Colored pencils in full color, high-quality coating so they won’t tear easily, smaller than bills so you can carry them in your wallet. His black eyebrows narrowed briefly at that flashy sales pitch.

“When is the meeting?”

“Second Saturday of next month!”

“……I’ll take it for now.”

The business card with its cute design went into an expensive suit jacket pocket.

“Ms. Orion—”

“Please call me Didi!”

“This is more comfortable for me. Ms. Orion, do you plan to run this club activity long-term?”

“Of course. As long as the actress remains an actress!”

“Then may I offer some opinions?”

Her round head bobbed up and down cheerfully. The man exhaled deeply, then folded his spread fingers one by one.

“First, please be mindful of maintaining appropriate distance between fans and the actress. Second, I hope you won’t make unreasonable demands based on the actress’s goodwill— Third, please pay special attention to respecting her privacy.”

“Oh……”

“Finally, I think it would be better to avoid personal food gifts. If you do provide any, please be thorough about hygiene and safety.”

“Wow……”

“It may seem troublesome, but if possible, for the actress’s sake—”

“……Were you perhaps also preparing a fan club?”

“No,”

“If I shamelessly beat you to it, we could merge the fan clubs into one even now—”

“No. I don’t have the capacity or qualifications to run such a thing.”

Her small lips moved soundlessly. Before the girl could continue her rebuttal, the man quickly brought up his original business.

“I’ll support the fan club’s endeavor. And this, please deliver it for me.”

“Again? She’d be happier if you gave it directly……”

“Please, I ask you. Don’t say I gave it—”

“Don’t say you gave it……”

The girl’s eyes drooped slightly as she trailed off hesitantly. The man handed over the bouquet along with a high-end gift box of confections and bowed briefly.

※※※

[Dear Yuan

What a wonderful sky! Don’t you think so?

Yuan, do you know what an amazing thing happened to me? Try to guess!

First, the marriage of the youngest prince and Perry Humble.

Second, I won luxury world cruise tickets.

Third, I purchased a grand mansion in Roju.

The answer is— drumroll please!

Fourth, the establishment of Perry Humble’s fan club!

Wow, isn’t that amazing? I really never imagined it. No, of course I’ve thought since childhood that it would be nice to have many fans. But really, really, I never thought I’d have my own ‘fan club’!

A fan club is, you know, something only very, very amazing people get, right? But I got a fan club! An organization of people who like actress Perry Humble was created!

Ah, I’m so excited the letters are flying around. Please bear with me.

I learned this news on the final performance day of this production. I expected there would be many people requesting autographs since it was the final day. I don’t get that surprised anymore either. Though my heart still pounds, my head goes blank, and my lips get parched whenever I meet audience members directly!

But good heavens, a fan club!

As soon as I removed my makeup and came to the lobby, someone I’d seen frequently before—I’ll call them ‘D’ for convenience—gave me a bouquet along with a cute business card. Behind D were quite a few unfamiliar people too. Most of them shyly greeted me and said things like ‘this is the first actor I’ve come to like this much.’ One person even praised me highly, saying ‘I thought all plays were this interesting, but it was because you were in them.’

And do you know what I received?

My portrait! Good heavens, aren’t portraits something you have to sit still for at least an hour to complete? When I asked out of curiosity, they said they’d watched the performance so, so many times they could draw it without looking!

Though I can’t see every detailed line with my own eyes, it must be a wonderful drawing. The fans drew it with so much love!

They very carefully asked if it was okay to draw pictures like this and share them among fans. Of course I said yes.

When I jokingly said ‘You can’t draw me strangely!’ they swore to witch Isobel that they would ‘never commit such sacrilege’! D promised that ‘if such a thing happened, that person would be hung behind Perry’s headquarters.’

Ah, ‘Perrys’ is the fan club name. Isn’t it really cute?

I received many other gifts besides that. Letters too! Reading fan letters every night has become a habit lately. Among those who wrote letters, there was an elder who lived in Roju for half their life, and a child about to enter school. So many diverse people are supporting me!

Even when I went to buy breakfast this morning, I felt like shouting to the world ‘Yes, I am actress Perry Humble of our Perrys’! Though it would have been unseemly if I actually did!

I want to tell Perry Humble from a year ago this news right away. That so much joy I couldn’t have imagined last year is coming to me! Back then, I was anxious like someone walking on thin ice even while relying on your kindness……

It really feels like a dream.

It’s all thanks to you, Yuan. Thank you for always supporting me, for waiting for me. If I say this, you will play innocent saying it’s ‘natural,’ right? You’ll be busy deflecting credit, saying it’s not surprising at all, that it’s all my own strength. I can already see your reply.

Still, even if you stubbornly denied it, I must say it. Do you know how special you are to me? You probably don’t know. Take this opportunity to know for certain.

Yuan, you’re the good fortune of my life.

Goodbye.

March 13th,

Sending love, Perry.

P.S. I only rambled about my own stories. Tell me about what kind of day you had too.]

[My actress

You have perfectly deduced my reply, so I don’t know what words to write.

First, I sincerely congratulate you on the successful closing and fan club founding. I knew this day would come. You can guess what words will follow. So I won’t say them.

Anyway, will you now believe that my claims weren’t irresponsible empty words? Even you can’t deny it anymore. You’ve confirmed it directly.

I spent a day no different from usual. Days when I don’t watch your performances are generally similar. Ah, a new route is scheduled to be established this year.

Have you heard news that a new airport was built in Diam? A second airport was created at the eastern edge, away from the capital. Until now, to go anywhere in Diam you had to go through the capital—taking a 10-hour flight then spending that much time again on a train isn’t ordinary— so it worked out well in many ways.

From Priton too, eastern Diam is closer than central Diam, so flight time will be reduced. Trial runs are expected in summer.

And—

For breakfast I had potato soup and grilled salmon, tomato caprese, and three slices of toasted bread. For dessert I had oatmeal yogurt with blueberries and raspberries. The blueberries were quite tart, perhaps picked too early.

For lunch, colleagues asked me to eat together, so we’re going to a newly opened restaurant. It’s a place that serves home-style cooking, and a junior colleague who went a few days ago gave it quite good reviews.

I have a flight at 7:20 PM. I need to arrive two hours early to finish briefings and such, so dinner will probably be replaced with simple snacks.

And……

Ah, I often think of you, Perry.

I wonder if your health is alright with the big temperature changes, if you’ve scheduled your next work, if you’re sleeping well, if the dog plushie is still useful……

It’s awkward to answer a question with another question, but I’ll ask anyway. How has your day been?

March 18,

Sending luck, Yuan.]

[To my one and only friend

Yuan, if I were to describe my day, seventy nights and days wouldn’t be enough. But since that’s impossible, I’ll summarize.

Until a week ago, I was enjoying a rare break. I did some overdue cleaning—you’d be shocked at how much junk was piled on my desk—and organized my closet for spring. I fried donuts and made strawberry jam—I sent you some! I used as little sugar as possible—and spent leisurely days.

But goodness,

I received an amazing offer!

Can you guess what it was?

Oh, but I’m too busy explaining my current situation, so I’ll abandon this quiz show today.

It was—yes—a casting offer! From two places, actually! Well, one isn’t exactly a casting offer, but… let me explain separately so you don’t get confused.

1) March 15.

Theater Company Dalteng offered me a supporting role in their next production.

Two days after I replied, we had a meeting, and the director himself showed up. Mariejean Dalteng. Have you heard of her?