Just as Noah finished processing the final purchase from the minor nobility wave and was counting his remaining inventory, the shop's door opened again with considerably more ceremony than before.
A Duke entered first—Duke Marrick Ashford, head of one of Esta's three most powerful noble houses. He was a distinguished man in his fifties with silver-streaked hair and the bearing of someone accustomed to command. Behind him came several other high-ranking nobles: Marquess Helena Ravenswood, Viscount Gerald Thornheart, and Countess Lydia Blackwood, each representing families that controlled vast estates and wielded significant political influence within the kingdom.
