City of Desire-Chapter 608: Negotiations

Rylan Aardwyn

'Silver is smart. Use every word wisely.'

'We do not need to hide our intentions. He is smart enough to understand our intentions, but we need to hide the cards we will have. He shouldn't even get a hint about them,' cautioned Lord Constance.

It was a warning. That I shouldn't blabber; I am sure the bastard wouldn't even let me enjoy the velvet garden and its whores.

'I understand!' I replied.

I hate the bastard, but he is right. The fate of Tranquill Bathhouse depended on it. If I want to become the master of it one day, then I will have to do what he said.

A few minutes passed, and the carriage stopped before the small city hall.

…

'Lord Constance and Mr. Aardwyn are here for you, Lord Silver,' informed Jill.

'Send them in," I replied.

Click!

A second later, the door opened, and two people walked inside: Constance, the guardian of the Wander Inn, and Rylan, the heir of the Tranquil Bathhouse.

"Lord Silver," they greeted after a short silence. "Lord Constance. Mr. Rylan," I replied.

A moment later, they sat in front of me.

"His Majesty, the Dictator of Dorus, and Lord Aardwyn, Lord of Tranquil Bathhouse, have accepted your offer in principle."

"After the connection with the Wander Inn is broken, Tranquill Bathhouse will be one with Velvet Garden," he stated, and I smiled.

The man didn't use absorbed or swallowed but used 'one with,' which will leave much to interpretation.

I am not surprised. They want my legacy as much as I want theirs. If they succeed, Tranquill Bathhouse will be given a new life.

Making it more than what it is now.

This is an offer of their dreams, the chance they have searched the continents for.

"The Velvet Garden will be honored to make Tranquill Bathhouse part of it and my legacy going forward," I replied. They may be vague, but I am clear.

It is for which I had called them.

"The honor will be ours, Lord Silver," said Rylan. To that, I smiled.

We talked about it for a few minutes. We didn't negotiate.

I will not negotiate; Carla and others will do that. Here, we just talk while trying to gain as much information as possible about each other.

"Do enjoy the city and the Velvet Garden. It might not be a throne, but it is still good enough to make one have a good time," I said as I got up to leave.

"We will, my lord," replied Constance before leaving my office.

They will start negotiations in the afternoon and stay in the city until they finish. I don't know how long it will take; it might take days, weeks, or more.

I don't care about the time it takes. I care about getting what I want.

Carla is a skilled negotiator and will handle the details. If they aren't willing to meet our terms, then I will call off the whole thing. I want Tranquill Bathhouse, but not enough to lose my legacy.

Three hours passed. I met a few people and attended a meeting before leaving my office.

A few minutes later, my carriage entered the bustling port. It was nothing compared to Archmage City, with its magic golems and other magical constructs.

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Soon, the carriage stopped, and I stepped out.

"Lord Silver," greeted Amelius. I nodded and turned to the river.

"How is it going?" I asked. "We have just started on the cofferdams, my lord," he replied, looking at the river.

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"It is happening a week before the timeline," I said, and the man smiled. "Yes, we are making good progress," he replied as we walked toward the river's edge.

A week might not seem enough, but they began working on it over a month ago and are progressing well.

"I want the bridge to be finished soon. Trade is increasing with Navr, baronies, and merchant states. The bridge will help tremendously with that, "I expressed, my anticipation palpable.

However, there is one item for which it will help the most. Without the bridge, we won't even be able to start working on it.

I pushed those thoughts and focused on what was happening before me. It is a marvelous thing to watch. I would have spent hours here if I didn't have so much work.

Here, they build cofferdams much faster. Using tools as well as the mages.

However, mages with particular spells are required for it. We have them, but not in enough numbers. We had hired some from the merchant state.

It wasn't that big of a problem—just a little expensive one.

I watched them create cofferdams and talked to Amellus and others before sitting back on my carriage.

Soon, I returned to the city hall. I attended a meeting and snooped on the negotiations. They didn't sense me, which isn't surprising.

Constance may have a Lord Class, but he is weaker and lower level than mine, and this is my territory.

Most importantly, they are in the domain of my legacy, and I am using the legacy's skill and power to make them very hard to notice.

They are negotiating intensely. I watched for a few minutes before focusing on the work.

"There is a message from Archmage City. Grand Mage Asin wishes to talk to you in an hour," informed Zela, surprising me.

I am shocked. A Grand Mage doesn't just contact you without reason.

"Did she provide the reason?" I asked. To that, she shook her head. I hope it's not about the academy. We have already received a first bid for the tender.

"Tell her I am available," I replied finally.

An hour passed, and I could barely do any work and even postpone one meeting.

"The call had connected," informed Zela, and I put my hand on her.

"Your Excellency," I greeted. Lord Silver, how are you?" asked the voice from the other side. I replied, "I am good, Your Excellency. Thank you for asking. "

There was a silence for a moment before the woman spoke again.

'I have called to remind you, Lord Silver, how fragile the legacies are and how important it is that their vision remains incorruptible.'

'I hope you will keep that in mind in everything you do,' the woman's serious voice advised.

'So, this is why she called me,' I thought.

She has learned what is happening, which isn't surprising. They are a spirit, and it is their job to monitor such things.

However, I am grateful she called me and my legacy. I want to see it go forward; swallowing another's core is best to stop that.

Many with potential had made such mistakes and ended up destroying that potential.

"I am careful, Your Excellency, and I do everything with utter caution, keeping the purity of my vision in mind," I replied as seriously as possible.

'I am glad to hear that, Lord Silver, and wish you the best of luck,' she replied, cutting the call while I slumped back in my chair with my eyes closed.

I opened my eyes a minute later but didn't return to work. Instead, I brought out the aura.

I practiced for fifteen minutes before focusing back on the work, which I did till the evening before leaving the city hall.

A few minutes later, I went to Calvary's barracks.

It is my second day of training after I returned, and things are already different. While only one of my skills changed after the class, the other skills melded to suit my new class.

Now, Calm Touch and Command Projection seemed to work better, and it wasn't just because of the level-up.

They are helping me train better. I need to get better.

Click!

It was later when the door of the home office opened. Carla came in with Hendriks and Taurus.

"Those bastards want to eat our legacy," cursed Hendriks as he sat down before me after the greeting. "We already knew that," I replied with a smile.

"Still, it makes my blood boil," he stated.

He was unable to control his emotions well during negotiations. Although this is not usually wise, I asked him to let his emotions show.

Let them see how desperately I want to consume the tranquil bathhouse. Make them know that my people oppose it and only do it because of my orders.

"Have you dangled the carrot?" I asked. "Yes, I offered them the core essence," replied Rip.

We have no intention to give them the core essence.

We just brought it up for negotiation as another tool. We will offer it to them if they do not resist the absorption, which they will never do since they want to eat us as well.

"We are desperate, but they are a hundred times more desperate than us. Their very survival depends on it," stated Carla.

"Yes, it does. That is why, in exchange for removing those tough conditions, we ask for the things we need," I replied. She smiled, and the other two remained slightly confused.

Though they know what we did and did not ask for.

We intentionally do not add tough conditions that would force them to stop resisting our absorption, which they would not accept.

So, in exchange for that, we are going to ask for other things, like having our people work there in the legacy for months. Getting the parts of tranquil and other things will strengthen Caena's spell.

If they are unwilling, we will end the negotiation. I know the danger we are putting ourselves in by doing this.

The core of Tranquill Bathhouse would be extremely strong, but that is the least of our worries.

They will have an entire kingdom's power behind it, while we only have two cities. We will limit their powers through the contract, but we won't be able to restrict them too much, or they will call off the negotiation.

Carla and others must strike a delicate balance between gaining the concession we want and giving them too much.