Baby System: I'm the Beast World's Only Hope!-Chapter 146: Episode : A Terrifying Woman.

"Just sign," Ren repeated, his voice silky smooth. He waggled the quill in front of her face like one would dangle a toy before a kitten.

"It’s standard procedure. Just a formality so we can start making you rich."

Roxy stared at the quill. Then she looked up at him, blinking her large eyes rapidly. Why don’t we play with him?

She thought.

She let her mouth hang open slightly, adopting the expression of someone who had never seen a number in her life.

"Oh, Ren," she sighed breathlessly, fluttering her eyelashes. "You make it sound so simple. But... my pregnancy brain is just so foggy today. All these squiggly lines..."

She pointed a manicured nail at Clause 4, the one that authorized a 15% administrative fee.

"This part here," Roxy said, her voice dripping with innocence. "Where it says ’Administrative Allocation’... is that like... a tip? For your guards?"

She had formed words that weren’t even there.

Ren chuckled, hiding his smirk behind his fan. "Yes, darling. Exactly like a tip. To ensure your gold travels safely."

"Oh, how thoughtful!" Roxy beamed. "And this part... Clause 9... ’Asset Liquidation Rights’. Does that mean if the bank gets too full, you help us clean it?"

"Precisely," Ren lied, his eyes glinting with greed. "We help you manage the... excess."

Behind Roxy, the temperature in the room spiked ten degrees.

"He lies," Zarek growled. "He is trying to steal from the hoard."

Roxy didn’t look back. She simply reached behind her chair and squeezed Zarek’s knee. Hard.

Wait, the touch commanded.

She turned back to Ren, her expression still wide-eyed and confused.

"So, just to be clear, Ren," she said, her voice trembling slightly. "You promise that these terms are fair? That this is how civilized kingdoms do business?"

"I swear it on my tails," Ren said, placing a hand over his heart. "It is the only way to do business."

"And if I sign," she continued, "I am agreeing that your way is the right way?"

"Yes, yes," Ren said, impatient now. He pushed the parchment closer. "Now, put your mark."

"Okay," Roxy whispered.

She reached out and took the quill.

Ren’s smile widened. He had won. He had secured the Iron-Wood gold supply for pennies, and he had done it by charming a simple female.

Roxy hovered the quill over the paper.

Then, her posture changed.

She slammed the quill down onto the table, point first, so hard it stuck upright in the wood, vibrating.

"Well," Roxy said, her voice dropping the breathy act and returning to its normal, commanding alto. "That’s unfortunate for you, Ren. Because if this is how civilized kingdoms do business... then you’re about to go bankrupt."

Ren blinked, his smile faltering. "Excuse me?"

Roxy waved her hand.

"Clause 4," Roxy recited, tapping the scroll. "Is not a tip. It is a 15% gross revenue tax on all outgoing shipments. Calculated annually, that would cost the Iron-Wood approximately 400,000 gold coins a year."

Ren froze.

"Clause 9," Roxy continued, speaking faster. "Asset Liquidation means that if our bank reserves drop below a certain threshold, which you conveniently set at 80% capacity, you have the legal right to seize our physical assets. Meaning, you want to foreclose on my home."

She leaned forward, her eyes burning.

"And Clause 12... pegging the Gold Standard to the Silk Index? Are you insane? Silk is a depreciating asset. It rots, and the moths eat it. Gold lasts more than that. You are trying to tie a rock to a balloon."

The system made sure to translate her words across.

Ren’s mouth opened, but no sound came out. He stared at her, the fan hanging limp in his hand.

"How..." he stammered. "You cannot read High Foxian. It is a secret script!"

"Surprising that you just noticed that now," Roxy snapped. "You are a thief, a very loud one, and the loudest one I’ve met."

She reached into her tunic and pulled out a roll of parchment, one that the system had prepared earlier under her dictation, just in case. She slammed it onto the table over Ren’s scroll.

"This," Roxy declared, "is the real contract."

She pointed to the lines.

"Clause 1: The Iron-Bank mints your gold. We take a 5% minting fee. Not 15. Five."

"Five?!" Ren squawked. "That barely covers the transport!"

"Clause 2," Roxy ignored him. "Fox Tribe gets zero voting rights in the Bank. You are a client, not a partner."

"I am a King!" Ren protested, standing up. "I will not be treated like a common merchant!"

"And Clause 3," Roxy finished, staring him down. "Since you tried to swindle a pregnant woman in her own home... I am adding a ’Stupidity Tax’. An immediate, one-time payment of 500 Gold Coins to the Iron-Wood nursery fund."

Ren stared at her. He looked at the quill stuck in the table. He looked at the grinning, savage faces of Zarek, Torian, and Kaelen, who were now enjoying the show immensely.

"You..." Ren whispered. "You played me."

"You played yourself," Roxy corrected with a scoff. "You assumed that because I have a uterus, I don’t have a brain. That was a costly variable error."

She crossed her arms over her chest.

"So here is the reality, Ren. You came here because your trade routes are stagnant. You need the coin to revitalize your market. If you walk out that door, you get nothing. You go back to trading silk for berries while the Tigers and Wolves get rich."

[SassyGoddess snaps her fingers, clock it, girl!]

She nudged her contract toward him.

"Or... you sign this. You make less profit than you wanted, but you survive. And you get to be part of the future."

Ren looked at the contract. He did the math in his head. 5% minting fee... the Stupidity Tax...

He realized, with a jolt of horror, that he had just lost a significant amount of potential wealth. He had walked in expecting to own the bank, and now he was paying an entrance fee just to stand in the lobby.

How pathetic.

Even Roxy didn’t expect it; no wonder they were hot dancers, their second name was swindler.

He looked at his guards. They were looking at the ground, embarrassed for their King.

He looked at Roxy.

He should be furious. His pride had been shredded. He had been mocked in front of his rivals. By all rights of the Beast World, he should declare war or storm out.

But he didn’t.

Slowly, a smile spread across Ren’s face. It was sharp. It was genuine. It was the look of a man who had finally found a game worth playing.

He picked up the quill Roxy had stabbed into the table.

"500 gold coins," Ren murmured, dipping the pen. "A steep price for a lesson in humility."

He signed the document elegantly.

Then, he reached into his robes and pulled out a heavy pouch of gold, his personal travel funds. He tossed it onto the table. It landed with a heavy thud.

"The tax," he said.

Roxy smiled, picking up the pouch and tossing it to Kaelen. "Pleasure doing business with you."

They were the ones making the coins, but it doesn’t mean they couldn’t receive them too.

Since the beast market was using the currency now instead of exchanges.

Ren stood up. He smoothed his silk robes. He walked around the table until he was standing directly in front of Roxy.

Zarek growled warningly, stepping closer, but Ren didn’t look at the Dragon. He only had eyes for the Luna.

He looked at her tired eyes, her swollen belly, and the fierce, uncompromising set of her jaw.

"I have traveled the world," Ren said softly, his voice dropping the theatrical lilt. "I have met Queens, Sorceresses, and Warriors of every beast out there. They were all boring."

Wait, there was magic in this world ?!!

He leaned in, his violet eyes locking onto hers.

"I knew from the moment I met you," Ren whispered, a shiver of excitement passing through his frame, "you were a terrifying female."