

'Impressive…' The little girl standing at a distance away from them scoffed when she saw how this man had just made CLOVER appear like a villain with greedy motives with only a few sentences.