Meeting with the Plantin Company

Meeting with the Plantin Company

Meeting with the Plantin Company

Today I would be having a discussion with the Plantin Company. At third bell, I left the High Bishop’s chambers with letters for my family and the completed collection of Mom’s stories.

Tralala, tralala. I get to meet Lutz todaaay!

When I arrived at the orphanage director’s chambers, Benno, Mark, Lutz, and even Otto were already on the first floor waiting for me, drinking tea served by Monika.

“Thank you for your patience,” I announced.

Once we had finished exchanging the usual lengthy formal greetings, we climbed the stairs and went straight into the hidden room.

“Yaaay! Lutz, Lutz, Lutz! I’ve missed you sooo much! How’s my family doing? Is everyone okay?” I asked, leaping onto him as soon as we were inside.

Lutz caught me, having expected this entirely, and patted my head with a grin. “Your family got real nervous when I told them you’d be stuck in the castle until summer while the archduke’s away. They thought for sure that you’d mess something up somehow.”

“So mean! I’ve been doing my job there just fine!”

I was stunned by how little faith everyone had in me. The legend of me being a saint had really been taking root among the nobles lately, so it was possible that my family trusted my capabilities less than literally everyone else.

“And I worked so hard to make this book for Tuuli, too...”

“That book?”

“Yeah. She turns ten this summer, right? It’s my gift to her. Could you deliver it for me?”

Here, when children turned seven, they were baptized and taken on as apprentices. These contracts lasted three years and ended when they turned ten, so in many ways, this was a pivotal age: kids either renewed their contracts, signed ones with new workshops, or got taken on as leherls due to their talent.

In addition to this, the skirt length for girls changed from knee- to shin-high. You really couldn’t treat them as complete kids anymore. In Earth terms, it was like graduating elementary school to become like middle or high schoolers instead. They were still underage, but not exactly children.

For Tuuli’s tenth birth season, I was giving her a collection of Mom’s short stories as a present.

“Oh, that reminds me—Tuuli was talking about wanting to move to Corinna’s workshop when she turned ten, but how did that turn out? Is she going to join?” I asked, looking around at the members of the Plantin Company while continuing to hug Lutz.

Benno glanced over at Otto before answering. “That’s what we’re here to talk about. We want your thoughts on it.”

“Wha?”

At Benno and Mark’s prompting, I released my grip on Lutz and sat down at the table. Benno and Otto were seated opposite me, with Mark and Lutz standing behind them.

“You’re up, Otto. The Gilberta Company’s not my store anymore, so you’ve gotta handle this one yourself,” Benno said, giving him a light nudge with his elbow.

Otto looked at me, but his eyes quickly began to wander. “Er... I can’t call her Myne anymore, right? Should I just go with Lady Rozemyne? Man, that feels so weird...” he muttered to himself, before taking a deep breath. “You know Tuuli’s lehange contract ends this spring, right? She’s gotta decide on her next workplace by summer, so I asked Benno to set up this meeting.”

It seemed that the main topic of discussion was Tuuli’s future workplace, but I didn’t understand how that involved me. Why did my opinion matter here?

“Tuuli’s on the road to signing with the Gilberta Company, and we consider her a very important asset,” he continued. “Not many people know the circumstances behind all this, but since she has connections to you, the archduke’s adopted daughter, she’ll be the most important hair stick craftswoman we have.”

Tuuli was working hard to think up new flowers and ways to make them, and right now, I was only buying hair sticks from her and Mom. The Gilberta Company wanted to sign a leherl contract with Tuuli to secure connections with me, since I was one of the most profitable customers possible.

“Up until recently, Corinna has let Benno handle the work that’s outside of her realm of interest. But now he’s started the Plantin Company, taking Mark and Lutz with him, meaning she’s lost all the people connected to you. See what I mean?”

“So that’s why you want Tuuli in the Gilberta Company.”

“Exactly.”

Corinna wanted Tuuli in her workshop to strengthen the connection between me and the Gilberta Company. I nodded, feeling somewhat detached from the whole situation, when Benno interjected.

“We’re not just talking about hair sticks here, either. You thought up that new dress for your knight, yeah? That thing’s important enough that Corinna’s trying to stay connected to you in any way she can.”

“Oh, I see. Very interesting...”

“You don’t really sound like you care about this,” Lutz observed.

I responded with a big nod. To me, this seemed like the most pointless conversation of all time.

“Just know this—if you exploit Tuuli for the store’s gain and make her cry, I’ll make sure you suffer for it,” I said firmly. “But right now, it appears that she wants to join Corinna’s workshop, and Corinna wants her. What’s the problem? Why does my opinion on any of this matter?” They could simply have her sign a leherl contract and be done with it.

Otto gave a troubled frown. “Everyone involved wants Tuuli to join Corinna’s workshop, so that’s naturally what we’re working toward, but the question is whether she should get a leherl or a lehange contract.”

I knew from Lutz’s circumstances that apprentices were treated differently based on their contracts, but since I could hardly call myself an expert on the matter, I looked to Benno for details. “The treatment she receives will vary based on which one she signs, right?”