A Plan of Response

Camilla explained to the family members present why she believed Fran was still keeping her distance from them.

Although this speculation is somewhat strange, it is the most plausible guess given the current situation.

So after Camilla finished speaking, many family members nodded, indicating that they thought Camilla's words made some sense.

However, some family members, like the family executives including Oliver whom Camilla had previously told, completely disbelieved these words.

"How could a mage do such a thing?"

"Isn't that nonsense? I remember that Philly is her sister, who knows if she's saying this to elevate her own status in this matter."

"I don't believe any mage would do that..."

There was much discussion at the scene. Even if Camilla's guess matched the current situation, Camilla didn't have any further evidence.

Furthermore, some mages accused Camilla of using such rumors to elevate her status when communicating with ' Lai,' which is why she said those things.

Camilla couldn't explain this clearly. She had definitely benefited from the previous connection with ' Lai ' these past few days, and coupled with some of her actions, it was difficult for her to articulate the matter.

However, Camilla still brought this up at the family meeting because she herself realized that if things changed course, the family's fate might not be good.

In Camilla's prediction, ' Lai ' would use a special method to separate Philly from Felistin. But what would happen after that? What would the Felistin Family do?

Furthermore, recently, family members have been making money in the gray area through the Magic-Essence Communication Device project, and none of these profits will ultimately end up in ' Lai's ' hands.

Therefore, Camilla always felt that after Philly separated from the family, ' Lai ' was very likely to deal a heavy blow to the Felistin Family in this matter.

Following this line of thought, the only way out for the family now is to use Philly's situation to sign a new contract with Fran.

The previous contract did not stipulate that Fran was not obligated to cancel the contract at will, which is why the family was in a passive position in this regard.

This was due to the circumstances at the time, and Camilla had no choice. Who knew that this Magic-Essence Communication Device would develop to such a large scale?

At the time, the family generally believed that this was a way for the family to spend money in exchange for a closer relationship with ' Lai '.

But things have changed now, because many family members have given up on other areas of work and started to focus entirely on the Magic-Essence Communication Device, abandoning the positions they used to obtain with a lot of resources.

If the Magic-Essence Communication Device can be firmly controlled by the Felistin Family, that would be ideal. These family members would become the biggest asset in the implementation of the entire project, greatly alleviating the problem caused by the shortage of manpower.

But what if this project were suddenly put on hold one day?

Judging from the current trend of the family's inability to curb those accounting practices, ' Lai ' will one day hand over the Communication Device to other forces or form his own team.

Because the family-based model inherently makes it difficult for them to manage these money-making activities within the family, forcing them to relinquish another source of income, the family model becomes unsustainable.

If they do nothing, their entire family will probably explode on the day the division ends.

Therefore, Camilla believes that the only way out of this situation is to use Philly's situation to blackmail ' Lai ' and then sign a more reasonable contract.

At this point, as long as the family shows sincerity, the matter will likely end there.

But before that, she still had to persuade the other members of her family.

"Mage Camilla, I don't think that's necessary. Our entire project is thriving right now, why are you making it sound like we're on the verge of collapse..."

"That doesn't make sense. I think the reason she didn't accept the Champion Mage Challenge's proposal is simply because she has more concerns we haven't considered. It's not like what you're saying at all..."

"Exactly, we've only been profitable on this project for a short time now; there's no need to negotiate such a contract with them at this point..."

"Even without the publicity of the Champion Mage Challenge, we can still control this project and make a profit..."

Camilla sighed. If there were no conflict of interest, the other mages present would generally believe her guess and conclude that this was the reason for ' Lai's ' strange behavior.

Because it makes perfect logical sense and is one of the few theories that can explain the current situation, it's just...

Ultimately, the family members were reluctant to give up their own personal gains.

In her proposal, she made it clear that she needed to show sincerity for ' Lai ' to possibly agree to the offer.

Since Philly was already with ' Lai,' they couldn't bring themselves to bring Philly back directly.

And if things turn sour, they will suffer even greater losses. Even Philly's own wishes are unclear, because up to now, ' Lai ' has not allowed her to have any contact with Philly.

So, knowing full well that Felistin cannot turn against him, would ' Lai ' do something that would harm his own interests?

' Philly ' is already in hand, but there are still some finishing touches to be done. At this point, can the value of ' Philly ' really make ' Lai ' ignore his financial losses?

' Lai ' doesn't necessarily have to ignore this loss; she can hold both benefits in her hands at the same time.

At most, they can reach an agreement with the Felistin Family, which will save ' Lai ' a lot of trouble.

Therefore, at this point, they only had one bargaining chip: to focus on being a promoter of the Mana Telecommunications System.

The contract must not only bind ' Lai ', but they must also relinquish a portion of the profits based on the current situation.

Only with such a contract would Lai sign it, so that the family wouldn't explode if Lai signed a new contract with another power one day, thus affecting her personal development.

However, this ultimately touched upon a more fundamental issue: the family's current and even future profits must be used to secure this guarantee.

It was also because of the loss of profits that most family members refuted her words, saying they were nonsense.

Camilla ignored the family members' chatter and turned her gaze to the mage Ruge, who had won the All-Forms Mage Award.

Of all the Felistin Family Member on Number Nine Floating City, only this mage can make the decision.

Oliver refused, because for some reason, Oliver simply wouldn't believe Camilla's guess. He believed that no mage could fall in love with another mage, especially one of the same sex.

This was truly beyond Oliver's comprehension; Oliver and Camilla had argued about this countless times.

Therefore, Camilla could only rely on the mage from her host family, hoping that he could provide the answer Camilla desired at this time.

At this moment, Ruge's face was expressionless, but he was inwardly extremely conflicted.

"Signing a more secure contract with that mage, Lai, would make me unpopular with these mages, and could very well lead to other members of the main family taking advantage of the situation to strip me of my management rights."

"But if we don't do this, and we actually take what that female mage said seriously, the whole project will be ruined, and I will face criticism within my family."

Faced with these two choices, Ruge's lips moved, but he couldn't utter a word for a long time.

Only now did he realize how difficult the job of a manager truly was; faced with this dilemma, he had absolutely no idea what to do.

He used to be just a researcher, but because of his high Order, he had a position in the family, though it wasn't particularly high or low.

After he won the All-Forms Mage Award, he not only gained fame within the Transmutation School and the entire the Alliance, but his status within his family also rose accordingly.

He felt immense pressure because his status had suddenly risen too high, making him very uncomfortable with the constant power struggles among family members.

After suffering many losses, he realized that although the family appeared harmonious on the surface, when it came to real conflicts of interest, the family members would fight tooth and nail.

This also made him realize that when you are in charge of something, the important thing is not to do it well, but to shift the blame for failure to others, so that no matter what you do wrong, others cannot blame you.

Therefore, when faced with these two choices, he felt that Camilla's words made more sense. Anyone with eyes could see that this logical guess was much better than those arguments based solely on wishful thinking.

However, considering the power struggles within the family, and the fact that doing so would draw accusations of disregarding the interests of family members, there are other factors at play.

Therefore, Ruge could only make an extremely conservative decision.

"Just proceed according to the previous plan. We'll send someone to discuss the Champion Challenge again, but we need to make it clear that full funding is our bottom line."

Camilla sat down in disappointment, while the other mages who heard Ruge speak only showed expressions of relief, their smiles intermittent, without any cheers.

This decision sparked another round of hushed conversations in the hall. This time, the mage next to Ruge called out three times, but the voices still echoed throughout the hall.

Ruge sighed deeply, looking at the scene before him, feeling that the situation was far too complicated.

But no matter how difficult the problem, he still had to continue, because he had those 'family' behind him, and for their sake, he had to wade through this mess.

"Continue. Next, we need to discuss the specific circumstances of family members. Those who hold important positions, such as auditors and Investigator, please raise your hands..."