"To think you'd have such a strong talisman making foundation at your age, I'm impressed." Minos said, surprised at the speed his son was soaking his lessons.
"Well, the Crown Prince title isn't just a name, I've got access to the best teachers the empire has to offer, so it's only natural that I'm this good." Little Minos said, his nose held high as he enjoyed his father's praise.
"Must be nice, not like your old man, who had to learn everything on his own." Minos said with a laugh, happy that his son had a much easier life than he did.
"How did you get into talisman making in the first place, Dad?" Little Minos asked curiously.
"Well, after joining the Green Barrel Sect for about two years, I realized my talent wasn't very good, in fact I was one of the worst talents in the sect, if you can believe that."
"No way, how could you have no talent, you're a genius!" Little Minos said, not believing such a thing.
"I may be smart in the head, but unfortunately, my body is really stupid." Minos laughed.
"But then, how did you reach this height?" Little Minos asked, knowing that his father was at least stronger than him since he couldn't see through his cultivation.
"Like they say, even a pig could reach the heavens if you gave it enough resources, and I'm not as bad as a pig." Minos said, causing his son to laugh.
"But like I was saying, one day, after two years of saving my contribution points, I went to the market, and originally I was going to buy a Lock-Breaking Pill, but just before I could, I came up on a stall that was selling talisman knowledge."
"Realizing that the Lock-Breaking Pill would only help me in the short-term, I decided to take the risk, buying the talisman knowledge, and the rest is history."
"So you sold talismans and used the money to strengthen yourself?" Little Minos said.
"Yep, and it was a snowball from there, and eventually, I even reached the level where I could create this Rovo, which is quite similar to my first talisman, in that I hope to use it to reach a whole new level."
"But what if the Rovo wasn't successful, what would you do?" Little Minos asked.
"Keep creating until I make something that sticks, fortunately, it seems my Rovo did even better than I first imagined, so I shouldn't need to do that."
"Much better, even the Royal Family was caught off guard by it." Little Minos said with a giggle.
"Speaking of the Royal Family, how much do they want?" Minos smiled, finally getting back to the main point.
"The more the better, but since you're the creator, things have become a little difficult…"
"Oh? Can't bear to strong-arm your old man? Common now, this is just business, I promise I won't take it personally." Minos laughed.
"But I can't… I don't want to sour our relationship." Little Minos said, worried that if he asked for too much, his father would start to dislike him.
"Tell you this, how about we meet halfway. Tell me, what number are you thinking about?"
"Hmm, about 10%?"
"10% That's way too little for the Royal Family, they won't be satisfied with that, let's go with 40%, that'll leave me enough to work with, but it should also impress your family and leave them satisfied." Minos said.
"Are you sure? 40% is a lot…"
"It's a lot, but it's an amount I was ready to sacrifice, besides I can't have them speaking ill of my son, so just take it, consider it a meeting gift." Minos smiled, forcing his son to accept.
"... Thank you, Dad."
"Hahaha, no thank you's necessary, it's only natural for a father to take care of his son." Minos said, causing his son's eyes to go a little red, having never been treated this genuinely before.
It wasn't that people weren't kind to him, in fact everyone was on account of his talent and status, but that was all surface level.
However from Minos he could feel a genuine love that he had only ever felt from his mother, one that wasn't indicative of his talent or status, but was completely unconditional.
From Minos he could feel a fathers love, a love that he had always been envious of others having, but now he didn't need to envy anymore, because he finally had his dad back!
Giving his son a second to gather his emotions, the two got back to work, but the slight gap that had existed between them the moment before disappeared completely, as if little Minos had truly accepted Minos as his father.
As the day went on, Minos couldn't help but look up at his clock, a bit shocked to find that the day was already drawing to an end.
"It's getting late, let's call it in for today." Minos said, putting the Rovo aside.
"Already? But I was learning so much…" Little Minos complained.
"Haha, what are you groaning about? We have the rest of our lives to learn, so just go and get some sleep, we can meet up again tomorrow." Minos promised.
"Okay, but how are we going to meet without making my mom suspicious? She tracks me everywhere I go…"
"Hmm, that is a bit of a problem. How about this, just tell your mom you're learning how the business operates from me, considering you are taking over a 40% share after all." Minos said after some thought.
"That should work! I'll see you tomorrow then. Goodnight dad!" Little Minos said, about to leave the room.
"Haven't you forgotten something?" Minos asked with a smile, standing up from his desk.
"Hmm, no? I have the contract and every-." Little Minos replied, but before he could finish, he was embraced in a tight hug.
"I've missed you, Son." Minos said, causing little Minos's eyes to go teary again.
"I missed you too…"
"Well then, I won't hold you any longer, your guards are probably getting worried by now." Minos smiled, pulling away after some internal struggle.
"Right… Then I'll see you tomorrow, Dad." Little Minos smiled, waving goodbye before leaving the room.
Watching his son disappear, Minos let out a long sigh as he collapsed back into his chair, his heart still struggling to accept this current reality.
…
Back outside, little Minos nodded to his guards as he mounted his carriage, his guards looking towards each other curiously as they whispered among themselves.
"Hey, didn't you guys notice that the boss of this place looked a lot like the Crown Prince, it's pretty weird…"
"I was thinking the same thing, you don't think…?"
"No way! What are the odds that some random man we ran into is the father of the Crown Prince."
"If anyone speaks about what happened today, I promise to make you disappear from this world, and this isn't an oath made as a Crown Prince of today, but rather an Emperor of tomorrow, understood?" Little Minos suddenly said from inside his carriage.
"U-Understood!" The guards said collectively as they gulped, having never heard the Crown Prince talk in such a serious matter before.
"Good, then if anyone asks, the man we met today was average looking, brown hair and eyes, nothing special, got it?" Little Minos continued.
"Got it!" The guards echoed.
"Then let's go home."
…
With little Minos's stern warning, no one mentioned anything extra about Minos, and fortunately for them, no one was actually that concerned, more interested in how much little Minos managed to gain from the deal.
So after hearing that he got a whopping 40%, Minos became a complete afterthought, everyone too busy celebrating the Crown Prince's remarkable deal.
One has to know that even though the Royal Family has stocks in all major companies across the empire, it's usually around 25% or so, so a 15% increase, especially for a business with so much potential, was a big deal.
Gathering around the dining table with all his family, little Minos listened to the collective cheers and congratulations, but he felt even more empty than usual, his experience with his father the day before having made the fake flattery even more obvious.
"Well done, little Minos, or should we just say Minos, given as how you're a man now." One of little Minos's uncles said with a big laugh.
"I expected nothing less."
"Well done."
As everyone was chatting, Loyfin suddenly stood up, causing the entire room to go silent as everyone looked towards the current emperor with bated breath.
"I know when I first declared Minos as the new Crown Prince, some of you doubted me, not believing in my grandsons ability, but I hope this has proven to you that he is more than capable, and more then that, makes it clear to those who still wish to fight, that the battle is over." Loyfin said, his eyes piercing as he glared at a few faces in particular.
"With such successful negotiations, my heart can rest in peace knowing that my judgment hasn't faltered despite my age." Loyfin said jokingly, but given his status, no one took it as such.
"Father, you're as healthy as a thousand young men, how could you ever have bad judgment? If anything, like wine, your acuity has become more fine with age!" One royal son quickly said, never missing the chance to kiss-ass.