Inside a duplex villa near the sea, Claire and Calen sat side by side. Across from them sat an old man dressed in an extremely "artistic" style—one that ordinary people simply could not appreciate.
But the atmosphere was far from pleasant; it was somewhat tense. Ona sat across from them with a look of utter disdain, while Claire remained calm. Only Calen looked nervous, afraid that Claire would be provoked into anger and lash out.
"Get out, now! I will never cooperate with you!" Ona shouted, showing no regard whatsoever for Calen, the former jewelry tycoon.
Claire's expression barely changed as she said, "If you're dissatisfied with the price, we can discuss it further. How about two million Silver Dragon Coins? You only need to design a series of jewelry blueprints for me, and the money will be yours. In addition, the profit share from the jewelry you design and sell can be calculated at the highest market rate."
The shares from those pieces would not amount to much. High-end products were merely meant to establish a brand; the real money came from mainstream jewelry, most of which was designed by other designers. Claire would not need to pay any copyright royalties for those.
Claire had already looked into the market rates for such masters. The usual range was between five hundred thousand and one million, so offering this much was already exceedingly sincere.
"You can't even bring yourself to address me as 'sir.' You don't respect me, so why should I cooperate with you?" Ona shouted mockingly.
Claire remained expressionless. "Three million Silver Dragon Coins. I believe no one else would offer such a high price."
Address him as "sir"? In the entire Kingdom of Arcanum, only Merlin could make her use that form of address. And this jewelry