Volume 16 Chapter 25: Battle For The Bakery

“Grandpa Cedric, why are you here?” Ignoring the spectacle occurring in front of him, Keith turned his attention to the side where Cedric was sipping tea. This scene was peculiar since he was so composed compared to his other instances.

Shouldn’t he be joining Julius and the rest in bothering William?

“I came to hand you this.” Cedric took out a stack of papers from his ring, “This is the revenue from your bakery you opened in our lands.”

“You did not need to bring it here yourself, Grandpa Cedric.” For matters like this, a worker would be enough to transport them to May.

“Not with this.”

Keith took a glance for a moment before asking, “Are you sure this is the correct amount?”

“You are surprised by the amount as well.” Cedric nodded; he was not alone in this feeling. When Edmund and Violet received the reports, they reacted in the same way. No one had expected the amount.

“…” Keith was silent as he continued to glance through the papers; while he was absorbed in the matter, he didn’t notice Julius and the other kings glancing over his shoulder. They had stopped pestering William and were focused on Keith now. Their eyes popped as Othniel was the one who shouted, “That’s more than enough to buy a mansion!”

“That came from one store?!”

“How can one store generate this many coins?” The paper showed an absurd amount of coins generated from the bakery.

Keith scratched his head, “Can you all not yell? But yes, this is a little baffling.” When Keith opened the first bakery, he generated a large profit, but he did not expect this would be topped…until today. The amount earned from this bakery easily beat the original by a couple of platinum coins.

“What do you expect would happen?” Cedric scoffed, “A business thrives on its location and the range of products it offers. Do you grasp how well-known your bakery is?” White Forest Bakery had a strong reputation throughout the Solis Kingdom for being a delicious food chain. Despite the stores only being in the northern region, with one being in Aurelion and the other in Vastoria, the name had spread.

Opening such a chain in a populated place like Greyfen, people would naturally flock over to see what the buzz was about. And with high-quality at such a low price, more people would flock over.

Cedric added, “Guards were stationed at the front doors in case of an emergency. There were no incidents, but we cannot be so sure in the future.”

Keith stroked his chin, “Then should I build another one in Greyfen?” He had a feeling that one might not be enough; crowding would only make the customers uncomfortable and irritated. Creating the right ambiance was essential for establishing a good customer impression.

“Do it!” Cedric’s eyes became crazed, “We need at least 8 to 10 bakeries!”

“Grandpa Cedric, have you ever heard the saying ‘Too much of a good thing is bad for you?’” Keith blinked as he questioned the sanity of this ex-duke; his words before had changed his outlook of him, only for himself to drop it back down! Too many bakeries in one place would only water down the product. However, one was not enough.

“I will add one later.”

“Then add one more to the capital as well! Why do I have to wait in line for bread?!” The floodgates opened; Julius had raised his objection. It did not make sense; why did the royal capital only have one store while the Grand-dukedom had two?!

“I cannot add bakeries as if snapping my fingers.” There was a process to all of this: he needed to survey the location, sign the permits, and also find proper workers to work. All of this cannot be done in a matter of seconds.

“You said two, so get to work!” Cedric’s eyes were ablaze; he would not take no now that Keith had said it. Keith groaned, “I said I will build one, but I never said when.” He would get a headache as he pondered his next move. That was not the end,

“Keith, make one in the capital!”

“Make one in my kingdom!”

“No, mine!”

Besides Virel, the others had swarmed Keith on all sides, demanding a bakery. Hah, should have kept my mouth shut. If he did, he would never have had to deal with this mess. Before this situation got out of hand, someone stepped up, “Shame on all of you! How could you gang up on a child?!” Thalia gently nudged Keith from behind as she glared at them.

“How is he a child?!”

“Do you know what he has already done?!” The kings and ex-grand duke did not let up! To call Keith a child sounded wrong on all accounts after his accomplishments.

Thalia took a step that made them all back up, “As long as I am here, you will not bully him!” How could she watch someone who was like her child get bullied?!

“Aunty.”

“And besides, he’ll make a second shop in the royal capital.”

“...” Aunty. Nevermind. He had completely forgotten how much of a sweet lover she was.

“Now, now.” Violet entered and held Keith’s shoulder, “Keith will be the one to decide where the next bakery shall be built. Am I right?”

Aunt Violet, your fingers are digging into my shoulder. Keith looked outside the window to see the babies playing with the snowballs. Today was going to be a tiresome one.

Keith got up the next morning with a weary look; Eri was about to get up when he placed Lei into her arms and stroked her back, making her fall back asleep. He headed to the restroom and washed his face. The air was thick with exhaustion; yesterday was a war with neither side backing down about wanting a bakery to be constructed on their land. The thought alone was enough to cause another headache.

Am I going to face them again today? This was something he didn’t want. The kings didn’t even wait as they demanded their stay. All he knew was that they were going to hound him the next day. That was something he needed to get out of without a thought.  

As he headed out of the room, Ruby was standing by the door. “Kyuu.” The little fellow quickly jumped up and snuggled up to Keith’s neck. “Ruby, why are you here? What’s that in your hand?” Shouldn’t he be sleeping with his mother? In his arms was a scroll.