—
Entering his mother's study, where she was still doing paperwork, Gustave placed the two toys on the table. Sitting down in his chair, he then said, "Mother, here. The transportation that will revolutionize Lyria and Rivia into trading hubs like Novigrad."
Standing up and ruffling her youngest son's hair, Meve smiled and said, "Of the three of you, you're the only one who thinks about the Twin Realms."
Remembering the simple one- or two-word Morse code Gustave had uttered back then, along with many other moments that brought back every event of the past three years, Meve couldn't help but feel lucky that she had managed to keep Lyria and Rivia afloat.
Even though her youngest son gave her ideas that were out of this world, the implementation was an entirely different beast altogether. Not to mention the many considerations she needed to adjust to fit the customs and traditions of the Twin Realms, it was far from easy.
Coupled with the fact that she had suddenly learned that gods could interfere with the mortal realm on a large scale, it left her feeling suffocated to the point of depression.
But thankfully, one of the pressures weighing on her had already been resolved by her youngest son. With the Chapter now scrambling to extinguish the rumors, especially those regarding the elixir of immortality, she could finally reassure herself that the future would be bright.
Shaking his head, Gustave replied, "No, Mother. Anséis and Villem would do the same if they ever had my gift."
Smiling in amusement at his humbling reply, Meve remarked, "Ahh… Gustave, you are truly perfect to be next on the throne."
Looking at his mother incredulously, Gustave exclaimed, "Mother. I think we already talked about this."
Gazing at her youngest son, who was stubbornly unwilling to inherit the throne, Meve understood that, unlike many common princes who would put their lives on the line to inherit it, he found the throne far too cumbersome, useful only for strutting power like a peacock.
Though they had spoken about this only briefly over the past three years, she asked again, wanting to hear his answer clearly.
"Is the throne really that cumbersome and maddening to you? That you are willing to give this chair to someone else, like your brother Villem, for example."
Shaking his head, Gustave clarified, "No, Mother. You have the wrong idea. It is not that I am willing to give it to just anyone else. If the person were like you, Mother, someone I could trust to make the Twin Realms great, then I would be willing to part with the throne."
Pausing, he continued, "But if it were my brother Villem, who only wants the throne for the sake of strutting and preening his butt like a peacock, I would rather be the one who sits on it until a more suitable candidate appears. Even then, the throne is still too cumbersome for me."
Sighing, already knowing the answer back then when he was still asleep, Meve expanded her explanation, "Because becoming the face of the kingdoms would bring you many inconveniences and troubles that would distract you from doing what you truly want to do. Is that right?"
Nodding, Gustave explained, "Yes. Not only that, Mother. Inheriting the throne is not the only path to immense political power. Whether you believe it or not, Mother, merchants, in my opinion, can hold the same standing as monarchs if done correctly, because they have a freedom of movement that you do not."
Remembering the report on the Guild of Merchants in Nilfgaard that Calanthe had given her—one that described their immense political influence, even extending into military matters and effectively making them a power comparable to part of the empire itself—Meve nodded, eventually convinced by her son's decision not to inherit the throne.
"Hm. So it's like the Guild of Merchants, but you would be the only emperor in it. Is Mother correct?"
"Yes. Something along those lines."
"Well, in that case, you can do whatever you want, my son. I don't know what you are thinking or envisioning, but I trust you."
Thanking his mother, Gustave then gave her tidbits of information about a race that functioned like a Guild of Merchants but had already spread to all corners of the world.
"Thanks, Mother, for your trust. Oh yes, Mother. Did you know it is not only the Guild of Merchants, the Chapter of the Gift and the Art, and the Eternal Fire that possess immense political power without having a kingdom in the first place?"
Frowning, suddenly enlightened by the realization that political powers without territory were a much larger problem than she had initially believed now that her son had pointed it out, Meve allowed her youngest son to continue. "Go on. Tell me who it is, aside from those three, that has just turned my mood sour."
"Those stocky four-foot people who live in Mahakam."
Frowning again, this time not in sourness but in confusion over what dwarves had to do with political power, Meve asked bluntly, "What do the dwarves have to do with political power? From time immemorial, they have always kept to themselves, except for making the best weapons on the Continent and managing our coins in the banks…"
"..."
Baam!
"Those dwarf bastards!!! I can't believe that for all these centuries we never thought of this!!!"
Seeing the sudden realization, the ugly expressions on his mother's face, and finally her outburst as she slammed her hands on the table, Gustave merely chuckled and reassured her that the dwarves acted this way for their survival, considering that in the past the elves had wiped two races into extinction, which had made them paranoid.
"They are doing this, Mother—controlling the flow of coins across the entire Continent through many banks like Cianfanelli, Giancardi, Zammorto, Vivaldi, the Redanian Post Bank, and many more—for their survival. It is their habit and tradition, born from seeing the Vran wiped out by the elves, that they needed to influence the Continent so they would not be next on the list."
Pausing, he continued, "That's why they give the impression of being aloof and cut off from the rest of the world, to mask the involvement of those dwarves who go down into the mountains to create banks and wield political power across many kingdoms, from the south to the north."
Looking at her son angrily and incredulously, now realizing that Mahakam was like the Chapter but on the financial side of things, Meve asked in a slightly raised voice, "Son! How can I not be worried?! We are being played for fools! If only because the military is in our hands and magic is in the Chapter's hands, they have not yet become an empire of coin!"
Chuckling in amusement, standing up and massaging his mother's shoulders to calm her down, Gustave soothed her. "Mother, Mother. Just trust me. If you understand that coins are merely pieces of metal that can be exchanged for pieces of parchment—or, in more advanced systems, for nothing more than mathematical numbers—you won't need to worry so much."
Pausing, he added, "Later, I'll write a book for you about monetary economics to convince you further."
Seeing that his mother's chest was still heaving with anger and that she remained unconvinced, he began to present his case for why there was no need to fear the dwarves, especially since he intended to work closely with them.
"Not only that, Mother, if a dwarf wants to become an empire of coins, then what I want to build is an empire of goods—an empire that controls the world's supply chain and logistics, so that basically no one can trade their goods without going through me, Mother."
"An empire that will become the primary place for people to trade goods between many parties, because I provide them with an easy platform to exchange goods."
"An empire that gives kingdoms no reason to send their own merchants to multiple locations, because it is more convenient to use my empire's services."
"An empire that even ordinary people—the 98% of the population of this world—use if they want to buy something from distant locations from the comfort of their homes."
"An empire built to the point that people couldn't conduct business without me, because staying ahead of competitors by using my empire is far too beneficial for them."
"And because goods and coins go hand in hand, with one unable to exist without the other, it is best for these two empires to work together, achieving efficiency many times greater than that of the Chapter in the North or the Guild of Merchants in the South."
Slightly leaning sideways to look directly at his mother, Gustave finally said, "So you see now why I've kept this to myself all these three years, yeah, Mother?"
Letting out a breath of frustration, unable to think that far ahead like her idealistic son, Meve rubbed her forehead in silence.
After a couple of minutes spent weighing the pros and cons of this information—that the dwarf banks were essentially a political move to influence entire continents—Meve eventually trusted her son's wish that she would not blabber about this enlightenment.
"Haaaaah… You are really something else, Gustave. Sometimes I wonder if your seed really comes from Reginald."
"Wait, you mean my father is not Reginald?! You mean there is someone else?! Is it one of your personal guards?! Who is it, who is it?!"
Baam!
"Ouch!"
"Get those thoughts out of your mind. I was loyal to Reginald when he was alive."
"Hehehehehehe! I know, I know!"
Rubbing the bump on his head, Gustave eventually sat down opposite his mother again. Presenting his two toys, he then moved on to the topic he wanted to discuss.
"So, Mother, just like I said, here is transportation that will revolutionize Lyria and Rivia into trading hubs like Novigrad—something that will encourage the guest councils to invest more in our kingdoms, sharing the burden of the coffers for the early development of our Twin Realms."
—