11 PM, in Ai Hayasaka's room.
Instead of changing out of her maid uniform to rest, Ai made a phone call:
"Good evening, Lord Oko."
The voice from the other end was cold:
[What is Kaguya's answer?]
Ai pressed her lips together before replying calmly:
"Upon hearing your arrangements, Lady Kaguya accepted your orders to approach Director Luo without much hesitation, even if it means betraying Miss Chika Fujiwara."
"However, she seems to intend to use Director Luo Shu's influence against you if she succeeds in becoming his girlfriend."
Though she was mentally cursing Oko Shinomiya to hell and back, Ai Hayasaka's face remained expressionless as she reported Kaguya Shinomiya's reaction.
The reason was simple: the Hayasaka family currently served under Oko Shinomiya's command.
She, along with her family, was essentially in Oko Shinomiya's grasp.
No matter how much she cared for Kaguya or despised Oko, she could only outwardly follow Oko's orders, remaining by Kaguya's side as a mole.
Under these circumstances, her conversation with Kaguya that evening had naturally been prompted by Oko's hints.
Just as Kaguya had suspected, Oko did indeed intend to send her to Luo Shu's side.
Similarly, Ai's claim that Oko was scouting for idols in the entertainment industry wasn't entirely false.
However, while Ai carried out Oko's orders to the letter, her reports were... selective with the truth.
Kaguya had no intention of sabotaging Chika Fujiwara's relationship.
Though the young mistress hadn't said it outright, Ai understood her thoughts perfectly.
As Kaguya's only friend, Chika held a special place in her heart.
Upon learning that her eldest brother, Oko, might use her as a pawn to win Luo Shu's favour, Kaguya had already silently resolved to reject such a task. She'd formulated a plan that would neither harm Chika nor compromise herself, while still disrupting Oko's arrangements.
Yet in Ai's report, Kaguya became a cold-blooded heiress who'd eagerly agreed to the scheme out of spite towards Oko, intending to manipulate Luo Shu.
This deliberate misrepresentation served to conceal Kaguya's true intentions while encouraging Oko to underestimate her.
Because this young master, raised under elite education, was the type of man who most disdained women's petty schemes.
As expected, upon hearing Ai Hayasaka's report, Oko Shinomiya let out a cold laugh:
"Hmph, in the end, she's just a child."
Ai Hayasaka didn't respond, only holding the phone slightly further from her face.
At that moment, Oko Shinomiya spoke indifferently:
"However, since she has such intentions, you will cooperate with her fully."
Here, Oko Shinomiya paused, as if remembering that Ai Hayasaka was also a girl of the same age as Kaguya Shinomiya, and added coolly:
"If that one has any needs, you may accompany Kaguya."
Ai Hayasaka's grip on the phone tightened instinctively before she replied expressionlessly:
"Understood, Oko-sama."
"Is there anything else you wish to command?"
As soon as she finished speaking, Oko Shinomiya's cold voice came through the phone:
"Continue monitoring Kaguya. From now on, I require daily reports on all her movements."
"Yes, Oko-sama."
Ai Hayasaka answered immediately, waiting until Oko Shinomiya hung up before throwing herself onto the bed and burying her face in the blankets, muttering muffledly:
"Hurry up and explode, this whole damn Shinomiya family!!"
With that, as if venting her anger, she lay sprawled on the blankets and gradually drifted into sleep.
...
Meanwhile, while Ai Hayasaka slept, the Oko Shinomiya she had cursed was still hard at work.
Inside the executive office of Shinomiya Bank.
Oko Shinomiya stood up after hanging up the phone, gazing through the floor-to-ceiling windows at the neon-lit nightscape of Tokyo from the bank's headquarters.
He stood there for a while, until a knock at the door snapped him out of his thoughts. Turning around, he said:
"Enter."
A man in a tailored suit pushed the door open and immediately bowed at a perfect 90-degree angle:
"Oko-sama, I have brought what you requested."
"Place it on the desk."
Oko Shinomiya spoke as he returned to his seat, his expression cold as he regarded his secretary at Shinomiya Bank.
Though called a secretary, this man was essentially a fixer under Oko Shinomiya's control, handling his dirty work.
His parents and sisters were all under Oko Shinomiya's thumb through various means, and as a retainer of the Shinomiya family, he was bound by loyalty. Yet, even so, Oko Shinomiya remained wary of him.
Thus, even the secretary was often left in the dark, only following orders without full understanding.
Upon hearing the command, the secretary placed the documents on Oko Shinomiya's desk without hesitation and stepped aside, still bowing slightly.
Oko Shinomiya frowned at the thin stack of files, picking them up and flipping through the mere three dossiers before his expression turned blank:
"Is this all?"
Though his tone betrayed nothing, the secretary, long accustomed to reading his moods, instantly recognised his displeasure and hurriedly explained:
"According to the criteria you listed, these are the only three idol candidates who meet the requirements."
He then elaborated on Oko Shinomiya's absurd conditions:
"They must be active idols, actresses, or singers—preferably one of each."
"They must be currently popular, top-tier celebrities."
"They must be women with flawless appearances, and..."
"They must have no scandals, no romantic history, be of excellent character, and a pure maiden."
When it came to the last condition, the secretary inwardly cursed how absurd it was.
In the entertainment industry's cesspool, finding a top idol —a stunning beauty who's also an innocent maiden —was already incredibly fortunate. Managing to pick three candidates was even more so. Yet Oko Shinomiya still thought it was too few?
Had he even looked at his own listed requirements?
Hearing these conditions, Oko Shinomiya himself paused:
"Are the conditions really this strict?"
Raised with elite education, Oko wasn't foolish. As someone of his stature, he was well aware of the chaos in the entertainment industry. Selecting three candidates meeting these criteria was indeed finding a needle in a haystack.
Seeing Oko's surprise at the strictness, the secretary lowered his head further.
In truth, when Oko had ordered him to select candidates through the Shinomiya conglomerate's entertainment channels, he'd not only sent a strange female assistant but also delivered a preference file for some unnamed man without photographs.
The secretary's instructions were to choose candidates satisfying both that mysterious man's and the odd assistant's requirements. Hence, the outrageous selection criteria.
To dispatch people for selection without knowing the specific conditions... was Oko Shinomiya acting on someone else's will?
At this thought, the secretary's head dipped even lower:
"If we relax the requirement for ultra-popular stars, there are more secondary candidates available."
Frankly, the entertainment industry never lacked beautiful women with good personalities and no dating history.
But regarding fame, it became problematic. In showbiz, those reaching the top who had never faced harassment were practically unheard of.
Among the secretary's list were one who was an heiress to a conglomerate, another who had debuted as a child star still under age protection, and a third who was a virtual idol – only a select few knew she was actually stunning.
Only these exceptional cases met Oko's demands. Otherwise, the secretary wouldn't have dared report at all.
Seeing the secretary's expression, Oko turned to the documents, reading aloud as he flipped through:
"Utau Hoshina..."
"Mai Sakurajima..."
"And... Yoimachi Tsukino?"
Examining the three women's profiles, Oko narrowed his eyes.