– Kashion –
"And how do I look?" Kashion asked as he looked at himself in the mirror and adjusted his collar again. He was wearing black trousers and a burgundy shirt.
In the mirror, Kashion saw Oren shake his head.
"You've asked that three or four times already." Oren sighed.
"It's an important negotiation," Kashion said.
"Yes. And a certain person will be present," Oren replied.
Kashion nodded. "Exactly. One has to make an impression, after all."
Oren rolled his eyes.
"I'm sure she won't be thinking about it," he said quietly.
– Prior –
Prior stood in front of the mirror.
"Do you really think this works?" she asked Talina.
Talina closed her eyes slightly in annoyance. "Yes. And we're the least important people today. No one will pay much attention to us. We should go now and help the princess."
Prior looked at herself in the mirror one last time. She wasn't vain by nature. But today she still wanted to look good, at least by her standards.
She had freshly washed her hair and used a curl gel. The water here was harder than at home and weighed her hair down more. She had also applied a little mascara so her eyes would have more expression. And then a subtle pink lipstick—nothing too much, but still a small accent.
Like Talina, she was wearing a light blue pantsuit.
She checked once more if everything was in place and then went to the door, where Talina was already waiting impatiently.
"Since when is this so important to you?" Talina asked.
Prior suppressed a grin and replied, "After all, it's an important negotiation. And we are representing Saturn, after all."
Talina pressed her lips together but nodded.
Evlina, of course, looked breathtaking again. Prior immediately felt a little ridiculous about all her efforts. This time Evlina wore her long curly hair loose. She wore a dark blue skirt and a white blouse. Professor Keron was also dressed in a blue suit.
They briefly went over again what Evlina should say and the delivery quantities she had most recently discussed with King Tioff. Naturally, they all took their data and notes on their tabs with them.
Then they made their way to the large conference room.
Prior was truly very nervous. She probably wouldn't have to say anything at all, but she disliked such stiff, formal meetings. And then there was Kashion. Thinking about him didn't calm her—it only made her even more nervous.
He had written to her first thing that morning. When she woke up, she had immediately seen a message from him.
"Good morning, Prior."
Those words alone had been enough to put the entire army of insects in her stomach on high alert again.
She had only replied with "Good morning, Prince Kashion."
And they had played a little.
But then it had already been time to get ready.
When they arrived at the conference room, several servants were waiting for them. They were then led inside, and their seats were assigned.
Several tables had been arranged in a U-shape.
Professor Keron would sit at the very beginning, then Talina, Evlina, and Prior. Next to Prior would sit a scientist or servant from Ostrand.
At least not Terland, she thought to herself. It wasn't Terland itself. But that Count Kashk Rutz was truly unpleasant.
He would sit farther to the right with Ostrand.
On the tables there was water, as well as thermoses with coffee or tea. There were also several bowls with fruit and snacks. Everything had been perfectly prepared.
They were not the first to arrive. Across from them, Prince Rein had already taken his seat, and his servant was still standing behind him.
Rein immediately waved to Evlina and said,
"A wonderful good morning, Princess!"
She merely nodded to him and took her seat. Prior and the others remained standing, since they would have to stand anyway whenever someone royal entered.
Shortly afterward King Mandach of Ostrand entered with two of his advisors or servants—a man and a woman. The king greeted Evlina and Rein, also gave Prior and the others a brief nod, and then sat down.
The two attendants introduced themselves to Prior. The woman with shoulder-length black hair streaked with gray was Professor Selen, and the man with short white hair was Professor Krin. Both were several years older than Prior and very friendly. Prior would sit next to Krin.
A few minutes later Count Kashk Rutz finally entered the room. He carried himself with great confidence. He greeted the princess exuberantly and gave Mandach and Rein a nod. He had no greeting for the others.
His companion was much friendlier. He introduced himself to everyone as Rosh, an advisor and scientist from Ostrand. He was also a few years older than Prior, but younger than Kashk Rutz. He had dark brown hair with a few gray streaks and gray eyes.
Prior grew more and more nervous. She knew that Kashion and his entourage would be next to arrive. And then the negotiations would begin.
And indeed, it did not take long.
Prince Kashion entered the room with Oren, council member Pil, Kassia's husband Tendol, Professor Wan, Professor Nara, and several others.
Prior was briefly happy to see Professor Nara among the group—but in truth she had eyes only for Kashion. She could hardly look away.
It was as if he had changed the entire atmosphere of the room. As if the room had suddenly become brighter and warmer.
He was wearing a burgundy shirt. Rich colors create such a strong contrast with his pale skin, Prior thought.
– Kashion –
Kashion was not a little nervous as he entered the conference room. He knew the others would already be waiting for him.
Although he had been regent for some time, he had never before led such an important negotiation. He was glad to have his loyal advisors with him.
As he entered the room, he nodded to everyone and moved to his place along the side of the U-shaped table. He would sit next to Oren and Professor Nara. Pil would sit beside Oren, and Professor Wan beside Nara.
Tendol and the others would sit along the horizontal side of the U-shape, so they were somewhat spread out.
Kashion scanned the room and let his gaze rest for a few seconds on Prior when he finally saw her.
She stood almost opposite him, just slightly diagonally offset.
His bright spot, as he had called her.
He had to pull himself together not to look at her longer or smile too obviously. She made it anything but easy. She had styled her hair differently, and she seemed to be wearing a little makeup. The light blue color suited her very well, and her cheeks had a faint reddish glow.
He took a deep breath and finally said:
"It is a great honor for me to welcome you all here. Please, take your seats."
Then he sat down, and everyone who had still been standing took their places as well.
"It is a historic event," he continued. "For the first time since the colonization of Saturn, we have an envoy here on Earth to negotiate with the greatest realms of Earth. This concerns an agreement from which we can all benefit—just as Saturn will. I would like once again to welcome everyone here, even though we already saw each other at the reception two days ago."
Everyone applauded in agreement.
Kashion waited until the room had grown quiet again, then said:
"Then we can move directly to the numbers. So far, Tingdao and Saturn have agreed that for 1 m³ of Aethereleum, we will receive 2 liters of crude oil from Earth in exchange."
– Prior –
Prior found it interesting to hear Kashion speak so formally and publicly. Of course she had heard him in interviews before, but now that she knew another side of him, he seemed like a completely different person.
She also knew that he was nervous, even though he appeared completely composed. Never before would she have guessed that he had even the slightest trace of insecurity.
She glanced around the hall a little to see how the others reacted. Most of them nodded in agreement.
"And what about the total amount? And how will it be distributed?" Count Kashk Rutz asked.
"I would like to invite Princess Evlina to speak on that," Kashion replied, looking at Evlina—but for the briefest moment his gaze brushed Prior's, and there was something in his eyes like recognition, something that only the two of them knew.
Prior automatically smiled a little, but then she looked at Evlina.
"In the last negotiations and in the discussions with my father, we agreed that we can deliver a total of 3 billion m³ of Aethereleum per year to Earth. The largest share, 1.3 billion, to Tingdao, 1 billion to Terland, and 0.7 billion to Ostrand," Evlina explained.
Count Kashk Rutz gave a dry laugh.
"So the largest share goes to Tingdao. Tingdao cannot even supply enough crude oil. That should be redistributed!"
"Well," Evlina began again. She was completely calm, and in that moment Prior felt proud of her princess. "My father wishes to grant Tingdao the largest portion—first because our ancestors come from Tingdao, but the far more important reason is that we are convinced that Tingdao's technologies and research can help us greatly in the long term."
"Tss," Kashk Rutz said. "As if the research here were better than anywhere else. Why can't you simply deliver more?"
"That would also pose a risk for us," Evlina replied.
"Wait," Count Kashk Rutz interrupted again. "I would like to hear personally from Prince Kashion why he thinks the amount is appropriate—and what exactly is so special about Tingdao's research."
– Kashion –
Kashion nodded. "No problem. Professor Nara, here to my left, will gladly explain it to everyone."
Luckily he had enough scientists with him. This Kashk Rutz was simply unpredictable.
Nara was just about to begin speaking when Kashk Rutz said:
"No. I want to hear it from you, Kashion. A regent of such an advanced nation should have the necessary understanding, shouldn't he?"
Kashion began to sweat. Science had never been his strength.
He glanced around the room, but no one said anything. Then he looked down at his tab. There he had opened various diagrams and reports.
Hopefully he could derive something from them.
– Prior –
Prior grew very nervous for Kashion. Could no one put Kashk Rutz in his place?
She quickly looked around, but everyone was only watching Kashion.
She became restless, and then she knew she had to do something. An idea came to her. Probably a foolish one.
But before she could think about whether it would help and whether it was even a halfway good idea—
she knew she had to do it.