"I’m sorry, Rowena, but I’m not interested in signing another contract with you." Austin replied, and his words hung in the air, making the room feel really quiet.

For a moment, Rowena simply stared at him as she tried to process what she had just heard.

This was because, of all the responses she could have expected, this wasn’t one of them, and she really didn’t know how to react to this sudden revelation.

"I....see." Rowena’s voice wavered slightly as she straightened her posture. "I understand. If the terms aren’t favourable enough for you, I could certainly reconsider the percentages. Perhaps 75%, or maybe 80% will be...."

"It’s not about the percentages." Austin cut in gently, and Rowena paused before asking.

"Then what is it about?"

Hearing her question, Austin walked back around to face her properly, then crouched slightly so he was at eye level with her.

"Rowena, every contract has an end date. It could be six months, a year, five years, but it doesn’t matter, because at some point there’s a line on a piece of paper that says ’this stops here unless we both agree to keep going’." Austin explained, and Rowena nodded as she replied.

"Yes... that’s generally how contracts work."

"Exactly. And I don’t want that."

"You don’t?"

"Nope."

"I’m afraid I still don’t understand." Rowena said, trying to make sense of what he was getting at.

Seeing this, Austin could only sigh as he rubbed the back of his neck, trying to find the right words for a situation like this.

"Look, when we first made our deal, I needed somewhere to work and you needed a way to keep your stores from going under. It was simply business between us, and that was fair enough." Austin explained, and Rowena finally caught a hint of what he was trying to say.

Initially, they had been strangers trying to become business partners through the use of a contract.

However, times had changed, and things had certainly changed between them as well.

They were clearly not just business partners anymore, and this was what Austin was trying to explain to Rowena.

"You’re my friend now, Rowena. In fact, you’re one of the best friends I’ve ever had, and from what I know, friends don’t sign contracts with each other."

He continued. "They certainly don’t sit down every six months to renegotiate how much of each other’s profits they get to keep."

"So... you’re saying..."

"I’m saying I don’t want a contract. I want to just... keep doing what we’re doing, but this time with no expiration date and no renegotiation."

"So if you need potions, I’ll make them, and if I need a place to work, I know you’ll have one for me. Plus, if I need anything, I know you’d help me too, because that’s just who you are."

Rowena stayed silent as she listened to what Austin said.

To be honest, she had initially thought Austin might have somehow negotiated with a fellow noble behind her back, and was only now about to reveal it to her.

With the knowledge that Austin could brew such powerful potions for both stamina and healing, Rowena didn’t want to imagine a situation where she was no longer in a close relationship with him.

This was because a part of her truly believed that if they grew even closer in the future, there would be a high chance the two of them could work together on improving her late father’s 3% mana-replenishing potion recipe.

So when she heard Austin declining her offer to renew their contract, it made her feel really sad.

A sharp pain had struck her chest for a moment, but now that Austin had made his true intentions known, it touched her in a way she hadn’t expected.

To think she had been worried about him leaving, when all he had been trying to say was that he simply didn’t want their relationship to feel like business anymore.

Instead, he saw them as friends now, and friends trusted each other, so he was indirectly letting her know she had nothing to worry about regarding him suddenly deciding to leave.

This was because, in one way or another, Rowena’s territory and the people within it had become dear to Austin, and he had no intention of distancing himself from them.

Moreover, the elves of Elmfield County loved him, so it would be impossible for Austin to simply leave his adoring fans behind when he could just stay close to her and enjoy the benefits of being friends with their Countess.

Realising all of this, Rowena tried hard to remain calm and hold back the tears welling in her eyes. "I really thought you were going to give me a businesslike reason for not wanting to renew the contract." Rowena said softly as she wiped the small tears from the corners of her eyes.

"Well, it’s a good thing I’ve got a good friend who’s smart enough to handle the business side of things, so that leaves me to handle the friendship side, if you’ll accept it, of course?"

"Y-yes, I will." Rowena nodded instantly, then quickly reached out to grab the front of Austin’s shirt before pulling him into an unexpected hug.

Austin was caught off guard and nearly lost his balance before steadying himself and wrapping his arms around her in return.

"Thank you... For the potions, for the forest, for being my friend, and for everything else. I really appreciate it." Rowena murmured softly against his shoulder.

Her voice was barely above a whisper, but it was still loud enough for Austin to hear clearly, and he smiled softly before patting her back gently.

"That’s what friends are for."

And so they stayed like that for a while, with neither of them in any particular hurry to let go.

Eventually, Rowena pulled back, quickly wiping at her eyes with the back of her sleeve as she composed herself and cleared her throat.

"Well then. If there’s no contract to discuss between us, I suppose we should focus on more pressing matters. Like this... massage you promised me."