Chapter 1

Aria Strong had been raised by the Black Dahlia mafia group in their children’s home. Every orphan there had some connection to the group — Some of their parents died in the line of duty. Some were found on the streets during random missions. Others were the children dragged crying out of cabinets after the mafia executed their parents.

Once in the home, they were all the same.

Outside of the home, there were some differences. Especially in terms of their individual specialties.

“What are you wearing?!” Phoebe, Aria’s colleague in the HR department, looked horrified. “Aria, darling, those colors clash horribly with your hair.”

“Do they?” Aria tugged at her hair, frowning. It was a dark red, which, according to Phoebe, made her a fashion disaster. She wouldn’t know, since she was used to wearing black and not standing out.

“Yes! No bright yellows and oranges, remember? And what’s with that Christmas green belt?!” Phoebe groaned as though she was punched in the stomach. Aria had never heard someone make that sound without being physically hurt before. “That’s it, I’m taking you shopping after work later.”

“Uh, I don’t think I can go.” Aria recalled her promise from last night. “I might have a date tonight.”

“You think? You might?!” Phoebe sounded indignant, but her eyes were sparkling. She scanned their surroundings for a while to make sure the coast was clear before she leaned in and said in an excited whisper, “It’s with Cyrrus, right? So the blind date went well last night?”

“Yeah.” Aria lowered her eyes. She couldn’t make herself blush on cue, but Madam Rose said that girls should act shy by looking away. “He gave me his number and asked me to treat him to instant ramen next time.”

“Instant ramen? Why?” Phoebe was confused, but she quickly shook it off. “Whatever, what’s important is you scored a number and a second date! Girl, you got moves!”

Do I? Aria wasn’t sure, but the situation right now seemed to suggest so. Maybe she really was a natural at this?

“Still, did he specifically say he wanted to go for ramen tonight?” Phoebe was more experienced in these matters, so she immediately found the crux of the problem. “I thought Jesse said he’s really busy and hard to get a hold of.”

Jesse was Phoebe’s boyfriend, a rich young heir in the same social strata as Cyrrus. A lesser-known fact was that Jesse Waters was Cyrrus Lied’s college classmate. 

However, a lesser-known fact was by no means a secret, which meant it was easily within Black Dahlia’s reach. Once Aria found out that Jesse’s new girlfriend, Phoebe Jones, was working in Lied Pharmaceuticals’ HR department, it was a simple matter of forging a resume and lying her way through the interview.

…Despite that, they apparently had to pull a few strings along the way to get her in after she kibda sorta flubbed the interview. Madam Dahlia chewed her out for that.

“He didn’t say that specifically.” Aria recalled their conversation from last night. “He said… ‘Invite me over for ramen soon, okay?’ ”

“You really don’t have to mimic his tone of speech too, you know.” Phoebe said, exasperated. “Besides, he said ‘soon’, not ‘tomorrow’. Hmm, is he asking you to make the first move?”

“Should I?” Aria pulled out her phone. “I have his number.”

“No! Don’t call him right away.” Phoebe snatched the phone out of her hands and dangled it at a distance that she thought would be out of reach. Aria was content to let her keep thinking that. “You can’t be easy to get. If you call him the very next day before he calls you, he’ll know you’re desperate.”

Aria thought it over. There wasn’t a fixed deadline for the assassination request yet, so she wouldn’t consider herself desperate. Yet. “How long should I wait?”

“You really are new at this, aren’t you?” Phoebe sighed. “I remember my first time. It was a senior who asked me out to prom when I was just a junior in high school…”

Aria listened patiently as Phoebe went off on a tangent. It had only been two weeks since she maneuvered her way into the company and took the desk next to Phoebe’s, but she was already used to her colleague’s long stories. 

The others warned her to cut Phoebe off early before she got too carried away, but Aria didn’t mind. She found Phoebe’s tales and thoughts fascinating. Before this mission, she had a hard time believing there were people who lived like this, with so much space in their brains for idle thoughts.

“...but Jesse is different, of course. It was love at first sight for us!”

“How long did you wait before calling him?” She had heard about Phoebe’s first date with Jesse five times already, so this time Aria found a way to bring her back to the topic.

“Three days.” Phoebe held up three fingers. “And he called me. Three is the magic number, baby.”

Aria nodded, making a mental note. Three was also the number of times she was taught to shoot a target to ensure they were dead, so it made sense. “He said I should treat him next time, and I told him I can only afford instant ramen. Which ramen place is good for a second date?”

“Oh, so that’s how you got to instant ramen— No, that isn’t the point!” Phoebe put her hand to her head and sighed again. “Listen, no one actually eats instant ramen for a date. He was just joking and using the conversation to score himself a second date! 

“Trust me, when he asks you, he’ll suggest bringing you to another restaurant. Maybe a slightly less fancy one, because he won’t want you getting any ideas, but it’ll still be a proper dinner place. If you had steak last night, he could bring you out for seafood next time! Hmm, or maybe he’ll book an entire theater for a movie date…”

Phoebe was probably speaking from her experience with Jesse. Aria thought it fit her notes on “the luxury lifestyle of the upper class, including company CEOs and inherited billionaires”.  

“...Anyway, that’s why we gotta get you another respectable dress for each possible date plan!”

Ah, so that was Phoebe’s main point. Aria should have seen that coming.

“Don’t look at me like that.” Phoebe pouted. “You won’t be getting that second date tonight, but if he likes you enough, he might ask you out for tomorrow! That’s why we got no time to waste—”

“Miss Strong?” Their manager called out from the entrance to their department, his voice shaking. “Aria Strong? S-Someone’s here to see you.”

Aria frowned, instinctively going into high alert. 

“Who could it be?” Phoebe’s confusion froze on her face when their unexpected guest stepped into the office.

Cyrrus waved at them both, smiling brightly. “Good morning, Aria. Did you sleep well last night?”