"Don't worry about what Gloriana thinks. While I cannot deny that she dislikes you, don't let this stop you from stepping up. Our Design Department needs more Journeymen. She is not in charge!"

"That is not what she has said towards me." Juliet hesitantly responded. "She had mentioned many times that she doesn't want me to take part in any design projects. Your wife has made it abundantly clear that she will respond very negatively if I ever trespass her territory."

"The Design Department is not her personal castle! She is merely a lead designer in the LMC's hierarchy, while I am the boss! Nothing in the rules allows her to override my wishes! Listen, Miss Stameros. Just ignore what Gloriana told you and come with me. She'll be pissed, no doubt, but she'll get over it once she realizes that you're not a threat to her. In cases like these, we just have to show her the hard way that her fears are unfounded."

The entire situation sounded bizarre to Juliet. As a woman, she understood quite well why Gloriana told her off. It was just that the Penitent Sister designer did not wish to cross such a powerful woman.

No matter what Ves claimed about the limits to Gloriana's power, she was still his wife! Her influence and soft power in the Larkinson Clan was very considerable despite her Hexer background!

Ves was able to read what Juliet was thinking about as well. He grew more and more exasperated at what his wife had done behind his back.

Instead of recognizing Juliet's value as an indispensable design asset, Gloriana only saw her as a threat!

This was unfair. Why did his wife have so little faith in his loyalty towards her? He never looked at Juliet as anyone other than a Penitent Sister and a Journeyman mech Designer during this meeting!

"Patriarch Ves, it is not that I am unwilling. I just don't want to aggravate your relationship with your partner. If my entry causes your relationship with her to deteriorate, then I fear that my sisters and I will suffer from the fallout."

Ves cut the air with his palm. "Nothing of the sort will happen! Look, as long as you turn into a powerful contributor in the Design Department, you will gain enough clout in the clan to protect the Penitent Sisters. In fact, you will be able to resist any of her attempts to make your lives difficult. If you remain as you are, your importance to the clan is pretty much trivial. Any competent Apprentice Mech Designer can fulfill your current role."

"I understand that, sir. You have already made that clear. I just can't accept your generous invitation. You don't understand the rivalry that goes on between women like us. Back in the Hexadric Hegemony, competition between Hexers can get quite nasty. From what I have learned about Miss Gloriana, she's a lot more ruthless than you think."

His heart sunk. Though he did not want to acknowledge what he heard, in his heart he knew that Juliet was right. Ves had personally fallen victim to Gloriana's scheming, after all. Though he didn't take it to heart anymore, he still recognized that his wife was anything but an innocent wallflower!

So what, though? The Larkinson Clan belonged to him. He put in all of the hard work of founding it, nurturing it and helping it ascend to its current height. Though Ves had the help of many other Larkinsons, it was undeniable that his will trumped over hers! The Design Department was not her turf, and he had no reason to allow her to engage in sordid court scheming!

His determination hardened. The clan would miss out on too many benefits if it allowed a Journeyman to remain suppressed in the Penitent Sisters. What Gloriana had done was no less than to sabotage the interests of the clan she was a part of. This firmly put her in the wrong!

"Let's not mess around anymore." He stated in a firmer tone. "Accept your new position and embrace your new responsibilities. I will make sure our administration processes your transfer by the end of the day. Tomorrow, I will personally bring you to the Design Department and introduce you to all of our lovely assistant mech designers. While they might not know how to deal with a Penitent Sister, they are already used to working under Hexers."

He did not give Juliet the illusion of choice anymore. While he did not wish to resort to coercion in order to get her to cooperate, it was clear that she would remain reluctant if the choice lied with her. Rather than allow Gloriana to dominate her decision-making, Ves decided to take matters into his own hands.

This way, if Gloriana blew up, she would direct most of her ire towards him, not Juliet. As someone who had taken plenty of punches from different people, Ves was confident he could handle an angry wife!

Still, just because he issued a command did not mean that others were willing to play along.

"This.. does not sound entirely appropriate, sir. I cannot see how Miss Gloriana will be able to tolerate my presence."

Ves banged his fist against the armrest of his chair!

"Meow!"

Lucky jumped from his lap!

"Who is in charge of the Larkinson Clan?"

"The Patriarch, who happens to be you." Juliet replied.

"Who is in charge of the Living Mech Company and every department?"

"Uhm, I haven't studied the corporate governance structure of the LMC as of yet. Are you the CEO?"

Ves nodded and grinned. "I am the founder, chairman and CEO of the LMC. Even though I let others manage all of the tedious business operations of my mech company, I am still the absolute majority shareholder. This means I don't have to give a damn about what other people want."

Juliet looked impressed at him. "How much stock does Gloriana possess?"

"Nothing. I own 59 percent of the LMC. The Larkinson Clan owns 24 percent. The Larkinson Family, who you must have heard about, owns 1 percent."

"That does not add up to 100 percent. What about the remaining 16 percent?"

His face darkened for a brief moment. "That's not important. I'll be taking back those shares back in due time. Anyway, as a Journeyman, as long as you earnestly put your design capabilities to good use in my mech company, then I will not skimp on your rewards. You will get what you deserve, and you can use your gains to help your fellow Penitent Sisters in many ways. This is the greatest opportunity that you can grasp in the Larkinson Clan."

She started to look interested. Though the shadow of Gloriana still loomed over her shoulders, Ves slowly pulled her into his rhythm.

"What sort of rewards can I expect to gain?"

"Let's start with the intangibles. Becoming the third lead designer of the LMC already puts you at the same level as the expert pilots of our clan as far as I'm concerned. This neatly solves the lack of high-ranking mech pilots among the Penitent Sisters."

Juliet looked swayed by that argument. "I can see how that can be useful."

"There is more. As a lead designer, you gain a say in determining which mech design projects we should start and how to shape the design of our mechs. Our assistants have no choice but to follow someone else's arrangements, but it is different for you. As a Journeyman, you should already be worthy of our trust when it comes to leading design projects. Am I wrong?"

Juliet couldn't help but puff her chest. "I graduated with a degree in mech design at the Artemis Institute! While my alma mater is not as prestigious as Kelma University, the gap is quite close. I can design most types of standard mechs!"

"According to your record, you have a Class IV design philosophy, correct?"

Now that the conversation turned towards her qualifications, Juliet exhibited a lot more confidence.

"That's right."

"The description of your design philosophy doesn't go in-depth of what you can actually do. It merely describes your specialization as 'high-mobility flight systems'."

Ves was already accustomed to vague and unhelpful labels that mech designers used to describe what they excelled at. Maybe they wanted to hide something. Maybe they wanted to be as open as possible.

It turned out that Juliet had another reason to keep her specialization vague.

"My design philosophy is not as mysterious as it sounds. It accurately describes what I can do. It is just that the emphasis is not entirely obvious. The key word is high-mobility. I excel at designing flighting systems that feature powerful movement characteristics. I constantly have to juggle between prioritizing, acceleration, top speed, agility, responsiveness, and so on to design aerial and spaceborn mechs with great maneuverability."

That did not sound specific enough to Ves. He felt that Juliet may be holding back a critical aspect that tied what she said together and clarified her ambitions.

There was no need for him to pry too much. He would learn about the essence of her design philosophy in due time once they began to collaborate on some mech design projects.

All he needed to know was that her relatively broad specialty was a useful addition to the Design Department. Many of the mechs he planned to design in the future were supposed to be multi-environmental mechs that could fight effectively in space and in atmospheric conditions.

Pairing these flexibility mech designs with excellent flight systems that were capable of enduring many different environments was very important!

The amount of help that Juliet could provide in this aspect was already worth it! In fact, she would probably be able to contribute much more to mech designs that conformed to the high-mobility aspect of her specialty. This meant she was highly suited to take charge of every light mech design project!

"Can you show off some of your past works to me? I need to gauge your overall skill and gain an impression of your design style." Ves requested.

She did as instructed. A few projections came to life. Ves immediately poured over the dozens of light and medium designs.

Each of them were fast. Some were faster than others, while others possessed significantly better evasion characteristics.

Overall, Juliet's mech designs were not that much worse than the mechs that Ves and Gloriana designed. This was already good enough.

The only problem was her design style. Each and every mech she designed shared one very notable trait.

"These are all female mech designs." He flatly stated.

"Yes."

"Have you ever designed a male mech?"

"Why would I do that?"

"..."

Of course she would say something like that. She was still a Hexer.

"If I order you to design a male mech, will you be able to fulfill my expectations?" Ves asked.

"Uhm… I.. suppose I can.. It's just… I could use some help…"

Her answer did not give him a lot of confidence.

Oh well. No one was perfect.

Ves proceeded to explore her work in greater detail. He asked her to explain her design choices and how her design philosophy empowered her mech designs. He learned more details about her design style. He even learned her signature look consisted of shaping the flight systems of her mechs as prominent pairs of wings coated in red.

Juliet Stameros passed all of the tests that mattered. While she possessed numerous shortcomings, they did not detract from her overall value as a Journeyman.

She was usable!

Ves wrapped up the meeting. "I have no more questions for now. The body of work you showed me along with the insights and understanding you have shared has given me enough confidence that you will be an excellent addition to our Design Department. I suggest you spend the remainder of this day on making arrangements for another mech designer to take over your current position. The Penitent Sisters must still have a head designer, but it shall not be you anymore. If your group lacks a capable Apprentice who can fill your big shoes, then you can always turn to me. There are plenty of mech designers in the clan who can fulfill this role."

He stood up and turned to leave the room without letting her voice any rejection.

However, just before he passed through the hatch, he stopped and turned. He pointed his finger straight at the ♂ symbol on her face.

"By the way. You can remove this mark of shame. A proud Journeyman of the Larkinson Clan should never carry such a disgraceful sign!"