Chapter 26

"Let's talk business, Marquis."

He nodded, his face more intent as if he was listening closely now than he was before.

I pulled out a bunch of papers from my dimensional storage.

"This is my business proposal to you. I have this company that will usurp the spot of #1 cosmetic company from Selena Renforth within a month. I already have all the plans in place, I just need someone to handle the materials that I will buy. And I think you're perfect for that."

He scanned the documents and nodded, but he clearly wasn't actually considering my proposal. To be fair, my claim was ridiculous.

"You don't need to pretend to be interested right now, Marquis. I understand that you don't believe me, this is an insane claim, and I have zero reputation or experience. So I will tell you this now, if you make this deal, I will guarantee to buy the exact amount of product that Selena has bought within the last fiscal year from you. I will do this for 5 years, whether I make money on it or not, or whether I even sell it or not, I will buy that amount from you either way. And if I end up needing more, then we can arrange that later."

His eyebrow perked up.

"So you're saying that you are willing to lower the risk?"

I smiled once more.

"No, I'm willing to make it zero risk, I wish to make a contract with a length of 5 years, meaning, should you wish to back out after 5 years, you are free to do so."

He looked sceptical. "What's in it for you?

I leaned forward.

"Here's the deal, you sell me the same products you sell to Selena for 25% off. Now I know what you're gonna say, 25% off? That's ridiculous! Well, three things, one, it was gonna be 15% but your daughter pissed me off. Two, take two seconds to think about it. Selena has about 66% of the market share right now, if you sell the exact same amount to me at 25% off you will be making 49.5% more money per year. And three, your markup is already 400% on goods so even after the discount it will be 300%."

I left that to linger in the air for a moment. After a minute of calculations and thinking it over he spoke up.

"That certainly is profitable, it's a good deal for me, and it's a ridiculous deal for you. I just don't see what you gain from this."

I shook my head.

"No, no. You got it all wrong, you're supposed to do two things here. One is shut the hell up about how bad a deal it is for me so I don't back out. Then two is ask the big question."

He glared at me for telling him what to do but nonetheless asked.

"What's the big question?"

I sighed, this guy needs some forward thinking.

"Haaa, listen, if I'm making these ridiculous claims and this deal, don't you think you should consider the possibility of my success? However small a chance it is?"

He looked me in the eyes. "So you realize that I think you're speaking nonsense."

This guy…

"Whatever, nevermind then."

I was gonna tell him that if this business goes well, it will put Selena out of business or at least reduce the size of her business by a large margin, which would in turn affect the person selling her the materials for her products, Marquis Sergio, but he's not ready for that conversation yet. Also even if that happened he would still be making a profit if he agrees to the second part of my deal about selling soap to commoners.

I mean… this whole business is actually all a front with the goal of fucking Selena over. So none of that matters as the real business is the soap I will be selling to commoners, but this guy just wouldn't shut the fuck up. So he's gonna find out the hard way when his sales drastically decrease.

"Alright. This is a decent deal, I will consider it and get back to you."

He responded, I think he might have been concerned about what I said just now and wanted time to figure out his mistake. Well, I'm not gonna let him.

"Actually, that's not the whole deal, Marquis." I cut in before he could push me out.

He looked surprised. "It's not?"

I leaned back in my chair and threw my arms over the back in a relaxed pose as he stiffened in place. Half of negotiations is having the upper hand, usually if you were in someone else's home this would be useful to them, but my clear lack of manners and relaxed attitude is clearly throwing him off and making his head spin in circles.

Now to drive the final nail into the coffin.

"This deal is only on the table today, if you don't agree by the time I leave this room, then it's a shame, but I'll take my business elsewhere."

He gulped. Clearly very nervous and heavily considering my deal, his anxiety about what I said earlier was actually working in my favour now.

This was all part of my plan from the start and he fell for it, hook, line and sinker. Give him the tip of the iceberg and make him realize how lucrative this deal is for him no matter what happens in the future, then pull back and force him to make a huge decision on the spot with no counselling, plus, I'm about to up the stakes. He really is like a puppet dancing in the palm of my hand.

"What's the rest of this deal, Prince Artemis?" He tried to keep a professional look, but I could tell he was eager to find out.

I smiled and leaned forward, pulling out a piece of paper I had drafted up earlier and slamming it on the table in between us.

"Before we keep talking, you have to sign this. It's just an NDA. It's a magical contract that will let me know if you break your promise not to speak about what comes next, as well as telling me who you spilled the beans to."

This probably wasn't necessary, as no one would believe him if he told anyone what I'm about to say next, but it's still such an easy thing to do that I might as well. Plus, it's psychological warfare right now, and this is a great weapon, I can see him sweating in his little boots. How cute~.

He sat there in a cold sweat for a minute, probably considering what would happen next. Then he agreed.

"I just have to not tell anyone, that's it right?"

He asked.

I nodded. "Feel free to read it."

He read it over three times before signing. It really was simple for him, just don't tell anyone.