Chapter 78

‘No, the ridiculous one is actually on this side.’

Aristine wanted to argue, but she was so flabbergasted that she couldn’t get the words out.

"Pink Nyan Jelly is more than enough, yet you’re attaching such a pointless reason."

Zodiac's silver-rimmed glasses glinted sternly, shining brightly.

‘No, it’s not pointless; that’s the core of the matter, isn’t it?’

The reason Zodiac was the deputy head of the guild was to hide the fact that it belonged to Tarkan.

‘If it’s a pointless reason, you’d be fired on the spot, wouldn’t you?’

"Are you ignoring the cuteness of Nyan Jelly?"

I feel sorry for you not knowing the cuteness of pink Nyan jelly.

Behind the coldly gleaming lenses, his slate-gray eyes were saying just that.

“No, I do think it’s cute...”

Somehow, Aristine muttered this under the pressure of Zodiac’s imposing presence.

She had often thought about touching it because it looked so soft.

“Then what’s the problem?”

“I’ve never actually seen it.”

At this, Zodiac’s face was filled with shock.

"You’ve never seen it?! How can that be...!"

He looked at Aristine as if she were someone who had survived 40 days in the desert without a single sip of water.

"Let’s go see it right away!"

“No.”

Tarkan grabbed Zodiac’s shoulder.

“Let’s talk about business, okay?”

Only then did a glimmer of reason return to Zodiac’s eyes.

“What a faux pas. Please forgive my rudeness, Your Highness.”

He bowed deeply to Aristine with a respectful and composed demeanor.

“Yeah, it’s fine.”

Aristine accepted the apology. She was fine.

But.

‘Is it really fine here...’

The problem was the guild.

If he treated all the trading partners like this, they would likely cut ties and run.

‘Is that why the guild’s name wasn’t on the contract?’

The contract clearly stated that it was Tarkan’s guild.

She had asked about it, but he strangely refused to reveal the guild’s name.

She had her suspicions, but with a name like that, it made sense to keep it hidden.

‘Why did they even approve such a name in the first place? Since Zodiac is the front man and Tarkan is the actual owner, couldn’t he have just decided on a name himself?’

Aristine sat on the sofa with a sour expression.

She decided to put the guild name issue aside for later and get to the main topic.

“I came here today to see the market reaction firsthand.”

At Aristine’s words, Zodiac nodded.

“When I heard you were coming, I prepared the materials in advance, thinking you might want to do this.”

He looked at the file on the table.

The pristine file had a pink cat paw drawn on it.

Aristine stared at the paw for a moment, took a deep breath, and flipped through the file.

‘Even if he’s just a front man, this is too much... Should I have contracted with someone else?’

As she thought this and glanced at the first page, her eyes widened.

The documents were so well-organized that it was hard to imagine they were from "Pink Pink Nyan Jelly."

They were easy to read and intuitive, making them easy to understand.

Seeing the soaring sales graph, Aristine quickly found her peace of mind.

Her distrust of Zodiac melted away like snow, and trust sprouted in its place.

‘Yeah, the foundation of business is trust!’

“The response was explosive from the first day of sales. Interestingly, not only hospital staff but also ordinary people asked if they could see the scalpel.”

The target market for the scalpel is hospitals.

Therefore, the guild didn’t display the product in stores but instead used door-to-door sales.

The sales volume was different, so the basic method was to show the product to hospitals, sign a contract, and then deliver the quantity needed.

“Probably because it’s made of non-rusting iron.”

At Aristine’s words, Zodiac’s lips curved into a gentle smile.

“That’s part of it.”

He continued, “But isn’t it also because it’s a product made by Your Highness?”

“Huh?”

Zodiac responded to Aristine’s question with a mysterious smile and continued.

“So, we set up a corner in each branch where people can see the scalpel.”

“Oh, that’s a good idea.”

Aristine was impressed.

She had only entrusted the sales, but he had observed the market reaction and prepared a new strategy.

Zodiac was a capable person, and she felt guilty for doubting him.

“By giving people this kind of bait, their interest will deepen, and hospitals will pay more attention to patients, leading them to buy more of our scalpels.”

Moreover, ordinary people who saw the performance of stainless steel with their own eyes would naturally be enthusiastic.

“By the way, how did you display it? It would be more visually effective if it were displayed in water.”

It would be more visually effective.

“Oh, I attached a photo of the scalpel corner at the end of the file.”

At Zodiac’s words, Aristine flipped through the file.

“Originally, I should have shown you the scalpel corner and guided you, but for safety reasons...”

If the prince and princess suddenly wandered around a store that serves ordinary citizens, who knows what might happen.

“No, it’s fine. I refused when you offered to close the store and clear it out for us to look around comfortably.”

As she said this, Aristine’s hand paused on the last page.

“...This is a photo of the scalpel corner...?”

“Yes, it’s very popular.”

Zodiac said proudly.

Aristine’s purple eyes wavered as she looked at the photo.

“This isn’t a scalpel corner; it’s more like a promotional hall for me...?”

The scalpel corner in the photo was elaborately decorated.

She had thought it would be just a part of a display in the store, but it was a separate room.

In a luxurious velvet room, a scalpel in a transparent glass tube was illuminated on one side.

‘Isn’t this too far in the corner? It should be in the center.’

But there was already something in the center.

A panel with Aristine’s photo was there.

Four large photos adorned the center of the panel, all of her with Tarkan.

A photo of Aristine and Tarkan sharing a vow kiss at their wedding.

A photo of Aristine grabbing Tarkan’s cheek and smiling on a golden carriage during the wedding parade.

A photo of Tarkan carrying Aristine princess-style after a carriage accident.

A photo of Aristine hugging Tarkan while riding a large, black warhorse.

The remaining space was also filled with photos.

Photos from the wedding and the wedding parade, as well as photos from the forge and of her holding the scalpel.

‘When were these taken?’

The space was so small that it was hard to fit the photos, and there was a description of the scalpel.

It looked like it was written out of courtesy, as the scalpel corner was clearly the main focus.

“No, what is this...”

Even on the velvet sofa opposite the scalpel, there was a life-size cutout of Aristine.

“Why is this...”

“Oh, that’s where people can take photos with Your Highness. It’s very popular, and the competition is fierce.”

Aristine was speechless.

When she had entrusted the scalpel sales and signed the contract, the guild representative who came to the palace asked if it was okay to use Aristine’s photos for scalpel promotion.

She thought it was just to use one photo to promote the fact that the princess made the scalpel, but this was...

“Remove these photos immediately—.”

“Thanks to this, the combined sales of all branches have increased by 1,400%.”

Before she could say “remove,” Zodiac interrupted.

Aristine looked up blankly.

‘1,400%?’

That’s 14 times? Because of these photos? Is that even possible?

“We surpassed Magnolia Guild for the first time.”

Magnolia Guild was owned by the Skiera Duke’s family, the queen’s birth family.

A guild as old as the traditional and prestigious family.

The largest guild in Ailugo.

“As you know, our guild’s main trading items and primary source of income are monster-related products.”

The guild was already profitable with just that.

The items were valuable and expensive, and Pink Pink Nyan Jelly was the only guild that could supply monster corpses steadily.

‘Ugh, thinking about that, the name seems even stranger.’

It should sell something sweet and fluffy, not monster corpses.

“We wanted to expand into other areas, but we always lagged behind other guilds in everyday items and food.”

Not just Magnolia, but other large guilds as well.

The limitations of a new guild.

It might have been different if it was known that Tarkan was the guild master.

“But since people started coming to see Your Highness—no, the scalpel—sales of general items also skyrocketed.”

‘Didn’t you just say photos?’

He quickly changed it to “scalpel,” but she had already noticed.

With a suspicious look, Aristine asked, “Are you saying that hanging my photos is an effective marketing strategy from a social science perspective?”

Does that even make sense?

“The data shows that. Numbers don’t lie!”

Zodiac held out the file. After checking the numbers, Aristine groaned.

“Filling the space with Your Highness is much, much more effective than putting the scalpel in the center.”

It was true.

As if anticipating her resistance, Zodiac had made a chart showing the sales changes before and after setting up the scalpel corner—should she call it the Aristine photo corner?

She had no words.

‘Why is this effective?’

It was beyond her comprehension.

‘Hmm, is this similar to a loss leader strategy?’

Setting the price of one item—like milk—at cost to attract customers and get them to buy other items.

In this case, the photos of Aristine were the “milk.”

They didn’t sell the photos, but they attracted customers.

“Why are they so attracted? It’s strange that people want to see my photos so much, but they can see them in the newspaper.”

“You don’t understand, Your Highness. Seeing a photo in a newspaper at home is different from seeing it in person.”

Zodiac shook his head.

“How many people come here to take photos with the photo panel as a background?”

“Not just the bench photo?”

“Who would just take a photo of the bench and leave? They take photos with the scalpel too. It’s a gift from the Goddess of Peace to humanity.”

“What...”

The more they talked, the more she felt deflated.

“No, no matter what, this is...”

“1,400% increase in sales!”

Zodiac shouted.

Aristine’s eyes shook as if in an earthquake.

For some reason, Zodiac’s face looked like a currency symbol.

But she quickly regained her composure.

‘I can’t just go along with this!’

Think about it.

Do they really need to attract people with so many photos to make money?

‘Yes, they do. 14 times. It’s like adding half the amount and then another zero.’

It was a simple answer.

‘Thinking about it, it’s not really bad, is it?’

Aristine was in a situation where she needed to help Tarkan as his political partner.

‘If my image is this good among the people, it will be advantageous in politics. This can strengthen that good image.’

She wasn’t wrong to think it was a promotional hall for her.

Aristine started to rationalize.

After checking the numbers in the file again, she lifted her head.

“But this is an increase in the guild’s sales, not the scalpel’s sales.”

“Yes.”

“Ultimately, I don’t benefit from this.”

While the scalpel promotion and political benefits were there, she put that aside for now.

Realizing what Aristine meant, Zodiac smiled elegantly.

“I was already thinking of compensating Your Highness while preparing this data.”

“You’re a precise person.”

“Of course. Considering the increase, how about this amount?”

Zodiac showed a number.

Aristine’s eyes sparkled.

Given the 14-fold increase in sales, Zodiac had set a generous price.

‘But the one who’s disappointed is him.’

Aristine leaned back on the sofa and crossed her arms.

“Well, I still think it’s a bit much to hang so many photos.”

“Hmm, I understand. Then how about this...”

Zodiac crossed out the number and wrote a new one.

“Hmm, well...”

“Alright! This is the final offer! In exchange, you have to allow them to stay for about six months.”

Aristine smiled.

“Deal.”

“Thank you.”

Just as Aristine and Zodiac were about to shake hands,

Bang!

A loud noise echoed as Tarkan’s foot slammed into the table made of black oak.

The thick and sturdy black oak cracked along the grain.

The documents on top were mercilessly crumpled and stepped on.

“T, Tarkan, Your Highness.”

Zodiac, pale, called out to Tarkan.

“Get rid of it.”

Tarkan’s voice was low and threatening, like the growl of a wild beast.

“How dare you.”

Let my wife sit next to someone and take photos?

Lightning-like sparks shot from Tarkan’s golden eyes.

It was just a life-size cutout of Aristine, but that didn’t matter to Tarkan.

I’m done being a husband; I’m going to make money.