Nemobrosus
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Chapter 25: Willem's Deadly Battle
🕑 Added 2025-01-27 07:07:35 +0000 UTCCatharina walked through the gardens of her husband’s estate, having just finished one of the many books in the vast library of the Duyn estate. She always felt a little empty and sad when a book was finished, even if the ending was a happy one. She was lost so deep in thought that she almost missed the fact that Willem, too, was walking right in front of her.
At first, her breath caught in her throat, and she made no move to approach. Eventually, she mustered enough courage to call out, “Willem.”
He turned his head upon hearing his voice, and she quickly bridged the distance.
“…Catharina?” he said uncertainly.
Catharina wondered about his tone, but then assumed he was questioning if she actually wanted to talk to him.
“I’m alright,” she said with a smile. “What brought you here?”
“Your mother,” he answered back. “She wanted to spar. I refused. She cried a little.”
Catharina’s eyes widened. “That’s… not what I expected.”
There was a trace of awkwardness in Willem’s posture, like he wanted to leave. Catharina felt it too. What did she even say?
“Shall we walk together?” Catharina dared to ask.
“I’m heading back. So… ‘til the gates, sure.” Willem shrugged.
They walked through the gardens in a leisurely stroll. There was really one thing that came to mind as to the subject of Willem. “So… I heard that you had Matriarch Petronella as your date to that event.”
“No. She came as another guest.” Willem shook his head. “I cleared that up. There won’t be any unions of church and commerce.”
“I see.” Catharina glanced at him, but he didn’t look too uncomfortable with this topic of conversation. “Do you have any plans for marriage?”
“I am married,” Willem said. “She’s called the Society of Assured Prosperity. I think you’d like her.”
Catharina let out a short laugh. “Be serious. Does marriage interest you?”
“I can’t devote the time a partner deserves,” Willem said, stopping to admire a dragonfly.
“I didn’t realize you had such gentlemanly ideas,” Catharina said in surprise. “They must be new. I remember… when you slept with Godfried’s fiancée,” she trailed off hesitantly, not wanting to bring up bad memories.
Willem looked at her plainly. “Don’t recall doing that.”
Catharina smiled, getting the message. “You know… I’ve had thoughts about that. Dorothea, she was… well, my lady friends have a term for it. It’s somewhat vulgar, but…” She walked closer, then whispered in his ear, “She was a green tea bitch.”
Willem smiled. “New youthful slang. How quaint. And what does that mean?”
“She acted all dainty and sickly and precious, but she was really awful,” Catharina insisted. “She took the dress that father had ordered for me even though it didn’t fit her, and she would always try and make me look bad in front of my friends for no reason. So… I think you honestly did Godfried a favor.”
Willem laughed and resumed walking. “Try and convince a man that you did him a favor by cheating with his fiancée. Tell me how that goes.”
“Well, Godfried was head over heels with her. He is still is, actually!” Catharina complained, then rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Hopefully he’ll see the truth someday.”
“He’ll learn. Some people have to do it the hard way.”
“Maybe that’s true.” Catharina sighed. “I’d like us to be a proper family someday. Mother and father were never normal, but… they didn’t hate each other, once. If we could go back to that… I just think it would be really nice.”
Willem went silent as they continued down the garden. They neared the gate leaving the count’s estate, and Catharina felt briefly disappointed. Willem had changed a great deal—she wanted to talk to him more.
“If someone cuts out your eye, I think that’s good justification for divorce,” Willem said.
Catharina paused. “What are you talking about?”
“Viviene’s eye,” Willem said, pointing. “Tielman did that.”
“What?!” Catharina said in shock. “How do you know?”
“She just told me,” Willem gestured.
As Catharina’s brain retreated into itself upon this news, the gates to the count’s estate opened for someone’s passing. Catharina turned her head, speechless. An unfamiliar, sharp-looking man walked through the gates, but his eyes froze upon Willem.
***
Gustav’s eyes wandered the count’s estate as the gate opened for his coming. He didn’t expect much from this, but he had to at least check and be 100% sure that the count wouldn’t uphold the Soaper’s Guild’s monopoly charter. He gave a nod to the soldier that’d opened the door, and made to proceed until his eyes landed upon someone.
Willem van Brugh stood right beside the countess, Catharina. Their gazes met, and Gustav felt the cold air on his skin more intensely than ever before, as though Willem had brought it from the north. Gustav took a deep breath, letting the chill seep into his lungs, and then stepped forward boldly.
“Young lord Willem,” Gustav greeted evenly.
Willem studied him. “Just Willem. Who are you?”
“Gustav, Guildmaster of the Soaper’s Guild,” he responded, watching Willem’s face.
Willem smiled broadly, a glint in those icy eyes of his. “Ah… it’s you.”
Silence settled in between the two of them. Meanwhile, Countess Catharina touched Willem’s arm, mumbling something and then walking away. He was worried he had been rude, but he was too caught up in this meeting.
“It looks like you’re one step ahead of me,” Gustav said. He assumed Willem was here to quash his proposal to appeal to the Soaper’s Guild monopoly.
“One?” Willem raised a brow. “If we’re racing… I’m about to lap you.”
Gustav shook his head. “I can count on one hand the number of guilds that actually failed in the past hundred years. Even if you manage to replace the soapers, all you’ll do is unite the other guilds against you. All of your business is going to grind to a halt. That’s why I wanted to tell you that it’s in our best interest to settle this dispute, here and now.”
Willem smiled, not revealing anything. “Society of Assured Prosperity. You know… you can shorten it to SOAP. Isn’t that interesting? It’s like fate.”
For a moment, Gustav didn’t know what to say to that. The implication set in quickly enough—that, from the very beginning, Willem had been planning the attack on the Soapers Guild. That level of vision, of foresight…
It’s a coincidence, Gustav insisted in his head. It has to be.
“The same lumberjacks that supply the shipwrights in Gent also supply the majority of the potash that you use to make soap,” Willem continued. “The primary customers of these shipwrights are all in my SOAP.”
Gustav narrowed his eyes. “You don’t have the clout to influence the shipwrights yet.”
“I won’t have to,” Willem said. “People act according to their interests.”
“This doesn’t need to get dirty for either of us,” Gustav pointed out. “We could collaborate.”
“Doesn’t need to get dirty? You’re right.” Willem smiled. “We’re fighting over soap, after all. One of us is going to walk away clean.”
A soap pun? Gusta’s competitiveness flared. I’ve been training my soap puns on my wife for twenty years. This newcomer won’t stand a chance.
“We’ve been lathering our business for centuries,” Gustav said—a decisive, well-practiced opener. “You? You’re like a bunch of bubbles with no substance.”
Willem grinned widely enough to show his canines. “I’m not blowing bubbles, Gustav. I think you’ll find things are very quickly slipping out of your control.”
Gustav’s face grew serious at the respectable parry. “My operation is squeaky clean. You’re still wet behind the ears. But go ahead. Let me pop the bubble you’re living in.”
“Please,” Willem stretched out the word with a scoff. “If there’s bubbles here, it’s because I’m positively bubbly about this opportunity. Foam up support all you want—in the end, you’ll just be left high and dry.”
Gustav paled—how could a man who hadn’t brewed even one batch of soap have so many of these prepared? This was no ordinary combatant. This needed to end here and now, or he could face defeat.
“The fact is this,” Gustav said boldly. “We’ve got the perfect formula for success. Don’t be so slick. You may think you’ve got it in the bag, but when it comes to bars, I’m the one who’s going to scrub you out of the picture. This won’t be a clean break.”
Willem didn’t answer back immediately, and Gustav thought victory was close at hand.
“I shine and sparkle like new, true, but I’ve substance to my shine. All you are…” Willem walked closer, and put his hand on Gustav’s shoulder. “…is washed up.”
Gustav closed his eyes as the bitter, soap-like taste of defeat flooded his mouth. Willem van Brugh… a hidden master. He must’ve been training in isolation. As Willem walked past, clenching victory tight in his slick hands, Gustav turned.
“Don’t think this ends here,” he called out. “This won’t be as clean-cut as you want.”
Willem walked backward as he said with his arms outstretched, “Don’t start foaming at the mouth, now. Be patient.”
As Willem left, Gustav finally remembered his surroundings. He saw the eyes of the guard standing by the gate. His gaze was full of contempt and scorn. The mighty Guildmaster of the Soaper’s Guild, brought low by an impudent—
“Sir, if you could please step out of the way of the gate,” the soldier said. “The count doesn’t like it staying open.”
Gustav cleared his throat. “Mmm. Of course.” He fixed his coat, a little embarrassed. “I was just leaving.”
***
Karel strolled through his workshop somewhat eagerly upon hearing that Willem had come to visit. The man was somewhat annoying, but what wasn’t annoying was the sound of gold coins clinking together. From what he heard, the man had seen some success in his business. That might mean some more success for him. He brought along the sword he was forging for Lennard as an excuse, but honestly, he was really eager to see if more money might be flowing his way.
Upon opening the door, he saw Willem looking out through his office window at the back where the ironworks were kept. Willem turned.
“Karel. You came quickly,” he said. “You probably smelled gold.”
“Gold doesn’t smell,” Karel pointed out. “That’s part of the reason you can know. Still, before you get started…” Karel van der Heiden held up Lennard’s sword he’d been working on. It wasn’t especially ornate, but it did look pretty enough. “What do you think of this?”
Willem studied it. “That’s a sword, alright.”
“It’s for your brother,” Karel wobbled it. “Don’t you have any interest?”
“It looks… very metal,” Willem managed. “Very striking. Clear-cut, shall we say.”
“I can see why your father gave up bringing you back into the family.” Karel looked at Willem in disgust, then set the blade down gingerly on a leather hide. “Why are you here? More of those brooches to make? Have you run out of people willing to tolerate your inane babblings?”
Willem shook his head. “I’m going to be buying into a lot of failing businesses in the city. You came to mind.”
Karel frowned. “Here to defecate on my craft some more, then.”
“No.” Willem looked back to the ironworks. “You seem to have experience with a wide variety of different trades. Weaving, woodwork, metalworking, even magic.”
“By necessity,” Karel confirmed. “Why?”
“I don’t really know how to do anything with my hands,” Willem demonstrated, holding them out. “But you do. And you’re money and status obsessed, which I respect.”
Karel crossed his arms. “I have thoughts, but continue.”
“I’m going to attempt to establish a more efficient production process, but I’m not knowledgeable enough to do it on my own. You’ve picked up on it partially, but you haven’t realized the potential.” Willem raised his hands above his head and spread a rainbow as he said, “The production line.”
“Okay…” Karel gestured. “Elaborate.”
“Which do you think would be more time and cost efficient—eight master shipwrights and their teams, or one master shipwright overseeing two hundred men, each individual focusing on only one part of the ship, to combine it at the end?” Willem leaned in to hear the answer.
“I don’t know,” Karel said with a shake of his head.
“Well, I do.” Willem tapped his chest. “I’ll focus on the business. You focus on the technical side, the engineering side. I think it’ll be very rewarding work for the both of us.”
“I’m not sure why I should get involved with you again,” Karel said. “The blade and the brooch was one thing, but taking things further?”
“One thousand gold commission,” Willem said with the eyes of a dead fish.
Karel snapped. “Shall we work out the details now, or should I come to your place tomorrow to work out the details?”
Willem retrieved one of the brooches Karel had forged for the Society of Assured Prosperity. “Come to the monthly meeting of my society.” He held it out. “You don’t have to talk, even. It’s my job to pitch. You just have to nod along and say that it’s feasible.”
Karel waved away the brooch, intent on making his own. “Is it feasible?”
“We lack an easily-available source of energy… or at least, one that I understand,” Willem said. “Without automation, it’s less efficient. Still, it should be. Venice did it with her ships.”
“Who’s Venice?” Karel raised a brow. “A female shipwright? Rather rare.”
Willem smiled. “Just be there, in your best clothes. Bring your wife if you want.”
Karel shifted on his feet. “I’m not sure…”
“It’s free food,” Willem said.
“We’ll be there,” Karel agreed.
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Comments
Beeees!
Had me grinning biig
tibbish
If the economy works anything like it does IRL 1 gold would be about what your average Medevial peasant family could earn in a year. And they'd all have been working since the age of 5 or so 6-7 days a week. Typically in 8-10 hour shift but also 16-24 hour shifts during harvest time too. In that sort've economy 1000 gold would instantly make him filthy rich enough to retire and buy a paper lord's title if he wanted.
Michael Vonica
I'll try looking into those organizations. I'm also looking forward to where you do decide to go with the story. From what I've seen so far, Willem is much more interested in managing money over managing businesses that directly produce goods or provide services. He's only got 24 hours in a day, so best to spend them doing what he knows best. But I also wouldn't be surprised if he eventually tried paying someone to design some industrial equipment, or just convinced one of his partners to invest in it.
Nemorosus
Capitalistic organizations existed in the context of medieval Europe, and they often punched far above their weight. Venice, Genoa-- and for non-sovereign states, the Hanseatic League. The Venetian Arsenal was among the first to mass-produce ships, as referenced in this chapter. That's more my area of interest because it has precedent. Willem doesn't have the know-how to use coal or oil, and that's not quite the direction I want to take with the story anyhow.
WarStrider72
Haha, Karel folded so easily be the offer of 1000 gold and free food.
Michael Vonica
If you want to throw a wrench in Willem's plans, you could make it so the world has limited coal and oil supplies. Maybe the world literally isn't old enough for them to exist yet. Or there are weird monsters who eat them, or like to burrow around and make nests in deposits. Either way, he would have to get creative about working around the limitations. Another thing. Something was bothering me about Willem talking about how he can shift society using only capitalism. Doesn't his approach only work because he already occupies a position of privilege? If he was just some average guy, he could still build up successful businesses, just off his knowledge and experience. But without military or political support, wouldn't someone already in power eventually just seize his assets? Sure, you could say that it would be illegal for someone to do that to him. But for a privileged class of nobility, the law is whatever they can afford to make it. Willem could easily be falsely accused of a crime, robbed by "bandits", or just assassinated. The only real shields are to possess enough economic influence to deter any such attempts, or to have a sufficiently powerful noble backing him. Even if he manipulates things so that his continued success is in the best interest of a noble, that isn't a perfect guarantee. Self interest is great for controlling merchants, who live or die off the stuff. Nobles don't need to be nearly so good at not making stupid decisions. Their power exists in their authority to set and enforce the law of the land. Both the perception and reality of that authority. As long as they maintain their military power and public respect for it, they can continue to rule. Even if they shortshightedly destroy a buisness that has the potential for massive long term profit, it won't alter the true base of their power. I could even argue that, eventually, the nobility and mechantry will come into conflict. I do not think a feudal government can run businesses as well as merchants can. They need to depend on merchants to drive the growth of the economy. But once the economy reaches a certain point, and those merchants begin gaining enough power, they are going to start trying to wrestle authority away from the nobility. Who funded all those revolutions in our own world's history, after all? So, once things begin to reach that point, would it not be in the best interest of the nobility to suppress merchants as best they can? Otherwise, they risk having their authority taken from them. In our world, the growth of the merchant class was a gradual thing that took a couple centuries. For the nobility of the time, it wouldn't be very hard to overlook the threat of it. But Willem is here trying to speedrun the process. I imagine that if he manages to acheive the rapid growth he is after, a lot of alarm bells are going to start going off in the minds of the nobility. He is still a far way off from that, though. Anyway, I think that Willem doesn't realize exactly what sort of game he's playing. He thinks that he'll be able to get people to move for money, when the reality is that all the money he's going to try to throw around might be seen as less of a boon and more of a threat by those who hold real power in this world.
mhaj58
Pun offs are very underrated.
