“Anything else you want to ask?” Lillian continued, turning to Ophelia.
“If not, we can sign the…”
Lillian hesitated.
Honestly, this thing only restricted herself—was it even useful for Ophelia?
“Let’s sign the contract.”
Just following procedure, that’s all.
Lillian didn’t believe either of them would ever betray the other.
Ophelia picked up a sheet of paper and, as if she’d done it countless times, began to write.
Before long, the contract was finished.
Ophelia slid the contract to Lillian, glancing at her from the corner of her eye, “Sign it.”
Lillian took the contract, intending to give it a once-over.
Just as she was about to skim through, Ophelia stopped her.
“Lillian, you don’t have to look…” Ophelia propped her chin with one hand and gazed out the window, “There won’t be any mistakes with something I write. Don’t you trust me?”
Is… is that so?
That attitude… Something feels off.
A sense of caution rose in Lillian’s heart.
Well played, Ophelia, trying to trap me… I won’t fall for it.
This called for a detailed inspection instead of a quick one.
Lillian began to read, word by word, line by line.
No problems.
This part was fine too.
Huh?
A fifty-fifty split?
Lillian’s eyes widened as she looked at Ophelia.
“Lya, did you make a mistake with the split here? Shouldn’t it be ninety-ten?”
“No mistake, Lillian, you deserve this much.” Realizing she couldn’t hide it anymore, Ophelia confessed openly.
Of course she wouldn’t foolishly insist on only giving Lillian a ten percent share.
Lillian owed 300 gold coins, and since she refused to let Ophelia pay it off for her, this was the only way to indirectly boost Lillian’s income.
Hmph.
Eleanora, just you wait.
This was only the first step.
Once Lillian paid back your lousy 300 gold coins…
Ophelia felt a secret satisfaction.
“No, that’s too much.” Ophelia hadn’t expected Lillian to reject the proposed split.
Lillian, of course, didn’t think she deserved so much.
She’d only contributed an idea and some technical know-how.
All the manpower, resources, and everything else had been provided by Ophelia.
Without Ophelia, she wouldn’t have been able to make money from this at all.
She’d probably have ended up like those other transmigrators, accumulating primitive capital with things like soap or distilled spirits.
So many great projects in her previous life had failed only because they lacked an angel investor.
Ophelia was her investor.
Even though she didn’t know why, just knowing about Ophelia’s abilities was enough for her to be treated this way.
And Lillian had a gut feeling that even if she hadn’t been able to answer Ophelia’s questions just now, Ophelia would still have helped her perfect the idea and invested in the project.
Lillian had her own sense of fairness. Ophelia treating her like this—splitting it fifty-fifty—just wasn’t fair to Ophelia.
So Lillian refused the fifty-fifty split.
Ophelia, seeing how firm Lillian was, frowned slightly.
“Then what about…”
“Ninety-ten is fine, Lya.” Lillian sighed.
Ophelia sighed as well.
How could someone not want money?
“No way,” Ophelia was determined, “Listen to me.”
“Ninety-ten.” Lillian stood her ground.
“Seventy-thirty!” Ophelia revealed her bottom line.
But as soon as she said it, she sensed Lillian was about to refuse again, so she quickly played her trump card before Lillian could speak: “If you don’t agree, then we’re not doing this at all. The whole thing’s off.”
Lillian opened her mouth, then deflated.
If Ophelia said so, what could she do?
She yielded.
“All right, seventy-thirty it is.”
Ophelia flashed a satisfied smile. She took the contract, swiped her finger across the ink, and the words “fifty-fifty” vanished.
Picking up the quill beside her, she wrote “seventy-thirty” in their place.
“Sign it.”
She pushed the contract and pen in front of Lillian.
With a helpless look, Lillian signed her name.
Afterwards, it was just a matter of sending the contract to the cathedral for notarization… but that hardly seemed necessary.
“So, business is done.” Seeing things settled, Lillian turned toward the door.
Waving her hand, she said her goodbyes, “I’ll be going then, Lya.”
“Eh?” Ophelia hadn’t expected Lillian to be in such a hurry.
She quickly got up to stop Lillian.
“Why not stay for lunch?”
“No need, I’ve got a lot to do.” Lillian refused without even thinking.
She really did have a lot on her plate.
In the afternoon, she needed to adjust the flavor of the coffee.
Back in her previous life, she’d only ever had instant coffee—at best, some cheap, nine-coin deer head coffee.
She’d heard handmade coffee tasted much better than instant.
But it was just hearsay.
All Lillian knew was that coffee came from beans, roasted evenly, ground into powder, then extracted with water into a coffee concentrate, and with more water, you got coffee.
So the “coffee concentrate” she made tasted absolutely terrible.
No one in this world could teach Lillian how to make good coffee.
She’d have to figure it out herself.
And that was just the first task.
In the evening, she needed to bring Eleanora a cup of valerian root tea.
And try to sound her out a little.
She also had to draw blueprints for the machines used in the coffee industry and send them to February Avenue so those Dwarven Craftsmen could build the Roaster and Grinder…
Fortunately, she’d studied engineering in her previous life, so she understood the basics and how things worked.
Otherwise, how else could she hope to make money?
Just hand-make potions and sell them off slowly?
“All right then…” Ophelia looked a bit disappointed as she picked up her keys and headed for the door, looking back at every step.
“Are you sure you won’t stay for lunch?”
“…”
Ophelia looked so pitiful.
Lillian’s heart softened all at once.
She couldn’t stand that expression.
“All right, all right…”
Ophelia turned, flashing a victorious smile.
Heh.
Little Lillian was still too young.
Didn’t she know girls are the best at acting?
Still, Ophelia hadn’t expected Lillian to fall for it.
She smiled.
Now she knew exactly how to deal with Lillian in the future.
“Hmph hmph~” Her mood brightened considerably.
Opening the study’s door, Ophelia smiled as she made way for Lillian behind her.
Guided by the maid, the two headed for the dining hall.
Looking at the dark green-haired figure ahead, Ophelia’s mind whirred with ideas.
When would she be able to drag Lillian to live with her?
It would be so much fun.
She’d never have to be alone again.
With Lillian, she’d never be bored.
It sounded like something was happening in the dining hall up ahead.
Probably that little maid Erin, sent to watch over Lillian.
Pa…
Annoying Eleanora.
Ophelia frowned, growing impatient.
Just thinking of Eleanora living with Lillian every day made Ophelia’s heart itch as if scratched by a cat.
When Lillian looked her way, she quickly smoothed away her impatience, smiled, and motioned for Lillian to go in first.
Since you’ve done this much already…
Ophelia beckoned, and the head maid approached from behind.
“Fleur, I suddenly feel that in the Imperial Capital, we need a place where friends can quietly enjoy tea and the view. Go take a look, see which garden next to the Cohen Earl’s estate is the most beautiful, the one that would suit me and Lillian best. Then, find a way to convince the owner there to… let go of it gracefully.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
The head maid took her orders and left.
Ophelia rubbed her fingers together, a mischievous smile on her face.
She couldn’t wait to see Lillian and Eleanora’s reactions when she visited as their new neighbor.