At that moment, the elevator rang and… Katherine walked out, along with Dmitry.

  “You didn’t, or?” I turned to Lola, narrowing my eyes. “He’s my new CEO?”

  Before Lola could even stammer out a response, Katherine squealed with delight, released Dmitry’s elbow, and practically sprinted across the floor. She collided with me in a hug that nearly toppled us both. Her energy was overwhelming, like hugging a sentient hurricane.

  “Charlie! Sorry, couldn’t save ya. Don’t ya worry, Captain Lucy got ma coin! By the way, me passed all my exams, yay! Oh, and Lisa’s full-on Dmitry-hate, FYI!”

  “Uh, congrats?” I managed through the enthusiastic onslaught. I gently extracted myself, wobbling slightly in my heels, but Katherine was already bouncing up and down.

  “Wanted sail along Lucy badly, but Mom said—”

  “Honey.” Dmitry’s controlled voice interjected from behind her. He’d finally reached us, looking impeccable in a dark suit that seemed specifically tailored to emphasize his inherent aura of corporate menace. He gently rested a hand on Katherine’s shoulder, as if calming a hyperactive puppy. “You’re oversharing again.”

  Katherine blinked, inhaled deeply, and visibly recomposed herself. “Right. Sorry, sorry.” Her eyes snapped to my ears, glittering with barely suppressed excitement. “Can touch yar ears? Please?”

  “Go ahead,” I sighed, shooting Lola another look as Katherine immediately began delicately prodding my pointed ears, giggling softly.

  With the ear-inspection occupying Katherine, I finally locked eyes fully on Dmitry. My lips curled into a sarcastic smile. “So, Dmitry. Weren’t you running your own corporate empire last I checked? Ruthlessly culling the weak, quarterly executions based on spreadsheet results?”

  He chuckled. “Refusing to work for a promising unicorn would be shortsighted. And for clarity, I didn’t own the company. Merely a highly effective employee.”

  “Merely,” I echoed skeptically. I crossed my arms, glaring pointedly at Lola, who was clutching her tablet like a shield again. “And Lola just... what? Adopted you? Made an offer you couldn’t refuse?”

  “She presented an opportunity,” Dmitry responded. His expression was serene, as if he’d practiced this conversation a hundred times.

  Wait, he probably had. It was kinda a big deal to meet the owner… meet me? “She also offered me a chili-hotdog earlier,” I muttered. “Wait, no, that was Jerry. Nevermind.”

  “I still can order you that,” he said only to me and I ignored the comment.

  “We can talk here.” Lola led us to a glass meeting room overlooking the bustling city below. Katherine was still toying with my ears, seemingly oblivious to our tension. As I sank into the plush executive chair, I realized with begrudging appreciation that the table was raised subtly, compensating for my unfortunate height situation.

  Good call, Lola.

  “We’re buying this…” I steepled my fingers dramatically, staring across the sleek expanse of the conference table at Dmitry. “Why didn’t anyone think to ask me before appointing an evil mastermind as CEO of my company? Just curious.”

  Lola squirmed slightly. “I thought you might say no.”

  “You thought wrong,” I sighed. “Better the man I know than some random capitalist crook, right?”

  Lola brightened immediately, visibly relieved. “Oh! So you’re not mad?”

  “Define mad,” I said dryly. “Because I’m still weighing my options here. Dmitry, what’s your evil plan? Ruthlessly restructure the company overnight? Fire half the marketing team to replace them with algorithmically optimized Twitch bots?”

  “Efficiency is my strength,” Dmitry said. “Your trust in me will yield remarkable results.”

  “Oh, great. We’re already moving into cult territory,” I deadpanned.

  Katherine perked up from her position, perched cheerfully on the table’s edge, swinging her feet casually. “Not cult leader, Charlie! He a villain!”

  I stared blankly at her. “Not better, Katherine. Not better at all.”

  Dmitry actually hesitated, a flicker of discomfort crossing his perfectly controlled expression. “Villain is an exaggeration. I can play one in Rimelion if needed.”

  “Really?” Katherine grinned mischievously. “Because ya’d do a great dating-sim villain route! Tsundere, tragic dark past, mysterious betrayals. Ya’d have a cat.”

  “I don’t own a cat,” Dmitry muttered, suddenly flustered.

  “But yar got a tragic dark past!” Katherine countered gleefully, practically bouncing again.

  “And a taste for dramatic boardroom confrontations, apparently,” I added dryly. I leaned back, sinking deeper into the plush chair. “I honestly don’t even know how this company operates. Are we selling unicorns, rainbows, something suitably magical?”

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  Dmitry’s lips twitched upward slightly. “You own the holding company, called Charlie’s Ang— Sorry, since yesterday, Rimebreak, which in turn owns my company, Rimebreak productions. We oversee everything from marketing to sell of merch.” He gave it as if giving investor speech…

  Which he was, kinda?

  “And our sister company, Tallor Vanguard.” He shivered. “Also, with Riker’s empire, Rimebreak productions co-owns several companies that work on the movie, or…” I lost my fight with a yawn. “Other ventures…“

  “Sorry,” I echoed, rubbing my temples dramatically. “I wasn’t dozing off, I swear. But… you’ve got tl-dr?”

  “You’re valuable,” Dmitry corrected smoothly, leaning forward slightly. “As long as the company functions, you don’t need to handle day-to-day operations.”

  “Thank goodness,” I muttered. “I’m allergic to spreadsheets.”

  Katherine giggled again, resting her chin on her palms and looking dreamily at Dmitry. “See? Dmitry does boring stuff. He really good at pretend intimidating while investor meeting.”

  Dmitry shot her a mildly exasperated glance, but his voice remained steady. “Honey, she is the only investor. Careful about what you say. The company is stable. Growth prospects are strong. Your role is simply to continue being yourself and build the kingdom. Authenticity sells.”

  “Authenticity sells?” I laughed bitterly, shaking my head. “Great. I’m the authentic mascot. Exactly what I always dreamed of.”

  “It suits you,” Dmitry said, entirely serious.

  “Right,” I sighed, eyeing Lola and Dmitry warily. “Just promise me this isn’t secretly some elaborate scheme to take over the world using corporate synergy.”

  Dmitry raised an eyebrow subtly. “I wouldn’t need secrecy for that.”

  “Well,” Katherine chimed brightly, “at least he honest!”

  “Oh yes,” I groaned, dropping my forehead onto the cool glass table. “My villainous CEO is honest. I’m feeling safer already.”

  “Tell her yar cognitive dissonance!” Katherine chirped, hopping off the table with an energy that made the office plants flinch. She latched onto Dmitry’s arm like a designer handbag with opinions. “She should know.”

  Dmitry exhaled, slow and tight. “I will not.”

  I just watched, arms crossed, leaning back slightly in my absurdly ergonomic throne chair. They were like theater, these two. Unscripted, unfiltered, deeply weird theater.

  “My health condition is a private matter.”

  “Tell her,” Katherine whispered, tugging on his sleeve like a cat that decided this curtain was coming down. Then she leaned in and said something into his ear. Even I didn’t catch it, and I had elf ears now.

  Dmitry gave her a long look, then finally turned to me. “You should… know something about me.”

  “He crazy!” Katherine added with a grin that was all sunshine and warning labels.

  Lola let out a quiet, diplomatic snort. I tried not to smile. It half-worked.

  Dmitry closed his eyes like he was bracing for surgery without anesthesia. “I mean… I shift how I act depending on who I need to be. What my father taught me. Ruthlessness at work… it keeps people away. Keeps my family safe. If I wasn’t strong, someone worse would be.”

  “Lisa hates ya! Yar not like that,” Katherine whined, frowning with her entire body. The effect was magnified by her dangerously fancy dress and the way she still clung to him like an emotional Velcro. “Kind Dmitry best Dmitry. That man said ya hold a few confluences beliefs.”

  “Honey, in English it’s ‘I have conflicting beliefs and attitudes, and my behavior contradicts my beliefs,’” he corrected, pinching the bridge of his nose with the patience of a man who’s had this conversation eight times and never once won.

  “Yah, ‘tat,” she muttered, waving him off. “I hate it! Be you all the time!” She let out a deep, defeated sigh that puffed out her cheeks and made her look like an angry cupcake. “Lisa hates…” she murmured, her gaze flicking to me. “Ya understand, Charlie?”

  “No, I don’t. But as I said, I’m willing to try. Let’s move on. Lola, do we own this building, or why are we sitting here and talking?”

  Lola nodded. “I just need to sign the papers in the lobby and it’s ours. And I propose we call in all your friends, like Lisa, Lucy, Roberto, Lucas even Ian.”

  “We well, let’s do it. Let’s invite everyone who was at the wall too, I am not in a mood to go hunting for me. I don’t want to look like a villain lair, and it kinda looks like that,” I groaned out loud.

  “I like the building,” Dmitry added. “It has a charm.”

  “Yar a villain!” Katherine started laughing.

  “Speaking of being a villain, I wanted to ask you a favor,” I said, letting my tone shift. I flicked a glance at Lola, who met it with a smile that said she already knew what I was going to say.

  “There’s an issue with the empire,” I continued, drumming my fingers lightly against the glass of the meeting table. “I know you fought them before, but now they’re pointing their big, shiny swords at me. I need you to join Count Itzel’s side. Think that’s possible?”

  Dmitry didn’t answer right away. He fell into thought with that slow, CEO-level stillness that made the entire room quieter. The only sound left was Katherine, drifting around the office like a very cute poltergeist, touching every object to see which ones made the best fingertip noises.

  “Count Itzel,” Dmitry repeated, as if tasting the name. “My boys can manage whatever, as long as it’s covert and they’re in. Can I hire ‘em? So we’d be on opposite sides?”

  “You’re the CEO. Hire anyone you want. And… my kingdom versus the empire,” I confirmed, already picturing the battlefield. “Naturally, we’d fight. For dramatic effect.”

  “Yas!” Katherine squealed and scrambled back into view, nearly tripping on her heels. She dropped into a dramatic fencing stance and began shadow-fencing like she’d just watched six anime in a row. “We fight! Cameras rollin’! Epic! But… ya beat me. Yar too strong. I fall down—” She paused mid-lunge and eyed her designer dress with deep suspicion, debating whether a full floor flop was worth it.

  Apparently not.

  “Then ya look at me,” she continued, fluttering her lashes like a cartoon duchess. “Strong. Sexy. Powerful. And ya know, ya must end my pain!” She clutched her chest and staggered theatrically. “And then me betray kingdom! Join yar side! For love!”

  Lola piped up. “Kit, we need you. Our Kingdom needs you. You’re very strong, and your class is—”

  But Katherine spun in place, her hair catching the light like a tiny disco ball. “No! Me betrayed by feelings! Blindsided! Heart go boom!” She flung one hand into the air. “Is perfect movie plot! Oscar-worthy!”

  Her eyes shimmered with conviction. Or possibly just sparkles from her eyeliner.

  I snorted and gave up trying not to laugh. “Okay, okay. I see your streaming persona… Is not a streaming person. You’re you. So… I have a solution: You could be like Romeo and Juliet. Secret lovers. Star-crossed and cross-classed. Still enemies.”

  “Wow!” Katherine gasped and smashed her hand into Dmitry’s shoulder with unrestrained glee. He winced, but also chuckled. “Me always perform, on stream or nah. Yas! Love! Betrayal! Combat!”

  Dmitry nodded slowly, watching her with bemusement. “We’ll make it work. I’ll contact the team leaders discreetly. We’ll play it clean, new Empire loyalists, until the perfect moment.”

  “Like a knife in the ribs,” I added, grinning. “But make it stylish.”

  “Stylish stab!” Katherine echoed, posing with a completely invisible dagger. “Lisa would hate tis’.”

  Lola smiled faintly, her tablet lighting up as she began drafting something. “I’ll add it to the operation board. Code name: Dmitry-fall.”

  Katherine clapped. “Yas! I wanna poster! Big cape! Wind!”

  “Poster after the war,” I said, then gave Dmitry a look. “So, Mr. CEO Villain. Thank you.”

  He inclined his head. “Happy to be on the winning side.”

  “Cocky,” I said.

  “Confident,” he replied.

  “Cute,” Katherine added, then winked. “Now food!”