The Tulip Storm Begins
Count Furkus kept his eyes on Kyle until the young man finally left the mansion. The sight of him hesitating for a long time with a troubled expression before signing the land-sale contract, then departing with a dark look on his face, was the very picture of a defeated man.
Once Kyle’s carriage had vanished from sight, the corners of Count Furkus’s mouth curved upward.
“Oh ho ho ho… They called him the genius heir of a merchant guild, but he wasn’t much after all.”
“It certainly seems that way, my lord.”
The Count thought back to the plot of land he had sold Kyle. The soil carried a magical blessing from the previous head of the family. It could make flowers bloom several times faster than ordinary ground, yet no other crops would grow there.
It was useless for grain or herbs—a patch of dirt that produced nothing but petals. That was how the Count had always seen it. He had been eager to unload the worthless plot that only ate up property taxes.
Then Kyle had appeared at just the right moment, announcing he wanted to start a flower business and asking for that very land. The Count had demanded more than five times the market price. They eventually settled at two and a half times, but to the Count it still felt like a magnificent profit.
He had heard the rumors of a genius who made the capital’s merchant guilds tremble, yet here he was, pocketing more than double the value from that so-called genius. Didn’t that make him a super-genius? The thought amused him so much that Kyle began to seem almost comical.
“Truly a shame. If I had been in the capital, the Rosenberg family might have swallowed the Jev Guild whole.”
“Indeed, my lord. What a pity.”
The Count decided that if the chance ever arose, he would try his hand at acquiring a guild himself. With that pleasant thought, he sipped the milk tea Kyle had given him as a gift. He had no idea that the land he had sold would soon become far more valuable than anyone could imagine.
* * *
Meriel traveled to the Eastern Region carrying a mountain of worries. Would she be able to adapt? What if rumors about her had already spread? Yet the moment she arrived and saw the landscape unfolding before her, a small wave of wonder washed away her anxiety.
“Wow…”
The vast Eastern plains were a breathtaking sea of grass and flowers. It was a sight impossible to see in the capital—one that belonged only to this region. Meriel’s heart was instantly captured.
This place… if I start anew here, perhaps I can have a real new beginning.
She took a deep breath and steeled herself.
“That’s right… this is a fresh start. Right here in the East…”
With her resolve renewed, Meriel began to settle into Eastern life. She attended the local academy, made friends, and wandered the bustling streets trying to meet as many people as possible. Her proactive personality and stunning beauty opened doors wherever she went.
And that was how she caught the eye of a certain man.
“That beautiful young lady is…”
The Brabant family, whose marquisate guarded the Eastern border. The eldest son of that house and commander of the Brabant Knights—Adler di Brabant—had noticed her.
With his faint emerald hair and features more delicate than most women’s, Adler had never felt his heart stir for any of the Eastern noble daughters. But the instant he saw Meriel, his pulse began to race for the first time in his life.
Spotting her admiring the flowerbeds in the plaza, Adler clutched his pounding chest and approached.
“Do you like tulips, my lady whose name I do not yet know?”
“Kyaa!”
Startled by his sudden greeting, Meriel lost her balance and tumbled backward into the flowers. Adler reflexively threw himself forward, shielding her with his own body as they both fell into the bed of blooms.
Thud!
“A-are you all right, my lady?”
“Yes… I’m fine. I’m sorry. I must have overreacted.”
“No, it is I who should apologize for frightening you.”
Lying among the swirling petals, the two of them stared at each other—both now covered in dirt. The ridiculousness of it reminded them of childhood play, and laughter burst from their lips.
“Pfft… hahaha!”
“Hehe… ahahaha!”
It had been so long since Adler had laughed this freely. He felt his heart being stolen by the young woman before him, yet he could not bring himself to resist.
Meriel smiled like sunlight and spoke.
“My name is Meriel Erentz. And you, sir knight?”
“I am Adler… Britt. I serve as a knight in the Brabant order, though I am still lacking in many ways.”
It was the moment the protagonist of the East met Meriel.
After that, the two began meeting frequently at Asiris Plaza, the heart of the Eastern metropolis.
“Lady Meriel.”
“You came, Sir Adler. Oh, this is…”
It was a single tulip—the flower Meriel had said she found prettiest. Adler offered it to her with a gentle smile.
“I picked it on the way because it reminded me of you.”
“Thank you, Sir Adler. It really is beautiful.”
“Eastern tulips are famous for their beauty. Yet none can compare to you, my lady.”
“Hehe, even if it’s flattery, I’m grateful.”
“It is no flattery.”
Beneath the bright Eastern sky, a beautiful young woman and a handsome young man stood together with a single tulip between them. It was a scene straight out of a classic romance fantasy novel.
I watched that scene from a distance.
“Good… it’s progressing nicely.”
Confirming that my tulips had officially begun riding the wave of the original story’s events, I nodded in satisfaction.
Elina, standing beside me, regarded me with an even colder gaze than usual.
“…Young master, there is one thing I would like to ask.”
“What is it?”
“Is there a particular reason you are personally running a flower stall like this?”
Elina’s expression was one of genuine incomprehension. For the record, both of us had traded our usual attire for plain vendor clothing. And yes, we were currently operating a small flower shop right in the middle of the plaza, personally selling flowers to customers. Furthermore, the tulips Adler had been buying? He had purchased every single one from me.
“Of course there is.”
“What is the reason?”
“If you’re going to start a flower business, you need to understand who’s actually buying them. That’s what I’m doing.”
The real reason I was selling flowers myself was to confirm that the original story’s events were unfolding properly. Since I could hardly tell Elina that, I offered the most plausible excuse I could think of.
She narrowed her sharp eyes at me.
“Is that truly all?”
“It is! Don’t you trust me?”
“I trust you in all things, young master. Except when women are involved.”
It seemed Elina had concluded I was using the flower stall as an excuse to flirt with girls. Hahaha… wait, how did she know?! I had only wanted to check on the original plot and, while I was here, maybe meet a few pretty young ladies. That was all.
As I tried to avoid Elina’s piercing stare, a customer arrived.
“Wow~ these flowers are lovely.”
“Aren’t they? Could we have one tulip, please?”
“…Yes, just a moment.”
Even in a maid outfit, she was still the guild’s elite. Elina smoothed her expression and neatly wrapped a tulip for the couple. I let out a quiet sigh of relief. Nice timing, customers. The flower is on the house.
* * *
Even after that day, Meriel and Adler continued to meet at the plaza. Each time, Adler would buy a single tulip and present it to her. The sight of the perfect couple exchanging tulips every time they met was as beautiful as a painting.
Beauty inspires admiration, and admiration leads to imitation.
“Ririna, you are more beautiful than this tulip.”
“I just picked this on the way… I definitely didn’t buy it!”
“…Here, take this tulip.”
Before long, it became an unwritten rule among Eastern couples to buy each other a tulip whenever they met. If things had ended there, the tulip craze would have remained a minor local event.
The problem was that he witnessed the scene.
“A loving couple confirming their affection with tulips… this is simply beautiful!”
Dobler Corden, the famous capital romance novelist who had written countless bestsellers, took that image and made it the theme of his new work. The resulting novel, Love and Tulips, was released to the world.
The story of a forbidden romance between a prince and a commoner that began with a chance meeting in a tulip field moved the hearts of countless young noblewomen. It spread across the entire empire, naturally carrying the tulip craze with it.
It was no longer a mere craze. A full-blown storm had begun.
And because of it, my flower fields… quite literally turned into a money-printing factory.
Hahaha! The money was duplicating itself!
Every guild and noble house in the capital and the East began contacting the Lorend Guild—more precisely, the Horticulture Management Division of the Eastern Branch that I oversaw—desperate to secure tulips. The land I had purchased from the Count was finally showing its true power.
“Young master! A messenger just arrived from Duchess Utroff, a major figure in capital high society! She wants to reserve five thousand violet tulips for her tea party next week and is offering five times the current market price!”
“The Piata Guild just contacted us as well. They want to buy a thousand tulips at ten times the market rate—any color is fine!”
“Young master!”
“Deputy Guild Master!!”
The money was replicating at a frightening speed, but I had no time to enjoy it. I had hoped for success, but this was beyond even my wildest expectations! The orders were snowballing so fast I felt like my head would explode. Making money was great, but I hadn’t wanted it to be this chaotic!
Right then, Chloe, the guild’s chief secretary, burst in, trembling from head to toe.
“Young master… we have a serious problem.”
“A problem?”
“Well…”
Chloe’s hands shook as she answered carefully.
“His Highness the Prince has placed an order for twenty thousand red tulips.”
“His Highness?… Where did he request delivery?”
“That would be… Asiris, in the Eastern Region.”
The prince, who had been confined for disciplinary reasons, had finally descended upon the East.