Chapter 1280: Chapter 1280
He felt something bump against his shoe. Jenkins glanced down to see a small, crudely made leather ball that looked like it had been repurposed from the air bladder of a broken steam engine. The three Williams brothers had a similar toy in their childhood, and the sight of it instantly dredged up a memory from the deepest corners of the original owner's mind.
He bent down, picked up the ball, and scanned the area. Sure enough, not far away, he spotted two boys looking on with worried expressions, torn between wanting to leave and not wanting to abandon their toy.
Jenkins smiled and tossed the ball toward them. He put just the right amount of force behind it, and the ball landed right in front of the boys. The older-looking one immediately scooped it up. He and his companion gave Jenkins a slight bow before scurrying away as if making an escape.
The gloomy weather didn't dampen Jenkins's good mood. As he arrived back on St. George Avenue, he happened to cross paths with the mailman. He wasn't in his usual guise, so he didn't strike up a conversation. Instead, he slipped into his house through the back garden and glanced out the window, only to see his neighbor, Mr. Goodman, kissing Mrs. Goodman goodbye in their yard.
Jenkins had to wait a little while longer before he could step outside and retrieve his letters and newspaper from the mailbox.
"Reader mail forwarded from the publisher... a note from Mr. Nelly about meeting to discuss royalty payments... a query from my publisher, Mr. Bro, about my third book... the milkman's bill... a tax notice... and a letter with no name or stamp..."
He focused on the last envelope. There wasn't a single word written on it, not even a postage stamp. Jenkins wasn't sure if the mailman had just delivered it. He had left this morning without checking his mailbox, so it might have been sitting there since his return.
Confirming that the letter was made of ordinary paper, he opened the unsealed envelope. Inside was a single sheet with a message printed in what looked like cheap, low-quality type:
[Interested in investing in a new model of steam engine? If so, you can write to us to satisfy your investment needs.]
After returning to Ruen, he recounted the incident as a joke to Alexia and Dolores, and the ladies found it quite amusing.
Jenkins had long suspected that after the Fabry Fraud, others would realize it was an easy-to-enter, low-cost way to get rich. He just hadn't expected someone to try and scam him so soon.
"This is precisely why the major kingdoms are reforming their financial departments and restructuring their banking industries," Dolores said slowly, sneaking a glance at Jenkins. "Aside from preventing another large-scale scam from the Believers of Lies, we must also be wary of the... precedent and example that Miss Fabry has set." Google seaʀᴄh novel fire.net
She, of course, knew exactly who Miss Fabry was.
"For this afternoon's lecture, I could make the theme preventing these kinds of crude scams," Jenkins suggested.
"But isn't your speech already written? I remember the topic was 'Interest Rates, Exchange Rates, and Inflation'... I do like that word you invented, 'inflation'," Alexia inquired.
"I don't know that much about the original topic, but when it comes to fraud prevention, I'd say my expertise is quite high. It won't be much trouble to change the speech—a couple of hours at most. I don't have much else to do this morning anyway."
Jenkins hadn't actually studied finance; his field of study was completely unrelated. What he knew about the subject was a hodgepodge of things he had heard, read, and experienced, so his knowledge lacked any real system. But fraud prevention was another story. He had been exposed to it from a young age through various channels, and during his school years, he had even been forced to attend multiple highly specialized workshops on the subject.
So, compared to financial reform, he was far more confident in his ability to speak on preventing scams.
The lecture was scheduled for the afternoon, giving Jenkins the entire morning to prepare. He was in no rush at the breakfast table, even taking the time to tease Chocolate with a piece of bacon.
Observing the ladies at the table, he noticed Dolores staring at her glass of milk with a pained expression. He remembered hearing from Julia, he thought, that Dolores disliked milk.
"It's truly awful," the princess explained when she saw Jenkins looking at her. She then casually pushed the glass toward her younger sister. The little princess stared at the two glasses of milk before her, her face twisting into an expression even more miserable than Dolores's had been.
"Your Highness, that is not appropriate," Julia reminded her from behind. She turned to summon a maid, instructing her to bring the milk pitcher and an empty glass from the serving cart. Julia then poured a fresh glass for Dolores herself.
"I know, I know. I just want to know who first said that drinking more milk is good for your health. What exactly did he do to those cows..." Dolores muttered, her unladylike words a rare glimpse of her childish side. Jenkins smiled and lowered his head to continue playing with his cat, only to see the cat's bright eyes fixed on Angelina Stuart across the table—or more accurately, on the two glasses of milk in front of her. Jenkins had a maid bring one of the glasses over.
Now, in addition to the cat, the little princess also shot him a look of gratitude.
It seemed Princess Angelina Stuart was preparing to stay at the manor long-term. Although Jenkins rarely saw her during the day, they at least now shared the same dining table.
Dolores wasn't particularly keen on rallying her siblings to her side. She made no further attempts to contact any of them, focusing her full attention on managing the financial department. For now, no third Stuart had moved in. According to Julia's intelligence, her brothers and sisters who coveted the throne were all busy trying to win over their relatives. Jenkins found this completely baffling.
"Is the Stuart family's succession decided by the candidates voting for each other?"
Of course not. The real reason was that Salsi II had assigned nearly all his children who could think for themselves to managerial, or even leadership, positions within the government and military.
Winning the support of a Stuart sibling was equivalent to consolidating more power. With Salsi II yet to declare a clear successor, this behind-the-scenes competition of mutual recruitment was the most civilized form of rivalry they could engage in before tearing each other apart.
"Isn't that just like raising vipers in a jar?" Jenkins mused to himself. Beside him, the cat, having read his thought, tilted its head and pondered just what "vipers in a jar" were.