The Novel's Extra-Chapter ss41: Side Story 41 – Dream in a Dream (41)

Rachel went shopping for clothes on a sunny and peaceful day with Fermin at a famous formal attire store.

“That investment company seems to be quite famous,” Fermin said while looking through the formal attire in the store.

Formal attire felt foreign to heroes used to wearing casual attire most of the time.

“You mean EXTRION Hathshire?” Rachel asked in response.

“Yeah, they’ve only been around for four or five years. However, they’re known for having most major stocks in the world in the palm of their hands. I was shocked when I looked them up. Their annual revenue can only be described as… astronomical…”

Rachel had also heard of their renown. They were especially influential in South Korea and possessed enough influence to raise or ruin a country at whim.

“A company like that swept up a majority of our shares! It’s become a hot topic on the internet these days!”

EXTRION had bought more than 40% of the English Royal Court’s stocks while Rachel was away at the general assembly.

Ding!

Rachel’s smartwatch suddenly rang when she was about to say something. She frowned at what came in.

Fermin tilted her head in confusion and asked, “What is it?”

“A message,” Rachel replied.

“From who?” Fermin curiously asked.

Rachel frowned again as if she found Fermin annoying and replied, “The CEO of EXTRION.”

“WHAAAT?!” Fermin screamed in shock. Her eyes widened and her jaws dropped. She set down the formal wear and ran towards Rachel.

“What did he say?” she asked.

“Nothing much.”

The content of the message went something along the lines of, [Have you eaten? I’m looking forward to our meeting next week.]

“Wow! As expected of our Vice Leader! Even a super rich person like him is dying to meet you!”

“Please don’t exaggerate…” Rachel grumbled and shrugged.

A worrying thought flashed across her mind after she read the message. If she remembered correctly, Kim Hajin also said he would visit her in London next week.

What if… just maybe… their dates happened to overlap?

That worry spread throughout her mind like wildfire and she found herself in a dilemma. She subconsciously raised a thumb to her mouth and began biting her nail.

“Ack! What are you doing, Vice Leader?!” Fermin exclaimed and smacked Rachel’s hand away. She reprimanded the princess, “You should be mindful of your appearance!”

“Ah… Sorry… it was a mistake…”

“The formal wear you requested is here,” the store clerk told them.

Fermin grinned and received the clothes from the clerk. She placed it on top of Rachel.

“Wow…” Fermin couldn’t help but gasp in admiration.

It looked perfect on Rachel. The white blouse, black jacket, slacks, and coat that went down to her knees could only be described as a perfect fit.

“Try wearing it! Hurry!” Fermin pushed Rachel towards the dressing room.

A moment passed and Rachel finished changing into her formal attire. Fermin exclaimed in awe again.

The formal attire accentuated Rachel’s sharp features and complimented her figure quite nicely. Not only that, the black colors somewhat made her look colder. However, her beautiful features made her look warm at the same time. On top of that, her golden hair was tied in a ponytail and she wore high heels. She simply embodied perfection.

“What do you think? Is it alright? Do you think it’s a bit too much?” Rachel asked while smiling awkwardly.

She turned a few times in front of the mirror seemingly unsure whether the attire looked good on her or not.

Fermin and the store clerks stared at her. Rachel looked more beautiful than anyone else in the world. All of them gave her a thumbs-up to express their approval.

***

Rachel’s daily schedule became packed after she returned from the general assembly. Conferences, interviews, public events, charity works, etc…

She didn’t even have time to meet friends or send them a message. Her twenty-four hours only consisted of events in England and other countries.

She couldn’t help but feel a bit insecure because she couldn’t talk to the person she wanted to speak with most due to her busy schedule. Rachel worried that he might think ill of her or misunderstand.

“Haa…” She sat in her office chair with a sigh. Rachel stared at her smartwatch and contemplated whether to send a message or not. She had a lot of work to finish today.

First, she had to reinstate Dake. He used to be their human resource manager and was the one who secretly hired Xtra. She had reunited with Kim Hajin thanks to him.

Rachel decided to reinstate him and send him as the person in charge of their general assembly branch.

Rumble… Rumble…

A commotion occurred outside her office as someone ran through the corridor. Rachel had a good idea who and began counting down.

Three… Two… One…

Bam!

Someone slammed open her office door as if intending to break it.

“Vice Leader! We have a problem!”

As expected, Fermin had barged in. She immediately shut the door and shouted, “An article popped up in Korea!”

“Is that so?” Rachel calmly replied with a nod.

She didn’t feel surprised about an article since she had more than one million members in her fan club.

Fermin showed it to Rachel, who still felt smug about herself. Rachel began trembling when she read the article.

[EXTRION Hathshire’s CEO is rumored to be dating the English Royal Court’s vice leader.]

Ding!

It felt as if a gong rang out in her head and she stood flabbergasted after reading the article.

“W-What is this?” she muttered and doubted whether it was just a bad dream.

However, anger welled up in her when she realized it was real. Who in their right mind would write this cheap tabloid?!

These types of articles usually contacted the people themselves to confirm the rumor before releasing it. This had been the industry standard since time immemorial.

To think they would look down on England this much… Wait a minute… What if this was all a ploy hatched by EXTRION’s CEO?

Rachel’s eyes trembled from the anger and shock. That could be the case. No, that probably was the case since certain industries often used such tactics.

“Should we release a statement?” Fermin carefully asked.

“Please prepare one at once and step out of my office for now,” Rachel said with seething anger.

She immediately browsed through her smartwatch contacts for a specific name. Her finger trembled when she found the name.

“Hoo… Haa…” she inhaled and exhaled a few times to calm herself and tapped the call button.

The phone rang a few times before he finally picked up.

— Hello?

Kim Hajin’s voice came from the other end.

Rachel flinched when she heard his voice. It seemed that he had seen the news as well.

“Hajin?”

— Yes?

She suddenly felt self-conscious and began stuttering, “Uhm… the thing is… did you perhaps… see the article… by any chance?”

— Ah, yes. Do you mean the one where you were dating someone? It was on the morning news too.

What she feared most had happened. Rachel grabbed her hair in frustration.

“That… you shouldn’t believe it… It’s not true…”

— Oh, it’s not?

“Never. Over my dead body. That would never happen.”

— Over your dead body?

“Of course! Yes! Never ever!”

Kim Hajin became silent for a few seconds before sighing.

— Ah… That’s a bit… unfortunate…

“Huh?”

— Anyways, I’m hanging up now. I’m a bit busy, so I’ll contact you later. Sigh… 𝐟r𝑒ℯ𝘄𝐞𝙗ｎov𝚎𝙡. 𝑐𝘰𝘮

Kim Hajin ended the call without any further explanation.

Rachel stood dumbfounded for a while before her body began trembling again. She plopped to the floor like a doll cut from its strings.

“That… That basta…” she muttered.

Rachel immediately sent a message to EXTRION Hathshire’s CEO. She asked if he was the culprit behind the article, but he didn’t reply.

Of course, he didn’t reply since Kim Hajin just said he was busy. He was drawing up plans with Kim Hoseop on how to develop not only the English Royal Court guild, but all of London.

***

Rachel couldn’t help but be conscious of Kim Hajin after the article came out. Of course, he reassured her with his awkward messages and laughed it off.

[Hehe, I’m alright. I’m sure you’ll tell me what happened later on.]

He didn’t seem alright at all to her. She could tell that it bothered him. He wouldn’t be able to fool her after they fought together with their lives on the line. They had spent countless days and nights together in their dreams.

“Vice Leader! Vice Leader!” a staffer urgently whispered to her as she spaced out at the podium.

“Oh… yes…” Rachel regained her senses and grabbed the mic.

She had been invited to give a speech at the Britain Academy today in their largest hall with almost every student in attendance. They all gathered to see England’s pride and future, the one and only princess and vice leader.

The crowd clapped and cheered when she grabbed the mic. Rachel bowed at their enthusiasm and recited her speech.

“I always hated myself for such a long time. I sincerely loathed myself because I kept failing and disappointing people with my shortcomings…”

She shared how she broke through her limits by overcoming her self-loathing. She shared how a positive mindset coupled with her training allowed her to progress. Then she showcased her ability to harmonize spirits that she gained from the general assembly.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

“Thank you.”

Rachel finished her speech and rode her limousine to where the ribbon-cutting ceremony would take place.

The English Royal Court called their new state-of-the-art training facility the Raid Ark. The guild members and Britain Academy students would be able to train there together.

She arrived at the training facility that spanned thirty-three thousand square meters.

“Welcome, Your Highness.”

The prime minister, guild executives, Britain Academy’s dean, and various government officials had already arrived.

“Thank you. Where is the CEO?” Rachel asked.

“He has not arrived yet,” the prime minister replied.

She had a lot to say to EXTRION’s CEO. Something along the lines of, Do you know what sort of trouble you caused because of the rumor you spread? She began loading the bullets to shoot him with and wanted to give him a piece of her mind once they met.

Fermin and the other guild members busily chatted away with each other.

“How much were his total assets again?”

“Who knows? All I know is that he has enough money to buy an entire country.”

“I heard this is the first time he’s appearing in public, right?”

“Yeah, that proves how much he likes our Vice Leader!”

They only talked about EXTRION’s CEO.

Fermin listened to all the gossip with a mischievous smile. However, she felt surprised when she looked sideways and saw a familiar face.

“Huh? Hajin?” she muttered in disbelief. Her voice hadn’t been that loud, but Rachel’s ears somehow perked up at those words.

Rachel immediately turned and saw Kim Hajin arriving with his attendants.

“Ack!”

She gasped and immediately ran towards Kim Hajin. Tons of questions filled her mind like, Why is he here?

The prime minister and government officials all glared at Kim Hajin when she ran over to him.

The prime minister looked at Rachel happily skipping over like a kitten running to its owner. He finally understood why she had been so hesitant about the dinner meeting.

“Look into that guy,” the prime minister discreetly said to one of his agents.

“Hajin! What brings you here?” Rachel asked while trying her best to hide how happy she felt.

“Well, I had some business to attend to and I heard you were here so… I came to meet you haha… ha… ha…” Kim Hajin awkwardly laughed.

Rachel failed to catch the meaning behind his awkward laugh.

“Ah… Is that so? Come, follow me,” she said.

“Huh?”

Rachel grabbed his hand and dragged him around to meet various people. She introduced him to the prime minister, the other ministers, the dean, and the VIPs who ran the country.

Kim Hajin didn’t like being dragged around and forced to meet people, but he tried his best not to show it since it was Rachel showing him around. He could only bitterly smile and shake the hands of everyone she introduced him to.

“Ah, just give me a moment Hajin. There’s something I want to give you. I’ll be right back,” Rachel said as she suddenly recalled something.

The prime minister and other officials from the palace approached him with visible hostility as soon as she left.

“Who are you?” they asked with apparent hostility.

“Ah… I’m Rachel’s friend,” Kim Hajin awkwardly replied.

“Rachel?” the prime minister frowned and scanned Kim Hajin from head to toe. He wore an expensive suit, but the fact that some commoner even tried to dress like them was laughable.

Then the prime minister received a message on his smartwatch from his agent.

[It seems he’s just another typical person who struck it rich.]

The prime minister smirked and spoke in a condescending tone, “You… I don’t know what kind of relationship you have with the princess, but I hope you know your place.”

“Huh? Ah, yes. I’m well aware of my place,” Kim Hajin replied with a smile.

“That’s a relief,” the prime minister replied while still scornfully looking at Kim Hajin, but his expression immediately softened when Rachel returned. “So you were one of our princess’ friends. I hope you enjoy the banquet.”

“Huh? Oh, yes, thank you,” Kim Hajin replied.

“But when is our guest of honor coming?” The Britain Academy dean asked while sipping on champagne.

The identity of EXTRION Hathshire’s CEO was veiled in secrecy. Not a single soul knew him, but he was publicly revealing himself for the first time just to see Rachel.

They all scornfully looked at Kim Hajin for this reason. They wanted him gone before their esteemed guest arrived.

“I suggest you give him a call,” the prime minister said.

Rachel glanced at Kim Hajin. He avoided her gaze and nervously looked around their surroundings.

In the end, Rachel was forced to call that person with her smartwatch because all the officials kept pressuring her.