"Alright, let's end things here tonight," Prince Yamoyan said as he watched the female servant push some of the chips in front of him toward Christine. He then swept his gaze around the table and asked, "Everyone is happy to end things here, right? Teeky, if you want to keep playing, I'm happy to play until you're satisfied."

"I think I'll end things here for tonight," Teeky replied with a wry smile. "I can't keep this up any longer. I'm getting too old for this. I'll come back tomorrow to try and recoup my losses."

"Sounds good," Prince Yamoyan replied. "You're welcome to play here at any time."

"I'm going back as well," Manjay sighed. "I lost a little today, but it wasn't too much. Let's continue this tomorrow."

"Looks like you came out on top again, Christine," Marlo said as he stood up with a smile, then made his way over to Christine's side before making a subtle gesture, extending a request to see her final concealed card.

Christine nodded with a smile in response.

"So it really was the king card," Marlo exclaimed. "That means you had a hand of a king card and two prime minister cards. Looks like the luck of the cards was really on your side."

"As if you didn't already know Christine's final card was the king card," Teeky grumbled.

"We all suspected that could be the case, but none of us could say for sure," Manjay said. "The king card only appeared a few times tonight, and I don't recall anyone with a perfect hand of two prime minister cards and a king card tonight."

"So what if I had a good hand?" Christine said with a displeased pout. "In the end, Brother Teeky still chose not to initiate a public challenge."

"Haha, you really are a greedy little girl," Teeky chuckled. "You're already the overall winner for tonight, are you still not satisfied?"

A cheeky smile appeared on Christine's face upon hearing this.

In the end, Christine won 10,000 Loonies, Prince Yamoyan won 2,000 Loonies, Manjay lost 3,000 Loonies, Marlo lost 3,000 Loonies, and Teeky lost 6,000 Loonies.

Teeky, Manjay, and Marlo left one after another with their entourages, but right as Christine was also preparing to go, Prince Yamoyan gave her a subtle look, indicating for her to stay.

After that, Yamoyan gestured toward Tolk and his other subordinates to see off Teeky and the others.

Given how sharp Christine was, she immediately realized that Prince Yamoyan had something to discuss with her, and it was something so confidential that even Tolk and the others were being kept out of the conversation.

Sherry and the others could see the entourages of the other guests leaving one after another, but Christine was still seated at the gambling table. Thus, the three of them were unsure of what to do, and they stood up before casting their eyes toward her with inquisitive looks on their faces.

Meanwhile, Christine had an elbow resting on the table while supporting her own chin with one hand, and with her other hand, she gently patted the table in a seemingly absentminded manner, but in reality, it was a gesture telling Sherry and the others to sit down again.

"You took a trip to the south, did you?" After everyone else had left, Prince Yamoyan sat down and began his conversation with Christine. At this moment, his expression was far more serious, and the smile that he had worn while gambling had faded.

This was Prince Yamoyan the businessman, rather than Prince Yamoyan the gambler.

"I did. It was a really rough trip, and I almost didn't make it back alive," Christine sighed.

"It's quite unfortunate that you just so happened to run into a war between two kingdoms," Prince Yamoyan said with a smile, but the skin and flesh on the top half of his face weren't moving, so it was a very disturbing sight to behold.

However, Christine remained quite calm and offered no response. She wanted to hear the reason why Prince Yamoyan had asked her to stay behind. She had already done her best to appease Prince Yamoyan during the games that they had just played, but she knew that this alone wouldn't be enough to curry Prince Yamoyan's favor.

"I heard that you're carrying a few crates of Fall Crystals on your airship, is that right?" Prince Yamoyan asked, finally cutting to the chase.

Christine's heart jolted slightly upon hearing this. "How did you know that?"

As soon as the question escaped her lips, she immediately thought of the Lodais Organization. She was well aware of the power that this underground organization possessed, and she could only assume that the news had traveled to Prince Yamoyan from Tewadedan.

At the time, Christine and Erwin had discussed a deal surrounding Fall Crystals with Elder Lewen of Tewadedan, but the deal fell through in the end.

What she had failed to anticipate was that the Lodais Organization had set its sights on her group, after all. At the time, she and Erwin had already pretended to express a great deal of interest in Fall Crystals, but it seemed that Lewen had still decided to keep an eye on them.

They must've seen us when we were transporting those crates out of Governor Jenkins' manor, Christine thought to herself. If that's the case, then the Lodais Organization really is downright terrifying. I've only just arrived at Madeira earlier today, yet Prince Yamoyan has already received news from Tewadedan. Could it be that the Lodais Organization also used airships to transport information between the south and the north? It looks like I'll really have to be on my guard when I deal with them in the future.

Prince Yamoyan offered no response to Christine's question, clearly not planning to tell her where he had received this information from. At the same time, a serious look appeared on his face as he asked, "Are those crates filled with Fall Crystals or not?"

"They are," Christine replied with a nod, coming clean right away. She had dealt with Yamoyan on multiple occasions in the past, and she knew that lying to him was not a good idea. "Are you interested in those Fall Crystals?"

"I'll take all of the Fall Crystals that you have," Yamoyan said in a concise and decisive manner. Judging from the tone of his voice, he had no intention of allowing this batch of Fall Crystals to leave Madeira.

Christine found herself in a bit of a predicament upon hearing this. This was something that Erwin wanted, so it would be inappropriate for her to make a decision on her own. However, she didn't want to start any conflict with Prince Yamoyan. She knew that he wouldn't attack them in Madeira as he had to ensure that the merchants visiting the city felt safe here. If he were to blatantly take the Fall Crystals from Christine, then no one would dare to come to Madeira to do business in the future. 

However, after they left Madeira, they would be in a great deal of peril.

What was rather perplexing to Christine was why Prince Yamoyan was also interested in these Fall Crystals. Could it be that he also wanted to attain immortality?

Lanyon and the others had no idea what those crates contained as Erwin had never mentioned the subject to them. Back in Tewadedan, Erwin and Christine had actually discussed the topic of Fall Crystal mining while Lanyon was present, but Lanyon hadn't realized the significance of that conversation, and he certainly didn't know that they were carrying Fall Crystals on their airship.

Thus, even if Christine were to make a decision on her own and sell the batch of Fall Crystals to Yamoyan, it wouldn't have been such a big deal. Firstly, Lanyon and the others had no idea what the crates contained, and secondly, they didn't know whether the contents of the crates belonged to Erwin or Christine.

In fact, if she wanted to, Christine could even get away with selling the Fall Crystals for a high price, then reporting a lower price to Erwin before pocketing the difference for herself, and everyone would be none the wiser. After all, no one knew the background information involved anyway.

However, Christine wasn't that type of person. She had always been very shrewd when it came to business, but she had no intention of deceiving Erwin, and she was always thinking for his best interests.

At times, she would also find herself sympathizing with Erwin's misfortune. She knew just how heavy an impact the battle on the Marrod Plain had to have had on Erwin, and she knew that for Erwin to travel to the north with all of his remaining assets, there was no way that his goal was simply to find his mother.

"Would you like me to state the price?" Christine asked as she took a careful glance at Yamoyan, and it seemed that she harbored no fear toward the menacing look in his eyes. 

"As long as it's not too far-fetched," Prince Yamoyan said with a cold expression.

"I want 800,000 Loonies," Christine declared without any hesitation.

Yamoyan's eyes abruptly widened upon hearing this number, and he was staring at Christine as if he were looking at an idiot, or someone who didn't have much longer left to live. There were two factors that contributed to his reaction, the first of which was the massively steep price that Christine had stated, while the second factor was surprise at the fact that someone dared to be so bold to him on his territory.

One corner of his lips then began to raise up in an exaggerated manner until the outline of his orbicularis oris almost reached his cheekbone. All of a sudden, he burst into raucous laughter, and the laughter echoed throughout the empty space, striking the listener with a sense of fear and alarm.

Listening to Yamoyan's bone-chilling laughter, Sherry and Lanyon both cast their eyes toward the gambling table with wary expressions, while Sherry's hand was already resting on the hilt of the dagger that was strapped to his waist, and he was ready to spring into action at any moment.

However, Christine remained completely unmoved, seemingly not fazed by Yamoyan in the slightest.

She hadn't learned magic, nor was she a martial arts practitioner, but she had been in this line of business for a very long time, and she knew that Yamoyan was merely putting on an act to try and intimidate her.

"Christine, I'm sure you already know this, but let me remind you again that when I set my sights on something, there's no way it'll be able to make it out of this desert," Yamoyan said in a cold voice as his smile faded.

"I'm well aware of that," Christine replied with a relaxed smile. "I have no intention of going against you, but you're not so desperate that you would attack us while we're still in Madeira, are you?"

"What are you trying to say?" Yamoyan asked as he raised an eyebrow. "Are you going to stay here for the rest of your lives and never leave?"

"No, but I can sell this batch of Fall Crystals to the Loonies," Christine said, and even though the tone of her voice was quite light, she was able to immediately seize the upper hand in the negotiations. "Do you think they'll be interested in purchasing this batch of Fall Crystals for 800,000 Loonies?"

Both Christine and Prince Yamoyan were well aware that the Lodais Organization would definitely be interested in the batch of Fall Crystals, and the Lodais Organization was far more spendthrift than Yamoyan.

The Lodais Organization had sold information regarding her to Yamoyan, so she didn't feel bad for using them as leverage for her negotiations here. She was certain that Yamoyan was wary of the Lodais Organization, which was why she had brought them up.

"Those crates contain over 10,000 ounces of Fall Crystals," Christine continued.

"Over 10,000 ounces?" Yamoyan's eyes were practically glowing upon hearing this. "Is there really that much?"

Christine nodded in response. "And it's all pure Fall Crystal ore."

"Are you not afraid that after you make your deal with the Lodais Organization, I'll intercept you while you're leaving the desert and take your Loonies?" Yamoyan asked as his eyes narrowed slightly. "There are many people in this desert who are too smart for their own good."

The people that Prince Yamoyan was referring to here had most likely all perished in this desert as well.

"Let's stop with the empty threats. In contrast with the Loonies, you're far more interested in the Fall Crystals, aren't you?" Christine said in a straightforward manner.

Yamoyan faltered slightly upon hearing this, then burst into raucous laughter again. "When it comes to doing business, you are the only one that I can't help but admire. Those other guys all come from major trade guilds, but when compared with you, they're like amateurs who are only just starting out in the business world. To be honest, if you really do have over 10,000 ounces of Fall Crystal ore, then 800,000 Loonies isn't an unreasonable price."

At this point, Yamoyan's overbearing demeanor had completely died down.

Bluffs and intimidation were often a part of business, and one had to admire Christine for her composure in dealing with Yamoyan's attempts to intimidate her. It was a testament to both her intelligence and her courage that she was able to remain so calm and composed.

If a normal person had been in her place, they would've already folded to Yamoyan's intimidation and settled for a lower price.

Christine was naturally aware that the price that she had stated wasn't excessively steep. After all, Lewen had given her a quote on a completed Fall Crystal necklace, and given her intelligence, it was no difficult task to extrapolate the price of the raw material based on that quote. Lewen had described the processing of the Fall Crystal ore to be extremely difficult. In addition to that, artisans capable of working with Fall Crystals were apparently exceedingly rare, and a severe amount of material wastage was inevitable. However, these were all just business tactics that he was employing to try and raise the price.

Given that Christine had a rough idea of how much the batch of Fall Crystal ore was worth, she naturally wasn't afraid of all of Yamoyan's bluffs and intimidation. It seemed that she was at his mercy as she was on his territory, but in reality, she had a great deal of leverage as the last thing Yamoyan wanted to see was for the batch of Fall Crystals to fall into someone else's hands.