Tales of a Swiss Kingdom
Preface: This short story is totally not done. But I have more ideas than time, so I thought that it’d be better to release something than nothing. Here is it, enjoy! 😊
One day there was a good King who ruled a stable kingdom high up in the Swiss Alps mountain range. His monarchy was defined by a happy populace who lived a high quality of life, with an educated noble class. Life was good, and there had not been conflict in 70 years.
One of the rich merchants of the Swiss Kingdom was Alfonso, the Fat Merchant. Every day his company would collect fat from all the places where it was produced — dairy cows, pig lard, and beautiful yellow rapeseed fields that polka dotted the green fields and white ice capped mountains. Every farm was a beautiful foreground to the vast blue skies, and the morning dew watered the fields.
Alfonso was rich and deeply embedded into the lives of the every day Swiss people. His ice cream shops were wildly popular amongst the lower class, despite the upper class being somewhat annoyed by his commoditization of what was once a luxury product. The fat business was good, and although there were plenty of competitors, his excellent branding and customer service won the mindshare of the people. Alfonso did not have a monopoly, but sometimes it felt like it.
This was a problem for the Aristocrats
- did not like how much soft power Alfonso was accumulating
- the farmers would rather sell their best quality product to Alfonso rather than pay it in taxes to the landlords
- something needed to be done. but it was hard because every liked Alfonso and his ice cream
Enter the Apprentice Watch Maker
- Alexander was an apprentice watch maker with wishful eyes and a strong moral compass
- he was very smart and made excellent watches coveted by nobility, aristocrats and merchants alike.
- his main innovation was improving the ticking sound from what used to be a dull uninspiring clunk, to a pristine firm but gentle tick
- one day his long time customer, a nobleman who owned several hundred acres of pastureland, approached him for a special assignment
The special assignment
- the aristocrats had teamed up together to paint a horrid picture of the fat merchant. how he intimidated farmers into accepting low prices and locked them into abusive contracts.
- Alexander, who looked up highly to his aristocrat customers, believed them and agreed to help liberate the dairy farmers
- the special assignment was make a faulty clock that would be 1 hour 10 minutes behind. that way Alfonso’s logistics networks would be in disarray.
- this was an expensive endeavor, as it wasn’t enough to just sabotage one watch. many commanders in his supply chain would need to be sabotaged too, and months before Alfonso himself, so that he would being to lose trust in his commanders
- to fund this, the aristocrats pooled together some money, and the rest was taken out as a loan from the Swiss bankers. All while being kept secret from the King, who ruled too justly to tolerate schemes like this.
Stuff happens
- and Alfonsos reputation is damaged. by his customers, his suppliers, and his commanders.
- one day he discovers the plot and casts off his new cursed watch. he is furious at Alexander, whom he trusted greatly.
- to save his business, Alfonso takes out a loan with the Swiss bankers
- in retaliation, Alfonso files an expensive lawsuit. the king gets involved as the scandal spreads
More stuff happens
- and by now Alfonso has gone bankrupt, but so have a few aristocrats who couldn’t agree on who would continue funding the lawsuits.
- the king too was secretly losing money, as aristocrats were taking from monarchy assets.
- the final blow was when young Alexander realized what he had done, and couldnt bear the guilt anymore. he killed himself by jumping from one of the kings castle balconies during a royal luncheon, falling into the valleys of the jagged Alps below
- the good king tried to save Alexander, but did not make it in time. for a brief second, he watched as Alexander fell into the abyss below. a deeply indebted aristocrat took the opportunity to tackle the king, dragging both of them off the balcony too, into their death.
The Kingdom is in Chaos
- for only a few days. the king and his father before had set up good institutions that would carry on the good stewardship of his kingdom in the event of a royal death.
- unfortunately the prince was only 5 years old and could not rule. the kingdom would still need a chief operating officer — the kings hand. unfortunately the previous kings hand was deemed incompetent and corrupt, and was exiled to a ice capped mountain cabin
- so the remaining nobles and aristocrats voted. most were in debt to the Swiss bankers
- the new kings hand was a meek and lower-class rich noble with only a few acres of pastureland. he was weak, but loyal and did what he was told.
