As soon as her mask artifact fell on the sink and her face, eyes, body, and hair returned to normal, she heard a faint squeal from somewhere inside the room. Her first instinct was to power up her fist with a fire aura. 

What am I doing? Control yourself or you'll destroy the entire house. 

Astrid walked out of the bathroom and scanned the room, but nothing. Under the bed? There was nothing out of the ordinary inside the shoe closet. Her eyes then locked on the curtains, where the shadow of a round figure passed through it. 

No…

She strolled cautiously towards it, and the small critter tried to escape by jumping, but she caught it. I could even do it with my eyes shut.

"A slime?" Astrid tilted her head, trying to figure out why such a low-level monster was there. "I know that the town is now full of creatures like you, but you're starting to act like an infestation, you hear that?"

The slime seemed to understand what she was saying and tackled her, crashing against her chest. The slime and Astrid's breasts wiggled with the same consistency.

She snarled and held it aloft, by what she imagined to be its right 'cheek'. "That wasn't cute at all, you pest. The only one that I'll ever let touch my boobs is A--"

Wait a freaking minute...

She inspected it closely to see its system's information. When monsters displayed their names in orange letters, it meant they had been tamed by a User.

Astrid inadvertently let it go, and Sloochie ran away in a heartbeat.

Oh, bloody crap…

 

***

 

Half an hour later, when the mask's cooldown reset and she could assume her Idol persona again, Astrid exhaled deeply before returning to the living room. Although she could not calm her rapid heart rate, she did her best to smile and act friendly. 

"How is it going, guys? Have you finished reviewing the contract yet?"

"Yes!" Alan smiled at her. "We were waiting for you to come back so we’d sign it together.”

Astrid, acting as Miss Cosmica, inspected his expression. It seems the slime wasn’t his. Her eyes then darted to the woman beside him, folding her arms.

“Great!” Miss Cosmica beamed. “What are we waiting for then?”

As Miss Cosmica took a seat and talked to Consteline, Amelia opened her Friend List tab and called her sister, while vigilantly observing the idol called Nebuline at the other side of the room. Amelia noticed the bodyguard’s eyes check something inside her field of vision, before glancing at her for a second.

Although Marissa did not respond, Amelia got the answer she needed.

“I’d like to talk to Miss Cosmica for a moment,” Amelia spoke in a commanding voice.

“Would you like to take that photo I promised first?” Miss Cosmica asked, clapping, but Amelia’s eyes were not showing joy.

“Why? What is it?” Alan asked. “Is there something else to discuss?”

“Alan Warden,” Amelia intoned aloud while not taking her eyes off the idol. “Do you trust your Co-leader?”

“Of course I do,” he said, confused. “I’d trust you with my life.”

Hearing that made Miss Cosmica bite her lower lip.

“Trust me then. Go. It’ll be just a moment.”

Alan said no more and walked towards the exit, accompanied by his two maid NPCs. “Ashley, let’s go.”

The aforementioned girl nodded after taking the box of cookies with her.

The door closed, but two others remained. “Boss?” Nebuline called, frowning, before meeting Amelia’s glare.

“Dammit, Marissa, I know it’s you! Get out of here!” Amelia then crossed her eyes with Consteline. “And you must be Helen, right?”

Consteline smiled widely at her.

“Leave us alone,” Miss Cosmica said. Both bodyguards nodded and their hurried heels echoed through the living room. Astrid took off her mask once the door got shut. The process made her groan, but she endured it to present a neutral face to her hostess. “Are you planning on blackmailing me, Amelia Laflamme?”

Amelia crossed her legs and stretched out her arms on the couch, sneering. “You shouldn’t have taken off your disguise. Your real face is less pleasant to see.”

“I wanted to see if you could handle seeing me in the eye.” Astrid smirked.

"Who would have thought? You, who didn't bat an eye on plummeting other people's gold, making millions in secret."

"Gold that I’ve also invested in the guild. Ask Tamara. She can give you the numbers."

"Another one of your lackeys. No, thanks. It amazes me you even have the time to do this. Wait, it makes sense. You were barely around."

"That is a lie, and you know it. If it weren’t for me, we would have never reached the top rankings."

"And if you weren't playing pop star so often, Marco Souza wouldn't have gained so much power and taken a third of the guild with him.”

“You aren’t calling him Lord Marco anymore?”

“He failed to meet my expectations.”

“Did he? If I remember correctly, you were so desperate to please him that you even killed Alan eleven times.”

“Ten, and he has been very forgiving about that. We’re very close now. Very.”

“I know. I’ve seen the bloody t-shirts.”

“Good, burn that image into your mind. What’s with this sponsorship crap, anyway?”

“It’s not a lie. I really believe people will fall in love with Phantom Seekers. At least with the members worth watching.”

“Is this an elaborate plan to gain him back?”

“What if it is? He’ll get the resources he needs to get stronger. He benefits from it.”

“So you’re accepting this is your way of making him indebted to you.”

“Are you going to tell him?”

Amelia giggled. “Who knows? Having this much power feels sooo great. I may keep the secret as long as you behave.”

“I prefer not. I’d hate owning you one.”

“But you must keep your secret! You don’t want to disappoint your fans, do you? ‘Oh, have you heard? Miss Cosmica, the Novus sweetheart, is none other than the Golden Bitch. I won’t support her anymore’.”

“Do you think I care about my reputation?”

“Well, you need it, at least for a little longer. To help Alan, you approached him as Miss Cosmica, not Astrid. I wonder why?”

Astrid laughed out loud, not caring if the people outside could hear her. “So you’re admitting that my sponsorship would be a good thing for him.”

“We’ll just be using your resources, that’s all. But stay away from him. Got it?”

“I can’t promise you that. To keep a good business relationship, I’ll have to talk to him often.”

This time, Amelia snickered. “It’s sad when you say it like that. This is the only way you’ll get close to him ever again.”

Astrid snarled. “What?”

“He’s not going back to your arms.” Amelia stood up and placed one foot over the coffee table, her closed fists on her hips. “Admit it, you barely had time for him! You want to be a Guild Master, the number one Ranker, and the Novus’ greatest idol?! Please! That’s why he left! You couldn’t even get off your high horse for a single minute and ask him what he wanted, what he needed! And even if you seduce him while using that stupid disguise, would you call that a victory?! He now has companions that will support him, that’ll never abandon him. And I’m telling you, right now, that I’ll make it my priority to make him happy, every single fucking day! SO FUCK OFF!”

“Are you done?”

“Yes. But I could keep going if you want.”

Astrid opened her User Interface and pushed her thumb against a new floating window. “No, I’ve heard enough.” She put on her mask, waited until the process finished, and rose from her seat, stomping toward the exit. “How I missed talking to you, Amelia Lapute.”

“Au revoir, salope. Va te faire voir !”

“Bloody slag,” Miss Cosmica murmured before slamming the door. “I’ve signed the contract,” she said, passing by Alan and his companions. “Sign yours whenever you’re ready. This will be all for the moment.”

“Um, thanks for everything, Miss Cosmica,” Alan replied shyly. “See you later then.”

As Miss Cosmica waited for her companions to call their mount, she responded without looking in his direction. “Take care.”

Alan stood on the house’s porch for a little longer, watching them go on translucid pegasuses. Bright star-like lights lined the mount’s bodies as if they were constellations incarnate.

“Is something wrong?” he asked after hearing Amelia’s footsteps behind him.

“Nothing wrong. I just wanted to make sure if she was trustworthy.”

“And?”

She stood by his side, with crossed arms. “You said you trusted me, didn’t you?”

He remained silent, watching the night sky.