An unexpected greeting.

The short conversation with Long Hao went about as I expected: he apologized, briefed me about the new circumstances, and asked—yes, asked—me to go along with the plan, reinforcing my idea that everything was to test my future behavior.

Well, I would've been even more skeptical about working together with a stranger, even more so with someone like younger Michael Roah.

Of course, I could make a grand stand here, but to what end? Just to show that I was an unreasonable and immature brat who needed everything to be exactly as he wanted?

Yeah, loads of good it would do for me.

So, after a brief discussion, I accepted both parts of his proposition.

***

Of course, Helen's kitchen was completely barren of anything resembling groceries. What a shocker, right?

The quest for breakfast led us to the usual café. Oof.

No, I liked the place, and their coffee was great, but the food variety was severely lacking. 

Nothing out of ordinary happened this time around, so our time there went by in relative peace as we talked about a myriad of unimportant things.

Bliss.

***

For the second time in less than a week, I stood in front of a tall mirror while people were busy working, doing all those measurements, fittings, and adjustments.

Apparently, my darling took the freedom to order the Smith family's tailors to make a—I cringed—suitable suit back last Saturday.

Was it just my imagination, or did the women in my life have a propensity for knowing a little bit too much about myself?

I glanced at my darling, happily discussing the various details of my garb with the head tailor.

Well, this much had been within acceptable limits.

***

The overly luxurious—and something told me I should give up and accept that this was a new normal in my life—the car brought Helen and me closer and closer to the venue of tonight's event.

White and violet, the color scheme that Helen Smith liked very much, dominated our chosen attire. It was far enough from my usual reds and blacks, but, as I told Olivia way back then, 'as long as my current company is happy.'

Helen looked... well, as usual. Perfect.

I had a hard time forcing myself to stop myself from simply staring at her with a sloppy expression. My darling would've been happy with such an outcome, but I was not in the mood.

Eh, I will have enough time to do that afterward.

For now, I had my head full with planning what role I should play for the evening.

"Darling," Helen called out to me as I argued with myself about how much Michael Roah, Kouzuki Shinji, and Long Tian I should put into the mix and in what proportion. "What was that important thing you needed to tell me?"

Oh, right, thank you, past-me, for doing something smart for a change; I had completely forgotten about this. And she even had enough patience to wait until we were alone.

"Things happened, so I am going to take over the world. And I'll need your help in doing so," I stated the facts.

"Sure," Helen accepted my words with a curt nod.

"You can work the details out together with both of my grandmothers," I added a bit after.

Helen nodded again.

Her reaction was within my expectations, albeit not in the top five possibilities. Well, this would make my life a bit easier.

"Can you tell me more about people I need to pay attention to, please?" I decided to put my words into action already. "I had a preliminary briefing with both monochrome ladies already, but I would welcome your input as well."

Another nod of acceptance later, Helen started talking.

***

The event was boring. As fuck. And I couldn't even use my usual excuse and just drink myself into a stupor this time.

Damn.

Well, I managed to find myself a distraction of sorts. My plan worked, or so it seemed. 

I was wearing the colors of the Smith clan, with a few small details that should've been a dead giveaway of my belonging to the Long and Kouzuki clans—the same accessory set I used last Friday and completely forgot about on Saturday night.

That alone should've thrown most people into a loop, but I also intimately hugged my darling by her waist, something she was evidently very comfortable with.

As I let Helen lead me along to meet the people she deemed 'useful', I basked in all those stares on me.

All that jealousy, anger, and poorly masked envy. Looks of grief, disbelief, and understanding were generously sprinkled on the faces of the few present minor families' young masters.

I slid my hand a bit lower along Helen's frame, something she accepted with a smile, and looked around, enjoying how a few facial expressions crumbled even more.

Of course, I was petty.

I met their eyes with my own, one by one, giving them a disdainful smile. Ah, so good to be me.

***

Names. Faces. Fake smiles. And an endless amount of empty flattery and fawning.

So damn tiring.

I kept my posture and expression as close to my interpretation of Lady in Black as I could, though from time to time, I let some of Lady in White slip through. On purpose, of course.

Helen, in her turn, never introduced me with anything more than a short 'and my companion'. Neither did she ever affirm nor deny their attempts to guess which young master they had the honor to meet.

The highlight of the evening was, no doubt, the happy expression Helen had on her face when I invited her for a dance. And for every following one as well.

***

It was well into the night when we decided to find ourselves a place to take a breather. Our choice fell onto a relatively empty balcony.

In fact, there was a single other guest present who was busy leaning onto the rails and looking somewhere in the distance.

I led Helen to an empty bench across from the stranger, noting the positions of the hidden guards in the garden.

"It's an honor to finally meet you, Young Master Long." An unexpected greeting reached my ears.