Chapter 422 422 No Choice
They had watched the business thrive in front of their eyes and were aware of the true potential of the business. They couldn't let it go to waste just because of the stubbornness of one man even if he was the one who came up with the idea. Zach had a keen understanding of market forces and was able to recognize that pricing his product lower than the princess, even temporarily, could lead to a host of issues. If he undervalued his sugar, it could create a sudden spike in demand as consumers always sought the more affordable option. The spike would be followed by market saturation and once that happened the demand for the product would gradually even out until there was no new consumer to pitch the product to. If he continued to produce sugar at the same production rate, he wouldn't be able to sell it all off even at a lower rate than the princess. Therefore, Zach felt that it was better to stock the remaining produce and stop further production for the time being, at least until he was able to deal with the princess. Unlike Zach, who was more familiar with the market forces, Candice wasn't as well versed. The economics of this world wasn't as advanced as that of his previous world it seemed. Because Princess Candice hadn't yet figured out the problem, she would soon be facing in Byzantium city. As a result, Candice was under the illusion that Zach was left with no option. She thought that she had strangled the life out of Zach's business, but she couldn't have been more wrong. Consumers couldn't care less about whose product it was as long as it was available on the shelf at the right time and had the right price tag on it. Zach was only waiting for the right time while Candice was beginning to think that Zach would soon succumb to the pressure, she had exerted by leveraging the entire business chain of the two families under her. Princess Candice was counting down seconds as she wondered how long it would take before Zach came to kneel down in front of her apologetically. Although she wasn't usually this sadistic, she couldn't help but get excited at the thought of forcing such a formidable man, who was capable of raining down meteors from the heavens, to beg her on his knees to let go of the Smith family. Obviously, there was no conflict to begin with. The only thing she wanted was to recruit Zach for the royal family and complete the orders she had received from her royal father. Since Zach had been pushed so far that he had no choice but to rely on the forgiveness of the royal family, Candice was sure that in order to save the Smith family's business, he would come to offer his services to her of his own volition. At that time, she wouldn't have to cater to his needs and would be able to lay down conditions of her own. Not only would Zach have to accept them, but he would also have to thank her for accepting him into the fold. Princess Candice's plans didn't stop at that point. While her brother was gaining merit on the bloody battlefield, she was left twiddling her thumbs in Byzantium city. Although the task was difficult, it wasn't to the extent where she found it to be troublesome. Therefore, it was quite boring for her. She intended to settle the disputes within the city as soon as possible after taking Zach in her service. At that time, she would have access to the larger game. She would be able to compete with bigger cities through economic warfare. While her brother preferred the war that was waged with blood as the price, she tilted towards the type that was waged with money. It was what she had inherent talent in and it was the place where she found herself to be the most comfortable. At the same time, she would be able to accomplish the mission handed to her which was to stabilize the economy of the city that had been affected heavily by the demise of the Hunter family. With the top four families under her command, it would only be a piece of cake for her to get it done. Days passed but Zach didn't even try to reach out to her. She wasn't worried though. Because his product was still priced the same as before and had no buyers whatsoever. While the sales on her end had slowed down, they were still substantial compared to the Smith family. While she waited for Zach to reach out, she tried to gather information as to why the business which had been booming earlier was showing signs of slowing down. While her people were investigating the cause, the symptoms began to intensify. The disease that had struck her business seemed to be spreading throughout the economic channels of the empire with Byzantium city as its heart. Gradually, the demand for her product began to fall in the surrounding areas as well. It was far from her vision of the future. In her opinion, the demand for such a lucrative product should have only increased. Why had it suddenly come to a halt? Even though she hadn't anticipated the problem, Zach had. He had already incorporated all this as a part of his strategy that he shared with Sarah. In fact, this was the basis of his entire strategy; the first and the most important step. It was also for this very reason that he had stepped out of the market entirely and had kept his product off the shelves. The feigned increase in demand due to his exit from the market had fueled Candice into operating her production facilities day and night in overdrive. As a result there was far more production but the demand had already reached its saturation point in the market. If Princess Candice wanted to sell her product, she had to reach out to other markets. Unfortunately for her, Byzantium city stood on the edge of the empire. Even the closest cities were too far apart. Traditional transportation means were by no means an option for shifting the extra produce to far off markets. As a result, the warehouses of the two families were stocked to the roof and there was no outlet. Left with no choice, Candice had to send her produce to the far-off areas so as to avoid its expiry on the shelves. The demand was just not high enough to sell all the sugar she had in stock. But normal transportation means would have taken too long. The goods would have either perished along the way or arrived at the shelves in a deteriorated state. That would have been akin to smearing cow dung on her own face. It had the potential to ruin the reputation of the royal family she had built through this business. Moreover, the cost of transportation alone would exceed the price she had set for her product. The losses were bound to eat away at her own pocket since she hadn't received anything from the royal family. She had to use the city's own resources to bring it back on its feet. Seeking alternate methods to sell her product, Princess Candice approached all the well-known merchants through the two families and asked them to buy her stock at a lower price. To any consumer it might have appeared to be a lucrative deal, but the merchants were totally different. The were already aware of the market trend as it was slowly reaching saturation. Since there was no market to sell the product to, only a fool would accept the stock even at lower prices. All the merchants were therefore unwilling to suffer such a huge loss even if it meant offending a princess. No matter how much Princess Candice tried, she couldn't come up with a solution that could allow her to sell off the excess product fast enough without employing the use of trucks that was the fastest means of bulk transportation. Unfortunately, all the truck transportation business was in the hands of the Elizabeth family. She had already lost her chance to ask them for help considering that she had taken the only daughter of the Elizabeth family leader from her home against her will. She couldn't exactly ask them for help in her current situation considering that she risked being humiliated by their response. With that option out of consideration, there were not many paths left open to Princess Candice. Left with no way to sell such a huge quantity of her product that was wasting away in the silos. Candice urged the merchants to purchase what little quantity they could manage to transport and sell. This way, Candice managed to reduce the stock in her possession little by little. It was trickling out in minuscule quantities, but it was better than nothing for the time being. The more days that passed with the stock still sitting dormant in the silos, the more worried the princess grew. Even more worried and crestfallen were the two families who had joined hands with the Royal princess. They were watching their wealth trickling through their hands like sand. After putting their trust in the princess, they had invested everything they had in the sugar business and had raised the scale of her business by such a large degree. But all they could foresee for the near future was a heart-rending loss that would potentially cripple their families for some time in the future.
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