After our usual ritual of touching each other, I turned to lead Himeko to her table. Before I could do that, however, Lady Kagura made an announcement, projecting her voice for everyone in the salon to hear.
“Could I ask you all to gather round, please?”
In response, the various members of the Sky Salon emerged from their personal areas and assembled around the center table.
This has to be about Lady Sakura, right?
As expected, once everyone was seated, Lady Kagura brought up that very topic. “Thank you, everyone. Allow me to get straight down to business. As I mentioned before, a new student arrived from the UK yesterday. Her name is Sakura Medi Christine, and her family is extensively involved in online streaming platforms, such as ChrisTV, and they’re gradually taking over the world of mass media both new and old. Now they’re expanding into Japan as part of their plan to become a world-leading corporation. I’d very much like the support of Sakura and her family in my own endeavors. It’ll be essential if I want to make my dream a reality. As such, I’m determined to have her join the salon so I can form a deeper connection with her.”
She paused for a moment, then continued, “I’ve received information that our salon is not the only one vying for Sakura. In theory, we could reach out to her right now and recruit her before she has any other options to choose from, but that wouldn’t be wise. Knowing as we do that there are other salons competing for her, we have to engage in a fair fight and ensure that Sakura and the salon leaders are satisfied. Otherwise, it doesn’t really count. Naturally, we have no time to sit idly by; we can’t allow another salon to swipe her from under our noses.”
Lady Saeko interjected, “Can I ask a quick question? Out of curiosity, which other salons want her?”
“The first one is the Paradise Palace.”
“Ah, right.”
Lady Saeko let out a small sigh of understanding. Everyone knew about the Paradise Palace’s specific entry requirement, so it was clear right away what kind of person Lady Sakura was—or how tall she was, at the very least.
“The other is the Gloriana Guesthouse.”
Looking intrigued, Lady Saeko nodded. Clearly she’d heard the name of Lady Rosalie’s salon. “That was set up pretty recently, wasn’t it? Are they trying to boost the salon’s reputation by recruiting the new student from abroad?”
“I don’t know the full details, but the Gloriana Guesthouse is themed around British traditionalism, so it’s inevitable that they’d want her.”
“Right, I see. So it’s not just a publicity stunt. In that case, they could put up a good fight.”
She smiled eagerly. If her expression was anything to go by, she was ready to grind them into dust however Lady Kagura wanted.
As if she’d read my thoughts, Lady Saeko immediately turned to me. “What’s with the face, Misaki?”
I stifled a shriek. “Oh! Uhm, nothing! Nothing at all!”
“So far, we’ve only heard about those two,” Lady Kagura said, “but we can’t rule out the possibility of there being others. That’s why I’m making arrangements to oust any salons that are planning to invite her and make them all agree to a fair fight. Kirara!”
“Yes, milady.” Hearing her name, Kirara stood.
“I’d like you to immediately visit all the other salons and find out if they’re planning to invite Lady Sakura to join them or not.”
“Understood. Leave it to me.”
“I’d like everyone else to learn about Lady Sakura and prepare to show her hospitality she’ll appreciate when she comes to visit us.”
With a light nod, Lady Kagura broke up the gathering. Then she called on Kirara alone, probably to give her more specific instructions for the salon tour she was about to embark on.
It would be nice if I could go with her and help. No sooner did I think that than Himeko called my name in a hushed voice. When I turned to look, she was peeking her head out of her personal area and subtly beckoning with her hand.
If she was acting this way in the Sky Salon, there was only one explanation: she didn’t want Lady Kagura to know what she was up to. Trying not to draw too much attention, I hurried over to her. She pulled me around the corner to ensure nobody could see and drew her face close to mine.
“I want you to go with Kirara.”
“I’m totally happy to do that, but—”
But you don’t have to be so secretive, I wanted to say, but Himeko interrupted me. “When you get to the Mauve Manor, I want you to find out what Shion’s intentions are.”
“Oh, right!”
It was starting to make sense. Himeko suspected that Shion, a Societal Arts student who was like a sister to her, was the one who had fed Lady Rosalie the information about Lady Sakura. We didn’t have any proof yet, and it wasn’t directly related to the battle for Lady Sakura’s membership, so I could see why she wanted to keep it quiet for now.
“All right. When I get to the Mauve Manor, I’ll find an indirect way to ask her.”
“No, that won’t do,” Himeko replied, rejecting my plan in a surprisingly firm tone. “You need to ask her directly. Otherwise she’ll just dodge the question, and maybe even get angry at you for putting on airs.”
“Oh. Yeah, I really don’t want that.”
She wasn’t exactly approachable at the best of times, so if she actually got angry with me, I’d have to run and hide.
After groaning, I continued, “How should I ask her, then? Something like ‘You didn’t give Lady Rosalie any information about Lady Sakura, did you?’”
“Even more directly than that. ‘When you gave the information to Rosalie, what was your intention?’ Something along those lines.”
“But that’s really direct!”
This was a high hurdle for me to get over. Too high, in fact. I’d be accusing her out of nowhere. If I said that right to her face, she’d get angry for sure.
Himeko gripped my shoulders. “I know it won’t be easy, but if you don’t phrase it like that, she won’t open up. Besides, I’m almost certain that it was her. If you’d like, you can preface it by saying I wanted you to ask. That way, even if she gets annoyed, the brunt of it will be aimed at me.”
It was clear that Himeko wouldn’t take no for an answer. As scared as I was, her orders were clear, and I couldn’t disobey.
“Fair enough. I’ll do my best.”
“Thanks.” She gave me a gentle hug and stroked my head.
We went back out into the main area, where Lady Kagura was about to see Kirara off.
“Kagura, do you mind if Misaki goes with her?” Himeko asked. “I think visiting the other salons would be good experience for her.”
“That’s absolutely fine. Kirara, take Misaki with you.”
“Yes, milady,” she replied with a hint of a smile. It was no surprise that visiting every salon on her own had felt like a lonely prospect.
Himeko put a hand on my back. “It’s all up to you.”
“I’ll take care of it.”