Gardener of Eden

Chapter 199: Chapter 199: Reopening

A soft, crystal-toned chime vibrated from the desk in Rowan’s study, cutting through the peaceful afternoon quiet.

Rowan picked up his private communication talisman, watching a glowing azure rune coalesce above the screen. It was an encrypted, direct line from Princess Lyra von Aetheris.

Unsealing the text preview with a light touch of his thumb, Rowan read the message:

”Rowan! Julian showed me the new listings on Eden International’s portal—and I saw your mother’s update. Grade S Black and White Truffles?! Dragon-Vein Emerald Wasabi?! You can’t possibly make the Imperial Family wait until Monday with the rest of the capital! Please tell me you have a private reserve. Name your price—a blank draft from the Imperial Treasury, rare spatial mana stones, or whatever royal trade concessions Sunny Vale desires. Send a batch directly to the palace kitchen today, and I’ll ensure your compensation is more than generous!”

Rowan let out a soft laugh, shaking his head as he leaned back against his desk. Leave it to Princess Lyra to try and jump the Monday flagship store queue before the high-tier guild masters and merchant lords even had a chance to place their bids.

He tapped out a quick, smooth reply:

”Your Highness, queue-jumping is usually strictly prohibited at Sunny Vale... but considering the Imperial Crown’s tireless work during the crisis, I think we can make a special exception for the royal kitchen. Keep the blank check, Lyra. Standard market invoice and your royal chef’s honest feedback will be plenty.”

Stepping into his private storage array, Rowan personally selected the absolute cream of his recent domain harvest. He lined a heavy, polished ironwood presentation chest with silk and dampening runic cloth, hand-packing the finest specimens:

Royal Imperial Black Truffle – A massive, velvet-coated specimen dense with heavy, earthy umami mana.

Celestial Diamond White Truffle – A flawless cluster glittering like starlight, releasing a soothing, core-restoring aroma.

Dragon-Vein Emerald Wasabi – Four thick, jade-green rhizomes, cool to the touch and crackling with vaporous earth energy.

Royal Harvest Companions – Flanking the truffles were crates of Sun-Crystalline Eden Apples, Amethyst-Gold Peaches, and Sun-Gilded Jade Avocados to complete the royal spread.

Once the chest was locked with the golden leaf seal of Eden International, Rowan activated the estate’s direct imperial spatial relay pad. With a flash of azure light and a quiet hum of spatial distortion, the package vanished, rematerializing instantly inside the inner sanctum of the Imperial Palace.

Less than two minutes later, Rowan’s talisman buzzed frantically with a barrage of text notifications:

”Rowan!! Chef Antoine is practically weeping tears of joy in front of the presentation box! The fragrance alone just cured half the palace staff’s lingering fatigue! The Imperial Treasury is transferring a 5,000,000 Gold deposit to Sunny Vale’s master account as an official royal honorarium—no arguments allowed. Consider the Imperial Family your most loyal patrons!”

Rowan pocketed the talisman with a calm, grounded smirk, resting his hand against the haft of the Hoe of the World-Tiller leaning against the wall. With the Imperial Palace thoroughly won over, Monday’s flagship reopening was bound to be legendary.

***

Shortly after the commotion with the royal palace settled, another high-priority request blinked onto Rowan’s private workstation screen.

It was a direct message from Executive Chef Julian of L’Étoile D’Or, the imperial capital’s premier 3-star Michelin establishment. Long before Eden International became a global household name, Julian had been one of Rowan’s earliest and most dedicated culinary partners, treated as a true friend who treated every leaf and root from Sunny Vale with holy reverence.

Having voluntarily shuttered L’Étoile D’Or during the necrotic crisis to yield ingredients to emergency kitchens, Chef Julian was finally preparing for his grand reopening dinner this coming week—and he was desperately hoping for the crown jewels of Rowan’s newest harvest to anchor his showcase menu.

”Rowan,” Julian’s message read, accompanied by an attached voice note filled with genuine excitement. ”The culinary world is holding its breath for Monday, but I’m asking as a friend—if you have even a fraction of a crate of those Grade S truffles or the Dragon-Vein Wasabi, name your price. My kitchen crew is ready to create history.”

Rowan smiled warmly, already standing in the shade of the loading bay where three polished, brass-bound mahogany crates sat carefully stowed away from the main commercial pile.

Rowan hadn’t forgotten his friends. Knowing how much heart and respect Julian poured into his craft, Rowan had already personally hand-selected and reserved three complete, untouched crates specifically for L’Étoile D’Or.

Tapping the voice recorder, Rowan sent a crisp reply back:

”Already taken care of, Julian. I saved three full crates from the prime domain harvest for you. Crate one has prime Royal Imperial Black and Celestial Diamond White Truffles. Crate two is packed with fresh Dragon-Vein Emerald Wasabi rhizomes. Crate three is an assortment of Verdant Crown Tomatoes, Sun-Gilded Jade Avocados, and Sun-Crystalline Eden Apples. No market markup for an old friend—just make sure you save me and the family a table for opening night.”

The reply from the 3-star Michelin master came back almost instantaneously in the form of a chaotic, joy-filled roar of cheers from the entire L’Étoile D’Or kitchen team in the background, followed by Julian’s deeply emotional thanks:

”Rowan, you absolute legend! Consider the chef’s table permanently reserved for the Vance family for life! The courier is en route right now!”

Rowan watched as the special high-security culinary transport pulled up to the estate’s side gates, the crew handling the three mahogany crates as if they contained pure platinum. With the Imperial Family provided for, L’Étoile D’Or supplied for an unforgettable reopening, and the remaining harvest stored and ready, Sunny Vale was locked and loaded for Monday morning’s grand reopening.

***

The digital servers housing Eden International’s web infrastructure were completely overwhelmed.

Despite the high-grade arcane relay cores installed by the Imperial Ministry of Technology, the sheer, unimaginable volume of over two hundred million simultaneous connection requests crushed the portal’s bandwidth. Screens across the globe flickered, locking users out with a glaring, pulsing gold notification:

EDEN INTERNATIONAL PORTAL STATUS: OFFLINE

Error 503: Unprecedented Digital Traffic Load

System Message: High-frequency server refresh limit reached. Automated pre-orders temporarily suspended.

Fulfillment Notice: Orders currently limited to direct estate allocations or physical in-person boutique sales.

For the general public, high-ranking guild quartermasters, and foreign dignitaries without Rowan’s private communication frequency, online pre-orders had become a statistical impossibility.

The moment word spread that the digital marketplace was completely frozen, panic shifted from the web directly to the physical streets of the Imperial Capital.

By Saturday evening, two full days before Monday morning’s scheduled 08:00 AM reopening, the avenue surrounding Eden International’s flagship store had transformed into an extraordinary, high-society encampment. The queue stretched out from the boutique’s polished brass doors, wrapping around four major city blocks and extending into the capital’s central fountain plaza.

S-Rank guild captains in full ceremonial armor sat on folding chairs beside high-ranking noble stewards, royal chefs from neighboring kingdoms, and wealthy merchant lords who had set up luxury enchanted tents along the cobblestones. Private security forces guarded physical spots in line, while street vendors did booming business selling tea and snacks to aristocrats who refused to lose their position in the queue.

Inside the store, Orion, the elven manager, stood near the shuttered front entrance, looking out through the reinforced spy glass at the sea of camped-out patrons with a mix of awe and sheer terror. He picked up his communication talisman, dialing Sunny Vale Manor.

”Master Rowan...” Orion squeaked, wiping a bead of cold sweat from his forehead. ”The web servers are completely fried. The Ministry of Technology says it will take at least three days to build a server cluster strong enough to handle the traffic. And... and you need to see the line outside.”

At Sunny Vale, Rowan stood on the back porch, holding a warm cup of coffee while reviewing the domain’s physical inventory logs on his tablet. He chuckled softly at Orion’s panicked report.

”I can see the street feeds from here, Orion,” Rowan said smoothly, a grounded, confident smirk touching his lips. ”Don’t panic. Maintain store security, keep the automated thermal barriers active for the people queuing outside, and let the city guards set up water stations. We’ll handle every person in that line come Monday.”

”Understood, sir,” Orion breathed, visibly relieved by Rowan’s unshakeable composure. ”We’ve already organized the main floor into high-speed checkout lanes. The moment those iron shutters go up, we’ll be ready.”

Hanging up the call, Rowan looked out over the quiet, glowing fields of Sunny Vale. The Fragment of the Origin Earth Pulse hummed softly under his feet, feeding vital earth mana up into the soil where the next batch of crops was already maturing at exponential speed.

With the website down, Monday was no longer just going to be a store reopening—it was going to be the most intense physical rush in the history of the Imperial economy. And Rowan had every single crate packed, locked, and ready to deliver.