"Emily, Emily — would it be all right if Ji-woo filmed the ad with me?"
"Yes, of course. If that is Your Highness's wish, I'm sure Beverly will accept without hesitation."
Princess Elicia's personal secretary, Emily Winterburn, gave a small nod as she answered.
After all, the contract for Princess Elicia to film the advertisement had already been signed — and the girl named Lee Ji-woo was more than qualified to stand beside her as a model.
"Miss Erdi, was it?"
"Yes, that's correct."
"As Her Highness just mentioned, we would like Ji-woo to accompany the princess for the Beverly shoot."
She approached Erdis Arcana of M.M.L.I — Ji-woo's listed guardian — and inquired whether Ji-woo would genuinely be available to participate in the Beverly advertisement.
The answer that came back from Erdi was a positive one.
"Since Ji-woo has already agreed, I don't think it's really my place to refuse."
Erdi's position was simple: if Ji-woo wanted to film the Beverly ad, she would follow Ji-woo's lead.
Emily gave a slight bow in return, expressing her gratitude for the cooperative response.
It wasn't common for an ad model to personally recruit another model on the spot, of course.
But there were always exceptions.
"We'll be in touch soon, then. It shouldn't take long."
"Understood."
If Ji-woo had been an ordinary girl, even Princess Elicia wouldn't have been able to convince Beverly.
Who would agree to suddenly let a friend tag along and share the spotlight in a commercial?
Even a princess of England couldn't simply push through every demand she made.
Advertising contracts weren't child's play.
But this was different.
'…Well done, Your Highness.'
Right now, there was something more important than adhering to the terms of an ad contract.
Specifically — making sure that England and Ji-woo remained connected, in whatever way possible.
— Fidget, fidget.
— Fidget, fidget.
"Are you… okay, Ji-woo? Does it hurt when I touch your ears?"
"Mm, no. It doesn't hurt."
"…They're so soft. Fluffy. Have you ever touched them yourself?"
"Oh — come to think of it, I haven't."
The girl currently letting Elicia play with her extra ears was, from England's perspective, a guest who needed to be treated with the utmost care.
The child who had appeared out of nowhere alongside Arkiel just days ago and saved London.
Also — another individual with access to the mysterious awakener organization known as M.M.L.I.
A girl with remarkably close ties to Haetae Guild's guildmaster Yoo Do-a and S-rank Hunter Kim A-rin.
"You said these ears and the tail are part of your ability?"
"Yeah. I'm a transformation-type Hunter."
"So — can you hear things better too? You've got two extra ears right now."
"Right now I can even hear Lucar breathing from over there."
"Wow…."
She looked like just another girl around Elicia's age, but her influence was not something to be underestimated.
The fact that Erdis Arcana — the representative of M.M.L.I herself — was personally serving as Ji-woo's escort was proof enough of that.
'They've said they have a cooperative relationship with Korea's Haetae Guild, but that's all that's publicly known.'
M.M.L.I's full strength and capabilities had yet to be properly assessed, but that was precisely why England wanted to cultivate the best possible relationship with them.
There was nothing to gain from making an enemy of a mysterious awakener organization that even the United States hadn't been able to figure out.
That meant establishing a channel through which England and M.M.L.I could make contact — and in England's eyes, the most viable bridge to M.M.L.I, however indirect, was Lee Ji-woo.
"Your Highness."
"Hm? What is it, Emily?"
"If it pleases you, I'd like to extend a dinner invitation to Ji-woo and her party. What do you think?"
"Oh, I'm perfectly fine with that! Would you like to have dinner together?"
And so England had arranged the meeting between Princess Elicia and Ji-woo, and further steered things toward an advertising contract with a domestic company — all by design.
That would create a direct channel of contact between Ji-woo and England.
And one step further, England could use Ji-woo to relay its intentions to M.M.L.I.
Ideally, they'd want direct contact with M.M.L.I as well — but pushing too hard to close the distance all at once would only backfire.
"Ji-woo, what do you think?"
"…Is dinner going to be British food?"
"The chef is British, but tonight's menu is French cuisine. Have you ever heard of haute cuisine?"
"Will there be steak?"
"Yes."
"Then I'm in. Thank you so much for the invitation!"
"So she says, Your Highness."
"Ahaha, Ji-woo likes meat, does she."
Even so — ■■ ten thousand pounds (■ ten thousand dollars) for an advertising fee to establish some kind of connection with Ji-woo.
Roughly ■ hundred million won in Korean currency. England's royal family and government considered that a bargain.
If the Red Gate incident had gone unresolved and London had been reduced to rubble, England would have suffered astronomical losses.
Compared to that, the cost of building a connection with Arkiel — who had single-handedly prevented that catastrophe — and the organization she belonged to, M.M.L.I, was not a penny wasted.
This entire meeting had been orchestrated with all of that calculated in advance.
"Sis… I mean, Erdi."
"You can go."
"I haven't even said anything yet."
"You want to go to a restaurant with the princess."
"Correct."
Having secured Erdi's blessing, Ji-woo ended up staying for dinner after all.
Erdis Arcana of M.M.L.I — Ji-woo's guardian — also agreed to be present at the dinner.
From England's perspective, things were going better than they could have hoped.
That was the same reason Emily found herself smiling inwardly at the princess who had brought all of this about.
Though even Emily hadn't anticipated what happened next.
— Tap tap tap.
— Ding.
"Recorder… proof…? …Hehehe."
It was late afternoon, the sun beginning to sink toward the horizon.
Ji-woo, who had been typing something on her phone, made her way straight to her guardian.
And then, with the most earnest eyes she'd shown all day —
"Erdi, I need your help. This is seriously important."
— Flinch.
"…Something important?"
"Yes. Something important."
She asked for help as though something critically urgent had just come up.
Erdis Arcana, currently standing in her role as M.M.L.I's Erdi, asked what the matter was —
"Elicia said if I post proof of her touching my ears, she'll post proof of playing a recorder on Line 1."
— and received an answer that Erdis Arcana could not, for the life of her, understand why it was important.
The problem was that Ji-woo was looking at her with eyes full of absolute expectation.
If Erdis Arcana refused here, Ji-woo would undoubtedly sink into a look of utter devastation, like the world had ended.
"…So. How exactly are you planning to do this 'proof'?"
"I was going to film a video with just my ears in the shot!"
"What?"
"I mean, full face reveal feels like a bit much… If only my ears show, people won't know it's me, right?"
The bigger problem was that Ji-woo's idea wasn't particularly convincing.
The "internet" that Erdis Arcana had studied in considerable depth was a place where people could track down someone's identity in no time flat — even from just a pair of ears.
And Ji-woo's fluffy wolf ears weren't exactly common.
On top of that, photos of Ji-woo transformed — photos showing exactly these wolf ears — were already posted on that Instagram place.
In other words, Ji-woo was someone whose identity could easily be pinpointed from ears alone.
"Does it have to show your ears?"
"Otherwise people won't believe it."
"No, wait. Just… hold on."
Posting any part of Ji-woo's body online would only be a matter of time before her identity was exposed.
The fact that the username WannaBeDriedRadish and Lee Ji-woo were the same person would come out just as quickly.
That was Erdis Arcana's assessment.
"Anyway — a recorder. All she has to do is play it, right?"
"Well… yeah, technically."
If it got out that WannaBeDriedRadish — who'd been stirring up the Hunter Wannabe Gallery with bizarre bait posts — was the same person as Ji-woo, all sorts of problems would follow.
Right now, Ji-woo needed to be known as a cute, harmless rookie Hunter.
Bluntly put, WannaBeDriedRadish was not an identity that would do Ji-woo's image any favors.
"All you need is for people to know you met the princess."
So Erdis Arcana proposed a different approach.
One that would let Ji-woo get her proof without exposing her identity.
"Just post a photo of the princess. Only Elicia. Nothing else."
"Hmm… but then people won't know she touched my ears."
"No — they will. They'll have no choice but to know."
"?"
With a carefully composed expression, Erdis Arcana walked over and made a quiet request to the princess.
She asked if she wouldn't mind posing for just one photo.
— Scribble scribble scribble scribble.
"If you could hold this note so it's visible to the camera, that should do it."
"Just… the note?"
"Yes."
Erdis Arcana had also considered Princess Elicia's position.
If it became widely known that Elicia had been casually fondling someone else's ears, that wouldn't reflect well on anyone involved — regardless of whose ears they were.
— Click.
"That's perfect. Thank you, Your Highness."
Ji-woo's identity would stay hidden. Elicia's image would take no damage.
And at the same time, it would prove that WannaBeDriedRadish's comment about meeting the princess was real.
One photo that accomplished all of that.
"Post only this photo. Nothing else."
"…!"
Ji-woo's face lit up with undisguised excitement as she added her thanks.
Calling Erdis Arcana by that same familiar title she always used.
"Erdi, you're the best. Seriously, you're all I've got. How are you this smart."
"…As long as you know."
***
[Title: ImSeriouslyRankA, this is an order]
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Posted by: WannaBeDriedRadish
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@ImSeriouslyRankA
Princess Elicia commands it
She says no proof = execution lol gl
ㄴ anon: ??????????????????
ㄴ anon: wait what is even happening
ㄴ IDontGetIt: why is the princess showing up here
ㄴ WannaBeDriedRadish: (mint-haired emoji wearing a crown)
ㄴ IDontGetIt: what IS this person, the princess of england touched their ears?? genuinely lost;;
ㄴ BaldIsAesthetic: (link to Elicia's Instagram)
ㄴ BaldIsAesthetic: that's actually the real princess?? holy crap
ㄴ WannaBeDriedRadish: (that's me emoji with mint hair)
ㄴ ImSeriouslyRankA: it's obviously photoshopped;;
ㄴ WannaBeDriedRadish: find the original and I'll do the recorder proof for you myself
ㄴ anon: shut up and go grab a recorder and get on Line 1 lmaooo
ㄴ MammaMiaYo: watching to see if you're actually Rank A
ㄴ SnowFlowerMama: fyi the Line 1 recorder villain shows up every morning at the front car, for reference
ㄴ ImSeriouslyRankA: oh..
