Chapter 984: Alternate Timeline: Dinner

Even someone like her, who had already seen mountains of money moving in and out of Nexus Weapon Store almost daily, could not remain completely calm after hearing such an offer.

Five years.

That part bothered her more than the money itself.

If the Imperial Palace truly became dependent on her firearms for five entire years, then the balance of power inside the Phoenix Empire would slowly change beyond repair, and by then, even if she wanted to ignite chaos inside the Empire later, things would become complicated.

Very complicated.

For a brief moment, old thoughts surfaced again.

The throne.

Her biological mother.

The resentment that still existed deep inside her chest like buried hot iron.

She had already adjusted her plans once. Instead of immediately trying to overthrow the Emperor using Icarus Veyne, she decided to make the Imperial Palace reliant on her weapons first.

But dependence and loyalty were two different things.

And peace lasting for five years...

That sounded dangerous.

Because hatred was still driving her forward.

Without it, she sometimes wondered whether she would eventually become soft.

Whether she would stop caring.

Whether she would lose the sharpness that kept her alive.

’No...’

Kiara slowly exhaled through her nose.

’That’s not good.’

And then there was another issue.

Five years was enough time for her to develop things far beyond ordinary firearms.

Possibly missiles.

Possibly weapons this world could not even comprehend.

So after thinking quietly for a while, she finally looked toward Magnus Phoenix and spoke.

"One hundred million sounds tempting, Your Highness."

Her tone remained calm.

"But five years is too long."

Magnus narrowed his eyes slightly.

Kiara continued. "If I agree to this, then I want weekly guarantees instead."

"Weekly?" Magnus repeated.

A faint crease appeared between his brows.

"What exactly do you mean?"

Kiara slowly raised five fingers.

"Five hundred thousand gold coins worth of orders every week for five years. More specifically, every Monday."

For several seconds, Magnus did not answer immediately.

The evening wind moved across the barren training grounds, carrying faint traces of dust and metal oil from the nearby armored vehicles, while the Second Prince silently calculated things inside his head.

The overall amount itself was not the issue, even though it exceeded the previous offer slightly.

But the real problem was liquidity.

The Imperial Palace was rich, yes.

However, an empire was not a toy box where money could be endlessly pulled out whenever desired.

Road maintenance.

Military salaries.

Provincial administration.

Disaster relief.

Grain reserves.

Construction projects.

Taxes only arrived at fixed periods every few months.

On top of that, there is a portion of a reserved amount put aside in the treasury that is only used in times of war or natural disasters.

Magnus understood all of this very clearly because, unlike the Crown Prince, he spent years dealing with military logistics and budgeting.

After some thought, he finally negotiated calmly.

"A week is too short."

He folded his arms.

"The Palace cannot continuously prepare such massive funds every seven days."

"And our soldiers are still unfamiliar with your firearms."

"They require training."

He paused before continuing.

"You also need time to manufacture these weapons."

Then he offered his counterproposal.

"How about five million gold coins every three months?"

"This would exclude ammunition entirely."

Kiara honestly felt the deal was already good enough.

Very good, actually.

But negotiations were like blade clashes.

The first person stepping backward lost leverage.

So she deliberately pushed further.

"Three months is still too long for me to wait for every order, too," she replied calmly. "You can already see how rapidly situations change inside the Empire. Everything is changing in a matter of weeks."

Then she crossed her arms.

"One million gold coins every two weeks."

Magnus stared at her for a second before letting out a tired breath.

"You really enjoy cornering people."

His complaint sounded half serious and half amused.

Then, after another brief silence, he finally made his final offer.

"Two million gold coins worth of orders every month."

He emphasized the next part carefully.

"This includes ammunition."

"That is the absolute best I can offer."

The moment those words left his mouth, Kiara smiled immediately.

"Deal."

Magnus suddenly felt a strange sensation.

Like he had somehow been led exactly where she wanted him from the beginning.

Internally, he sighed.

’This woman...’

Still, the agreement itself was worth it.

Very worth it.

"Then on behalf of the Imperial Palace," Magnus said formally, "orders will be placed during the first week of every month."

He looked directly at her.

"And deliveries must be completed before I arrive with the next month’s order list. If not, a penalty of 10% will be levied on Nexus as compensation."

Kiara didn’t flinch slightly at that. She firmly nodded. "Understood."

Then Magnus took out another scroll.

"Also," he added, "my father invited you and your family to dinner tonight."

"Including Arceus Silver."

"We can officially finalize the contract there."

Kiara honestly had no interest whatsoever in dining with the Imperial Family.

But she already knew Arceus would probably appreciate the invitation.

And more importantly...

There were still benefits for her.

So she agreed.

"We’ll come."

Soon afterward, Magnus returned to the Imperial Palace to discuss final details with the Emperor.

Meanwhile, Kiara simply resumed business operations inside the store as though nothing major had happened.

The shop remained open until sunset.

Then eventually, around eight in the evening, two Iveco LMVs rolled through the massive palace gates beneath torchlight and stopped before the grand staircase leading toward the main entrance.

The engines slowly quieted.

Doors opened.

From the first vehicle stepped out Kiara, Arceus, and the golden-furred cat Felix.

From the second emerged Zion, Noah, and Baltrow, the Manticore.

The moment the beast descended from the vehicle, the surrounding palace guards stiffened visibly.

Even veteran soldiers subconsciously tightened their grips on their weapons.

An 8-star rank Beast King carried a pressure that ordinary Spirit Warriors simply could not ignore.

Only Xander Cross remained relatively calm.

Tonight, the Supreme Commander personally came to receive them.

Beside him stood Northern General Calden as well.

Usually, only kings, emperors, or Supreme Realm experts received treatment like this within the Phoenix Empire.

But Emperor Alexander was making his intentions very obvious now.

He desperately wanted Kiara as an ally.

The military contract alone already proved that.

"Thank you for coming, Lady Kiara," Xander greeted with a smile, formally greeted her. "Welcome to the Imperial Palace."

Kiara blinked in surprise. Seeing him genuinely smile at her, addressing her in such a way... she lost her composure for a moment.

A faint blush crept to her cheeks. "Thank you."

"Hmm?" Arceus, standing beside her, blinked his eyes twice, observing his fake fiancée. Usually, she had her eyes on the people’s faces, but this evening, her gaze was more on Xander’s feet than his face; she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she slowly said. "I didn’t expect you to receive us in person."

Xander smiled faintly, but glancing at the beast, "Well, it was His Majesty’s orders, and also, you are an esteemed guest of the palace tonight."

"Ah, I see..."

The following ninety minutes passed surprisingly smoothly.

The official contract was finalized under the same conditions negotiated with Magnus earlier.

Dinner was completed peacefully.

And somehow...

Magnus managed to gain Baltrow’s recognition.

The muscular prince looked genuinely excited after the Manticore finally agreed to spar with him someday.

Unfortunately, Baltrow agreed before even consulting Kiara.

So she could only accept silently.