Episode 18

Come to think of it, Eileen knew absolutely nothing about Floran’s family relationships.

What was the previous Southern Grand Duke like, did he have brothers, sisters… … .

Come to think of it, with that face, wouldn’t he have dated a noble lady from the south at least once?

Who knows if he is a virgin or if he turns out to be the Casanova of the South?

“……Do you have any sisters? A younger sister, an older sister, or even a cousin.”

“doesn’t exist.”

“You don’t have one? You’re telling me you comb your hair this well even though you don’t? That’s strange. You must have had many girlfriends. I imagine you must have. You must have wandered around the South with this face at least once. I’m sure you disguised Dalton as the Grand Duke of the South, like when we first met, and you pretended to be his escort knight, drawing a lot of attention from the village women.”

I’ve heard that the quickest way to get accurate information is to talk about incorrect information as if it were correct.

Of course, I could tell from just a little conversation that he wasn’t the type of person to casually meet up with this woman or that woman, but I didn’t know.

There’s nothing good about trusting people so easily, and since Floran strangely doesn’t tell me anything about himself, I needed to test him out to this extent.

But was that also a high-level skill in its own right?

“I guess I’m not the kind of person you see in my eyes. I guess I didn’t earn your trust. I need to work harder from now on.”

“…….”

“Why do you look at me like that, Eileen?”

“You’re not as easy of an opponent as I thought.”

“yes?”

“Godansu, Godansu… Well, if you don’t really want to talk, I won’t ask any more questions. I’m not stupid enough to open Pandora’s box.”

Of course, that doesn’t mean I plan to never know anything about it for the rest of my life.

There must be a good reason for hiding it.

Rather than forcibly bringing it up and causing conflict, it would have been better to investigate it secretly.

There’s no point in rushing, and in two years, you won’t know the person who eats and sleeps right next to you until then?

‘I’ve become quite adept at finding out people’s secrets.’

Influencers aren’t just about being pretty and flashy.

Do you know how much of a dog-eat-dog world that is?

You have to figure out someone’s secret and decide whether to use it to win them over or whether to continue as a business partner.

“If you want to thrive as an influencer for a long time without any hassle like me, the ability to cut your losses is a given.”

Eileen is proud of her ability to cut off hands.

“…I’m just saying this out of concern, Floan. I don’t really care what your secret is, but if it affects our contract, and especially if it affects me negatively—”

Eileen met Floan’s eyes on the other side of the mirror and spoke firmly.

“You have to tell me right now. At least until there’s time to turn back. If you don’t, and you wait until later, I’ll never let you off the hook. I won’t forgive you. I mean it.”

“all right.”

“Then is it really not there?”

“At least there’s nothing secret that would harm Eileen or negatively affect our contract.”

“……all right.”

Is he really a comfortable person with no secrets, or is he just good at hiding so many secrets?

I have no idea what’s on his mind, even though he always has a bright smile on his face.

Eileen tried to act cool and said, “Okay, then don’t do that,” and let him finish combing his hair.

‘So, there was a woman before, or there wasn’t.’

That was his true intention, which he had kept hidden, but seeing him speak so ambiguously made me think that maybe he had a woman.

It’s not a pleasant feeling.

Of course, I don’t even know why I care about that.

‘Well, it’s not an entirely unreasonable complaint. Who knows, maybe this guy uses me to start a Southern revival and then gives the money he earned to his real lover?’

… … Wow, I just had a really ugly thought.

Eileen, who decided that it was just a reasonable suspicion as a business partner and not something more than jealousy or interest, closed her eyes and shook her head slightly as if shaking off her thoughts.

Without even realizing that Floran was staring at him through the mirror.

When she had finished combing her long, voluminous hair, Floran asked.

“By the way, Madame Mera stormed out mid-event. Is that okay? Isn’t she famous for her influence in high society?”

“I thought you wouldn’t care about that, but you know more than I thought.”

Eileen smiled, stroking her soft hair.

“If you act ignorant and uninterested in a field, won’t you end up being weeded out? I’ve heard a lot about Madame Mera’s notoriety. I hear she really enjoys using her people to spread rumors. I was worried she might find fault with the cafe.”

Eileen shrugged at his words.

“That woman’s expression already had that “let’s just wait and see if something catches her off guard” look. She’s been pushed aside by me, like she’s been the perennial second-in-command in high society. No matter how much I pretend not to hear, there are rumors I can hear.”

Eileen chuckled and continued speaking.

“That’s why I invited that woman and the salon members along, as if I was trying to show them off. So they could come and intentionally swear at me.”

Then, Floran’s eyes lit up with interest.

“When you try something new, you usually attract attention by doing the opposite of what’s considered mainstream. Like a loach muddies the water.”

That’s always been the trend.

Just like when the Y2K look becomes popular, the old money look becomes popular the next season.

After the capitalist sensibility of large cafes passed, small but unique individual cafes became popular.

This time, that was what Eileen wanted too.

“Most salons opened by nobles, including Madame Mera’s, are a kind of ‘fam’ game.”

It’s not a place where you can join if you want, but rather a league of their own.

Eileen knew better than anyone that the social world was extremely closed.

What on earth is this gathering about that makes people so desperate to get involved… … .

“It’s childish, that kind of thing. I’ve always thought about it, but I don’t really like groups like that. It’s obvious, you know? Young ladies trying to please Madame Mera. How is that socializing? It’s just queen bee play.”

“It’s quite surprising that you say that, Eileen. Wasn’t that woman once a socialite, enough to make Madame Mera second in command? You had many followers, didn’t you?”

That was before I realized I was reincarnated.

“I’m sick and tired of that kind of scheming. My pretense, like wearing a mask. My followers who try to please me to the point of being burdensome. Those who try to discredit me and sow discord. So from now on, I’m going to do things my way. My way.”

“You look confident.”

“Yes, of course. I wouldn’t even start if I wasn’t confident. Why? You don’t know?”

“It’s not that I don’t trust you, but I doubt there will be any nobles who come to a café, especially for coffee, which is still so unfamiliar. More than anything, what Eileen wanted was a change in the social scene, but how could that be possible? They’d all set up separate tables so they could talk amongst themselves.”

Originally, social gatherings always had a host.

Wasn’t it a place where people gathered around that host, socialite, and celebrity and all kinds of rumors spread from there?

Floran was most curious to see how Eileen, now transformed from a party host to a businesswoman, would captivate the social world.

“In my experience, cafes are the source of all kinds of love affairs and outrageous rumors. With 100 tables, you’re bound to hear 100 rumors.”

This was a plan born from her experience.