"Let’s start by calling in the necessary notaries."

  The men all exchanged uneasy glances. They were the representatives of several major merchant guilds—the organizations that dominated Rome’s economy.

  From the flour people ate to the supplies needed for every festival and triumph, the guilds provided it all.

  Naturally, these men were seasoned veterans of commerce.

  Before arriving at the Caesar insula, they had assumed the negotiations would be a breeze.

  "No matter how much of a business genius Lucius Caesar is, he’s still inexperienced, isn’t he? Once we get into the details, we’ll be the ones holding the advantage."

  Their prediction, however, had been wildly off.

  The biggest obstacle was the man sitting right in front of them.

  Felix was a Greek slave with only a single name.

  Aside from being a slave of the Caesar household, there was little information on him. But Felix didn’t need credentials to prove his worth.

  "This clause here seems too vague. It requires further revision."

  "Let’s negotiate that part a bit more..."

  The men grew visibly tense as they verified the points Felix pointed out.

  He caught everything, from the clauses they had tried to sneak in to details they hadn't even considered themselves.

  The negotiations dragged on for over half a day with no end in sight.

  "Where did Lucius Caesar find someone like that?"

  "I heard that engineer named Vitruvius is incredibly talented as well."

  "It seems he’s gathered nothing but monsters."

  As time passed, the men had no choice but to acknowledge Felix’s competence. The Greek slave seemed to have memorized every single document.

  Whenever they requested information or questioned a figure, Felix answered without a moment's hesitation.

  What was supposed to be a quick negotiation ended up running into the next day.

  "At this rate, we’ll be the ones walking into a trap."

  "Let’s head back and re-examine the contract ourselves."

  As they sighed and headed home, Felix let out a heavy sigh.

  But it wasn’t exhaustion. Today’s negotiation was actually one of the easier tasks he had handled recently.

  There was another reason for his deep sigh.

  Whenever things seemed to be going this smoothly, the same thing always happened.

  "I just hope the Young Master isn't bringing in something weird again."

  ***

  Felix’s day began the moment he opened his eyes.

  Before his master, Lucius Caesar, started the insurance business, he didn't have much to do.

  His duties were limited to managing Lucius’s schedule and supervising the other slaves’ chores. After finishing his morning work, he used to attend lessons alongside Lucius.

  But that was a thing of the past.

  "Sir Felix, I’ve brought the figures you asked for yesterday."

  "If you want to keep to today’s schedule, you need to get dressed and leave right now, sir."

  "The representatives from Crassus are coming later for the insurance settlement, and they sent some separate materials on..."

  The moment Felix woke up, a crowd of men swarmed his door.

  They were all assistants working under him—workers who could read and write. They were either free citizens or freedmen.

  It was a strange situation where free men took orders from a slave, but in the Caesar household, no one cared about such things.

  "The figures for last month are missing here."

  "I-I’m sorry!"

  "Please double-check next time. Otherwise, I have to inspect it twice."

  Felix sat in his chair and sifted through the piles of papyrus one by one.

  Babu was in charge of the insurance business, and Vitruvius handled the new technical school.

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  However, it was Felix’s job to integrate and manage the Palmolive business, the insurance, and the school.

  He processed the deluge of accounting documents with practiced movements.

  At first, he had made several big mistakes due to inexperience, but he had long since found his rhythm.

  "Send this to Babu, and send these documents to Crassus’s side."

  "Understood, sir."

  "By the way, where is the Young Master now?"

  "He said he had someone to meet and left for a while."

  At the assistant's words, Felix couldn't help but frown.

  "He didn't say who he was meeting?"

  "No, sir."

  Seeing Felix’s darkened face, the assistant couldn’t help but be impressed. To worry about his master that much, it was incredible loyalty.

  But Felix was worried about something else entirely.

  Leaving without even telling him the destination? It likely meant he was going to bring back another absurd plan.

  As he let out a long sigh, the assistant said, "If you're worried, we’ll look into it."

  "Forget it. What kind of slave spies on his master? I suppose it’s all the will of Fortuna."

  Leaving the puzzled assistants behind, Felix stepped out of the room.

  His day had only just begun.

  ***

  Managing multiple businesses was usually the work of veteran merchants or entrepreneurs.

  Usually, one would enter a guild, gain experience, slowly expand their authority to become a guild master, or go independent.

  Having skipped all those steps, Felix had no choice but to learn everything as quickly as possible.

  "So, what should I look out for in this contract?"

  "If you look here, the deadline isn't clearly stated. You must spell it out in the next round of talks."

  Felix committed the words to memory. These were old men Lucius Caesar had personally recruited—experts who had spent their lives in commerce.

  At Felix’s request for advisors, Lucius had spent a fortune to invite them.

  Their job was merely to offer a few words of advice on ongoing plans, but Felix learned a great deal from them—points to watch for when drafting contracts, business customs, and information on Roman merchant guilds.

  No amount of money could buy this kind of experience.

  “If the publicani go bankrupt, Crassus will probably try to buy them out first. You should include a clause giving you the right of first refusal. And it needs to be buried deep in the contract, so the publicani don’t catch on.”

  The men kept offering advice.

  "Thank you all. Let's call it a day."

  After the short meeting, Felix left the insula again.

  Today was inspection day at the Palmolive workshop.

  He had to check if wages were being paid properly and look into grievances or suggestions for improvement.

  Normally, he would have handled it with ease, but today, Felix’s mind was elsewhere.

  "He seems a bit low on energy today."

  "He’s probably worried about his master. He left early this morning and hasn't returned yet."

  "Master Caesar is so lucky to have a slave like that."

  The assistants all showered Felix with admiration and praise.

  After a long time, the sun finally began to set.

  It was time to head back to the mansion.

  No matter how much work there was, you couldn’t wander the streets of Rome late at night.

  Carrying a load of papyrus documents to be processed during the night, Felix headed home.

  And there was one person waiting for him.

  "Felix! You're just done for the day?"

  Hearing the voice, Felix flinched.

  The worst-case scenario he had imagined was becoming reality.

  Lucius Caesar approached him with a smile.

  "I’ve been waiting for you."

  "I won't do it. No, I *can't* do it!" Felix cried out, trembling.

  "Just whip me instead! I cannot take on any more work than I already have!"

  At his response, Lucius tilted his head.

  "What’s wrong all of a sudden, Felix? Did something happen today?"

  "You've brought another new business plan, haven't you? I won’t do it, even if you have me crucified!"

  After staring at him for a moment, Lucius burst into laughter.

  "Aren’t you treating your master like a villain?"

  "How else am I supposed to treat a man who keeps acting like one?" Felix muttered with a long sigh. It wasn't like he could stop it now, anyway.

  "Fine, let’s hear it. What have you come up with this time, Young Master?"

  "Follow me."

  Felix considered running away, but he gave up and followed Lucius.

  They headed straight to Felix’s bedroom.

  "Why my bedroom—wait. What is that?"

  Felix’s eyes went wide.

  There was a new object in his room.

  A large, magnificent bed. It was a luxury item that looked expensive even at a glance.

  In Rome, most slaves slept on straw mats on hard floors. But the bed Lucius had bought was filled with high-quality goose down and wool—the kind of bed fit for nobles.

  It was a luxury item worth as much as a small insula.

  "You looked a bit tired lately. I bought this as a gift for you."

  "So, you going out early today was..."

  "To buy gifts for you and the other workers. It wouldn’t be much of a surprise if I’d told you beforehand, would it?"

  "Young Master, I didn't know that was the case..."

  As Felix’s eyes welled up with tears, Lucius smiled, "You look exhausted, so take a full two days off. I’ll tell Babu to take over your duties for a while."

  "Can I really do that?" Felix asked.

  Babu was also handling a massive workload. Last time Felix saw him, he looked half-dead.

  But Felix didn't have the luxury to worry about his colleague right now.

  "Do you promise?"

  "I promise on the name of Lucius Julius Caesar."

  Lucius replied with an exaggerated gesture as if taking an oath.

  After that, Felix couldn't clearly remember what happened.

  The moment he lay on the new bed, he fell into a deep sleep.

  He woke up the next morning feeling refreshed. The assistants who bothered him every day were nowhere to be seen.

  "So this is Elysium."

  As he was rolling around on the bed, someone entered the room.

  "Felix?"

  "You must not have heard, but today is my day off."

  "I have orders from Master Caesar."

  "You must be mistaken. The Young Master told me to rest. And the Young Master always keeps his promises."

  Just as Felix was about to drift back into a sweet slumber, the assistant cleared his throat.

  "It’s the *other* Master Caesar. Gaius Julius Caesar has sent a letter from Hispania."

  Felix’s eyes snapped open.

  Gaius Julius Caesar.

  No matter how much Lucius was currently acting as the head of the household, Felix’s ultimate master was Gaius Julius.

  "What kind of letter did he send...?" Felix asked cautiously, rising from the bed.

  An ominous feeling was slowly creeping up on him.

  "Well..." The assistant scratched his head. "He wants you to send as much Palmolive as you can to Hispania—immediately. Since you are the only one who knows all the business regarding Palmolive..."

  "Why on earth would Master Caesar in Hispania need Palmolive?"

  Felix listened to the assistant's words blankly.

  Yes, Lucius Julius Caesar had indeed given him permission to rest.

  But a father’s command took precedence over a son’s.

  And that applied to Felix as well.

  "Aaaaaagh!"

  Felix’s scream echoed throughout the house.

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