“Rose?” Luca Quinn had been conversing with the naive aristocratic girl for roughly half an hour when Rose’s fiancé, the original plot’s unfortunate cuckold, finally appeared on the scene.
Caledon had been thoroughly enjoying himself, chatting with other guests in the banquet hall, until he suddenly realized his fiancée had vanished without a trace.
Sensing an ominous green glow flickering somewhere above his forehead, Caledon rushed out with his bodyguard in tow.
He knew his fiancée possessed a certain…
volatility in her thinking, and heaven only knew if some impulsive notion had seized her.
Fortunately, when Caledon located Rose, she was perfectly composed, fully dressed, and engaged in conversation with others.
A man and woman sitting together late at evening might appear somewhat ambiguous.
But with two men and one woman, surely nothing untoward could occur!
This was precisely why Luca hadn’t dismissed the bothersome third wheel beside him.
Jack served dual purposes, a convenient background element, and, simultaneously, a form of character witness.
Otherwise, given the fiery looks Rose kept directing his way, who knew what improper thoughts might be brewing in that romantic mind of hers?
Never underestimate the fervor of a lovestruck fool.
They were, quite simply, irrational creatures.
“Caledon!
This is Luca Quinn, a distinguished poet from the Far East!” Rose introduced her discovery with evident excitement.
“Mr.
Quinn, I presume?
A pleasure.” As a millionaire, Cal Hockley possessed considerably more world knowledge than either his foolish fiancée or the penniless Jack Dawson.
At the very least, he knew how to address someone properly.
“Mr.
Hockley, president of Hockley Steel?” Luca extended his hand to the original story’s cuckold-in-waiting.
“The same.
Is Mr.
Quinn also interested in the steel industry?” Caledon’s brow furrowed slightly.
Finding two strange men beside his fiancée displeased him, but for appearance’s sake, he suppressed his irritation.
“Beyond poetry, I hold another position, as an adviser to Prince Chun.
His Highness seeks a business partner in America.” “Would Mr.
Hockley be interested?” Luca ignored the disdain in Caledon’s eyes and lowered his voice conspiratorially.
“Prince Chun?
The prince from the East?” Caledon’s contempt evaporated instantly.
For a man of his stature, among the elite of European and American wealth, looking down on Easterners was practically political orthodoxy.
But at Luca’s revelation, his eyes kindled with interest, and he gripped the other’s hand with sudden enthusiasm.
Businessmen chase profit above all.
As chairman of Hockley Steel, Caledon couldn’t afford the luxury of Rose’s thoughtless prejudices.
Prince Chun, the name might escape common notice, but in this era, it carried genuine weight among those who mattered.
This old figure was actually more renowned in Europe and America than the Empress Dowager herself.
While few cared about the names of Eastern rulers, businessmen paid close attention to anyone connected to their interests.
His European and American reputation stemmed primarily from one thing… his staggering wealth.
The Company he’d established sold every official position in the entire East at fixed, transparent prices, from county magistrates to provincial governors, cash on delivery, no credit extended.
Even He had paid three million taels of silver to purchase an official position from him, one can only imagine how ruthless this old fox truly was.
Moreover, he never kept his wealth within the country.
Every penny had been converted into British pounds and American dollars, stashed away in banks across multiple nations.
He was unquestionably the nation’s pioneer in diversified investment and capital flight.
By conservative estimates, at HSBC alone in Britain, he had deposited no less than seven hundred thousand pounds.
Consider this: constructing the Titanic cost merely one and a half million pounds.
Building the world’s most advanced Dreadnought battleship required only two and a half million.
By any measure, Caledon might be a millionaire, but compared to Prince, he was merely a younger brother.
For capitalists, only the numbers mattered.
They wouldn’t let prejudice interfere with business.
Superiority?
When vast wealth beckoned, such concerns evaporated like morning mist.
Luca understood that relying on a lovestruck girl like Rose to gain entry to first class was hopeless.
In the original story, the wealthy Molly Brown had sponsored Jack primarily because he was a handsome man, who knew what peculiar notions that woman harbored?
But to mingle with the elite, Rose alone was useless.
What he needed were the genuinely powerful.
Like the circle of businessmen surrounding him now.
The role of “Prince’s adviser” proved more effective than any credential.
Within half an hour, his companions had upgraded from the naive Rose to directors of several major corporations.
As the saying goes, neither father nor mother compares to money itself.
Wherever the wealthy gathered, they’d worship anyone connected to even greater wealth.
The current situation in the East appeared dire.
For lower-class travelers, the very term “Eastern” meant nothing.
But for everyone seated in this first-class lounge, their perspectives soared far above those in third class.
In recent years, high-ranking officials had been transferring assets to Britain, but titans like the Prince, they’d never encountered before.
The old fox possessed genuine cunning.
This explained why, through multiple regime changes, he’d managed to die peacefully in his bed.
Such details remained unknown even within the East, let alone to these Britons half a world away.
Not that no one questioned Luca’s identity, but in this era, finding someone intimately familiar with the court’s inner workings was nearly impossible.
Only an extraterrestrial would know better.
Coupled with Caledon Hockley’s endorsement, within a single day Luca had successfully infiltrated the enemy’s inner circle, secured first-class passage, and incidentally positioned himself as the fattest sheep in every businessman’s crosshairs.
An adviser to the famously wealthy Prince!
Even if the man merely let slip a few crumbs from his table, it would feed a family for generations.
What’s more, Luca’s decade as a street scribe had equipped him with enough general economic concepts to bluff convincingly.
While he couldn’t formulate detailed business plans, playing the expert and dropping a few well-chosen phrases?
That, he could manage.
By the following morning, he had become the ship’s most sought-after personality.
Invitations for his company stretched two months into the future.