"What can fight isn't Earth's people, and even less so the Commonwealth. Father, Uncles, Aunts, you should understand the difference. What I fear is that the Commonwealth government—and that imposing gentleman of a president—don't understand it."
Thus, the meeting room established through the hyperspace communications network fell briefly silent.
"An instant meeting through the Sourcewave costs a fortune. In the half minute we've been silent, we've already burned through a thousand star credits." Yani smiled.
"Aren't we the ones who set the prices...?" Perhaps he had been dealt a heavy blow by his daughter. Feno Belenkester merely muttered this under his breath.
Then the voice of a dignified old man rang through the conference channel: "Everyone trusts your judgment, Yani. Investing in that young man is one of our established strategies, just as we invested in Victoria Lee back then. But, Yani, he isn't as stable or controllable as you imagine. Besides, the Blue Star Commonwealth is the product of half a century of everyone's effort and tremendous resources. Abandoning it won't be easy."
The speaker was Aimo Belmont, head of the Belmont family, grandfather of a certain... of a certain Claire Belmont, and Yamedha's grandfather despite their lack of blood relation.
Of course, although they weren't related by blood, the bond between grandfather and granddaughter was still deep.
That was the truth. Old Master Aimo trusted Yani, his granddaughter without a blood connection, far more than he trusted his own biological grandson.
"I agree. Grandpa, sunk costs are indeed an unavoidable issue. No one can afford to be completely carefree about them. However, I think you're worrying too much. The benefit of investing in a country and its people is that the country remains right there. Even if its political system changes, it won't simply sink away." Yani let