The Empress's New Clothes

"I'll have my seamstresses sent the spools, but do you have nay ready made clothing?", asked the eager, profligate Queen.

"Right this way, your Royal Majesty.", and she quickly followed into the courtyard, still barefoot.

When they got to the cart, far less fancy than she figured a merchant of such a station would have, the merchant whipped away a cloth to reveal a glittering golden cape of the most beautiful fashion!

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Spider_silk_cape.jpg

"We have just the thing. This garment alone took the efforts of over four scores master weavers a total of four years to weave over one million threads into this one garment!"

"It's glorious, I must have it!"

"It is not cheap my lady, even for one as well endowed as yourself."

"I have more than enough to buy ten of them!"

"I am certain your majesty, but I have only one for there exists only one in the world. To part with it I must ask for 10 million ducats."

"Fine, go collect it from the royal treasurer."

The merchant pulled aside the curtain to the carriage and revealed a makeshift living quarters.

Returning with a lit candle and prepared parchment the merchant dribbled out some wax below the writing and numbers Belinda didn't bother examining while she pressed her signet into it and then grabbed the silk garment, taking off her dress right in the court room in her haste. She felt as she had on Christmas morning when she got a pony (last year).

"Gimme gimme!"

The merchant laughed and walked off to collect the gold. 25,000 for 100 spools and ten million on top for the garment meant twelve and a half million golden pieces.

Hundreds of horses would be needed to carry back the plunder, but now being very rich, the merchant could afford it, or say, an army of a twenty legions for twenty years

The merchant laughed at such good fortune, as many courtiers laughed at the still changing Queen Belinda.