Curse the Mainframe! 226 The Ladies of Nobility

There had been word amongst the ladies of nobility that there was the sudden appearance of a gentleman with jet black hair and beautiful deep blue eyes that frequented the Cookie Sect cafés that had been so popular as of late.

It was something that quietly spread amongst them, to their friends and others of the same circles as they were, and more than once, they had visited the shops themselves to see who the elusive man of the rumours was.

This brought a flow of traffic to the Cookie Sect that caused those in the Rhys City kitchen to curse out Alec as they worked until they were bone tired. They were about to collapse at the end of each day.

The cause of those rumours was a young man that sat by the window of the place, leisurely reading a book and drinking tea.

Not once did he look up from his leisure pastime, but the lack of his action just made the ladies yearn for him to look at them instead of driving them away.

Many of them stared at him hard, as if they were able to summon his gaze at will, yet they were only left defeated as Alec never once looked at them.

Just looking at his side view caused the hearts of the many ladies in the place to palpitate out of their control.

He never had a partner, nor did he make a move on anyone in the shop, so they were able to be satisfied just seeing his face.

On the other hand, had he interacted with any one of them, it was likely that their jealousy would have boiled out of control, causing them to go after the lady who was lucky enough to garner his attention.

Many of them even fought for the best seat to see him, coming as early as possible just for the hopes of seeing him gracefully drink his tea and eat sweet cakes.

They found it adorable that he had a sweet tooth, not matching his outer appearance.

It had been a month since the first day he appeared in the café, and the girls were all going in a tizzy trying to find out who he was, but without any success.

From day to night, the café was filled with noblewomen who were reluctant to leave, only sadly departing once the gentleman left as well.

Alec blinked his dark blue eyes, which was a lot different from his usual shade of sapphire eyes that glistened in the sunlight. He was using a pair of contacts that were able to contract and expand, just like normal eyes, so no one was able to tell that they were fake.

Instead of the recognizable Neil eyes that sparkled like jewels in the light, Alec changed his eye colour to a dark blue that were common amongst nobility, so he didn't stand out.

Every day, Alec sat at the same spot, following a routine for the first half of his morning.

While he appeared like he was doing nothing, this was part of his plan.

Compared to Thea's route of going into the palace as a maid, he didn't think it was as simple for a man to go around undetected unless he had links in the palace to someone higher up.

He'd finished collecting the information on the Rhys family already, so it was time for him to put his plan into action.

Right now, even when he didn't appear as if he was doing anything substantial, his plan about how to get into the royal palace for extended periods of time had already started working.

That the Cookie Sect was able to act as a fishing ground for him as well was something that was unexpected, but he would be damned if he didn't use it to his advantage.

His target this time was the first princess, Ophelia Anastasia Rhys.

She was, in every way, a spoilt and pampered princess that had been heavily doted on by the emperor and her brothers.

There were two princesses in total, but the other princess might as well be invisible for how she was treated in comparison to Princess Ophelia.

She loved dressing up with jewels, gold. Basically, everything that made her stand out in high society, setting trends amongst noblewomen.

Ophelia was a typical princess, and there was the one thing that made her the perfect target.

She changed her men like she changed her clothes.

Though she had many partners, none of them lasted for long, either being thrown away by her, or being dealt with by her brothers or her father on the sly.

It wasn't like she didn't know they'd been dealt with by her family members, but she never cared about what happened to them after she grew bored of them.

It was a faint disregard for human life that made her the perfect target.

Princess Ophelia had a very specific type that she liked to bring around, almost as if they were made from the same mass-produced mould.

They were all handsome and stunning. Their status didn't matter, as long as they were handsome and willing to shower her with sweet words.

Alec changed his looks a little and made himself a little less conspicuous compared to his usual looks, he looked plainer than before. Compared to Princess Ophelia's usual type of man, Alec's looks wouldn't usually draw her eye, which was also a part of his plan.

Rather than going down the usual route of manipulation, Alec had painstakingly adjusted his skillset, changing it to suit his current age.

Before, he used a specific set of methods that were catered to the older type of women, where he pulled on maternal heartstrings and made him gush over them.

Now, he adjusted his skillset to draw in young women.

His face didn't change much, but he was able to pull off the look perfectly well when he added the 'gentle' aura that he usually used.

He didn't even have to do much acting. He just used the usual 'gentle character' type that was uncommon in the high social circles, but it was also the thing that he used as a weapon.

The main difference he had with his usual self was that 'Alexander Bright' was kind in how he treated women, even if he was a little oblivious, whereas Alec couldn't care less about those that weren't related to him.

As evidence to his adjusted skillset, the noble ladies kept coming back day after day, casting amorous glances at him.

He ignored them and pretended he didn't notice their gazes, instead just passing time casually as he read his book.

Since Ophelia liked to gather with the other noble ladies and gossip, she was sure to come here after her curiosity was piqued.

In that case, all he had to do was quietly pass the time and wait.

On the upside, he was able to freely pursue his reading while also working for the benefit of his clan.

Alec was pleased.

Ye Sha was snickering as he looked at all the females that were practically losing their souls as they stared at Alec's form. Alec resolutely ignored Ye Sha's strange actions in his mindscape.

Ye Sha was reminded of the time he spent in the System's space.

There were so many of the Systems that were aiming for Alec, but the System in question had no idea at all. He just thought that they were being friendly.

Right now, the only reason why Alec knew he was drawing attention was because he was 'acting'.

Ye Sha bet that if Alec dropped his act, he wouldn't realize that they were practically drooling after him at all.

It was as if the other didn't consider himself someone desirable, nor did he have any inclination of the way his actions affected others be it romantically or otherwise.

The System snorted. His friend was oblivious like that.

He had no idea how that worked, but hell if it wasn't entertaining as a pastime.

How was it that when he slipped into 'mission' mode he was able to notice these gazes, but when he left it, he was completely oblivious?

It was inconceivable at the best of times, but from what Ye Sha could tell, the other really wasn't faking it. He truly didn't realize that there were people who liked him as he was.

Ye Sha could even bet that even if Alec wasn't acting right now, he would still be able to draw the gazes of all the ladies in the shop without any problem.

There was a quick interlude of silence as the giggling from the shop halted for a bit before resuming.

From the corner of his eye, Alec could see that Princess Ophelia had joined the shop 'discreetly', but since Alec already knew what she looked like, her disguise didn't pass muster.

Alec continued reading his book leisurely.

He had no intention of making contact with the target right now.

The quiet conversations in the shop continued, and the Cookie Sect member was obligingly feeding him information about the shop through the earpiece.

Truly, this was a comfortable mission.

Right now, at least.

After an hour, Alec placed a bookmark in the book and closed it, standing up.

He felt the heavy atmosphere of disappointment in the café as he left and heard the collective sighs of sadness as the bell above the door rang as he closed the door behind him.

Walking down the streets, Alec pretended that he didn't notice he was being trailed in secret by the princess' guards, going about his normal routine and heading to the bookstore where he just started working.

It was a high-class bookstore that was catered to the noble and rich patrons.

The place gave a quiet but classy atmosphere. It was well-lit but still maintained the feeling of scholarliness, using high-end wood as furniture.

"Alexander," the manager greeted, and Alec nodded back at him, quietly settling into his role.

The manager left, leaving Alec as the sole employee within the shop.

Chapter end

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