"Hehe, this novel wasn't written by me, you know? I'm just helping 'Seele' sensei submit it on her behalf for certain reasons."
"But if my dear Eden likes this novel, please remember to help promote and recommend the underrated 'Seele-sensei' a bit, okay?~"
Seeing that her best friend Eden was clearly captivated by little Seele's writing, Elysia—who had been left aside for quite a while—couldn't help but smile as she began advertising for her own adorable little Seele.
"Elysia, so this is why you specifically brought this up during our tea party. But if you want my help in promoting such a work of art, I suppose I can accept that."
Faced with Elysia's attempt to enlist her—a world-class superstar—for promotion, Eden, who typically disdained advertising, surprisingly agreed this time.
Part of it was to give face to her closest friend, Elysia.
But more importantly, like the majority of 'Seele's' devoted readers, Eden had been deeply captivated by the sheer charm radiating from the words within Seele's novel.
Even before knowing that little Seele was a beautiful young girl, Eden had already decided to promote Seele's work without any compensation.
"Mhm~ I just knew my dear Eden would fall in love with little Seele's writing."
"It's just a shame that little Seele isn't in a position to meet people right now. Otherwise, I'd definitely introduce her to you in person!"
Sensing that her dear Eden, as expected, valued little Seele's talent above all else—and assuming Eden wasn't someone who judged solely by appearances nor shared certain 'historical preferences'—Elysia, believing that good things should be shared with close friends, carelessly suggested introducing little Seele to Eden.
"Oh? From the way you speak, Elysia, is the author of this novel someone truly remarkable to meet?"
Hearing the regret in Elysia's tone, as if missing out on meeting Seele was like missing out on several 'millions,' Eden couldn't help but ask more about the novelist behind this work.
"Erm... In terms of fame alone, little Seele definitely can't compare to you, my dear Eden."
"But little Seele is absolutely the cutest girl I've ever seen in my life~"
"I actually have a few photos here. Although they're a 'tiny' bit different from meeting the real Seele, considering you're helping 'Seele-sensei' with free promotion, I'll let you get a glimpse of our adorable 'Seele-sensei.'~"
With a hint of boasting and complete trust in her dear Eden, Elysia shared with her best friend the secretly taken 'cute Seele photos' she used to soothe her restless heart.
Upon realizing through the photos that the creator of such art was an exquisitely cute, almost unfairly beautiful little Seele, Eden froze in surprise for about three or four seconds.
It seemed hard to believe that someone capable of writing such an artistic novel would be such an adorable-looking girl!
But soon regaining her composure, Eden withdrew her gaze and, with a slightly unnatural expression, asked a question that seemed innocent on the surface but carried a 'tiny' bit of peculiarity upon closer inspection.
"Elysia, since you usually help 'Seele-sensei' with submissions, what exactly is your relationship with 'Seele-sensei'?"
As she asked this, Eden didn't show any obvious emotional fluctuations, as if she were merely curious about how close Elysia and 'Seele' truly were.
And Elysia's answer would determine whether Eden would later attempt certain things...
"Huh? My relationship with 'Seele-sensei'? Well... if I had to say... maybe just friends~?"
Faced with Eden's inquiry, Elysia felt a slight flutter of panic. But being someone who was always genuine, she couldn't lie to her best friend.
Although Elysia desperately longed for 'Seele's' soft, adorable self in every sense, she was all ambition without the courage.
How could she place herself in the position of 'lover' or 'girlfriend' when she hadn't made any tangible progress with little Seele?
Thus, being utterly honest, Elysia only dared to position herself as 'Seele's' friend in front of Eden.
"Oh? Just friends..."
Hearing Elysia admit that she and 'Seele' were merely ordinary 'friends,' Eden felt an inexplicable sense of relief.
Her words carried a subtle hint of gladness that Elysia and 'Seele' were only friends.
"Mhm~ Is my dear Eden concerned about this?"
"Don't worry~ Even though I've made a new friend in 'Seele-sensei,' only you, my dear Eden, will always be my bestest bestie in my heart!"
Trusting her friend completely and always thinking the best of others, Elysia naively assumed Eden's changed tone stemmed from worry that their pure friendship might be affected by Elysia's new friendship with Seele.
After all, strictly speaking, while Elysia didn't dare openly unleash her increasingly 'slightly' obsessive desire for little Seele in front of others, she had secretly placed the adorable little Seele in the position of her 'wife' in her heart.
Surely, the relationship between bestie and 'wife' didn't conflict, right?
And since little Seele was, in any case, a potential future 'wife' she might not be able to resist pursuing, having one more 'wife' shouldn't affect her friendship with Eden, right?
B-besides, if she really couldn't hold back and ended up having a grand wedding with little Seele someday, she could always invite her dear Eden to be the bridesmaid?~
"I see... I thought your relationship with 'Seele-sensei' might be closer than I imagined... But since you've said it's 'just friends,' I feel relieved!"
Hearing Elysia's words, which somewhat actively distanced herself from 'Seele-sensei,' Eden, who had been harboring some reservations, now felt much more at ease.
'If that's the case... then pursuing 'Seele-sensei' shouldn't be a problem for Elysia, right?'
After all, Elysia, always true to herself, had said so.
If Eden mistakenly assumed there was an overly intimate relationship between Elysia and the adorable 'Seele-sensei,' Elysia might even get angry with her!
Thinking this, Eden's slight unease quickly vanished.
Meanwhile, the overly naive Elysia remained completely unaware.
She had merely wanted to show off her chosen 'future wife' to her dear Eden, but due to her current reluctance to openly admit her feelings, she had inadvertently allowed her most trusted 'beloved bestie' Eden to secretly set her sights on little Seele.
Fast forward to the timeline of the ongoing simulation...
Although Lunelle traveled on a Fire Moth express aircraft, once away from the heavily secured headquarters, some of her movements in the Australian branch were still detected by Eden, who had been actively gathering information.
Thus, almost within a day of Lunelle arriving in Australia, news about little Seele was urgently delivered to Eden.
At that moment, Eden was in a meeting with her capital team, finalizing the location for the last stop of her world tour.
But during the meeting, a sharp, sudden emergency notification suddenly rang out in the serious atmosphere, drawing displeased glances from a client who had been presenting his viewpoint.
However, upon noticing it was Eden's communicator, the client quickly suppressed his dissatisfaction.
'Oh? News about 'Seele-sensei'?'
Even amidst such an important discussion, Eden openly checked the matter she truly cared about.
Upon learning that little Seele had been relocated to Australia, Eden, who had been undecided about the final concert location, quickly made up her mind.
"The final stop of the world tour will be in Australia. Who agrees? Who opposes?"
In an almost imperious tone, Eden spoke calmly, ignoring the ongoing discussions, and unilaterally decided her next move.
Then, with perfect composure, she poured herself a cup of freshly brewed black tea and seemingly democratically left the floor open for opinions.
Faced with Eden—the true authority who could single-handedly decide everything—suddenly stating her position, the once-noisy conference room fell silent.
This was the first time Eden had voiced her opinion about her tour arrangements, immediately capturing the full attention of all the capital clients present.
"I object!"
Soon, some who thought themselves clever spoke up, hoping to impress Eden.
But most of the truly intelligent people, while completely unable to understand why Eden suddenly wanted Australia, kept their immense confusion to themselves, not daring to utter a single extra word.
This standout middle-aged client proceeded to elaborate from economic perspectives—such as 'Australia being underdeveloped' and 'its geographic location is awkward'—providing seemingly well-reasoned arguments about the additional manpower and resources required and the economic losses incurred if the final tour stop were forcibly set in Australia.
Most crucially, he summarized how much money everyone present would lose due to Eden's 'mistaken decision.'
After finishing, this inexplicably 'overconfident' client even cast a confident and intense gaze at Eden, clearly pleased with himself for correcting Eden's error and securing greater profits for everyone.
But this client, who was relatively new to the project, had clearly misunderstood.
In Eden's world, 'client' didn't mean what it traditionally did.
Thus, he soon found that after his seemingly rational proposal, no one voiced agreement. Instead, many looked at him as if he were an idiot digging his own grave.
"This gentleman makes some fair points. Does anyone else also find my proposal problematic?"
Maintaining her elegant demeanor, Eden casually spoke these words while sipping her tea.
As her words fell, several among the capitalists who had actually been tempted broke out in cold sweat and lowered their heads, relieved they hadn't jumped out as the scapegoat over mere profits.
Miss Eden was dead serious this time!!!
"If no one else has objections, then the meeting is adjourned! As for this gentleman's project... handle it as you see fit."
"After all, I only care about what I think. I don't need anyone else's opinions. I trust everyone here understands this without me having to repeat it?"
Eden then finished her tea in one go and, with a smile, unilaterally declared the meeting over.
The next day, the final location for the world tour was indeed set in Australia.
The client who thought he had performed well was informed after the meeting that his share of the 'cake' had been redistributed to others.
Moreover, having been explicitly excluded from the project by Eden, this top-tier capitalist was effectively placed on a non-existent yet dreaded 'Eden Blacklist.'
All clients who had partnered with his companies unilaterally terminated their collaborations.
Within about a month, unable to sustain his business operations, this capitalist was forced to declare bankruptcy...
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.