RISE OF EROS

The discussion between the 5 nobles in Marín's mansion went smoothly and they agreed to take the women's proposal. They would first establish a joint venture to create a united front and thus become stronger, so as not to be intimidated by potential enemies.

Furthermore, they also decided that they would suppress the 3 viscounts who were attacking Andrew with economic measures. While nobles typically had these titles due to empire policy, noble families would not survive without businesses.

For this reason, there was not a single noble family that did not have some businesses, not even the imperial family was exempt from this. So these 5 families together could suppress the 3 viscounts with relative ease, especially since these viscounts were not united.

It was not that the viscounts could not unite, but rather their arrogance had made them believe that they could deal with Andrew and his entourage alone, not to mention that if they managed to suppress him, they would also gain greater benefits, but they would soon understand that not having joined forces was their worst mistake.

Even though they had established an alliance, they were still greedy and wanted to get more out of Andrew, so when the meeting ended, Orom, Cassian, and the 3 barons asked their wives and mother for more details, to see what they could take advantage of.

However, Marín, Patricia, and the others had already discussed this and had agreed to control their partners and children. Although these women acted as trophy women in these marriages, they were not stupid.

They are women who were educated as nobles and have always lived in high society, so they know politics very well, and above all, they know their husbands very well.

In fact, Patricia is the one who has the easiest job, because she still has a lot of power over her son, since Casian is still inexperienced and young and relies a lot on his mother, so it is not difficult for Patricia to convince him that this was the best deal they could make.

Carla, Sara, and Neris also managed to convince their husbands with a little effort, but it was Marín who had to fight the most. Her husband, Orom, was not only older and more experienced, but, having a high noble status, he was used to always taking the lead, so he was not convinced that he could not get more benefits.

Marín was upset with him for this reason because she couldn't seem to convince him, no matter what she said, and in the end she, upset, told him, "Do what you want, but when it backfires on you, don't cry."

Marín's crude words left Orom surprised since he had never heard her speak like that. He even hesitated a little, because it seemed like he didn't know something, but, even so, he decided to continue with his plan.

Since Marin had not been able to convince her husband, she quickly sent a carrier pigeon to Andrew explaining the situation. When Andrew saw the message, he couldn't help but smile bitterly.

This is why he hated the nobles, because they all had their heads in the clouds believing that everything must happen according to their wishes. The good thing about it is that Marin's message also hinted that he should act harshly when Orom came looking for him, showing him that he had no advantages.

Since Andrew wasn't particularly good at plotting and scheming, he showed the message to Candice, Oliver, and Gaston who are better at this, asking for advice in these situations.

When they saw the message, they immediately understood Marin's intention when she told them to act harshly, so they began to tell Andrew how he should act.

Oliver even recommended that he should act cold and that he must not be afraid to threaten him. Andrew was surprised to hear this, as he thought this would be counterproductive, but at that moment Gaston intervened and said.

"Young Master, I think you misunderstood Mr. Oliver," Gaston paused and continued to explain, "The Young Master and Miss Candice already decided that if things didn't work out, we would simply leave, so why should we fear?".

When Andrew heard this he immediately understood everything. Andrew tended to act cautiously, as he did not want to antagonize people and create problems, but now that they could leave whenever they wanted, he did not need to be cautious with anyone.

With this settled, the meeting ended and the night passed without incident. Orom did not wait and early the next day, he arrived at the Cannaris Palace, to discuss with Andrew a renegotiation of the conditions.

He arrived confident that with his noble status, he could intimidate Andrew and gain better benefits, so with a haughty expression he got off his carriage without hiding the fact that he was in the red light district and approached the reception.

He informed who he was and what he was coming to look for, so the receptionist did not delay and informed Victor. Victor had already been informed that Orom could come, so upon seeing him he greeted him respectfully and guided him to the office.

Since Shadow's agents had already informed Oliver and Andrew that Orom was heading towards the Cannaris Palace, there were only the two of them in the office. Victor knocked on the door and announced Orom's arrival and was unceremoniously allowed entry.

Since Orom was accompanied by two experts, Oliver did not retreat. Both he and the two experts who came with Orom began to measure each other as if evaluating each other's strengths.

The two experts who accompanied Orom were surprised because in seconds they noticed that they were not Oliver's rivals and subtly gave a signal to Orom to be cautious.

It is not the first time that Orom has carried out negotiations under these conditions, so he had devised these tricks to know how he should act, however, he did not act submissive either, he just knew that he should not be reckless.

While he was thinking about how he should act, Andrew took the initiative and greeted, "What a pleasure to meet you Count Alusa, to what do I owe the honor of your visit?" Andrew acted cordially because although he was going to act harshly, he didn't have to do it from the beginning.

The plan was to wait to see what Orom would say and then take action. Orom, for his part, misunderstood Andrew's courtesy as a sign of weakness and emboldened responded, "Well, Mr. Andrew contacted my wife, but since I am the one who will really help you, I wanted to meet you".

Andrew immediately put Orom on his blacklist, as he gave him the same feeling as Johan after showing his true colors, but he still maintained cordiality.

"I see, I understand. Please take a seat, speak your mind," Andrew said pointing to the sofa and Orom unceremoniously sat down. Oliver acted as butler and served them tea before retreating behind Andrew.

"So, what does the count want to talk about?" Andrew asked again and Orom, without even touching the tea, began to speak, "Mr. Andrew, my wife has told me about the agreement you made, but I have some differences."

"What could they be?" Andrew continued to ask calmly, and Orom continued to say, "I think the benefits you offered are insufficient. We are dealing with 3 viscounts, which can be problematic, so I would like to renegotiate."

Andrew narrowed his eyes, but his attitude still did not change, however, he asked, "Is it a negotiation of your particular part, or the 5 families?" The question seemed simple, but Orom immediately understood that Andrew was testing him.

Orom was not stupid, he knew that if he negotiated on his own he would be at a disadvantage, so he dragged without asking the other 4, "Well, we are a united front, so I am only here as a representative."

Andrew did not believe him, because all the other girls had sent him messages in which they had told him that they had managed to convince their husbands and Patricia her son, so he knew that Orom only spoke lies.

Furthermore, his Eros's eyes made it clear that Orom was lying, but he still played along, "I understand. Seeing that Count Alusa is a busy and direct person, I will be direct, what do you want?"

"It's really quite simple, we just want to double the profits, that is, give us twice the product you promised," Orom said as if he already had everything in the bag, but Andrew's next words surprised him.

"It looks like we won't reach an agreement." Andrew's blunt refusal left Orom speechless, as he expected Andrew to refuse, but not to the level of leaving no room for negotiation.

However, he did not panic and quickly, he added, "Mr. Andrew, don't jump off the horses so quickly. I think our proposal is fair, think about it, there are 3 viscounts with whom we would antagonize."

Andrew no longer cared about Orom's excuses, as he had decided to refuse from the beginning, he was only giving Orom the benefit of the doubt because if he made a proposal that was not too haughty, he would not mind compromising, but asking for the double what was offered was excessive.

"Count, the terms do not change, you can accept or not. Honestly, I don't mind leaving the empire, but now think about it, what would happen if I left and everyone found out that it was because of you?"

Orom's eyes widened at the comment, as it was clear that Andrew was threatening him. It was true that the 3 viscounts were the ones who pressured him, but now many knew that Andrew had approached them for help, and if the fact that they did not help because they asked too much was leaked, for the public he would be no different from the Viscounts.

There he understood his wife's words, this young man was not someone to play with.