The branch, located in a prime district of the capital, was silent and still. It was obvious that hardly anyone was there.
Once they entered, a blonde-haired elf, probably the representative's secretary, led them inside.
No one spoke while they walked.
They traveled deep into the fairly large building, then stopped in front of a red door.
"Our representative is waiting for you through here. Go on in."
"Thank you."
The secretary opened the door. Finne and Lynphia walked inside, but they didn't see anyone in the room. By the time they realized it, the secretary had already left.
"Are we in the wrong room?"
"I don't think we would have been brought to the wrong place. It's a common business tactic to make people wait before a discussion. Let's have a seat."
Lynphia made an effort to act calm and encouraged Finne to sit on the sofa.
After hesitating a moment, Finne reached for the utensils on the table and started preparing tea.
"Would you like some, Lynphia?"
"I'm on bodyguard duty right now. I'll have some after we get back."
"Oh... Too bad. It's not much fun having tea all by myself," Finne said forlornly as she drank the tea she had made.
After that, they sat and waited patiently a while.
"Maybe we should get going soon."
"But the representative hasn't come yet."
"We've been waiting for over two hours. I think we can safely assume she's not interested in meeting with us."
"If that were so, she wouldn't have asked us to come. There must be a reason. Let's keep waiting."
"...Don't you find this rude?"
Even Lynphia, a commoner, felt a fair amount of anger at being kept waiting for two hours. Yet from Finne, she didn't sense any such emotions.
Finne was the daughter of a duke and had been given the title of Blau Mowe. There were very few people in the empire who wouldn't pay her a high degree of courtesy. She should have had at least some sense of pride, and the expectation that other people would treat her with respect.
And yet, there she was, quietly drinking tea as if nothing was wrong.
"Rude? But they're the ones who've agreed to meet with us. They have every right to expect us to wait for them."
"But—"
"If today isn't a good day, we can come back tomorrow. If tomorrow's not good, we'll come the day after. I want petition her with my time and sincerity. That's all I have to offer, after all," Finne explained with a sad smile. It was directed at her own powerlessness.
That's not true, Lynphia thought. Sacrificing oneself for others isn't something that just anyone can do.
Just as she was about to tell Finne that, the door to the room suddenly opened.
"Oh. I'm surprised you were still waiting."
The woman who addressed them had silver hair arranged in an extravagant updo more often seen on prostitutes and a suggestive dress wrapped around her voluptuous body, unabashedly exposing her pale white skin. Her purplish-red eyes stared at Finne with intrigue.
In contrast to her aura of mature grace and confidence, she had the youthful appearance of a teenager. With her silver hair, red eyes, and almost sickly pale white skin, she perfectly fulfilled all of the characteristics of a vampire.
On the woman's arrival, Finne immediately stood up and bowed her head. "Thank you for taking the time to meet with us. I am Finne Von Kleinert. May I assume you are the representative of Demi-Humans Inc.?"
"Yes, that's me. My name is Yulia. Feel free to address me however you like," Yulia responded and sat on the sofa facing Finne.
Her attitude made Lynphia frown.
"That's it? You're not going to apologize for making us wait all this time?"
"If you didn't want to wait, you could've left at any time. It's not as if we asked you to come."
"...Do you have no respect for your business partners?"
"Whether we're going to be partners or not is yet to be decided. We at Demi-Humans Inc. do need help if we're going to make it here in the capital, but that doesn't mean we're willing to partner with just anyone. I will not undersell my company."
At that point, Yulia put on a seductive smile and turned her gaze to Finne.
She recognized that Lynphia was only there as Finne's bodyguard and that it was Finne that she would be dealing with in an official capacity. That made Lynphia internally wince with displeasure. She had wanted to be the one to lead the conversation.
"Let me start off by saying a pleasure to meet you, Blau Mowe. Or should I refer to you by your title?"
"There's no need for that formality."
"I see. Then I shall call you Finne. I'm not that into 'Lord this' and 'Lady that,' so it's nice to be able to interact casually."
Yulia responded with a smile of genuine gratitude while reaching for the pot of tea Finne had prepared earlier.
"May I?"
"Of course."
"Thanks. I'm parched."
"Were you busy doing something before coming to meet us?"
"Not really. Just observing people."
Aha, thought Lynphia. Yulia had made them wait on purpose so that she could observe their behavior. Lynphia couldn't help but feel impressed. Yulia's thoughtfulness and thoroughness was clearly the reason she'd become the head of a large company.
Yulia wasn't just any average businesswoman. She was a battle-hardened business tycoon who'd probably been alive even longer than Finne and Lynphia's grandparents, and who had developed a small company of only demi-humans into a giant corporation. She was used to controlling every situation and even at that moment, she had things progressing entirely at her own pace. If they made a wrong move, they could end up trapped in some sort of outrageous contract.
As Lynphia was grasping the risky situation they were in, Yulia said something even more surprising.
"All four of the top candidates for the emperor's throne sent representatives to see me, hoping for our support. I could have met and spoken with all of them, but that would be a real headache, don't you think? So I had each of you wait at different places. I asked those representing Prince Erik and Prince Leonard to come here and the representatives of the other two candidates to visit another location. The second two soon got angry and left. I'd had a hunch that would happen, though, which is why I asked to meet them at that second location."
"I see. Does that mean we were the ones who passed the test, then?"
"Yes. After about two hours, Prince Erik's representative also left. I guess they decided we weren't the right fit. It was a sensible decision. They already have other large companies supporting them. They must've thought it wasn't worth it to waste that much time on us," Yulia finished explaining with a grin, then murmured her appreciation of the tea.
Lynphia, realizing that Yulia was even more of a shrewd businesswoman than she had imagined, started to feel slightly regretful. Demi-Humans Inc. was seeking help. They definitely needed Finne's popularity, and Lynphia had determined it wouldn't be difficult to obtain cooperation and support if they used Finne as negotiation material. But the representative sitting before them wasn't going to be an easy partner to deal with. That would be a heavy burden for Finne to carry. Lynphia cursed her own thoughtlessness, realizing she might have unwittingly brought Finne into a very tricky situation.
"Now then, let's talk business, shall we? You want allies in your fight for the throne. All of the other candidates have the backing of large companies, so you can't keep up in terms of funding. The question is, if we partner with you, what benefit will there be for us? Would you care to share?" Yulia got straight to the point. She obviously had the conversation fully in her grasp. Even the smile on her face was relaxed and confident.
There was no way earnest-and-eager Finne could compete with that. So, what did they do next? Lynphia had just started to think, when Finne straightaway played their strongest card.
"In return for partnering with us, you can have me. I will give you the right to use me and my name however you like."
Finne's utter lack of any negotiation struck Lynphia with exasperation and shock, but even more surprised was Yulia. However, she quickly regained her composure and boldly smiled.
"If you give me that right, I might have you do things no daughter of a duke ought to do."
"That's fine with me," Finne replied without hesitation.
It was Yulia's turn to feel intimidated by Finne's bright smile.
4
Finne's smile was intimidating to Yulia because she knew the right to freely use Finne was worth well beyond what she could pay. She doubted there was a merchant anywhere who could provide something equal in value to Finne herself. And she couldn't figure out if Finne knew that or not.
To Yulia, seeing Finne grinning like that was a scary sight. If, somehow, she were to provide something of equal value, Finne couldn't later go back on her word. It was like seeing someone grinning from ear to ear in the middle of a trial, right before the verdict. It didn't seem like Finne was quite in her right mind. That's what intrigued Yulia.
"Do you understand what you're saying? If I present an offer equal to what you're asking, you'll have no say in whatever I do with you."
"I understand, and it doesn't matter to me. The only thing I want is to be helpful to Master Arn and Master Leo."
"So basically, you don't care about what happens to you as long as it's good for their influence? Is there some weakness of yours they are exploiting?"
Finne's abnormal degree of self-sacrifice made Yulia sense something was wrong.
She looked over at Finne's bodyguard, Lynphia, but Lynphia seemed surprised herself.
"No, there's no weakness. I just want to be helpful."
"Is it really worth what you're offering? Is Leonard Lakes Aadler a prince that worthy of supporting?"
"Yes, of course he is. I would see him become emperor even at the expense of my own life. I'll do anything and everything I can to make that happen. If you can offer something equal in value to me, I will gladly offer up myself to you. What do you say?"
"...That's impossible. I can't offer anything equal to you in value. You win. ...My, my. You don't even leave any room for bargaining, do you?"
And just like that, Yulia compromised. When it came to important negotiations regarding her company, she had never, ever retreated first. She had never capitulated over even a single cent. Yet, she sensed that she couldn't overpower Finne. A bluff wouldn't work against someone so honest and earnest. A fair fight was the only option. And if she couldn't win that way, then she had no choice but to admit defeat.
"Tell me what you want."