Chapter 406 406 New Matter
"Would you still let us leave like this? Would you have let us live in peace even then?"
Zach hadn't expected her to ask such a question even though he had given them their freedom already.
A mysterious smile blossomed on his face and the edges of his lips curled upwards in a dramatic manner.
"What's the use of that now? You are free. That's what you should focus on. Why bother with the trivialities? Since it doesn't matter anymore, you should forget about it as well. Just leave and go wherever you want to go without fear. No one will stop you. Considering the number of years that have passed since the Dynasty fell, I don't think many people would still remember you or better yet would still bother about a princess from a fallen dynasty. Therefore, you can follow your heart without restraint."
Zach was almost sure that the two wouldn't waste a single second and would leave immediately, considering how much they might have yearned for their freedom after living in captivity for years.
However, when he put forward the idea to the two women, he was quite shocked to hear Carol's reply.
Thinking back on it once more, he tried to replay what she had said in his mind as if to make sure that he had heard it right.
"What if I don't want to leave? Can I stay here?" Carol had asked with an expectant look in her eyes.
Zach was still contemplating when Carol's voice sounded again.
"You would be surprised to find that beasts in human skin are lurking everywhere. Even if I was a princess who was a hundred years old, those beasts would surely try their best to ravage me for the false sense of uniqueness and nobility that the act would make them feel. No matter where I go, even after leaving this place, I would still be the princess of a fallen empire and prey to those hungry eyes. There is no safe place in the world for me, and no escape other than death. Therefore, I have decided to take up my chances with this place. At the very least, you don't seem to be too enthusiastic about me being a princess. I even get the feeling that you kind of find me repulsive."
Zach was contemplating how to answer her when Brittany came forward and shook the princess from her shoulders fiercely.
"What are you doing? We have finally managed to escape the nightmare. Why don't you want to leave anymore?" Brittany was horrified. She had dreamed of being able to escape every single day. But Carol's words felt like a betrayal to her. As if her suffering during these years was nothing to Carol. She had ignored how she felt and had agreed to stay with the man who had just about destroyed Carol's purity a few moments ago.
Carol might have forgotten but Brittany still held hatred in her heart for Zach and couldn't bring herself to trust him as Carol did.
"All of this happened to us because we are weak. If he had decided to take me here, would you have been able to stop him?" asked Carol as her piercing gaze pierced straight through Brittany rendering her speechless.
Brittany couldn't have stopped Zach from doing what he wanted. She had been helpless against the invisible restraints that Zach had used on her.
She unconsciously shook her head in response to Carol's question.
"That's right. We are helpless in front of him. Since he is willing to let us go, it can only mean that we don't hold much significance in his eyes. So, I want to continue staying here, not as a prisoner, but as a member of his group. I am sure he can find something for us to do, something that we can excel at in this place."
"But we can do the same elsewhere. We just have to hide our identities like before. I just can't bring myself to trust him. What if he..." Brittany argued.
They were discussing such things right in front of him and were even making him out to be the bad guy in all this when he had clearly offered them their freedom.
Zach wanted to say that 'he was right there' but kept his mouth shut while trying to hold back a laugh.
"But for how long can you hide the truth? From what we have learnt so far, the truth comes out one way or the other. And when it does, we won't be prepared. I am not ready to go back to captivity again. I have decided to stay here and acquire strength to defend myself and you. I want to repay you for everything you have done for me."
"Fine, I agree. You can stay here for the time being. If in the future you decide that you have become capable of protecting yourself or you feel like you are not safe here anymore, you can leave without asking my permission. I won't stop you."
Zach felt like Carol was a truly interesting person. She had guts for one, wits matching her upbringing, was a little lacking in the courage department but he felt like that would come with strength.
Therefore, he agreed to the two joining the Smith family.
He stopped their pointless argument and gave the final verdict, being in the position of power.
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With the guidance and leadership expertise. The Smith family that had been crumbling previously was slowly starting to get themselves back on track. They were slowly putting themselves back on thew map and working towards improving their company.
The sugar cane industry was growing faster than ever and it was having much higher production rates than before. And because of Zach they were quickly starting to restore their positions.
The economy of Byzantium city that had once been considered crumbling and falling apart was now. Starting to grow again and it was slowly becoming much stronger than it had ever been before.
Zach was sat in his office as he overlooked the production factories. He had his hands clasped behind his back as a small smirk made its way onto his features as he observed the workers below carefully
He was pulled out of his thoughts when he suddenly heard the sound of a loud knock on his door. He quirked a brow before swiveling around to see who it was.
He watched as the door was pulled open and Bruce walked in slowly. He let out as sigh from his lips as he slumped his shoulders before making his way to his chair and sitting down.
He gestured for Bruce to take the seat opposite him as well as he offered him as small smile.
"Well what can I do for you?" He asked him. He watched as Bruce scratched the back of his head as he swallowed deeply before he finally decided to speak up once again after a minute.
He cleared his throat before speaking. "Well the thing is that there is a lot of sugarcane that is on the market." He said to him and he couldn't help but raise his brow at him.
He didn't see how that was a problem for him. "What is wrong with that. It means that we are thriving. I thought that you would be thrilled."
However Bruce shook his head at him in response as he let out a sigh. He pulled out a sack from his pocket and Zach widened his eyes when he noticed that the brand on the cover of it wasn't there.
"There is a lot of sugarcane on the market but the sugarcane isn't ours. They aren't Windsor's either and that means that there are others selling it."
Zach let out a sigh as he lowered his shoulders. He had thought that it was something very serious at first but the though that there were other sellers on the market wasn't a big deal.
It made sense that there were others out there. After all that was how business worked and there were always going to be others out there that would be your competitors.
"That isn't something that we should bother ourselves with. There is always going to be competition. we can't avoid that," The truth was that the process of making sugar wouldn't remain a secret forever.
He knew that not all of his employees were loyal as well and there were those who may have gone out of their way to learn from hum so that they could go on to build their own economies.
He had never intended for it to be kept a secret. If it meant that the city would grow and be boosted then that was great and it would never be a bad thing.
"The process of making sugar isn't one that is meant to be kept hidden and it isn't supposed to be some type of secret. So it is expected that others would learn about it and that they would wasn't to get themselves involved in the market as well." He said to him with a light shrug of his shoulders.
"This only shows that the industry is thriving and that the business is getting bigger. We wouldn't have competition either unless others were intimidated by us and they saw us as a threat that they wanted to take down. We are the biggest producers and so the chances that there are those out there that would want to copy us or try to be like us would be high."
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