Flashback: Vignettes of a marriage - November, 127 PW

[Sebastian Morylin]

Both Stephan and Sebastian followed Ivone into the parlour of her lovely home. The more time Sebastian spent in the house, the more he was reminded of his own childhood home. His gaze shifted over the many little nicknacks they kept displayed about the room. It was true what they said, while those with money had more of it to spend on things, their homes varied little from one to the next. Many of these same things he could picture his mother or sister collecting to adorn their mantles.

"Sebastian here is a financial genius. I don't know how he manages to do it, but this man can keep records of everything that comes through the shop. He has his daily, weekly and monthly tallies. He calculates how much stock we should have on hand and lets me know ahead of time what he thinks we should order. He knows exactly how much profit we make off of every item and how much we need to sell for tax purposes and such."

Stephan had a bad habit of rambling when he got excited. Moreso, when it was on a topic he knew little about.

Sebastian attempted to dismiss a smile. "How about we start with any questions you might have?"

[Ivone]

Ivone gestured to the settees and the trio took a seat. A servant came in and placed a tea tray on the table. The tray held little snacks, savory sandwiches or sweets, to cover a guest's preference. As expected of her, tea was poured in cups and held out to each of her guests in turn.

"Please, help yourself to the sandwiches and sweets."

When Stephan mentioned her questions, Ivone took a sip of tea to pause for thought.

"Well, I suppose my first question is whether the products might be marketable enough to sell? And, if so, then at what price? I am not a business in the industrial district, but one person seeking to sell her hobby. Should I bother at all? Oh!" Ivone placed the cup on the table.

"I have samples here for you." Ivone reached for a basket and lifted it to the seat bench beside her. Reaching into the basket she produced a bar of soap, a few candles, lotion for skin, and bathing products for hair and bath. The soap and candles were embellished in small ways. Within the body of the soap was a flower, perfectly suspended. The candles displayed sprigs embedded within the outside of them. "I'm sure some sort of packaging should be considered as well..." Ivone trailed off, looking to the men for guidance.

[Sebastian Morylin]

Stephan leaned forward to accept the soap and handed the candles off to Sebastian. He peeled back the wrapping so that he could further admire her handiwork. The coloration throughout the bar seemed to be consistent; the flower was delicately suspended without having been smashed or wilted in the process. The texture felt smooth to his touch and when he brought it up to his nose he could smell a light perfume fragrance that was neither unpleasant nor overwhelming.

"Do you prefer to use lard or oil for your base? Lard is typically cheaper and easier to come by, but there are those that prefer oil and claim that it is gentler on the skin."

He removed his nose from the soap and used a knife upon the table to cut away a small section of it.

"Have you ever tried using honey, cream or tea within your soaps? they can further add to your initial costs, but if we market them as specialty goods designed to promote a healthier more youthful appearance than we can mark up the costs to cover that expensive."

"Do you source your supplies locally?" Sebastian took this as his place to shine. While he was still learning the basics of soap making from Stephan, he could calculate the expense in his sleep. "If we can secure the materials needed to create your wares locally, we can cut out any shipping costs and we may be able to buy items in bulk further saving you down the line."

He placed the candles back on the table, careful not to damage the sprigs attached to them. Sebastian leaned forward, closer to their host and gestured with his hands as he spoke.

"As you said, you are not some business in the Industrial District, but I believe we can use that to our advantage. You see, you can only make so many candles and so many bars of soap in a day and they take what...three weeks to set before they can be packaged and sold."

"Two to three generally." Stephan interrupted.

"Yes, thank you. So you see, supplies will be limited. Unlike a massed produced product your soaps will be limited to what is on hand and each batch can be unique in its own way. Customers will only have one place to shop for this exclusive product and for those seeking out the exclusive, limited, unique product they will be willing to pay more than what they normally do for the generic bar of soap that can be purchased at every corner shop."

"We just need to market it correctly."

[Ivone]

Ivone was positively beaming as she listened to the two men, interjecting her replies to Stephan's questions. She now felt she'd done right by asking them.

"I use essential oils, which I also make. I supplement it with almond oil. I can taste anything I smell, so..." Ivone wrinkled her nose, "... you can imagine I'm picky about what I use."

"Actually, yes, I use honey. I hadn't tried cream or tea yet, but I could." Ivone pondered that.

"Very local," with that Ivone smiled again, "Tian gifted me my own hives, so I use the wax and honey from them for the products."

Ivone nodded. "I am so glad Tian suggested I speak with you." She smiled at the two men once more. Her education and training made her seem much more mature, but it was obvious at moments like this, just how young she was.

Ivone glanced down at her hands. Looking up, she gazed at each man in turn and said softly,

"I really want to provide Tian a worthy return on his investment in me. Would you help me do that?"

[Sebastian Morylin]

It was almost endearing the way she longed for acceptance, like a child might look to their elders for approval. However, it was not a quality that Stephan would look for in a wife. To him marriage was more like a partnership. Each party was to be treated as an equal, each would do their own part and as such love and respect was not something to be earned but freely exchanged.

It reminded him of how truly young she really was. She was barely older than a child, but already she was married and expected to play the part of the loyal wife who would go to great lengths to try to prove her worthiness to her new family. As a part of the upper class so much rested on her shoulders. So much was expected of her.

He never really understood how someone could be attracted to such a quality in a partner, but as he was well aware, marriages in the upper class had more to do with proper breeding and social circles than personal attractions. It was why he had wanted no part in them. However, he admired her spirit and he truly wanted her to succeed in her endeavors, so for that reason he wanted to help her and see this business venture thrive.

Stephan smiled at her in return. "We would like very much to help you."

[Ivone]

When Stephan agreed to help, Ivone felt a sudden rush of relief. She hadn't realized she'd been holding her body so tensely until that wave washed over her. Glancing down, Ivone lifted her hand to her mouth, with her knuckles lightly brushing her lips as a smile danced behind her fingers. The other hand fisted in the fabric of her skirt. All were tell-tale signs of the relief as it washed over her. When she looked up, the gratefulness shone from her eyes.

"Thank you so much for agreeing to help. I'll work hard to create enough product to make the sales worth the investment of your time and services." Ivone sighed happily.

"So, what do we do next?"