Chapter 120: Perfect Balance

One would’ve assumed Niall would’ve been rather annoyed by the paparazzi being up in he and his family’s business.

Surprisingly, he wasn’t.

Not when he’d literally taken measures of his own prior to their arrival.

The first had been rather simple.

Stay within his house for the first few days without coming out.

Considering he’d stocked up on foodstuff prior, there wasn’t really much reason to go out anyway.

It also helped that Camille and his parents, having lived in the quiet suburbs for most of their lives, were more than content with simply having to wake up to no noise and spend their time conversing with each other.

Besides, they’d been rather occupied with furnishing the house.

Granted they hadn’t gone to IKEA in person, its online store had been more than enough for all four of them to deliberate over which furniture, appliances, home necessities and a couple garden and outdoor stuff they would need to make the house feel and look less scanty.

Naturally, that meant a big ass truck arrived at their doorsteps within a few days end--courtesy of the supermarket being rather close-by and Niall paying extra for a faster delivery service.

As one would expect though, not all the goods arrived in perfect condition, and not all of them happened to be exactly as they’d ordered.

For the most part though, it had been great so they simply made do with it.

And by the time they were done...

"Well, son," Clark tossed his hammer skillfully and caught it by its handle as he and Niall stared at Claire and Camille in amusement, both of whom were deliberating over where to hang a piece she’d painted.

"I’d say you’re ready." he tilted his head over slightly in a gesture the young man immediately picked up on as;

They select the stuff, we assemble it. Everyone’s happy.

Leaning over in a similar gesture, Niall replied with a light grin;

"I know. I’m gonna put a ring on that finger very soon."

"Attaboy." his father replied with a proud smile, his head bobbing once in an acknowledging nod that Niall himself shared.

At the same time;

"Cowboy." Claire and Camille lovingly called out to their respective partners, only for both of them to look at each other in surprise, then chuckle afterwards.

Then Claire spoke, this time to both of them;

"Could you help us out here?"

"Sure." both men replied and casually walked over.

And so, as the end of the week casually rolled around, internet gossip about Niall and his family had died down considerably and the interest had mellowed.

To that effect, most of these paparazzi found themselves quitting their camping, most of them moving on to other celebrities they could go around stalking and clicking photos of.

Not that it stopped some pesky, stubborn ones from lingering around.

Unluckily for them, that was exactly where Niall’s second measure had come into place.

His new car.

So many of these pesky individuals knew his BMW-convertible.

But not a single one of them had the faintest idea that he had gotten an SUV.

One that happened to come with privacy-fitted windows.

It was also why,

"That’s what you have to deal with from time to time?" Camille concernedly asked as she looked through the sideview window, her gaze studying a couple vans packed just opposite the street of the gated estate.

"Yep. They’ll settle down in a day or two though." Niall casually replied as he merged with the main road.

Soon, the couple found themselves in the busy streets of LA, their vehicle coasting down the road.

The late morning sun hung high in the sky, yet there was already a clear sign of Halloween being in season, as shops hung spooky decorations, carved pumpkins, and all manner of ghoulish displays along their storefronts.

At the moment, Niall was heading over to Feyre Publications to review a couple things and introduce Camille to Michael and Bob in person, drop by Ink & Ivory to get a few merch for her and his parents, then head on over to Vrael Productions to check in on things and also discuss having her onboard as one of the concept artists with Henry and Mark.

Only after, did he plan to head over to HTA to meet with Victor and discuss a couple other things, the most important of which was regarding casting auditions for the movie.

Then, after he’d sorted all of it out, he would subsequently hand over the management of most of these things to Paul.

Afterall, he was the one that had aligned his schedule for today and would’ve tagged along if not for the fact that Niall was with his family right now and he wanted to give him his space.

Besides, he was currently deliberating with the brands he’d settled on for his client so he was rather busy in his own right.

Soon enough, the duo arrived at the publishing company and made their way in.

A couple minutes later,

"Guys, meet Camille." Niall gestured to the lady.

Then he did the same by gesturing to the duo whom were standing amidst a rather busy editorial office at the moment--not that it stopped the employees from constantly stealing glances.

Camille was quite the smoke show after all, and in addition to that, they had seen the video so they were naturally curious.

"Camille, this is Michael and Bob."

"It’s great to finally meet you in person." Bob extended and exchanged a firm yet respectful handshake with the lady.

"The pleasure’s all mine." Camille reciprocated, to which Michael who equally exchanged a firm shake with her a moment later, said;

"I’ve said it before, but we really love the work you’ve done,"

"Not just with the Fate Series, but with a couple of our other books, and we’d like to keep working with you... provided you’re willing of course." he openly added.

"I’d love to. I’d very much love to." the red-haired lady replied, her tone honest and genuine.

After the usual pleasantries were over, Bob soon escorted the lady to one of their meeting rooms to show her the hardcover the newer covers she’d illustrated alongside some of the employees from the art and design department alongside a select few from the editorial team.

As for Niall...

"So, we were thinking..." Michael gestured, with a palm as Niall sat from opposite him in the chair in his office.

"Instead of making [The Hero of Fate] a standalone book on release, we were thinking of bundling it alongside [The Tree of Fate]," he continued, then added;

"Of course, that doesn’t mean the [Tree of Fate] won’t be its own thing, but we were hoping to test the waters first with that strategy. See how people receive it."

Hearing that, Niall leaned back into his chair.

For one, he was rather certain they weren’t doing this because they’d suddenly succumbed to greed.

Michael’s tone didn’t signify that in the least and Niall had a pretty intuitive hold on people’s intention so he was even more assured of his belief.

’Which leaves...’ he mused to himself and then asked, his tone thoughtful;

"Production costs?"

"Exactly." Michael replied, gesturing briefly with a pointed snap of his fingers.

"Granted we’re well-off enough to publish it as a standalone, we figured it would do us a world of good if we were certain there was a demand for it and not overextend," he continued to which he then said, his palms interlocked as they rested on the table;

"For as much as the internet gives the illusion that people want something, that’s just a small drop in an ocean of millions of actual readers..."

"...most of whom might not see any reason to reach for yet another copy of a new book on release date--much less a prequel independent of the characters they’d known across the trilogy." he concluded.

To that, Niall nodded in understanding.

Then he asked, his tone curious;

"I presume you intend to keep the bundle’s price discounted?"

"Of course. We’ll have the [Tree of Fate] at its usual standalone price of $14.99 and then have the bundle of both at $21.99." the CEO replied in the affirmative, leaning back into his chair likewise, a light smile on his lips.

Granted that meant [The Hero of Fate] was essentially being sold at $6.99 at launch, Niall wasn’t particular bothered by the pricing model they’d gone with.

The prequel was a shorter book in comparison to the other three so it made perfect sense that it was sold at a lesser price.

But even then, $6.99 was a steal for a book that should be sold around the price of $9.99...

...which meant that Michael was up to something with the model he was going with.

It was also why, it really didn’t take long for Niall to figure out exactly what he was after.

’High sales volume... enough to create an inflated sense of demand, and subsequently drive the sales of the prequel, long after [Tree of Fate] has sold as much as it possibly can in its first month...’

To that effect;

"You know, you’re a very scary man." Niall shook his head in amusement a moment after to which Michael’s smile widened into an affiliative grin.

"Says the man who wrote two great books in a month. You know, Bob still quite can’t get over how you did it." Michael fired back, earning a light chuckle from the young star.

"So, I’m guessing that’s fine by you?" Michael then asked a moment after, the man extending a hand.

"Yeah. It’s fine by me. It’s the perfect balance between profitability and giving customers what they want, after all." Niall responded as he received the handshake.

Advance Chapters are available on Patreon!

/Caer07