The Number One Star in the Interstellar Era

"AS you may already heard from Ellis, EMMA contacted us," the president started. "It would probably be faster if I send you the mail instead of me directly explaining it."

So, after that, the president sent them the email that EMMA sent him. Ellis and Astrid opened their Terminal when they received it and read the mail.

As Astrid read through it, his eyes just became wider and wider. The email was short but its content was truly explosive. Especially for a rookie actor like him.

"No way, is this true?" Ellis asked in disbelief, obviously feeling the same way as Astrid.

Grant smiled. "Yes. I've already confirmed it with their marketing department."

Astrid read the email once again.

[Hello, this Lawrence Harris, the head of the marketing department of EMMA. I'm contacting you today because of one of your artists, Astrid Townsend. This is still not known to the public but we're releasing a new perfume line. We're inviting Mr. Townsend to a screen test to see if he would suit the image of our product. If he passed, then, we won't only sign him as an endorser, we will also appoint him as a brand ambassador for a year. And if the campaign proved to be successful, we could increase that time indefinitely. We will be waiting for a positive response from you.]

Just reading it brought incredible amazement to Astrid. To be a brand ambassador of such a luxury brand, even for just year, was already more than incredible. Even more so because he was still a newcomer who was only two months into his career.

But at the same time, he couldn't help but feel suspicious. After all, it's truly hard to believe that such a big brand was going to trust a newcomer like him to promote a product they were about to release. Unless, they had already given up on this product and was just finding ways to dispose of it in the most natural way possible.

But could that even happen?

Then, there was only one possible reason. Someone made this happen. His first thought was Wulfric. But he quickly denied that. That guy probably knew that he would be mad if he interfere  with his career to this level. Wasn't that why, Wulfric could only hide behind a handle name in [Cyberspace] to support Astrid secretly?

So, then, who?

Except for Wulfric, he didn't know anyone who had that much influence to move a big brand like EMMA. No, wait- he actually knew someone. He could even think of a reason why that person would do this.

To make sure of his conjecture, he asked the president, "Did they tell the president who suggested choosing me as an endorser?"

"They didn't tell me per se but I asked them myself. And according to the head of their marketing department, the one who recommended you was their biggest shareholder," Grant said.

"Does the president know the identity of this shareholder?"

Grant observed the teenager. Seeing the other seemingly curious, one would think that he just really wanted to know who was the one who recommended him for this job. But Grant could see that it was beyond that. Astrid was worried. No, it was probably more appropriate to say that he was suspicious.

It was not hard to guess why. Suddenly being given such opportunity when he was only a rookie, anyone who had a realistic mindset would feel the same. If the other was just an ordinary newcomer, the only emotion he would be feeling right now was excitement.

It was actually good that Astrid had this kind of mentality. At least, Grant was sure that the other wouldn't easily succumb to fame.

"If they were talking about the largest shareholder, then it must be Cassius Grimaldi," he answered. "You don't have anything to worry about. Cassius is considered to be one of the few decent aristocrats out there. He might be eccentric, but he's definitely not the type to recommend someone like this because he has some insidious plan. He might have seen you somewhere and thought that you suited their new perfume line."

"A noble who's part of a fashion company. Now that's something you don't hear everyday," Ellis commented. "You're probably friends with that guy, huh?"

"I won't go far to say we're friends. He barely attends any noble gatherings and parties. He doesn't even interact much with other members of noble households. So, there's barely any chance for us to interact properly,"  Grant said with a shrug, his mind flashing an image of a certain guy with silver hair and sapphire blue eyes.

Astrid didn't listen much to the conversation of  the two because his mind was still focused on the fact that it was indeed Cassius Grimaldi who was responsible for this sudden offer. Finally confirming his initial guess.

The other probably still felt the need to repay him for saving Nicol during that hostage-taking incident. Since there wasn't any movement from the other after he and Reas had that dinner with him, Nicol, and Nicol's father, Astrid thought that would be the end of it. So, he was really surprised because of this news.

But most importantly, hearing that Cassius was the biggest shareholder of EMMA, he's starting to wonder if there was something more to the name of the brand.

"Is the Grimaldi family the one who founded EMMA?" he couldn't help but ask.

"Not the Grimaldis per se, but the late duchess," the president answered. "I heard that she's very passionate about fashion. So, she decided to make her own clothing line which now developed to this big brand."

Astrid nodded as if in understanding. "I've always wondered why it's called EMMA. Is it the name of the late duchess?" he asked, acting all curious.

"No, the brand was actually named from the duchess' only daughter who, sadly, was also gone from this world."

Astrid felt his heart beat loudly because of the president's answer. So, EMMA was actually based on his mother's name – Emmaline.