Marie
Marie
"It is an honor to meet you, Aria."
The people who had entered greeted her one after another.
At first, they all seemed rather flustered at being brought in as a group, but seeing them quickly compose themselves and respond with courteous professionalism, I had to admit—pros were pros.
"Let's begin quickly."
"First, we have prepared the Himalaya Niloticus bag, which was kept in our Paris headquarters archive. There are only three in the entire world, and it is a masterpiece with both the buckle and lock set with VVS-grade white diamonds."
No sooner had the H brand branch manager finished speaking than the C brand branch manager standing beside her cut in with a soft smile.
"The bag is certainly superb, but when it comes to enduring value, nothing compares to high jewelry, does it? We have brought a one-of-a-kind blue sapphire necklace restored from the founder's original sketches.
A certain European royal family inquired about purchasing it, but we politely declined and had it specially flown in for Aria alone."
Well, I had no idea what any of them were talking about.
Of course, I could roughly follow the gist from the tone, but it only made me feel like they lived in a completely different world from mine.
'I wonder what Mom thinks of the gifts I've given her.'
She must receive luxury goods like these all the time, so I felt a little guilty that her son had only ever given her cheap presents.
What can I do, Mother?
Still, I had put my heart into those gifts in my own way.
While I was having those pointless thoughts, the D brand branch manager stepped forward. Unlike the others, she was a fairly young woman.
"You don't have a product with you?"
"No. Providing a product tailored to the customer is our motto."
Aria gave a single nod, as if telling her to continue.
The D brand branch manager then asked,
"Forgive me, but may I ask who the recipient is?"
"So you assume I'm planning to give it to someone else. Before I answer, may I hear your reasoning?"
"I don't imagine that we, or any of the brands that have sent offers to Aria up to now, have made inferior proposals.
And yet, someone who has steadfastly refused products for herself until now—if she suddenly wanted to seek out a special product, the reason would have to be a gift for someone else."
Aria smiled for the first time at that answer.
Of course, it wasn't the bright, sunny smile she showed me, but a cold smile that carried distance and an air of intimidation.
"Correct. The recipient is President Han Ji-young of Hancheon Hotel. Let me say this in advance: do not pry into or speculate about my relationship with her. The same goes for my relationships with everyone here. Simply prepare the finest gift."
Aria's demand seemed unreasonable at first glance. But perhaps because they received such demands more often than one would think, the D brand branch manager immediately made her proposal.
"We would like to propose an haute couture bespoke service exclusively for President Han Ji-young, to whom Aria will be giving the gift."
"Bespoke—not bad."
"Yes. If Aria will simply grant us the invitation, we will dispatch our headquarters' head designer and master artisans directly to Korea. We will analyze the recipient's body type, gait, and even her preferred perfume, then create a one-of-a-kind dress and matching bag from scratch."
This wasn't an offer to sell her a product. They were proposing to send the brand's leading experts to Korea.
I could only stare with my mouth hanging open.
"If you're giving me something, you must want something in return. What is it?"
"Personally, I would love for you to become an ambassador for our brand, but in truth, there was a strong request from our headquarters' head designer.
She begged for the honor of designing Aria's clothes, even if only once a year. She said she would not accept payment, of course. Would these terms be acceptable?"
The conditions seemed almost shockingly generous, but Aria's expression was thoroughly unenthusiastic.
"What's wrong? Aren't those good terms?"
"Well, she's not a bad person, but she's so passionate that she's overwhelming."
"So you know this head designer?"
"Yes, she's asked me quite a few times before to please let her design clothes for me..."
It must have been from her time abroad.
I was curious, but this wasn't the moment to dig deeper, so I kept my mouth shut for now.
Aria sighed and deliberated, then finally spoke.
"All right. However, I'd like to add two conditions of my own."
"That isn't something I can answer on my own authority. How about I connect you with the head designer right now so you can discuss it directly?"
"...All right. Put her through."
The branch manager made the call, and it connected before the first ringtone had even finished.
"Yes. Aria would like to speak with you directly... I'll hand the phone over now."
The branch manager held the phone out to Aria.
As Aria put the phone to her ear, a woman's voice came through at a pitch so high that even I, sitting beside her, could hear it.
"Aria!"
"Yes, it's been a while. Marie."
"Of course! I even studied Korean because I heard you'd be returning to Korea!"
Now that was dedication.
Victoria was the same. Just how captivating was Aria that people kept learning Korean for her?
"So what are these conditions, my muse?"
"I'm not only your muse, so just call me Aria. Two conditions. One: in exchange for placing an order once a year, you'll design things even if they aren't clothes for me. Two: you'll accept proper payment. Do you accept?"
"Payment? Why?"
"Because I don't want to be indebted to you."
The head designer of a luxury brand was offering to do custom work for free, and she was turning it down.
I couldn't help thinking she should just take what was offered, but Aria knew far more about this field than I did.
I stayed quiet, and after a moment of silence, as if she'd been thinking it over, Marie answered again in her high-pitched voice.
"Hmm, it's a little disappointing, but fine. The opportunity to design your clothes is what matters. Though, could we compromise a bit? I'll only charge for materials, so I'd like you to amend the first condition. I don't mind making clothes for someone else, but let's make it so that in the process, I also make clothes for you. How about that?"
"Fine. I can agree to that."
"Ça marche! (All right!) Then when should I come to Korea?"
"By 2 p.m. on June 2nd, Korea time. Let's meet in front of Hancheon Hotel."
"Got it. Then I'll see you then, Aria!"
Click—the call ended.
The other brands' branch managers wore rather deflated expressions.
Well, in a competition like this, the side that can present what the other wants first always wins, so it was only natural.
"Then we will see you that day as well."
The D brand branch manager was the first to leave.
The other brands' branch managers lingered, watching for any additional opportunity.
Seo-yeon and Victoria, who had been silently observing the scene, exchanged glances and nodded.
"The products you showed us earlier—we'd like to purchase them."
* * *
Once the transaction ended with everyone satisfied, we left the department store and headed to the café that had practically become our regular spot.
"Didn't you two spend too much money?"
No matter how I looked at it, spending hundreds of millions of won on a single gift.
That was a whole different level.
Of course, I wasn't in any position to worry about other people's wallets.
Those two could drop hundreds of millions of won and just call it a bit of splurging, but I'd been shaking over the five-million-won watch I'd bought at the department store.
"You're in a different situation from us, Brother."
"Financially?"
"No, it's something else."
Seo-yeon deflected. Her expression was oddly chagrined.
Did she think she'd lost to Aria?
Unexpectedly, Victoria looked more composed than Seo-yeon.
I'd thought she'd be fuming over being outdone by Aria in gift scale.
Apparently, her competitive fire was limited to music.
"Seeing Victoria's reaction, I roughly understand what you mean by 'situation.' It means you lost the gift offensive for your future mother-in-law, right?
I don't need to win her over that way in the first place, and Victoria isn't related to me by blood, so it makes sense that she doesn't have to push quite as hard either."
Considering what had been said in the private room earlier and their reactions now, it wasn't hard to guess.
And from Victoria's perspective, there was no need to impress only my biological mother.
Madam Han Ji-young was indeed my biological mother, but for me, who had remained by my father's side, my mother now was Linnea.
In that sense, if Victoria truly wished to marry me, the person whose approval she should actually seek ought to be Linnea, not Madam Han Ji-young.
"You asked even though you knew? You're really mean, Brother."
"I just figured it out. Besides, I'm in the same position of having to prepare the best gift I can right now."
If not for the difference in wealth, I might have had to prepare an even more expensive gift.
I'd seduced both my half-sister and my full sister at the same time, and on top of that, I was even planning to marry the half-sister?
And that half-sister's mother was the affair partner of the husband she'd separated from?
Suddenly I wondered if a watch like this was really enough.
It was a fairly high-end watch from a well-known brand, so it wouldn't be called cheap anywhere, but not when the gifts beside it were like that.
"Right, Aria. What's your relationship with this Marie person?"
"Marie Duval. She's a world-famous fashion designer and the head designer of D brand—Duval. She was originally the CEO, but she's also an eccentric who said she was born for fashion and shoved the CEO position onto someone else. Though it's still fair to consider her the face of the company."
Aria took a sip of her matcha latte and continued.
"We first met at a competition in France. She seems to have a lot of interest in the arts, since she often attends concerts, and she happened to run into me there.
As soon as the competition ended, she came to see me and said out of nowhere that she'd fallen for my looks and my music, and begged me to become her muse."
It was eccentric behavior, but considering Aria's looks and music, I could understand the feeling. Of course, if it had been a man instead of a woman, I'd have been angry and told him to back off.
"Honestly, at first I wondered if she was a lesbian or insane, but she said that wasn't it. She said she simply felt a destiny—that I was someone who could pull off her fashion, or rather, that she had to create fashion that would suit me."
"I don't know much about this, but isn't it a good thing to have someone like that making your clothes?"
Instead of answering, Aria turned on her smartphone and began searching for something. Then she showed me the screen.
"This is a piece she made."
Sure enough, the women's clothing Marie made was glamorous and, above all, highly revealing.
At a fashion show, wearing something like that wasn't strange, and even to my untrained eye, the designs were excellent.
But as everyday wear? Absolutely not.
For Aria, who had no occasion to attend fashion shows in the first place, receiving such clothes would have been useless.
"Then why did you accept this time?"
"Mother's birthday gift was at stake, and this time, even if I receive clothes like that, there's someone to show them to, isn't there?"
Aria linked her arm through mine and smiled.
Watching that, Seo-yeon muttered with a frown.
"You're always like this, but today you're especially obnoxious. How about toning it down in public?"
"Jealous? Well, I suppose you would be—Brother and I are already in a special relationship, after all. It's only natural for you to be jealous, Seo-yeon."
"Th-that's...!"
Seo-yeon, who had been about to snap, closed her mouth.
Was it because of the scene she'd made at the café last time, or was she embarrassed?
"I mean, of course I'm jealous..."
So she was embarrassed.
Still, compared to before, this was tremendous progress. She was even admitting it honestly like this.
In the past, she'd have switched into vicious mode and glared at us.
I didn't want to be tactless and pour cold water on the moment, but I had to say what needed saying.
"But Seo-yeon. Before getting Mom's permission, shouldn't you first make me look your way?"
Obviously, if I rejected Seo-yeon and she gave up, then telling Mother about any of this would only be stirring up trouble for nothing.
"W-well, that's true, but! I've been busy lately! And the matter with Hancheon Group still hasn't been resolved at all..."
"That's true."
Seo-yeon wasn't wrong.
She had too much on her plate right now to focus on advancing things with me.
"Then how about this?"
It was Victoria who cut into the conversation.
Victoria spoke to us as if she had a good suggestion.
"Once finals are over at the end of June, it's summer vacation. How about we all go on a trip together to move things along?"
"No, I already have plans."
Summer vacation was already set for me to go alone with Aria to a private beach in Hawaii.
But since it was obvious what would happen if I conveyed that fact as-is, I had no choice but to deflect vaguely.
"Plans? What kind of plans keep you busy all vacation? You're not even doing summer classes."
"No, well..."
Of course, it wouldn't be the entire vacation, but since we hadn't set an exact schedule, it was awkward to answer.
I subtly signaled Aria with my eyes to play along.
As if she understood, Aria opened her mouth.
"Brother is planning to spend the vacation with me at a private beach in Hawaii. In other words, I'm the one he already had plans with."
I'd asked her to cover for me, and my sister had gone and detonated a bomb instead.
Both Seo-yeon and Victoria looked frustrated at having fallen one step behind.
"O-our group has villas and private beaches too...!"
"Si-hyeon, how about Guam instead of Hawaii?"
The two of them belatedly tried making counteroffers, but no matter what, I couldn't refuse my prior plans with Aria.
It was just as I was about to decline politely.
"Don't do that—then why don't we all just go together? To Hawaii."
And then Aria dropped another bomb.