Chapter 497: Languages

"How was it?" Gabi asked Tina, her hairstylist. She stood in front of the full-length mirror, looking at her bob pink hair.

"I think it looks… different." Tina frowned. "Young Miss, if you don't mind… I have been your hairstylist for eight years now and this is the first time that you asked me to cut more than two inches of your long, blond hair. Did something happen?"

Looking at Tina's reaction, Gabi only smiled. "I am fine. I am just looking for ways to relax my mind." In the past, she never did anything to her hair. It was straight, shiny, long and boring. And everyone thought it looked nice, innocent.

Tina pursed her lips. "The style looked good on you. But your wardrobe… all of them have pink clothes. If you keep on wearing pink with your pink hair…"

"Ah… I decided to throw everything away."

"Young lady?"

"I was planning to donate it." Pink and pastel blue were her go-to colors. Be it her skirt, shirt, blouses, and even her suits and dresses were all in different shades of pink and blues.

"I already asked the head maid to take care of it," Gabi added. "It would be a waste to just throw it so I decided to sell it online and donate the money to some charities."

"Eh?"

"Tina… you have been working for me for eight years, no?"

"Ah… yes… young miss. Almost nine, actually. I came here when you were eleven. I was just nineteen at that time but you really liked my styling so you asked me to come back and maintain your long blond hair." A smile appeared on Tina's face. "Because of the young miss, I have gained a steady income and some clients from rich families. I opened my salon three years ago. This is all thanks to the young miss."

Gabi removed her eyes from her reflection and turned towards Tina. "I want to invest in your company."

"Eh? Young…"

"You are very talented, Tina. I want to help you open a few more salons all throughout Du Empire."

"Really?" Tina's eyes sparkled. She clapped her hands together. "Really?"

"Yes. I want you to give me a business proposal. I will take care of the rest."

"Young Miss I — I can't thank you enough!"

"Don't thank me. This is going to be a partnership, Tina. I provide the money and you provide profits." Gabi smiled before she walked out of her walk-in closet. Tina immediately followed her.

She didn't do it out of her kind heart. A few years from now, she knew Tina would stop working for her because she found some investors and was going to open a few more salons in the other cities of the Empire. Soon after that, she would become a big name in the hair and makeup industries.

However, Gabi wasn't doing this for the profits. She doesn't need more money.

What she needed right now is information.

Gabi believed that the best way to gain information is by using gossips.

And the best place to talk about gossips is naturally a salon!

Rich wives, celebrities, politician's wives, and fiance. All of them would visit a salon one way or the other. And she was planning to take this opportunity to gain some information about their husbands.

"Tomorrow afternoon, come back here with your business proposal. Let's talk about the details of this partnership."

"Thank you, Young Miss. I will never disappoint you."

Gabi nodded before she asked Tina to leave for now. All that hairstyling made her head hurt. She needed to sleep.

The next day, Gabi woke up early and did some simple stretching before having her breakfast. She was planning to make this body stronger and to do that, she needed food and some activities.

"Young miss, young master Alfons said that you should eat some porridge every morning to keep your stomach warm. He also…"

"Mr. Jonathan." Gabi halted her steps. She was walking towards the garden where she was planning to have her breakfast. It was still six in the morning, so the heat is still manageable. "Thank you for your words, but I already instructed the head maid to cook something for me."

"Yes Miss, I saw the Head Maid instruct the chef to cook some protein-rich food. But I believe Young Master Alfons' words are— "

"Mr. Jonathan… "Gabi interrupted him again. She fought the urge to tell the butler to shut up. "Stop nagging." She said. "I eat what I want to eat. As the master of this house… I think I have the right to choose my food. Is that right, Mr. Jonathan?"

She didn't miss the surprise in the butler's eyes. Right. Since her father was dead, she was already the master of the house. How could a mere butler reprimand the master of the house?

"This old man made a mistake. Please forgive me… "Seeing the calmness in Gabi's eyes, Mr. Jonathan bowed and hid the confused expression in his eyes.

Gabi snorted in response. "Bring me all the newspapers in every language."

"In — In every language?"

"Yes." She nodded and continued walking. Everyone in this house knew how she loved reading. Every morning, she would read newspapers while analyzing the movement of the market. However, this would be the first time that she asked to read other newspapers in different languages.

Gabi knew how absurd it sounded. However, she wasn't planning to hide her ability just to make 'some' people around her feel better about themselves anymore. As she arrived in the garden, she thought about some memories where her father told her not to tell anyone else that she could speak and read other languages.

His reasoning?

He didn't want to hurt Alfons' confidence.

"What the fuck!" Gabi uttered before she kicked a pebble towards the flowers.

Not long after, she took a seat at the iron chair and tables and received the first batch of newspapers for the day. The breakfast that she asked the head maid to make also arrived, along with her tea.

Then she started reading

At first, nothing in particular caught her attention.

The same chaotic world, the same greedy people.

"Hm?" Her eyes squinted when she opened the newspaper from Plaria. As one of the biggest continents, Plaria has a lot of nations and states. However, it only has one language that newspapers use.

But this isn't something that concerns her.

What concerned her, however, was the headline of the business page.

'Shen Group and the Evolution of AI Technology'

She stared at the white-haired woman in the image below the headline. She had a confident smirk on her face. Her long white hair was in a ponytail. It was simple, yet it wasn't enough to hide the elegance of the woman. Various microphones were placed in front of the woman. It was as if she was answering some questions. Perhaps a press conference?

She looked like she's in her late thirties or early forties; she was beautiful! Even Gabi, who is a beauty herself, couldn't deny that this woman was more beautiful than her.

However, this wasn't the thing that surprised her the most. What surprised her was the fact that this woman… looked exactly like her son Luca.

White hair, straight nose, small heart-shaped face. She looked like the older version of Gabi's son!

Her gaze drifted towards the woman's name.

Lyca.

It's Lyca Shen.