"That damned Saigo!" Katarina's near-hysterical cry echoed through the room. Nervously swallowing, the girl hurled a crystal glass at the wall, and it shattered into a thousand glittering shards, like her tears.
It didn't help. She grabbed the next vessel of pure crystal, filled to the brim with blood-red wine, and downed its contents in one gulp.
Opposite, lounging on a low velvet divan in the pose of a serene goddess, was the near-goddess Natsumi head of the Golden Lotus Clan. She watched her friend with a light, condescending smile, sipping her drink in small gulps.
"I think you're being dramatic. It can't be that bad," she uttered, her voice like the rustle of silk pleasantly caressing to the ear.
"It's worse, as bad as it can be!" Katarina sobbed, brushing a genuine tear from her lashes. "He doesn't want anything! Not this way, not that way, no way at all! My beauty and intuition aren't helping! What's wrong with me?!"
Natsumi languidly let her gaze slide over her friend from the top of her disheveled fiery hair to the tips of her fingers resting on expensive shoes.
There was nothing to criticize; the girl was stunning. Even she, who had seen so many luxurious bodies, sometimes had sinful thoughts about dragging this heat-radiating lady away to "play" a little.
"There's nothing wrong with you, dear. But with him... I don't know. Although, knowing the Cotto Clan," Natsumi paused, took her glass in hand, and looked languidly out the window "they're an odd bunch, every other one of them."
"Odd or not, the heart wants what it wants! I love him, what should I do?" Katarina cried out, almost sobbing and swaying from the alcohol.
"I think I can help you. But first..." Natsumi clicked open an elegant fan and, fanning herself, continued: "Your Marcus was magnificent." She said this with a wide smile.
"Ha! Glad you liked him! He spoke very positively about you, by the way, maybe even too positively..." Katarina's spirits lifted for a moment, but she immediately pouted. "Stop! You're teasing me now!"
"Maybe a little," Natsumi smiled shamelessly.
"You wretched...!" Katarina tried to jump up, but the alcohol did its job her legs buckled, and she stumbled, nearly collapsing right onto the table of exquisite snacks.
"But seriously," Natsumi's voice suddenly became businesslike, "you're pushing things too hard. He's young, handsome (judging by the portrait), strong, and, I presume, not poor. With such starting points, only genuine feelings hold any real weight. Relax, observe him. Give him more freedom, learn what he likes. Then gradually get closer."
She paused, letting the words penetrate the wine fog clouding her friend's mind.
"He's an assassin? Excellent. Give him a contract; I'm sure you have plenty of people who don't deserve to live. You can even go with him, but not right away. Watch his reaction, analyze it, and using the data you gather, capture his attention and gradually seep into his worldview. Entrench yourself, make yourself a routine, the one with which his day begins, and believe me, soon the nights of our little prude will end in your embrace."
Katarina listened, her mouth slightly agape, like a young maiden heeding a wise teacher.
"And... and it will definitely work?"
"Definitely, definitely," Natsumi assured her with a soft smile.
Katarina sighed happily and, as if seeking comfort, stuffed three pastries into her mouth at once extremely delicious-looking ones, covered in velvety buttercream, making her cheeks puff up like a chipmunk's.
And at that moment, Natsumi, with feigned nonchalance, extracted a folded sheet of paper from the inner pocket of her exquisite yukata.
"What's that?" Katarina mumbled through her full mouth.
"A letter. From the Cotto Clan," her friend explained, and her eyes grew serious. "In short, the ransom terms for your beloved Saigo."
Katarina's face froze in a mask of the deepest incomprehension of the world order and the processes within it. How many times had she sent messengers with offers to these maniacs, all to no avail? People disappeared for days, even weeks, then, of course, returned, having failed to achieve their goal.
She slowly chewed the pastries, struggling to return to reality.
"Well, what does it say?" she asked, and her voice once again acquired metallic notes of power.
"I haven't..." Natsumi began with feigned innocence, which she happily reinforced with large, almost puppy-dog eyes.
"Who are you lying to? You've probably read it three times already and re-sealed it. Out with it."
Natsumi gave up and sighed. "They are offering fifty million in gold, a safety guarantee—for you and the empire's high officials. And also... an extensive cooperation agreement, up to and including the incorporation of the Cotto Clan into the Imperial hierarchy with the status of a collective lord."
"And?" Katarina narrowed her eyes.
"But on the condition that Saigo... is sent home."
"Heh..." Katarina leaned back against the sofa, her shoulders shaking with silent laughter. "That's it? All this time they were concocting this nonsense? Did they even read my proposals?"
"I see you had other proposals?" Natsumi asked with genuine intrigue, as if reading her friend's thoughts.
"Yes," Katarina exhaled, wiping her sweat with her sleeve. "Everything they proposed, but three times more. Under..." Katarina raised a finger adorned with a gold signet ring bearing the imperial crest "the condition of their assistance in making their member, one Saigo, fall in love with me, of course."
Natsumi slowly covered her eyes with her fan, but the corners of her lips were seen to tremble. Katarina's obsession reignited her interest in this Saigo with new force. I definitely need to get a look at him...
She thought, raising her glass of red wine in a silent toast to their hers and Saigo's successful acquaintance.