Speaking of Rowena, the stunning Countess gently replayed everything she had just heard Austin say to her a few moments ago upon entering the room.

’He says he wants to form a partnership with me that would last for six months, and in exchange he promised to make us both rich beyond our wildest imagination.’

’However, for him to make both of us rich, he wants me to agree to six terms of his.’

Rowena gently lifted her gaze back to Austin before asking.

"You want me to grant you access to the backroom of one of my stores as your personal workshop, without you paying rent for it, right?"

"Yes, that is correct."

"And you want a private room for you and your companion as well, in one of these stores, if I’m not mistaken." In most potion stores, the building was made in such a way that potion brewers and clerks had their own living lounge above the shop. It was not exactly the most cozy place to live in, but it was usually enough to provide a little bit of comfort for the workers of that store.

"That’s right." Austin replied with a nod.

These were the first two terms Austin had asked Rowena to agree to.

Hearing them again, Rowena couldn’t help but grin at the absurdity of what she was hearing.

Aside from those two terms, Austin had also requested that Rowena provide all the standard ingredients already stocked in her stores, to be delivered directly to his new workshop, while any ingredients obtained personally by Austin and Nora would be counted as zero contributions and were not to be deducted from their earnings.

These were another two terms, making it four in total, and Rowena couldn’t help but be impressed by the third and fourth terms in particular.

From what she could understand, it seemed like Austin certainly knew that her store was still producing 3% mana-replenishing potions.

But since her stores were not really making any profits, due to other stores selling better potions than hers, Austin had hoped to make use of some of the ingredients already stocked in her stores.

In other words, some of the ingredients he would need were currently in her possession, so it was better to make use of something closer to him than to go out and buy new ones.

Anyways, with all four terms already listed, Rowena replayed the last two terms Austin needed her to agree to. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

For term number five, Austin requested his own share be forty percent of all potion sales generated across all five shop branches, and finally, Austin would reserve the right to formally renegotiate all terms at the end of their six-month agreement based on sales performance.

This meant that if Austin’s potions sold well, he would get to renegotiate their terms, but if his potions did not sell as he believed they would, then Rowena could successfully terminate their contract.

This also meant that their agreement would not automatically renew or continue on the same terms as the first six months, because after six months, both parties would sit down and discuss everything afresh.

In other words, this would give Austin the chance to ask for a higher percentage than the forty percent he was requesting now, and it would protect him from being locked into 40% forever, regardless of how well the potions performed.

Realising this and listing all of Austin’s terms once more, Rowena couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly.

She could clearly see behind his scheming little mind, and this allowed the beautiful Countess to recline calmly in her chair as she said softly.

"Interesting. All these terms of yours are clearly designed to benefit you and no one else. Now tell me, what am I to gain in agreeing to such terms?"

She continued. "Yes, I know you want me to gain sixty percent of the sales generated, but you can’t expect me to be happy or satisfied with that term alone."

In other words, Austin got to benefit in six different ways based on all six of his terms, whereas she only got to benefit once, and Rowena was trying to understand how this was fair on her part.

Realising this, Austin smiled and tried to clarify what he believed Rowena might be misunderstanding. "Countess, you won’t only be gaining sixty percent of all potion sales across all your branches. Our agreement also gives you exclusive rights to sell the potions across your entire network during our agreement period, meaning you won’t have to worry about me supplying them to any competing party."

Austin continued. "Aside from that, you’ll be getting a superior product that would be generating consistent revenue for months, with no upfront investment from you beyond ingredient costs and possibly vial supplies as well. And if this is still not enough, then let me assure you once again that partnering with me will ensure all your shop branches become the most recognised potion distributor in the kingdom."

Hearing all of this, Rowena slowly darted her gaze to her left where Cedric stood, and the two exchanged glances for a second before Rowena looked back at Austin.

"Alright. I have to admit, those terms sound really attractive, but let me see if I understand the earlier terms you suggested. So with everything I’ve heard so far, it seems to me like it would only be you and your companion who would be involved in brewing and producing these potions."

"Yes. That is correct. I’m sure you know that recipes like this are always kept and hidden as a family secret, but due to certain previous circumstances, I’m left with no choice but to depend on others to survive. And this is why I would like very little people to know about what the recipe contains. The ones who get to know the secret behind these potions are those I consider my family, and I would like to keep it that way."

Rowena remained silent as she glanced between Austin and Nora.

From what she could see, it looked like the two of them were in a somewhat romantic relationship, which was strange to Rowena because as far as she knew, most humans rarely viewed other races as worthy companions, much less as life partners.

But Rowena wasn’t interested in delving too deep into their private life, so she shelved that thought away before refocusing on what really mattered.