Chapter 59 - Not A Prince But A King (1/2)

”Did you just say that I'm a prince pretending to be a frog?”

Tohru James had never heard of that comparison before. He was… surprised.

Chummy shrugged. ”Well, you can also say you're a prince pretending to be a pauper or a diamond pretending to be a rock. You're so picky with analogy boss. They're the same anyway. In the end, you are still someone trying to appear simple when you're really not.”

Well, she had a point. He had nothing to say to rebut what she said. He sighed and placed his fork down on the plate. In all honesty, he's really not comfortable to tell people his background. It was why he loathed the interview before.

”What do you suggest then? Yanee has trust issues. How do I fix that?” he said.

Chummy studied him for a while before sighing. ”Boss, Yanee is not the only one with trust issues. You do too.”

”I do?” Tohru asked before he realized and he paused. He inclined his head to think a bit before laughing at himself. ”You mean my reluctance to tell people about my real identity.”

”Wow, you really have a secret identity,” Chummy commented, her eyes wide in amazement. This revealed that she really had no idea before. ”I was thinking that you're one of those sons of the rich that didn't want their opulent backgrounds exposed. But the way you said things boss, it means it's not that simple.”

Tohru nodded. He already asked for her help anyway, there was no need to hide. Just like what Ms. Tan said earlier, in order to gain trust, he must learn how to trust as well.

”It's not simple. It's actually bad – bad to a point I'm scared she would hate me when she finds out who I am,” he confessed.

Chummy grabbed her flute of rosé and gulped down its contents twice before speaking. She looked worried now. ”Boss, are you mafia?”

”No,” Tohru answered readily. ”I don't mean bad in that way.”

Did he look like Yakuza? Tohru wondered.

”What kind of bad then, boss? Who are you?” she asked and he sighed as he placed his hands on the table and leaned a bit forward.

”If I tell you, would you help me with Yanee? I'm already at a loss as to what to do with her. She had two interviews already and she's still not infected by the love bug. I mean I was told that girls tend to be more optimistic about love when they see people in love and hear about love stories, right?”

As soon as he found out about Yanee's dislike for office romance and pessimistic outlook about relationships in general, he had asked his big sisters for help. They told him that Yanee needed to see good examples of successful stories to be inspired again.

”Sure boss. I'm rooting for you. But tell me how bad it is first so I can have an idea how,” Chummy sincerely stated.

He felt relieved that at least, Chummy would be on his side now though he wouldn't answer her directly. He couldn't even say it out loud himself as he really thought his special background was a bad thing at the moment. He'd give her hints to see if she could figure out who he was.

”Think of the timeline. Yanee did the interview months ago. I fell in love with her then, but she went on vacation. Suddenly, your publication company was taken over – coincidentally, placing me in the same office as her.” He looked at her face as he said that, and then leaned back, waiting for her reaction.

At first, there was a frown on her face as she analyzed the things he said. Then her eyes widened yet again, her mouth opening and closing like a fish – the second time she did during the day.

”B-Boss… Y-Y-You are…”

Chummy took another swig of rose' on her flute before continuing to speak. ”Are you Niji?” she asked and Tohru grinned.

”Think higher,” he said, and this time, Chummy's jaw dropped.

Tohru knew there and then that she finally knew who he was. Technically, he was already the Chairman of Arcus Iris Incorporated. He was just allowed to remain incognito for a longer while as it was his agreement with his father. But by next year, he would have to take over as the CEO as well.

”Oh my God,” Chummy commented still in awe.

She was contemplative for a while that Tohru began to worry. He didn't know why but she looked like that information was indeed a big problem.

”Boss, are you telling me that you bought our company so you can get closer to Yanee?”she asked with huge eyes.

”Yes,”Tohru answered honestly. ”I didn't know how we can cross paths again since our circles don't meet.”

”Yeah,” Chummy agreed. ”If not for the interview, you wouldn't have met at all even if Yanee's family is also rich.”