Chapter 4: The Queen's Decision

  "Hello beautiful miss, I'd like to see Red... uh, President Evana."

  The Jade Pattern Chapter Publishing House has a receptionist who is responsible for receiving guests, although she is a stout and flat-faced female ogre.

  So when he had to look up at her and talk, Malong thought in his heart - that red-haired queen Ivana who dominated the Emerald Pattern Publishing House, what a heavy taste she has.

  "Sir, are you sure you want to see our CEO? Do you have an appointment?"

  It's okay, a female giant demon who can work as a receptionist, definitely not the kind that Ma Long has seen on the internet, those female giant demons who only know how to drool and grab people to eat.

  She didn't even treat Ma Long as a troublemaker just because he was still half a big kid, but instead asked him in a very pleasant and gentle voice.

  "I don't have an appointment." Ma Long shook his head, but the next moment he put half of the original manuscript of "The Little Prince" on the front desk: "But I have this, and if President Yvonne recognizes it, she will definitely see me."

  Yes, halfway through, Ma Long divided the manuscript of "The Little Prince" into two parts.

  "Please wait."

  The receptionist at the front desk of the publishing house, after glancing at the clean and tidy cover of the original manuscript of "Little Prince", left behind three words and hastily took the manuscript to the second floor with a rustling sound.

  A moment later, the empty-handed ogre receptionist returned.

  "Sir, please follow me."

  ……

  Dundun——

  The giant devil leading the way knocked on the tightly closed door of the president's office of the Jade Pattern Publishing House.

  "Wait a minute!"

  From inside the door came a slightly hoarse but still forceful and decisive voice.

  As expected, she's indeed a strong-willed queen, Ma Long thought to himself.

  Then the door was opened from inside, and Malon finally saw Evina-Bain, whom he had imagined as a strong queen.

  A woman with delicate features, a tall bun of red hair, wearing a beautifully tailored pure white dress, but her height was obviously less than 1.6 meters and she looked weak and fragile as if a strong gust of wind could blow her away, the red-haired woman or more likely a red-haired girl.

  So, Ma Long felt that his brain was a bit dizzy - Red-Haired Queen? Was she really called the Red-Haired Queen? Wouldn't this nickname be ironic?

  The second half.

  At this moment, the red-haired girl stretched out her slender white hand towards Malong without hesitation.

  "What?"

  Because he was distracted, Ma Long didn't quite catch what the other person said.

  "The second half of 'The Little Prince'."

  The red-haired girl didn't get angry, but continued stretching out her hand and repeating what she said.

  This time, Ma Long finally heard clearly, but he didn't plan to follow suit.

  "Eva, I think this part you've been given is already enough for a first volume."

  Ma Long said so, his implication being that it's okay to watch the second half, but only after discussing and settling issues like publication fees.

  "Are you really its author?" The red-haired girl frowned, seemingly dissatisfied with Malong's answer.

  However, the red-haired girl immediately composed herself and made a welcoming gesture to Ma Long: "Kemilyte, go get two cups of dragon tongue fruit juice."

  Then Ma Long sat down in the house, and the giant demon receptionist named Kermillet quickly brought over some juice.

  "Tell me, what are your conditions for authorizing publication?"

  She took a light sip of the dragon tongue fruit juice, and Eveena's bright red hair and sharp eyes stared at Marlon's eyes.

  "One hundred RMB per ten thousand words as the basic manuscript fee, plus 5% royalty on the number of prints. If reprints are made later, for every additional fifty million copies, the royalty will increase by 1%. And...the first print run cannot be less than ten thousand copies."

  Since the other side has set conditions, Ma Long will no longer be polite.

  However, Ma Long was also clear in his heart that the conditions he mentioned would definitely not be met. His purpose was actually just to prove to the red-haired girl Yvonne that he was not an author who could be easily fooled.

  In fact, these days Ma Long didn't do less investigation than he did before. He was very clear about the normal publishing price of new literary works in this world, or to be more precise, in White Sand City: 50 to 100 Lanters per ten thousand words for beginners, around 200 Lanters on average for those who have been in the industry longer, and the top level was 500 Lanters per ten thousand words.

  As for royalties on print runs, they also exist, but only a very few well-known authors are qualified to discuss this with the publisher, and that's just a handful of people who can get 5,000 yuan per 10,000 characters.

  Although different from the Earth, the basic unit of manuscript fees in this world is 10,000 words, but compared to the average monthly salary of ordinary citizens in Baisha City, which is not even 50 yuan, it's really not considered low.

  "By the way, on my way to Guizhou Publishing House, I accidentally met Mr. Lai Li, the president of Huangjin Laili Publishing House, who seems to appreciate this "Little Prince" quite well."

  Ma Long pretended to be nonchalant and casually mentioned what had happened halfway through their journey.

  This naturally means that Marlon is hinting to Evana that if she doesn't meet his conditions, he might very well switch sides and join Old Reliable.

  But the red-haired girl Yvonne's response was just a faint sentence: "Have you finished stating your conditions?"

  He nodded, and apart from nodding, Ma Long couldn't think of any other action to take.

  "A question," Yvonne raised a finger: "Will you write other fairy tales or what?"

  "There's a lot more in here..." Ma Long's right index finger tapped his own temple.

  "Now it's my turn to set the conditions!" Red-haired girl Evna crossed her arms, her sharp gaze once again locked onto Marlon's eyes: "500 Lant per 10,000 words as the basic manuscript fee, 6% of the basic print run royalty. If the print run increases by one million copies, the royalty will increase by an additional 1.5%, with a maximum royalty cap of 15%. As for the first print run, I think 50,000 copies is a suitable number."

  "Hiss——"

  After hearing the so-called conditions of the red-haired girl Evna, Malon couldn't help but take a breath of cool air, and he finally understood why this seemingly gentle and weak red-haired girl would have such a powerful name as "Red-Haired Queen" that was completely inconsistent with her true image!

  Indeed, with such great courage, what else could she be if not a queen!

  "Hold on, I have an additional clause here. You must make a written promise - all the works you create in the future will be published by Emerald Pattern Press." The red-haired girl with her fingers intertwined finally revealed her true goal.

  After a slight pause, so that Ma Long could digest it, the red-haired girl continued: "Of course, I will also make a promise. As long as the quality of your subsequent works is guaranteed, they will all receive a remuneration that will not be lower than this 'Little Prince'."

  Marlon, thoroughly shocked by the great aura of the red-haired girl Evna, needs more thinking?

  Whether it's short-term gains or long-term benefits, Ma Long has no reason to refuse the generous terms offered by Yvonne!

  So, until he walked out of the Emerald Pattern Publishing House with a contract in his hand and a check for one thousand rands as an advance on his manuscript, Ma Long's heart was still full of a sense of unreality.

  Why?

  Why does this Evna think so highly of me? She can't possibly know that I'm a transmigrator with a brain full of stories, right?

  Just as Malong was wondering, the red-haired girl Evna, who had satisfactorily collected another handwritten contract with Malong's signature, was also being asked almost the same question by Alan Doyle, the deputy director of the publishing house.

  Yvonne said nothing, she simply turned over and opened the original manuscript of "The Little Prince" left by Malo, showing her deputy general manager the altered title page.

  "All grown-ups were once children."

  On the cover page, there is a line of words written like this.

  "Actually, there's a missing character here." Yvonne said, pointing at the middle.

  "All great men were once children."

  The white-haired Arlandor read out loud according to Evna's hint, and he also felt that he understood a little.

  "Believe me, Uncle Armand, I think this Little Prince will at least not lose us money, and that young man named Malon-Lyster has a pair of eyes full of stories." Yvonne brushed back a strand of red hair that had fallen over her ear with her hand, narrowing her sharp purple eyes: "And most importantly, our publishing house needs a new best-selling author, otherwise it will be swallowed up by Old Lyle sooner or later."

  Eva's face showed a hint of fatigue, for she was indeed gambling.

  "Hey, isn't World War already over? Why is the security getting worse day by day, if..."

  Sighing, Arland knew the inside story of the publishing house all too well and completely understood why Evina would do such a thing.

  Seven days ago, the bestselling author "Frankenstein, the Troubadour", who had just been catapulted to fame by Jade Chapter Publishing after great pains, died in a brutal home invasion robbery.

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  Well, tonight at twelve o'clock, maybe there will be another chapter, if a certain wizard doesn't get drunk.