Paris, Late Summer 1913
The courtship of Alan Mikaelson and Annelise de Rothschild was conducted not in ballrooms or romantic cafes, but over financial ledgers and demographic charts in a quiet study of the Rothschild hôtel particulier. It was a courtship of minds, an audit of ambitions.
"Your American approach is effective, Alan," Annelise said one afternoon, her pen tapping a line on a balance sheet. "Speed, consolidation, liquidation. But luxury is a different creature. It cannot be built; it must be cultivated. It feeds on heritage, not revenue."
She slid a thin folder across the polished mahogany table. "I have identified two potential seeds for your luxury group. They are small, barely profitable. The families that own them are tired. But they possess something you cannot buy on the open market: a story."
The first was "Maison Dubois," a leather goods workshop in the Marais district founded in 1788. They had once held a royal warrant to make travel trunks for the aristocracy. The second was "Parfumerie Voisin," a tiny perfumer in Grasse whose founder had supposedly created a signature scent for a mistress of Louis XV.
"They are functionally worthless to a modern industrialist," Annelise explained. "But to a dynasty, their history is an asset more valuable than their workshops. We can acquire them quietly, for a pittance, before anyone understands their true potential."
Alan grasped the strategy instantly. He was buying brands, not businesses. With Annelise's discreet introductions, he acquired both family-owned companies for less than the cost of his new motorcar. He placed them under a new holding company, a name he had chosen for its implication of timeless, unattainable beauty: Elysian Holdings.
Upon his return to New York, he moved to erect his second non-financial pillar. He established a new company headquarters in a modest building in downtown Manhattan. He called it Pixel Palace. His future knowledge gave him an unfair advantage. While others saw entertainment as live theatre or sport, Alan saw the future of idle hands. He hired a small team of German clockmakers and engineers, not to build marvels of technology, but to create simple, robust, and addictive mechanical toys.
His first patent was for a tabletop horse-racing game where players turned cranks to move small lead horses along a track, their progress dictated by a series of hidden gears and levers. It was simple, captivating, and designed for mass production. He was building an empire of leisure, one patent at a time.
With the foundations of Elysian and Pixel Palace laid, he turned his full attention back to the coming storm. The Mikaelson-Rothschild consortium needed a structure. In a series of transatlantic cables, they designed the framework. Starbank, with its new charter and immense cash reserves, would be the primary lending vehicle. But the risk was enormous.
"We must insure the shipments," a cable from Baron de Rothschild read. "The German U-boats will not respect a civilian flag when there are tons of gold in the hold."
This led to the creation of Starbank's first subsidiary. Alan's team, guided by Rothschild experts, executed a rapid acquisition of three small, overleveraged shipping insurers in Boston and Philadelphia. He merged them into the "Starbank Property & Casualty Insurance" division. Its primary, though secret, purpose was to write the insurance policies on the massive gold transfers they were about to orchestrate. They would pay the premiums to themselves, controlling the entire chain.
The wedding was held in October at the Château de Ferrières, the Rothschild's magnificent country estate east of Paris. It was not the wedding of the year; it was deliberately kept out of the society pages. The guests were a curated list of fewer than fifty people: the heads of the English and Austrian Rothschild branches, senior partners from Baring Brothers and Kuhn, Loeb & Co., and a handful of quiet, influential men from the French and British governments. It was a silent, formal acknowledgment to the world's true power brokers that a new financial axis had been formed.
Standing with Annelise on a balcony overlooking the grounds, Alan felt no romance, but a profound sense of completion. His partner was not just his wife; she was the key to a global network he could never have accessed alone.
"The Serbian nationalist groups are receiving more funding than usual," Annelise said quietly, her eyes on the horizon. "Our sources in Vienna say the Archduke is planning a visit to Sarajevo next summer. A foolishly provocative gesture."
Alan nodded. "June. Everything must be in place by then."
The cornerstones of his dynasty were set. The banks were consolidated, the luxury and gaming pillars were founded, the insurance vehicle was created, and the alliance was sealed in blood and name. Now, they simply had to wait for the world to tear itself apart.
End of Chapter Summary
Period: Q4 1913
Mikaelson Family Estimated Net Worth: ~$25,000,000
(Note: Net worth increases as the new ventures are capitalized and the consortium's structure adds significant value.)
I. Financial Holdings (Starbank)
Commercial & Retail Banking: Branches: 15
Total Assets: ~$15,000,000
Insurance (P&C): Division Established. Acquired and merged three smaller firms to insure consortium assets.
II. Gold Holdings (Mikaelson Gold Consolidated)
Fields: 2 (Nevada, California)
Current Market Value (estimated): ~$10,000,000
III. Luxury Goods (Elysian Holdings)
Holding Company Established.
Brands: 2 (Maison Dubois, Parfumerie Voisin)
Boutiques: 2 (Original artisan workshops in Paris)
IV. Gaming (Pixel Palace)
Company Established.
Products: 1 patent filed for a mechanical tabletop game. Production to begin in 1914.
Acquisitions This Chapter:
Company Name: Maison Dubois (Artisan Leather)
Location: Paris, France
Stated Real Value: ~$10,000
Acquired Value: $5,000
Company Name: Parfumerie Voisin (Artisan Perfume)
Location: Paris & Grasse, France
Stated Real Value: ~$15,000
Acquired Value: $7,500
Company Name: Three unnamed New England shipping insurers.
Location: USA
Stated Real Value: ~$1,200,000 (Combined)
Acquired Value: $850,000 (Combined, due to leverage)
Mentioned Families & Alliances:
Rothschild Family (Finance): Est. Net Worth: [Classified]. Status: Alliance Formalized. The marriage is complete. Joint ventures in finance and insurance are operational.
Kuhn, Loeb & Co. (Finance): Status: Acknowledged the new alliance by attending the wedding. Potential future collaborators.
Baring Brothers (Finance): Status: Acknowledged the new alliance. Potential future collaborators.