Cyrielle was staring at the ceiling, lying on Julie’s couch. She didn’t know what really happened the day before. She remembered that she tried to expin things to Julie, to resolve all the misunderstandings between them, but it had backfired.

  “Stop gaslighting me ! You know I love you, but lying that way is too much ! Just tell me if you prefer to keep your identity a secret !”

  In the end, Cyrielle had to roll with the misunderstandings and comfort Julie in her misconceptions. Her friendship and her manager were at risk. So now she had no other choice but to assume a secret identity that wasn’t even hers. Nobody would believe she was a normal girl anymore, no matter how much she expined. She only had two options : Being a girl from French high society who is mysterious, or being a girl from French high society who is crazy and bming holograms. What a dilemma.

  Now that she was finally alone, Julie being at her job, she realized how absurd this whole situation was.

  ‘Well, did I expect a normal life after a strange system gifted me abilities for no reason ?’

  She couldn’t bme anyone. She just had to make it work.

  Cyrielle took her phone and started searching like crazy.

  ‘All about high society… What is nobility… Modern noble family… High society education…’

  It was a matter of survival. Now that she was this mysterious girl who roamed Bordeaux’s night scene despite having a good upbringing, she needed to act the part. She could always hide what she didn’t know with a dose of mysteriousness, but she still needed to avoid obvious mistakes. Fortunately for her, she had only gone out four times this month, and before that the st time was in February 2020 before the curfew so there wasn’t any chance that people would remember her, she had changed too much. And even then, Julie was fooled and she was with her almost everyday. So for now, she was safe.

  She didn’t find much online, even while searching historical archives. To sum up : Nobility didn’t exist anymore in France, or at least it wasn’t officially recognized by the government. Still, some families were considered noble. They didn’t like the bourgeoisie very much, because they prioritized being rich, be it with money, knowledge, or people, while the noblesse focused more on the history and the principles from previous generations.

  ‘The values are the sense of honor, the sense of duty and service, searching for refinement and elegance… Well, I have everything down to a T ! It isn’t that hard !’

  All that was left were abilities brought by a strict education. And Cyrielle had Path of Destiny, so she didn’t need to worry.

  ‘That’s settled, then !’

  [Sensing an opportunity for destiny. Acquiring ability : Studying.]

  ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’

  No, why ?! Studying all of a sudden ? Did Path of Destiny actually want her to become an elite ? And what did it mean anyway ? Her head felt slightly warm, but there wasn’t much change and knowledge didn’t pour into her head. Basically nothing happened.

  ‘Now I only have 19 abilities left and all of that for what ? Something that doesn’t work ?’

  She turned her head away from the blue characters, or at least she did so symbolically, those were in front of her eyes anyway, and took back her phone.

  ‘Stupid syst…’

  She couldn’t finish her sentence. On the screen were still the historical documents about high society, but something huge was happening.

  ‘Just by gncing at it I can memorize and understand the content. It’s even stored in my head in some kind of file, I can bring it forward and read it word for word even without the phone…’

  It was groundbreaking. She tried with other historical documents, then with a world map, and with a dictionary. Whatever she studied, as long as she was interested, she could remember. It was slightly different from her other abilities, while ‘singing’ gave her everything to know about music in the best and most correct way possible, ‘studying’ only let her memorize the work of other people who could be wrong. If ‘studying’ was a model student, the other abilities were masters who perfected their craft alone until they reached Nirvana. It was a very useful tool but not an absolute one. However, it was more than enough to pass as the perfect high society girl who spent her childhood under strict supervision.

  ‘Sorry Path of Destiny, I love you !’

  She wanted to immediately search for the complete study program of every prestigious French school, but she stopped herself. She had things to do first. She took out the list Julie had given her, and started to set up her phone. The apartment she had arranged thanks to ‘home design’ was good enough to pass as a well-off family’s home if she turned her phone at an angle to hide the size of the room and Julie’s night corner. She listened to one of the songs again to be sure to know it, and started recording.

  A few hours ter, Cyrielle felt drained. She had stopped because the light of day was dimming and her throat was sore, but she managed to record 13 a cappel videos. With that, the backlog was growing once again. And she didn’t even eat her lunch Julie had prepared, even though it was past 4pm. It was a simple pasta dish, but Cyrielle was famished. She devoured the pte without even heating it up, and when she felt better, she sent all the videos to Julie. She wouldn’t be back until quite te since she took her afternoon on Saturday to come to the rehearsal, so she had to compensate. Soon, a text came.

  -Brrr Brrr

  She was probably on a break, or texting while working.

  [Julie the best ? : You’re incredible, even better than before ! Continue to be your authentic self, I’ll support you 100% !]

  ‘Oh Julie… You have a way of making me feel like trash…’

  But Cyrielle felt a bit better knowing that she made up for her lies with actual abilities that supported it. She was not just hot air, she actually seemed like an elite.

  Now that she had done what she needed to do, she decided to check on her MyTube channel before seriously studying. And she was shocked.

  [Mademoiselle Cyrielle]

  Subscribers : 528

  Videos : 11

  ‘It… It’s been 5 days, right ? The first video was on thursday and now we are tuesday… What in hell…’

  She didn’t even have the strength to jump in surprise. Like the previous time, she searched through the comments to find the answer. There were people from the ‘Bad Mother Breaker’, ‘Heavy Protector’ and their friends, people that came to their concert, people from ‘Madame Fabergé’ and the drag community, and even people who were close to Capucine, Julie’s coworker, who subscribed even though the video wasn’t out yet. Multiple sources. Julie’s pn had worked.

  Of course it wasn’t enough to get monetized yet, and it was only the start of success, but Cyrielle felt like crying.

  ‘Ah… Am I taking my first steps ? Am I starting to get famous ?’

  Of course she was far from it, but she was finally on the right path, she could feel it.

  ‘I can’t stay like this, without doing anything ! I need to do my best !’

  She took her phone and downloaded the whole study program of primary school and collège. She was starting from the beginning.

  When Julie finally came home, she found her friend glued to her phone.

  “What are you doing ?”

  “Reviewing the basis of citizenship in Antic Greece. Sorry, I was a little too focused to hear you coming back.”

  The cashier froze on the spot. She vaguely remembered having learned that in collège, but it’s been way too long. And more than that, why was Cyrielle reviewing that type of knowledge ? Another misunderstanding was slowly rising…

  “Cyrielle ?”

  “Hmm ?”

  Her friend took her nose off her phone and tilted her head.

  “How much time did the 100 year war st ?”

  “116 years.”

  “What is the second smallest country ?”

  “Monaco. Why are you asking that ?”

  “Oh my gosh…”

  Julie felt weak in her knees and almost fell backward on the door. Cyrielle ran to her and took her to the couch.

  “What’s happening ? Are you sick ?”

  “Baby, it’s you who’s sick !”

  She was shaking, but her face was unreadable.

  “Why didn’t you tell me you were a genius ? I would have made use of that for your success !”

  Now it was Cyrielle who was shaking.

  ‘Who is that scary crazy woman ? Is she really my best friend ?’

  Julie was staring at her with a mad look in her eyes.

  ‘I’m scared for my life…’

  Thankfully, she was saved by her phone.

  -Brrr Brrr

  Cyrielle immediately went to check it, happy to escape the situation.

  [Hyena : Hello ! You remember that we have a concert on friday and another on sunday, right ? If you can’t make it, tell us.]

  “Hyena is reminding me of the two concerts on friday and sunday. You’ll come ?”

  “Of course !”

  Julie, recovering her normal behaviour, was taking off her shoes.

  “What can you do without your manager ? Oh, by the way, I got permission from the guys to film one of the two concerts for your MyTube channel. I would prefer if it was the sunday one, there will be more people since there aren’t as many events in Bordeaux. If there is a crowd, it will look great on video ! Just telling you so you know.”

  Still the best manager known to man. Cyrielle nodded happily. If Julie said so, it was probably true.

  After getting into more comfortable clothes and slouching down on the couch next to Cyrielle, Julie started to brief her on the next schedules.

  “First, tomorrow you’ll do the rest of the songs I gave you. Once it’s done, we’ll have a solid backlog for your morning videos, it’ll st at least a month. I don’t know how you thought of that but it’s a genius move. Well of course, because you’re a genius.”

  She ughed slyly in her high pitched voice.

  “On friday some people I know will come to watch the concert. Don’t be intimidated, they just like good music. Then on saturday it’s another interior design video recording, I found someone who needs help and is ok with being on MyTube. He also has a few broken things in his basement, so if we have time we can film you repairing that for another video, since you’re good with crafting stuff. And on sunday there is the second concert. That’s all for this week !”

  Cyrielle furrowed her brows. It seemed like quite the tight schedule. But Julie had more to come.

  “And I encourage you to continue studying, I just found a great way to use your brain !”