"I do not believe that is reasonable," Emily said with a polite smile resting on her lips.

The expression on her face remained gentle and composed, but at that moment, Duke Rizwell finally began to understand something he had failed to see from the beginning of this negotiation.

The young woman sitting before him, whom he had repeatedly underestimated, was not harmless at all. She was a wolf hiding beneath sheep’s clothing.

For a brief moment, his eyes shifted toward his butler, Adam.

The proposal they had created together had been based on Violet’s earlier declaration that Emily would be handling all matters related to profit distribution and negotiation.

Both of them had made the same mistake. They had looked at her age and her demeanor and assumed that she lacked experience. Confident in that assumption, they had intentionally left several clauses broad and ambiguous, believing those vague terms would naturally benefit them later.

Now that arrogance was returning to strike them, and it was striking hard.

Rizwell let out a long breath through his nose before leaning back slightly in his chair.

"You are somewhat right, Madam," he admitted with a defeated sigh. "My calculations may have been somewhat inefficient. However, I still believe there are certain costs that must be taken into consideration. The Infinity Guild would not be using our family’s name and identity, and hence registering your guild and you as the Guild Master as an entirely different business will still cost us significantly; there are tens of certifications, and at each level, we have to bribe officials heavily to avoid delays.

Emily nodded immediately.

"I agree, Lord Duke. Pardon my shortsightedness," she said with a small chuckle.

From the side, William silently observed the exchange.

By now, he understood perfectly well that this single mistake Emily had made so far had been deliberate.

Every correction she had allowed the duke to point out. None of them had been accidental.

She was slowly tearing apart the confidence of the opposing party, piece by piece, while not making them feel that they were going against someone perfect in herself, to avoid a complete loss of confidence and prevent them from drawing out.

She was letting them have the illusion that they were still in control of this deal.

She had succeeded flawlessly.

Rizwell cleared his throat and continued speaking. "Madam Emily, even though some of your arguments were reasonable, I still think there is a misunderstanding regarding your proposal of ten percent."

His expression grew serious.

"Even if we reduce expenses through existing transportation routes and established systems, we would still be bearing the cost of purchasing and developing land for new exclusive stores. Furthermore, we still do not know the nature of the products and the profit margins at which the Infinity Guild intends to sell. Given those factors, I believe a 32% share for our side is completely reasonable."

Emily chuckled again, and for some reason, it made Rizwell deeply uncomfortable.

"Lord Duke," Emily said calmly, "it is true that the Infinity Guild intends to trade products with varying profit margins. However, I still believe ten percent is the appropriate number under these circumstances."

Rizwell opened his mouth, preparing to respond immediately.

But Emily gently raised a hand and interjected.

"Hear me out, Sire."

Her voice remained soft, but there was an undeniable firmness beneath it.

"First, Lord Duke should carefully read the contract again."

"The terms proposed by Lord Violet clearly establish that although the initial operational costs would be borne by your house, those expenses would gradually decline over time. Within five years at most, the majority of those burdens would significantly reduce. Once that happens, even a ten percent share would become an enormous amount of profit for Draconis."

Rizwell’s brows furrowed, but Emily continued without pause.

"The agreement states that eventually eighty percent of Draconis employees involved in operations would be replaced by guild personnel. However, because your side added a clause demanding compensation for displaced employees, that cost of compensation would largely fall upon the guild."

She folded her hands neatly atop the table.

"After the transition period ends, the Infinity Guild would be responsible for paying the salaries and maintaining eighty percent of the operational workforce. In other words, we would be taking on the majority of human resource expenses ourselves within five years or even less."

Rizwell’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Emily did not stop.

"There is also another issue."

"The clause regarding conflicting products."

She tilted her head slightly.

"Your house specializes primarily in heavy weapons and steel products. Transportation and storage for such materials require massive infrastructure. The scale involved is enormous."

She paused briefly.

"For our current business operations, those established systems would reduce costs significantly and help us establish our supply chains quickly."

Then her eyes sharpened.

"But..."

"But if the Infinity Guild ever chooses to enter the heavy weapons market in the future, we would naturally be forced to establish our own supply chains, transportation systems, and warehouse structures for those products."

Her smile slowly widened.

"If that happens within ten years... perhaps even sooner... then the guild would eventually develop a distribution network comparable to Draconis itself."

Silence fell over the room.

William’s eyes widened slightly as even he had overlooked that possibility.

Meanwhile, Rizwell’s expression changed dramatically. His eyes widened as realization struck him.

Emily had just created a scenario he had never considered.

She continued speaking before he could gather his thoughts.

"At that point, if the Guild Master wishes to do so, she could simply transfer the primary business operations away from Draconis channels and move them into the infrastructure we built ourselves."

She leaned back calmly.

"Certainly, such a transition would temporarily disrupt our business operations."

Her smile remained unchanged. "But temporary losses are still preferable to surrendering 32 percent of future profits."

Rizwell’s expression turned grave.

"But there is a minimum partnership guarantee of fifty years," he argued immediately. "Perhaps you overlooked that clause."

Emily’s smile widened further.

"But there is no subclause requiring the Infinity Guild to conduct one hundred percent of its operations through your channels for the whole fifty years; that period is only 5 years long."

She spoke as if explaining something obvious.

"We could simply maintain 1% of our least profitable products through Draconis while moving the remaining 99% elsewhere."

Rizwell suddenly felt cold sweat gathering on his forehead.

How...

How had he missed that?