"I'm not going!" Koyuki crossed her arms and pouted, once again refusing her assistant's suggestion.
"Please, don't act like a child. You don't even have to become friends with Akira - just have lunch together, take a walk, that's all." Sandayu had been looking after the princess for eight years now. He'd watched her grow up, guiding her and helping her avoid mistakes. To him, Yukie was almost like a daughter.
Sousetsu - Koyuki's father and the daimyo of the Land of Snow - had been betrayed by his own brother. Fearing the worst, Sandayu, as a loyal retainer, had taken it upon himself to help the princess escape and protect her.
Sandayu still hoped that one day he could help the princess return home and restore justice to the Kazahana family.
The princess was smart, and thanks to her acting career, she was a skilled speaker, but she lacked social skills. The ability to connect with anyone was a must for any ruler. She had no friends, no close companions. Her social circle was limited to Sandayu and Makino's crew, and even among the cast, you couldn't say she had any real friends. She was just too closed off.
"But why? Where does this dislike come from?" For Sandayu, this was strange. Usually, the princess just ignored people she didn't like - she'd never taken such a strong, openly hostile stance toward anyone before.
"It doesn't matter!" Koyuki waved him off.
"If it doesn't matter, then I insist all the more." Sandayu's tone was firm.
"Leave me alone. I'm not going anywhere with anyone." The princess turned away. [ image ]

"No, that won't do. Sooner or later, you'll have to learn to interact and build relationships with people, whether you like them or not," Sandayu thought, standing his ground.
"I'm not letting up until you agree, princess."
"Grr!" Koyuki growled in frustration.
****
The next day, Sandayu knocked and entered Koyuki's room, finding her sprawled on the bed in her loungewear, reading a book.
"Princess, we talked about this yesterday. Today you're supposed to spend some time with your co-star, for better on-screen chemistry." Sandayu sighed.
"I don't care, I changed my mind." She didn't even look up from her book. If you ignored the books scattered everywhere, you could almost say her room was neat and tidy.
"And why is that?" Sandayu asked, already knowing what she'd say.
"I found a really good book at the shop. So please, don't bother me for the next few days." Koyuki's tone was flat.
"Books are great, but they can't teach you everything." He walked over and quickly snatched the book from her hands.
"Hey, that was the best part!" The princess squinted at him, annoyed, and sat up.
"We had an agreement, princess. Are you really going to break your word?" Sandayu flipped through the book as he spoke.
"I'm not against improving my people skills, but why does it have to be with him? He's just… some arrogant rich kid. What am I supposed to talk to him about? We have nothing in common." Koyuki sounded confident.
"You and Akira are the same age. If you can't find common ground with him, it'll be even harder with others. And about the 'rich kid' thing - you're wrong. I did a little digging."
"And?" Koyuki was a little curious.
"He came to Tanzaku to oversee the opening of his restaurant. Apparently, he has one in Konoha too. He's also building something here in Tanzaku. I haven't heard anything about his parents, so I'm guessing he made his fortune on his own."
"Well, that doesn't change much. I still don't find him interesting to talk to."
"And this book is interesting?" Sandayu asked with a slight smile.
"Absolutely. I haven't read anything this good in ages." The princess smiled back.
"So you like the author?" Sandayu kept smiling.
"Hmm, well… he has an interesting way of thinking. His words and ideas are like a breath of fresh air in this summer heat. I'll definitely look for more of his books." She held her chin, looking thoughtful.
"All right, let's say I could arrange a meeting with the author. Would you want to meet him and talk about the book?" Sandayu's smile grew wider.
"I don't get where you're going with this, but if I had the chance, I wouldn't mind." Koyuki agreed.
"What a coincidence." Sandayu shook his head, then opened the last page of the book and showed it to Koyuki.
"The author… Zoldyck Akira?" Koyuki read aloud, her eyes suddenly going wide. "WHAT? No way! They just have similar names, you're mistaken, Sandayu."
"No mistake. Your colleague - Akira-san - is the author of this book. Now, I'm leaving, and in ten minutes, I expect you to be ready to go." With a triumphant look, Sandayu left the room.
****
"Would you like some more tea?" the waitress asked with a bright smile.
"No, thank you, I'm just leaving." I left money and a tip on the table and calmly walked out of the café.
Today, at the request of the assistant and director, I was supposed to meet with Yukie here. I arrived right on time, but there was no sign of the actress. Five minutes - I could wait. Ten, maybe. But after twenty minutes, my patience ran out and I decided to leave and do something more useful.
Like buying out a sewing workshop and setting up clothing production based on my sketches. Thanks to my clones, I'd found a workshop with just the right capacity. Getting extra info on the profits of these places wasn't hard. The clones just had to chat up one of the workers, who was more than happy to spill everything. With that info and some quick math, I could figure out the rough profits of each workshop.
There were four in Tanzaku - one family-run, the others owned by entrepreneurs. Of course, "workshop" is a bit of a stretch - with local tech, twenty or thirty workers was like three to five people in a modern 21st-century factory. Basically, small-scale production. In the industrial city of Otafuku, sure, there are real garment factories with hundreds of workers. Here, it's just small fry, staying afloat thanks to low logistics costs.
One of these workshops was in decline and in debt. But it had enough staff and sewing machines to supply three or four stores.
****
"It's been half an hour and he still hasn't shown up!" Koyuki fumed, wanting to leave as soon as possible.
"Maybe he's running late too," Sandayu said, though he doubted it. He'd come along just to make sure Koyuki didn't bail on the meeting. "Excuse me," he raised his hand, calling the waitress over.
"Yes? Have you decided what you'll order?" the waitress asked with a gentle smile.
"About an hour ago, did a tall young man come in by any chance?" Sandayu asked, thinking maybe Akira had just left after waiting.
"An hour ago? Hmm… there were a few. One bald, one really handsome, one just average." The waitress started listing them off.
"The handsome one - did he have gray eyes, by any chance?" Sandayu clarified.
"Yeah, that piercing steel stare - you don't forget eyes like that." The waitress sounded dreamy.
"So, he left, thinking we weren't coming." Sandayu sighed.
"What? I was only half an hour late!" Koyuki snapped. Seeing the disapproving looks from Sandayu and the waitress, she fell silent and dropped her head.
"By the way, do you know his name or where he lives? I never got up the nerve to introduce myself." The waitress immediately shot back with her own question.
****
*Ugh, yesterday was brutal. I swear, I'm not leaving my room today.* First thing after waking up, I took a shower to wash off the last traces of sleep and yesterday's exhaustion. I'd bought the workshop for a ridiculous eight million ryo.
First, I had to spend half an hour convincing the owner to sell, then another hour haggling over the price. After that, I sat until nine at night, reviewing prototypes of clothes made from my sketches. And I'd only managed to standardize five designs - just a drop in the ocean.
I can't wait for all this to be over. My ears are already missing Aiki's yapping.
A knock at the door lifted my mood. There may not be delivery apps or food couriers in this world, but there is one wonderful invention - shadow clones.
Just sit at home and send clones out for food. Genius. I may have been thrown into this world, but that doesn't mean I have to give up my old comforts. If only I could find an internet alternative, life would be perfect.
"Do you take card?" I asked the clone, who handed me the bags with a blank expression.
"Shove your card where the sun don't shine." The clone handed over the bag and dispelled itself.
In a good mood, I sat down at the table and started unpacking breakfast. Mashed potatoes with a cutlet, fresh-baked rolls and chocolate muffins, sausage and garlic bread - everything just right.
Food had become almost the only thing that helped me kill time. The locals had, at most, three meals a day, which took them about an hour total. I could stretch breakfast alone for an hour, and with all my snacks between meals, my stomach was working almost 24/7. Maybe I didn't eat as much in one sitting as Naruko, but by the end of the day, I'm sure we put away about the same number of calories.
I set the table, poured myself some tea, and was just about to try the cutlet when there was another knock at the door.
It's moments like this when you just want to tell any visitor to get lost. Can't I at least have breakfast in peace?
I opened the door and barely stopped myself from slamming it shut in their faces.
"Good morning, Akira-san. Are we interrupting?" The actress's assistant asked with a goofy smile.
Oh, them again. Honestly, I don't get the point of all this - it's like being in kindergarten, with the parent desperate for their kid to make friends. I have zero interest in getting to know this Yukie better for the sake of "on-screen chemistry." If she can't act, that's her problem. They come up with all this stuff in their Asian heads about synergy from spending time together. Yesterday, I only made time out of politeness because I had nothing else to do for a few hours. And in the end, they didn't even show up!
Well, whatever. No point turning up my nose now that they've come themselves.
"No, come in." I stepped aside to let the uninvited guests in. "Tea?" I asked as soon as we got to the kitchen.
"Sure, and were you about to have lunch?" Sandayu asked, looking a little guilty.
"Breakfast, actually." Not bothering to set the table for guests, I quickly poured them tea and sat down across from them. Sadly, I had to set aside my mashed potatoes and switch to rolls and muffins, which I offered to the guests.
What followed was an awkward conversation, with Sandayu apologizing for being late yesterday and trying to find a topic, asking about my past and my impressions of filming. It was awkward because I answered briefly and distractedly, mostly focused on the muffins.
Our twenty-minute chat went like this: Sandayu tries to get me talking and draw Yukie into the conversation, Yukie mostly sits in silence, glaring at me, and I chew, nod, and give short answers, mentally wishing they'd just leave and let me eat in peace.
"Oh, I just remembered something Makino-san asked me to do. Yukie, I'll leave you here. Good luck, you two can rehearse some scenes - I'll leave the script." Grabbing the first excuse he could think of, Makino quickly bailed.
A rich guy and an actress, alone, in a hotel room… sounds like a setup.
🔥~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~🔥
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