The Number One Star in the Interstellar Era

AFTER the contract signing, Astrid and Ellis went to a cafe famous for its sweets. Because according to Ellis, she needed a ton of sugar to set off her anger. And just like she said, she ordered a huge parfait that was probably for two people.

"Sister Ellis, don't be too angry. Or else, you'll get indigestion," Astrid said pertaining to how the other was eating that parfait like there was no tomorrow.

"Can you blame me? I seriously wanted to throw my shoes at that Mr. Cook," Ellis said as she ate a spoonful of cream and chocolate. "If you didn't put out that condition, I might have really done that."

Astrid smiled. "Well, we couldn't just be on the losing end after such an unfair contract."

So, what's the condition Ellis was referring to? Let's all go back to 30 minutes ago...

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"But before we sign this contract, I want to put out my own condition," Astrid said before they started signing the contract. "After all, you all made this 'very fair' of clause. It's only right for me to make one of my own, don't you think so?"

Mr. Cook's brows furrowed a little bit when he heard what Astrid said, obviously not expecting this interval. "What kind of condition?"

"If I reached the quota, I want the contract given to me to be revised," Astrid said. "It's not much, really. Just increase my fee to a million star coins. Of course, the duration of my ambassadorship would still remain up to a year."

Mr. Cook had a blank expression on his face. He was probably so dumbfounded that he wasn't able to speak properly. And that's understandable. A fee of a million star coins was something that could only be enjoyed by people who were at least in the top 20 of the [Star List]. Something impossible for a newcomer like him.

Even now, his fee for this ad campaign was just a hundred thousand star coins. Which was, on its own, was already a lot. Even his fee for [The Great War] was lower than that. With the condition he put out, his fee would increase by a ten fold.

And Astrid believed that it would. He was confident that he could reach the quota they wanted. That's why he didn't hesitate to put out this condition.

It's not that he needed more money. He just didn't want to be part of an unfair contract where he was the one on the losing side. So, he should at least get more money from this, right?

Seeing as how Mr. Cook was still frozen, Astrid added, "If Mr. Cook can't decided, you can contact Lord Cassius. If he doesn't agree, we can just forget about this contract."

Mr. Cook seemed to return back to his senses when he heard that. He let out a long sigh before standing up. "Please, wait for a while."

Then, the other walked to a side door connected to the office, probably to make a call.

"Wow," Ellis said with a whistle.

Astrid turned to the other and said apologetically, "Sorry, Sister Ellis. I just made that decision all by myself."

"No, it's actually great," Ellis said with a thumbs-up. "My anger subsided greatly just thinking that we could earn more from this shitty contract. But would they even agree to it?"

"Oh, I think they would."

Astrid was not worried that the condition he asked for wouldn't be approved. Cassius was pretty much biased towards him. He would most likely approve of this.

Just as he guessed, when Mr. Cook returned, he approved the condition Astrid added. Which meant that Cassius gave a go signal for it.

And so, the contract signing continued.

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"But you know, there's one thing that confused me," Ellis said as she ate the last bit of parfait. "Why did Lord Cassius agreed to that clause in the contract?"

She knew that the other owed Astrid for saving young master Nicol. So, she was confident that he wouldn't make a decision that would be disadvantageous or unfair to Astrid. As evidence of how Mr. Cook quickly gave his 'okay' for that additional million star coins as soon as his call with Lord Cassius ended.

"Lord Cassius must be confident that I could double their sales," Astrid said with a shrug.

Ellis shook his head. "That's being careless rather."

"Don't worry, Sister Ellis. I will do such a good job that the people who see the ads will have no choice but to buy the perfume," Astrid said with confidence. "After all, I do have a million star coins of incentive to work hard," he added in a playful tone.

"Well, a million star coins could really do make one work hard."

The two looked at each other and then laughed at the same time.

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Astrid opened the door  to his apartment. It was almost time for dinner when he returned. Before he started cooking, he decided to take a quick bath first.

With the contract with EMMA done, he now had to prepare for the filming of the ad this coming weekend. It would be a two-day schedule. They probably set it up that way so he wouldn't have to take a leave from school. That's probably courtesy of Cassius.

It was a good thing that the subsequent photoshoot would be held the weekend after. Which was probably also Cassius' idea.

But truly, just like what Ellis said, the other was indeed too overconfident in Astrid's ability. It's like he didn't even consider that something might get in the way of this ad campaign. But then again, if that was so, then it could only mean that he was prepared to not let any of that kind of thing from happening.

Now, with that out of the way, Astrid should focus all his energy on the upcoming photoshoot. He was already given the three concepts that would be use for the shoot. He was planning to practice his facial expressions in the following days. He couldn't afford for any mistake to happen.

Astrid finished his bath and cooked dinner with peace of mind.