My Ultimate OP System: Summoning All Dragons, Gods, Heroes & Villains-Chapter 74: The Deal

As they walked through the living room, both Valerie and Bettie bowed respectfully in greeting to the guests. Bettie still clutched the blanket around her shoulders.

The princess gave an acknowledging nod, though her eyes narrowed slightly in recognition of Elizabeth from the Academy.

However, Ethan continued speaking, which drew her attention back to him. "Please," he said, gesturing toward the seats. "Have a seat."

They all sat down.

Ethan added, "If you would care for anything, Eduardo here would make it possible."

Ophelia gestured dismissively with her hand. "Oh, that won’t be necessary. I just want to get down to why I’m here."

She reached into her bag and brought out the bounty proposal, holding it up for emphasis. "This is a bold move, Son of Stark."

Ethan replied calmly, "I figured someone finally had to do it."

Ophelia tilted her head slightly. "I was told by my niece there was an assassination attempt on you by him. I’m surprised you’re still alive."

Isabella looked at her aunt with a weird expression. "Aunt Ophelia..."

She turned briefly toward her. "I’m only saying the truth. There’s no record of a failed assassination attempt up until now."

Ethan smiled, then repeated her name because he had just heard it. "Madam Ophelia? I’m pretty sure you did not come all the way here to critique the hitman’s expertise. So please..." He gestured with his hand. "Isabella must have told you why that proposal was brought to you."

Ophelia smiled. "I’d never seen my niece plead with me on something so much that I just had to assume... this boy is probably fucking her too."

And that utterance worsened the tension in the room immediately.

Eduardo shook his head. Ethan stared in mild surprise.

Isabella put both hands on her forehead, her face turned bright red with embarrassment as she said, "Aunt Ophelia, you’re embarrassing me..."

Ophelia laughed a bit.

Isabella sighed deeply, then stood. "I’m going to get some water."

Eduardo gestured while saying, "Please wait, Your Highness, I’ll get it for you."

But Isabella quickly said, "Don’t worry, Eduardo. I’m fine. I’ll get it myself."

Then she walked past them.

But instead of actually going toward the right section of the house for water, which was closer to the kitchen, she took the stairs upstairs.

Eduardo glanced at Ethan, who gave him a subtle nod. A silent signal that meant, "It’s fine. Let her be."

Ethan then turned back toward Ophelia. "There was no need for that. But let’s get to it, shall we?"

Ophelia smiled again. "Let’s split the bounty. I’ll contribute five hundred thousand, so you don’t have to cover it alone."

"You can’t possibly think that amount would strain me," Ethan said. "So what’s the catch?"

She smiled wider and brought out another document from her bag, sliding it across the table toward Ethan.

Ethan took the document and looked it over. His eyes narrowed slightly before he let out a sigh.

"How typical," he muttered. "You want a three percent of all profits from every aircraft sold by Stark Industries... granted to your side of the Tudor family. For all time."

Ophelia leaned back into her seat with a satisfied smile on her face.

Ethan glanced back at the document before speaking. "So I’m to assume the five hundred thousand you’re contributing to this bounty is simply your way of buying a stake in Stark Industries. The very thing my father refused to grant."

Still smiling, she said, "You’re a smart guy, Ethan. I can see why my niece is head over heels for you."

There was a brief pause as Ethan stared at her.

She continued, "Think about it. We become something like partners. Next time you need a favor, you wouldn’t need to go through Isabella anymore."

"And I’ll do you one better," Ophelia added. "The bounty has already received the King’s seal. Official copies have been sent to every major media house and the Enforcement Unit. All that remains is the final call of approval from me... and of course, that depends entirely on how this meeting goes."

"I didn’t think parliament would move on this so quickly," Ethan replied back, his eyes narrowing.

"Why would I waste my time with those old fools when I already hold several of the King’s seals?" she said with pride.

"Your King happens to be my younger brother... you do know that, right?"

Without waiting any further, she brought out a copy of the bounty that bore the King’s official stamp. Then slid it over to Ethan.

Ethan looked at it without picking it up, and yes it checked out.

He sat in thought for a brief moment.

This woman was playing a sly game, no doubt about it. But if he was being completely honest with himself, he had to admit something unavoidable.

He did actually need someone in parliament, who could move things quickly when necessary. And as much as it annoyed him to admit it, Ophelia fit that description perfectly.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

When he considered it more carefully, the taxes alone made the offer worth thinking about.

Even giving this woman a percentage of the profits would still amount to far less than what Stark Industries currently paid in taxes, especially if she could help him remove deal with those ridiculous laws.

In the end, he wouldn’t really be losing much with this deal.

This was all in addition to the number of other restrictive rules this partnership could help alleviate Stark Industries from.

He looked at her partnership proposal again, considering a counter that would reduce just how much influence she would ultimately have on Stark Industries.

He raised his head and looked at her smiling face. Then he thought to himself that she probably had maybe twenty more years to live. Thirty or forty if she was lucky.

Then he finally said, "Three percent is broad daylight thievery."

"I’m open to a counter," Ophelia quickly added.

"I’m not going to speak on the extent of profit just one industry makes on a monthly basis. I’m sure you see our taxes, so you know that already," Ethan began.

"So we’ll do this."

He brought out the pencil he had sketched with earlier and started making cancellations on the paper as he spoke.

"We’ll do one percent profit, but this is limited to the earnings of the main industry right here in Gritnia."

He canceled the three and wrote one, then made a few additional adjustments.

He continued, "Secondly, profits from every airship, not aircraft."

Then he canceled "aircraft" and wrote "airship."

Ophelia quickly said with a puzzled expression, "Aircrafts, airships... are they not one and the same with the company?"

Ethan replied, "When you look at it that way, sure. But I just like to have those words used the right way, you know. So airships."

She muttered, "Hm..." and leaned back.

But for Ethan, he wanted to make absolutely sure it remained as "airships" because very soon, Stark Industries would begin production of airplanes.

Airplanes counted as part of aircraft but could not be called airships, as they would not work or be built on the same components.

He was certain that in no time, Stark Industries would make far more money from the planes. And he was not in the mood to share any of that with Ophelia.