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At first, Emilia had wanted to buy some decent couples jewelry for Dixie and herself, but the selection in the store ended up disappointing her.
How could she give her lover anything she considered sub-par? The commemoration of their first night together definitely had to be worthy of being cherished for life!
So in the end, since Emilia didn't really like anything in the jewelry store, she decided to just order a few custom ones made using her own design. And if even that didn't work out well, she would have to make one herself. It was to be expected, given that nothing in that store could compare to what she was used to as a princess.
That being said, she did end up buying a few miscellaneous things for her friends, and also confirmed a few ongoing matters while at it.
"Ehh? Is it really true that 'Rothschild' hires child laborers to make their products?"
Emilia had been browsing through the vast selection of colored lip gloss, though she mostly just intended to pick it up for reference, but the hushed discussions did grab her attention, and it was the same for her knight as well.
"Not only that, but they also use harmful substances, many of which are even illegally obtained!"
The discussion seemed to have started from a discussion over which foundation would be the least damaging to their skin in the long run, and while one of them swore by the one from the Rothschild brand that she had always used, the few women nearby seemed intent on 'enlightening' her of how atrocious the products of that company were.
"Well, I read an old interview from their founder in a magazine, and from her conceited words, it's no wonder this is the type of crap her company pulls…"
"Plus, their products aren't even that good, and not much cheaper than the competition."
"Yeah, even if all of these issues turn out to be false, they're just objectively worse than—"
Dixie had almost put it out of her mind after their moves had little effect, but for the Rothschild's cosmetics business to have had such a sharp decline in reputation recently, it had to be said that all those efforts weren't wasted.
She had been quite disheartened when, despite all the efforts Koko's mom had put into making things hard for them, it didn't seem to have had much effect. But now that their reputation stank to the point where it was the most fervently discussed gossip in even these small shops selling beauty products, Dixie felt like all was right in the world.
All of their competitors were using them as a stepping stone!
It was as if a dam that was holding it all back finally gave way, and the dirty flood that followed just became that much worse because of being held back.
Emilia thought it made sense, since it must have been the Sullivan lady protecting them using her clout, but currently, she had far more serious things to worry about.
After all, when her own husband's political career was at stake, whether or not one of her toadies' company did well was the least of her concern.
Dixie smirked. 'Hmph, dare to badmouth my princess huh? I bet it feels really good to be badmouthed by most of your customers now! Ehehehe… Don't worry, one day I'll end your misery, once and for all.'
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As the Sullivan family seemed to have had a firm grasp on much of the upper class here, the weakening of both the leader and a few key members at the same time suited Emilia very well.
She clearly recalled that, despite all her efforts, the older generation at Bianca's birthday party had either completely ignored her or blatantly dared to look down on her.
Emilia knew that the Sullivan's faction had as much to do with it as the Black Tiger.
In fact, if not for her being in the limelight due to the situation with the police and media, she might have been completely snubbed at that event. Even Bianca might not have noticed her if not for her being the center of attention, making her debut a complete failure that would have forced her to start over with an even bigger bang.
The older generation was too sensible to approach her when she was in the opposite camp of both the strongest faction and one of the most powerful corporations, even if she was the second daughter one of the richest men in the country and had an impeccable reputation.
Of course, even if they didn't accept her, grasping the hearts of the younger generation would eventually allow her to succeed in her missions anyway, it'll just take longer.
But now that the scales kept getting tipped in her favor like this, all these people would have to either reconsider their position… or prepare to suffer.
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The sun was already about to set by the time her princess was done roaming around the mall randomly, and Dixie breathed a sigh of relief.
Having looked through most of the shops, Emilia's curiosity was eventually sated, and after one final stop at the pizzeria, the two of them finally made it out of the mall and went back to Dixie's car.
Even though they stayed in the mall for so long, there still hadn't been any terrorist attacks or armed robbery. Dixie couldn't help but think that their luck was really good. "Back home, princess?"
Emilia shook her head with a smile. "Let's go stay at a hotel tonight."
After all, there were still a few hours left till she could change back from her original form. She may not mind if Samantha or Crystal knew, but she absolutely couldn't expose herself so blatantly in front of everyone else. Not at this point in time.
Maybe once she had the whole world under her thumb, she could truly be that fearless.
"A-A hotel?! Okay…" Dixie's face lit up with a furious blush as she instructed the driver to head for a decent hotel, trying her best not to look him in the eyes.
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~ To be continued ~
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Thank you for all your support :>