Miracle Drug
Victor didn't even have to think hard on how to market Penicillin. As the city most well known for their courtesans many people in Lys, and even a lot of nobles, have problems with sexual diseases. There are quite a few of Emilia Di Natale's old friends that died due to the consequences of sexual diseases. He sent the few old friends that are still alive even though they are suffering from illness a pill each.
Their physical health and illness improved by miles after only taking a small amount of Penicillin. The news about a new miracle drug spread first within the noble circle of Lys and then fast in all directions of the Known World. Many rich merchants from Essos or nobles from Westeros heard about the drug from Lys and have even seen some people that were sick before and now cured. But not only sexual diseases were cured, even the strong fever of the young heir of House Nahohr was cured. The old head of the family personally visited Canahs and repeatedly thanked Emilio and Victor for their grace of saving his grandson.
Penicillin slowly but surely turned into a miraculous drug, and everybody wanted to get some in case an emergency arrived. It was said to be able to cure bronchitis, blood poisoning, bile duct infections, urinary tract infections, meningitis, bone inflammation, lung infection, syphilis, gonorrhea, typhus, and tonsillitis.
But they all got the same news. The drug was extremely limited and would only be given to a small amount of selected people in the future. Those people would be selected by the Maar family, the Ormollen family and House Di Natale. This led to an increased invite to parties and all kind of occasions. But the families kept united and announced the first round of invitations in March 280 AC. Roughly two months before the wedding of Elia and Rhaegar. Victor planned to invite many small noble families to this occasion and just send some pills to the big noble families of Westeros, like a Lord Paramount. He didn't want to create a big event one year before the tourney of Harrenhal.
The days after everything was settled Victor finally returned to peace and could leave the dark and damp alchemy laboratory. He took a few days of and prepared for his birthday on January 15th. He would invite all the noble families of Lys for his tenth birthday. The Di Natale family was already preparing ingredients for many people. Luckily the winter of Lys was still quite warm, roughly 17 degrees. Living on an island in the middle of the ocean and such a nice climate zone was fortunate. Isabella would have loved to introduce a few noble children from Lys or Essos to Victor, but his marriage was unfortunately already decided by himself. Luckily, she still had the opportunity when it came to Giulia and Diane.
A few days before his birthday he invited Ashara for a stroll on the beach. Even though he had seen the girl every day on the dining table, they didn't really exchange much information during this time. After living with him and his family for nearly half a year Victor felt that she finally integrated into the family.
"I heard that mother took you along when she visited the noble families of Lys. Did you have any impressions? I don't really have time to any of them for most of the year and only exchange pleasantries when I do." Victor started the conversation with a casual topic.
Ashara was quite surprised that Victor chose a political topic. She would have expected a more casual start but was actually quite happy that Victor valued her opinion on something like this.
"Well, most families have been very respectful towards Aunt Isabella and me. A few families were overly friendly but true sincerity I felt only from House Ormollen, House Maar, and House Nahohr. For all the other families it was more of a mixture of respect, fear, and interest. But nothing too surprising, it is roughly the same in Westeros. I think there are currently no problems worth your concern when it comes to the relationship between the noble families of Lys." Ashara tried very hard to give a satisfactory answer.
Victor was not that surprised as he always felt Ashara to be a quite smart and observing girl. He didn't need a woman to be just beautiful and cute. He could find thousands of them in Westeros or Essos. If she couldn't handle interpersonal relationships and show a high amount of emotional intelligence, she wouldn't do the future Di Natale family any good. For now, he was very happy with Ashara's conduct during his stay with his family.
Somehow, she was especially loved by his grandmother. Whenever she felt the 'poor little girl' was wronged in the slightest Victor would have to spend at least 15 minutes too just listen to her talking how to treat guests better. It nearly reached a point where he had to treat Ashara better than his own family. Let's not talk about his own little sisters, as Diane was sleeping together with Ashara at least every second day. If Isabelle didn't put a boundary, she wouldn't even want to leave Ashara and just spent all day in her room.
Giulia on the other hand rather followed her mother around. She loved attending banquets and dances. Attending in a new outfit every time, showing her demeanor and status in front of other children was her most favorite hobby. Victor honestly didn't care. If she didn't make any mistakes or brought trouble towards the family his sister could do whatever she wanted.
"I am very grateful and happy about your behavior in the last few months. I know it is not easy to leave your home and travel across the ocean just by yourself. My family sincerely likes having you around and we all agree that you are starting to become part of the family, I hope you feel the same way." While talking Victor grabbed Ashara's little hand which shocked the girl a lot. But after a little struggle she choose to obey Victor and just kept walking along. Her face visible became a little red and she was quite nervous.