“Will receive it in the afternoon. There’s also a delivery service. Why? Do you want to see it, Miss?”
“Is there a way to get it quickly?”
“You can go out and buy it. Should I get it for you?”
“Yes, get it for me, please.”
It was rare for Elise to ask for something. What could a noble lady ask a maid for?
So Regina was excited. She had a chance to help Elise with her own strength.
“I’ll be back like the wind!”
Regina raised a gust of wind and went out.
Alone, Elise locked the bathroom door and undressed.
“Oh…”
A sigh of distress escaped Elise’s lips as she looked in the mirror.
It was as expected.
Karan, who was usually much more polite than a Bedrokkan, turned into a different person in bed.
Elise pushed her foot into the bathtub, looking at the speckled marks.
After the regression, everything went smoothly. It seemed like the goddess of luck was on her side.
“It will be certain today.”
Elise planned to find the owner of the Alleycat Times. If it’s one of the three people, then surely her story would be in today’s paper.
“I wonder who it is.”
Elise’s anticipation grew.
***
The next afternoon, Elise went into a small tea shop in the city.
The dim atmosphere of the tea shop was quite different from the atmosphere preferred by the noble ladies.
The location was far from the bustling area, so when Elise suggested going here, Regina asked several times.
“Do you have an appointment?”
And for thirty minutes, Elise had been waiting for someone. Regina asked, tilting her head.
Yesterday, Elise confirmed the publisher after seeing the Alleycat Times that Regina had brought.
She immediately wrote a letter to the publisher.
If she received the letter, she would definitely come to the appointment place today.
‘Even if it’s to deny, she’ll come.’
Elise trusted her hunch.
“Of course, Regina. If you’re bored waiting, go out and take a look around the city.”
“No, miss. How can I leave you alone?”
Although it was a safe place, Elise let Regina do as she wished.
Instead, Elise arranged a separate seat for Regina to rest comfortably.
There was also a reason to loosen the other party’s guard.
“Order whatever you want to eat.”
“I should be next to you…”
“It’s more uncomfortable with you here.”
Regina reluctantly moved her seat.
Elise, who saw Regina move to a table with her legs crossed, lifted her teacup.
Then, a shadow cast over her head.
‘She’s finally here.’
If you calculate the timing, it seemed that she did not appear even after arriving at the appointment place because of Regina.
It was a good idea to seat Regina at another table.
“Keeping time appointments is a very important virtue for a journalist.”
“It’s a duty. More importantly, it’s security.”
Elise’s face reflected in the teacup was full of smiles.
Clink. Elise put down her teacup.
Elise, who got up from her seat, reached out her hand.
“Welcome, Ms. Deboa Haigbreeze. Or would you prefer to be called the publisher of Alleycat Times rather than your name?”
“I see you’re convinced that I’m the publisher of the Alleycat Times.”
Deboa shot back, shaking Elise’s hand.
After a light handshake, she sat across from Elise.
“I didn’t expect you to dodge coming all the way here. You just talked about the attitude of a journalist.”
“I came here to correct Elise’s misunderstanding. The attitude of a journalist is something anyone can understand if they think about it.”
“Well, if you think so. The conversation will be long, shall we order tea first?”
Elise called the waiter. Deboa ordered a warm peppermint tea.
“Why did you think I was the publisher of the Alleycat Times?”
Deboa asked a question right away, as if she couldn’t even wait for the tea to be served.
Elise poured milk into her teacup and stirred it. Deboa frowned at her leisurely attitude.
“You seem anxious?”
“Me? Why?”
“That’s right. Writing is not a sin, so why are you anxious.”
“Hey, Elise.”
“Your legs are shaking. You keep biting your lip.”
Elise rummaged through her small handbag. She took out a handkerchief and handed it to Deboa.
“You’re bleeding.”
Deboa glared at Elise and took the handkerchief to press to her lips.
As expected, blood came out without fail.
“Your tea is here.”
The waiter brought the tea at the right moment.
Elise waited for Deboa to calm her agitated heart while drinking tea.
‘She’s more sensitive than I thought.’
As Elise said, writing is not a sin.
But you can’t be free from ethical responsibility.
Especially Alleycat Times, which mainly deals with gossip, often dealing with sensitive issues.
So there are many enemies.
‘Half of the people think that if Deboa hadn’t written about playing with her boyfriend, there wouldn’t have been a problem.’
Alleycat Times often made social accusations, and because of that, there were nobles who were fined.
There would be at least ten people who considered the publisher of Alleycat Times an enemy and wanted to take revenge.
‘It’s natural to protect your body. It’s a world where the guys who made the mistake get more angry.’
Elise understood Deboa’s position. So she started the conversation with a softer voice.
“I’ve read everything from the first issue to today’s issue. And I found out that the publisher of Alleycat Times belongs to several groups. Like Madam Etua’s flower arrangement club, Smith’s horse riding club. And you were invited to David’s birthday party for three consecutive years and attended in person. On the other hand, you were not invited to Chase’s birthday party.”
“Are there one or two such people?”
“Exactly three. You, Deboa, and Patricia, and finally Jasmine.”
Deboa lifted her eyes that had been cast down.
“Don’t tell me that tea time…”
“Yes, it was a gathering created to find the publisher of Alleycat Times. There, I leaked a story that could be written as an article. Did you see today’s Alleycat Times?”
“I saw it.”
Elise was slightly impressed by Deboa’s naturalness in answering that she had seen it even though she had written it herself.
Today’s Alleycat Times included some of the stories Elise had shared during her tea time.
It was written like a novel under the title ‘The Ladies’ Secret Gossip’, but Elise’s kiss experience was embedded in it.
Anyone else wouldn’t know, but Elise, who had told the story herself, immediately recognized that she was the protagonist in ‘The Ladies’ Secret Gossip’.
“Now that you’ve seen it, you’d know. Why I pointed you out as the publisher of Alleycat Times.”
“I have no idea.”
Whether she was pretending not to know while knowing, or really didn’t know.
If it was the former, she would applaud her cunning acting, and if it was the latter, she seemed to be disappointed in her stupidity.
Elise exhaled. If she keeps denying it, she should make it impossible to deny.
“If it were Patricia, she wouldn’t write a good story about me. You know she doesn’t like me, you saw it at the meeting that day. And Jasmine wasn’t interested in the story I told. Specifically, the topic is ‘kiss’. Of course, she was interested at first, but later she asked me what I was wearing when I kissed. Maybe if Jasmine was the publisher of Alleycat Times, she would have filled one side with what we wore that day, what accessories we wore.”
Deboa chewed her lower lip.
“Shall we nail it here? Handwriting.”
“The handwriting will definitely be different, right?”
At Deboa’s question, Elise smiled triumphantly.
The question just now was no different from Deboa admitting that she was the publisher of Alleycat Times.
Perhaps realizing her mistake, Deboa sighed.
“Yes, I’m the publisher of Alleycat Times. So what? Do you want me to confess and apologize in front of the nobles?”
“Why would I?”
“Or are you going to threaten not to publish Alleycat Times in the future?”
“Why should I?”
“That’s because the next article is…”
Deboa closed her mouth as she was about to speak.
The protagonist of the secret tip she received before coming here was Elise.
The content was so shocking that Deboa was wondering whether to write it or not, even though it was an exclusive.
Not because she was worried about Elise, but because she was afraid of the backlash if it wasn’t true.
Especially since the royalty was involved, she had to be more careful.
“It’s okay to write any article about me.”
Even though she doesn’t know what it is.
Deboa twitched her lips. Just in case, Deboa decided to hide the fact that she had received a tip.
“You didn’t reveal it because you were bored, what do you want?”
She had been publishing gossip alone for three years.
During that time, Deboa had experienced many harsh things that ordinary noble ladies couldn’t even imagine.
There’s no need to shrink just because you’ve been caught. Deboa lifted her chin.
“I don’t particularly want anything, I’m here to give you information.”
Deboa narrowed her eyes.
Deboa had learned a lot while living as a gossip publisher, and she had engraved one fact as a truth in her heart.
There’s no such thing as a free lunch.
Neither the person who provided the information, the printing house that published the gossip, nor the kids who delivered the gossip did their job for free.
It wasn’t a world that moved by simple favoritism, flattery, or something like social justice.
You had to give what you could give and receive what you could receive to avoid any setbacks.
“Trust me.”
It seems she knew that a tip had come in.
Deboa relaxed.
“Ha, you’re going around in circles to tell me not to write the article. I’ll ask you one thing. Is it a lie that you’re in such a relationship with the Prince of Tetris?”
“It’s true. Please write that article.”
“…!”
Deboa was taken aback.
Elise laughed at her surprised expression.
“If you need to ask me for something to feel satisfied, then please write that article very blatantly and provocatively. Let’s make that my request.”
Now, Deboa’s mouth was wide open.
