The Williams family had truly come into money. If Jenkins hadn't had the cash on hand, Robert would most likely have taken out a loan to get in on the investment himself.
"Speaking of which, how exactly did the Williams family get so rich?" Jenkins muttered to himself. "I asked the Bishop to look into it, but I haven't heard anything back..."
Once the contract was signed, Robert opened a bottle of red wine in celebration. During the lighthearted conversation that followed, Jenkins learned that the true head of the Smiths United Mining Company wasn't the Mr. Smith who had helped Robert after his failed investment. Instead, it was a high-ranking nobleman who lived year-round in the royal capital, Bel Diran.
The nobleman, a marquis, held seventy percent of the company's shares, making him the one truly in control. Mr. Smith was essentially a manager, an operator—the actual decision-making power wasn't his to wield.
"This is the first I've heard of it," Jenkins remarked. "I wonder which esteemed marquis it could be? I might have even had the honor of meeting him during my time in Bel Diran."
Jenkins asked, his curiosity piqued, but his business partners were just as much in the dark. The only one with the answer was the elder Williams, and for now, he had no intention of telling his son.
Dinner that evening was at the family home on Maidenhaven Road, where Mary was so kind she even set out a special plate for Chocolate. As it happened, only Robert, Mary, and Jenkins were home. Newman was staying at his college to help a professor finish an important paper, and John was at a classmate's house. It was only his first week back at school, but the young man was still struggling to adapt to the heavy workload.
"Speaking of John," Jenkins began, "he's set to graduate in a year. Does he plan to continue his studies? I recall the last time we discussed it, he said he still hadn't made up his mind."
Jenkins inquired, thoroughly enjoying the evening's meal.
Robert offered his advice, then motioned for his wife to share her opinion.
"Young John can do whatever he sets his mind to," Mary said gently. "He doesn't have to follow the same path as you and Newman. He has his own dreams to chase." ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novel⁂fire.net
Both Jenkins and Robert found themselves disagreeing with this sentiment. In a way, both men were rather traditional in their thinking. For Jenkins, in particular, the experiences of two lifetimes had taught him that the pursuit of dreams was a privilege—and a stroke of luck—reserved for a select few.
Of course, neither of them voiced this thought aloud. Jenkins, however, made a mental note to have a proper talk with John soon and encourage him to follow in their older brother's footsteps by attending university.
With Alexia's long-awaited return, the little four-person gathering in Ruen could finally resume. Though it wasn't their usual Tuesday, they decided to meet on this Saturday night to make up for the two sessions they had missed.
Under the guise of a tutoring session, Alexia gained entry to the royal palace once more. When Jenkins materialized in Miss Stuart's study, he saw that snow was falling outside, just as it had the night before.
Julia stood in the shadows of a corner, her presence unassuming. She and Jenkins exchanged a brief nod, both recalling their unexpected encounter at the tavern the night before.
Alexia wore a ladies' blouse and a pair of non-prescription glasses. Miss Stuart, meanwhile, was seated at her desk with her usual pained expression, staring down a mathematics problem that looked capable of inducing insanity.
"It's been a while, Miss Stuart,"
Jenkins greeted, appearing beside Alexia with his cat nestled in his arms. He nodded to everyone in the room. Miss Stuart pressed her lips into a thin line and looked up at him; he could read the desperate plea for rescue in her eyes.
"Still struggling with your work?"
"Yes," Alexia replied, "but I suspect Dolores will need quite a bit more time. Perhaps we can chat about recent events in the meantime. Your holiday was quite eventful, wasn't it, Jenkins?"
"Eventful?" Jenkins echoed. "I'm beginning to think everyone I meet has been asking me that exact same question."
He said this as he strolled over to Miss Stuart's side, feigning an interest in the problem she was working on.
It was just a set of simple word problems using equations. For Jenkins, a veteran of countless exams, solving a few first-degree multivariate equations was trivial. For the sixteen-year-old Miss Stuart, however, it was clearly an ordeal.
"Aren't you two moving a bit fast?" Jenkins ventured. "As I recall, you were just beginning to discuss how to solve equations the last time I was here."
Jenkins attempted to plead her case, and Miss Stuart nodded frantically beside him, silently cheering him on.
"I left her with some homework before I departed," Alexia stated coolly. "Evidently, Dolores was too caught up in the New Year's revelry to complete it on time. This is her punishment. If she can't finish it before you leave, then tonight's gathering is cancelled."
It was just like Alexia to be so uncompromising; Jenkins wasn't the least bit surprised.
He had only asked the question to justify his lingering by the desk. As he and Alexia spoke, his [Psychography] ability was already at work, discreetly writing out the steps for the solution on Miss Stuart's scratch paper.
Someone as sharp as Alexia would surely be able to distinguish his work from Miss Stuart's. Therefore, he only provided the method, leaving out the final answer. It was the only way to prevent his little act of "cheating" from being exposed.
Still, Jenkins suspected Alexia had noticed his trickery. When she checked the final answer, she glanced at him with a knowing smile. But she said nothing more, merely admonishing Miss Stuart to be more diligent with her homework before officially declaring the gathering open.
After that, Jenkins spent over an hour regaling them with tales of his "eventful" holiday. He even produced the head-sized blue sapphire, hoping his friends might be able to help him identify it.
The gem's origins were tied to the sealed puppet deep underground, and a certain "Mrs. Hydra" didn't want the Church to know about that particular matter. This meant he couldn't ask Papa Oliver for an appraisal, leaving him to hope that either Alexia or Miss Stuart, with their broader experience, might recognize it.
A love for jewels and precious stones seems to be etched into the very soul of most women. The moment the blue sapphire materialized in Jenkins's hand, the other women in the study fell utterly silent, their hushed stillness broken only by a few sharp intakes of breath.
Miss Stuart shot to her feet and reached out a tentative finger, brushing it against the gem's surface as if to confirm it wasn't some grand illusion.
In the dim light, it might have passed for a large rock, but here in the well-lit room, its surface threw off a captivating light that even Jenkins found mesmerizing. The brilliant object was an undeniable work of art. Even if it wasn't a true gemstone, it was surely valuable enough to purchase a sizable estate and live out one's days as a country lord.