Chapter 36 – Terms of the Offer

  Lucien leaned back in his chair, turning Dorian’s words over in his mind. The numbers, the risk, the debt. All of it was starting to form a picture—complicated, but doable.

  After a moment of quiet, he asked the question that had been circling his thoughts since yesterday.

  “Dorian… how much should we actually pay the Rendon’s for the press?”

  Dorian didn’t even flinch.

  “Honestly? Nothing. Or one crown.”

  Lucien stared at him.

  Dorian lifted a hand before Lucien could react. “Listen—I’m not being cruel. In acquisitions like this, when the business is underwater, the buyer usually pays nothing. Or a symbolic amount—one crown to formalize the transfer. That’s standard. Sometimes, if the relationship is good or the buyer wants to soften the blow, they pay a little. Maybe a thousand crowns, tops.”

  He pointed at the numbers hovering over the projection.

  “And in our case, we’re taking on one hundred thousand crowns of their debt. That alone is the payment. We’re already carrying their burden, and frankly, saving them from bankruptcy.”

  Lucien remained silent, and Dorian could already see the disagreement forming behind his eyes.

  He sighed. “But I know you, Lucien. I know you don’t want to do that. You think it will look unsightly or unfair. So… fine. Let’s go with a thousand crowns. It’s still generous.”

  Lucien didn’t speak for a moment, then finally said, quietly but firmly:

  “No. Let’s pay them five thousand crowns.”

  Dorian nearly choked on his coffee. “Five—? Lucien, you don’t need to do that! We’re already giving them ESOPs after the takeover. They’ll have equity. And management positions. They’re not being thrown out. We’re not exploiting them. We’re literally saving the press.”

  Lucien shook his head.

  “I know. And I appreciate all of that. But for them, the press isn’t just a business. It’s their entire life. Their father’s legacy. Their family’s pride.”

  His voice softened.

  “I can’t walk in there, take everything, and hand them a single crown or a symbolic payment. My conscience won’t let me.”

  Dorian pressed his fingers to his temples. “Five thousand is too much for the condition it’s in—”

  “And I want to give more,” Lucien interrupted gently. “But five thousand is… acceptable. For them, it’s dignity. For me, it’s peace of mind.”

  Dorian fell silent, shoulders dropping in defeat.

  Finally, he muttered, “Well… you’re the decision maker.”

  Lucien smiled lightly. “Don’t worry. I’m confident in my ability to make it all back. Once the real money starts coming in, this will look like nothing.”

  Dorian raised an eyebrow, a slow smirk forming.

  “Oh, yes. You’re certainly very good at spending money already.”

  Lucien laughed, shaking his head. “You’re impossible.”

  “And yet,” Dorian said, stretching his arms, “I’m still the only one keeping you from throwing half your bank balance at them out of guilt.”

  Lucien flicked a napkin at him in protest.

  He straightened, the decision finally set.

  “Alright. Let’s contact the Rendon’s and tell them what we’ve decided.”

  Dorian nodded and lifted his wristlink. With a quick gesture, he initiated a holo-call. The projection shimmered once, then stabilized.

  Gareth and Theo appeared on the display, sitting together in the cramped office of the press.

  Gareth tried to maintain a steady, professional expression, but the worry still sat heavily in his eyes.

  Theo couldn’t hide it at all—his shoulders were tight, his breathing uneven. He looked as though he hadn’t slept, the stress written across his face.

  Even though Lucien had told them he intended to acquire the press, intentions weren’t guarantees. And the debt was massive. The fear that Lucien might change his mind was real and visible.

  Lucien offered a small, reassuring smile. “Good morning, Gareth. Theo.”

  Gareth nodded. “Good morning, Lucien. Dorian.”

  Theo swallowed. “Morning.”

  Lucien didn’t waste time.

  “I’ll get straight to the point. We’ve discussed everything thoroughly, and we’ve decided to go ahead with the acquisition.”

  Gareth’s shoulders trembled a little—relief, disbelief and exhaustion all tangled. Theo exhaled like he’d been holding his breath for hours.

  Lucien continued gently, “I will be taking on the full loan burden. All liabilities. There will be no additional obligations for your family beyond the transfer.”

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Gareth closed his eyes briefly in silent gratitude.

  Lucien added, “And… we’ve decided to pay your family 5,000 crowns for the acquisition.”

  He softened his tone. “I know it seems less than what your legacy deserves. But given the debt we’re taking—”

  “No—no, no,” Gareth interrupted quickly, shaking his head, almost distressed. “Lucien, truly— I expected nothing. Not a single crown. With all those liabilities… it wouldn’t make sense for you to pay anything.”

  He leaned closer to the projection, earnest and emotional. “Five thousand crowns? That is far too much. Truly. We would have accepted one crown—just symbolic—to formalize it. You already told us we’ll keep our management roles. That alone is stability. We’ll still have our jobs. We’ll still be able to support our family. That is already more than enough.”

  Lucien, however, didn’t budge.

  “I understand what you’re saying,” he said gently, “but I want you to take the 5,000. You’ve carried that press for decades. You’ve given everything to keep it alive. You deserve far more than this amount, believe me. But this is what I can manage right now. So please… accept it.”

  Gareth looked at him, eyes softening with something like gratitude mixed with disbelief.

  “What more can I say?” he murmured. “If you insist… then we gratefully accept. And we will do our utmost—truly—to make the press the best it has ever been.”

  Theo nodded vigorously.

  “We’ll work ourselves to death if we have to. We won’t let you down.”

  Lucien laughed lightly.

  “Please don’t work yourselves to death. If you die, then who will run the press?”

  Gareth laughed hard at that and Theo cracked a grin, even Dorian smirked.

  The tension in the air loosened, the weight lightened.

  For a brief moment, across the glowing projection, all four of them shared the same feeling:

  It might be overwhelming, but they were in this together now.

  The laughter faded into a calmer, steadier atmosphere. Gareth straightened slightly, shifting the conversation back to business.

  “There’s one more thing,” he said. “For the loan you need to take—your best option is to go to Lunecrest Bank. That’s where the press’s current loans are. You’ll have to speak with them anyway.”

  Dorian nodded immediately.

  “Yes, that’s already what I was thinking. We need to go there regardless for the refinancing. I looked into their profile late last night—Lunecrest Bank is quite new. About five years old. Which means they’re aggressive, competitive, and have a naturally high-risk appetite.”

  He leaned back, tapping the table lightly.

  “That’s why the Rendon’s got approved in the first place, even with their financial condition. A traditional bank wouldn’t have touched them.”

  Gareth gave a sheepish smile. “That’s true.”

  “So yes,” Dorian continued, “we should try to take the 100,000-crown loan from them directly. It will allow us to refinance everything in one place, with one repayment structure. It will be cleaner and easier for both parties.”

  Lucien nodded, trusting his judgement completely.

  “If you’ve already looked at their background, I’m fine with it. Let’s proceed with Lunecrest.”

  Gareth glanced at Theo before returning his gaze to Lucien.

  “In that case, I will send Theo with you for the entire process. He knows every detail about the press, its books, its machines, the loan documents—we’ve always handled the paperwork together.”

  Theo nodded earnestly.

  Gareth continued, “He can represent me in all discussions while I stay back and take care of the press. You still have book orders coming in, and we don’t want any delays. I’ll keep production stable until everything is finalized.”

  Lucien smiled softly.

  “That would help a lot. Thank you, Gareth.”

  Theo straightened, a bit of pride fighting through his nervousness.

  “I’ll come with you both and handle anything the bank needs. Documents, machine reports, history—whatever they ask, I’ll answer.”

  Dorian smiled lightly.

  “Good. Banks always ask annoying questions. Having you there will save us a lot of back-and-forth.”

  Gareth added, tone firm but warm, “We’re part of this now. We’ll support the process in any way we can.”

  Lucien nodded, the burden settling into place—yet this time, he could feel other hands steadying it beside him.

  “Alright,” he said. “Tomorrow morning, we go to Lunecrest Bank.”

  Theo nodded sharply.

  Gareth exhaled in relief.

  “May this be the beginning of better days.”

  Just as the call seemed to be winding down, Gareth suddenly lifted a hand.

  “Ah—before I forget… Lucien, what about the name of the press?”

  He shifted a little, trying to sound neutral. “Do you want to change it to something new? You know… to signify a completely fresh start? Or keep it the same?”

  Lucien tilted his head. “What do you think?”

  Gareth immediately shook his head. “It’s entirely up to you. Truly. I’ll have no complaints either way.”

  Theo, beside him, looked like he wanted to speak—his mouth opened slightly—but Gareth shot him a subtle look, the kind only a father could give. Theo shut his mouth instantly.

  Lucien noticed the exchange and couldn’t help smiling.

  He understood perfectly.

  Theo wanted to say it. He wanted to keep the name. He wanted the legacy to live on.

  And Gareth—trying to be respectful—was pretending he didn’t care.

  Lucien softened. “You don’t have to worry about that,” he said gently. “I’m not changing the name. Rendon’s Press will stay Rendon’s Press. You can rest assured.”

  Both Gareth and Theo immediately brightened, relief written plainly on their faces.

  “Thank you,” Gareth said quietly, genuinely.

  “Thank you, Lucien,” Theo echoed.

  Lucien nodded. “However, the press will be acquired by a new company I’ll be establishing: Crownspire Publishing. All assets and liabilities of the press will be transferred to Crownspire, and the restructured loan will also fall under it.”

  Both Rendon’s nodded immediately. If the name stayed, everything else was easy to accept.

  “That’s perfectly fine,” Gareth said. “As long as the press name stays, we have no issues.”

  Theo grinned. “Yeah, we’re good with that.”

  Lucien turned to Dorian.

  “Dorian, this new entity will be a subsidiary of Ashborne Holdings. We’ll need to register it as soon as possible so we can go to the bank with the right documents. After that, we—”

  But he stopped.

  Because Dorian’s expression was… not right.

  His eyes were half-glazed, half-murderous.

  A special combination reserved for when Lucien had overloaded him.

  Lucien quickly shut his mouth.

  But too late.

  Dorian exhaled sharply through his nose.

  “You are working me to death like an ox without rest,” he complained. “Every hour it’s a new task—register this, file that, negotiate here, plan there. At this point, I think even the machines at the press get more downtime than I do lately!”

  Lucien gave a very awkward smile.

  Across the projection, Gareth and Theo tried—and failed—not to laugh.

  “Okay, okay, okay—I’m sorry!” Lucien held up both hands. “There’s been a lot happening back-to-back and we haven’t had a moment to breathe. But once this is settled, we’re going to hire people. Proper staff. You won’t be doing everything alone.”

  Dorian crossed his arms skeptically. “Hire people, hm?”

  “Yes,” Lucien insisted. “We’ll bring in a proper admin team—accounting, legal processing, operations. Then you only need to manage them. You’ll actually get time to rest.”

  Dorian relaxed slightly, nodding. “Fine. Then I’ll start looking at what positions we need, how many, and the required qualifications. We need a proper structure, and—”

  He continued talking, already planning departments and workflows in his head.

  Lucien just smiled at him warmly, thinking:

  Even if we hire ten people, you’ll still end up doing half the work yourself, and probably lecture the employees for being too slow Dorian. You always find something to do. What can I do with you?

  The thought almost made him laugh.

  Lucien continued, his tone shifting to practical matters.

  “Now that we’ll have funding soon, Gareth, you can start reaching out to your former employees. Let them know what’s happening. If they want to return, we’ll need them. We can’t keep relying entirely on part-time workers like we are now—we need a full, stable team.”

  Gareth brightened immediately. “Of course. I’ll call them today. Many of them have been struggling since leaving the press… they’d be more than happy to come back if given the chance.”

  Theo nodded beside him, already imagining the old team gathering again.

  Gareth and Theo exchanged a glance with renewed energy flickering between them.