Chapter 182
After Erylotte finally left the conference room to get some rest, Beleyn gazed down at his son, still cradled in his arms.
He could have sent Abeno back to his room to sleep, but he couldn’t bear to let him go just yet.
Abeno, fast asleep with his father’s jacket draped over him, still had a babyish face, not yet having lost his chubby cheeks.
Looking at that innocent face made tears well up in Beleyn’s eyes.
He had already failed to protect his son once.
‘Because of this incompetent father… you…’
He had almost lost him again.
If Erylotte hadn’t stepped in to catch the kidnapper, where would Abeno be now?
If she hadn’t noticed the hypnotic, would Abeno have been able to grow up healthy?
Thinking back to the sight of Abeno, collapsed in Erylotte’s arms on the cold ground, Beleyn’s heart sank.
It felt like his heart had dropped to the floor, and he thought that nothing could hurt more than this.
“…Abeno.”
Beleyn called his son’s name in a voice heavy with emotion.
Everyone around remained silent, empathizing with the sorrow of a father who had almost lost his child.
However, there’s always one person who lacks sensitivity in moments like these.
And that person was none other than Valdrich, Geoffrey’s father.
As everyone waited quietly, Valdrich decided to speak up.
“Haha. It’s really fortunate that everything has ended well. Now, how about we move on to discussing the white crystal?”
Glare!
People turned to Valdrich in shock, glaring at him, but Beleyn, having composed himself, nodded.
“Very well.”
With the prince leading the conversation, the people of Aligiosa couldn’t object, and the meeting room transformed into a place for negotiations.
“Alright, then…”
Valdrich’s eyes were practically bloodshot in his desperation to seal the deal.
Years ago, Erylotte had caused him to lose half of his territory—prime land, at that—and his finances had suffered a massive blow.
Since then, Daymond had aggressively expanded his influence, squeezing Valdrich’s position even further.
He needed this deal to go through to regain some standing.
Valdrich’s eyes gleamed with greed.
“Well, we’re not asking for too much.”
Feigning expertise in negotiations, pretending to be a smooth talker, Valdrich dragged out the introduction before finally getting to the point.
“If you guarantee 700 pieces of white crystal over 10 carats each year, we can offer you a higher price than the market rate!”
“What? Seven hundred pieces?”
The people of Aligiosa looked troubled.
“I believe we already mentioned that even supplying 500 pieces is difficult…”
Earlier, at the drinking table, the Aligiosa representatives had openly shared that even delivering 500 pieces of white crystal was a challenge.
Now, 700?
‘Is that even possible?’
‘What if pushing too hard causes the entire deal to fall apart…’
The other second-generation members couldn’t criticize Valdrich, their own, but their anxious gazes turned toward Duke Astra.
The Duke clenched his jaw in anger but remained silent.
It irritated him to no end that people always turned to him when things got difficult.
Finally, Crown Prince Beleyn , who had been quiet until now, spoke.
“I have a better proposal than that.”
“A better proposal? Are you suggesting 800 pieces of white crystal?”
Valdrich jumped in eagerly, but Beleyn didn’t even look at him.
Beleyn’s eyes were on Duke Astra.
And then,
“I want Astra to become the distribution hub for white crystal on this continent.”
With Beleyn’s words, both the people of Aligiosa and the members of Astra were left speechless, their mouths agape.
“……!”
“……!”
“……!”
What?!
The room filled with silent exclamations.
Aligiosa controls 90% of the world’s white crystal supply, giving them the power to regulate its distribution worldwide.
And now they were offering Astra the role of becoming the exclusive distributor for the continent?
In other words, Astra would have a monopoly on all white crystal distributed on the continent.
“Your Highness! That’s…!”
“Shouldn’t we discuss this further…?”
“We haven’t even consulted the capital yet!”
The ones most panicked were the people of Aligiosa.
Though the members of Astra were also stunned by such an extraordinary offer, they knew there was no downside for them, so there was no way they would refuse.
Bang!
Valdrich slammed the table with his fist as he shot to his feet.
His face was full of greed, and his eyes gleamed with the satisfaction of having succeeded.
“Of course—!”
In that short moment, Valdrich had already indulged in a dream of glory.
He, Valdrich Astra, had been the one most involved in the negotiations for this white crystal deal.
‘So naturally, the credit will go to me, Valdrich…!’
But Beleyn’s firm voice abruptly shattered Valdrich’s fantasies.
“But.”
Beleyn glanced at Duke Astra before shifting his gaze to Daymond.
The Duke smiled faintly, as if he had already expected what was coming.
“The Chief Negotiator and person in charge of this deal must be Daymond Astra.”
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