The place seemed merry. The passerbys, vehicles and even those around the scene all had smiles on their faces, baking in the warm summer weather.

But unlike the atmosphere all around, the atmosphere within Lucy's vehicle was grim, for only a brief second.

Jeanne, the driver, and another guard seated up front, suddenly shivered uncontrollably when they got a bad aura from the back seats.

But when they glanced at the mirrors to take a look, they were only greeted with Lucy's warm smile.

They also looked at the fans who were still overly excited and couldn't find anything wrong.

Eh?

Everything looked very normal. So could they have imagined it?

(°_°)

Blink. Blink.

Kora on the other hand only blinked severally in confusion.

She did see Lucy turn grim for a split second before resting her normal everyday look.

But Kora hadn't seen the words written on the things passed onto Lucy. So she had no idea what this whole thing was about.

Nonetheless, she knew that these so-called fans were very suspicious.

Because in that brief moment when Lucy's face changed, the eyes from these ladies also flickered with a different light altogether.

But too bad, the guards missed it, as it happened under one blink of an eye.

Honestly, things were getting more and more suspicious by the second.

But Kora decided to play smart and continue acting like a normal baby while touching her toes and smiling at these fans as playful as she could.

She also felt very pumped up for some reason, only feeling like something eye-opening would happen soon.

At this moment, the adrenaline pumping through that tiny body of hers could knock a goat dead with one punch.

.

Lucy 'signed' on the items and passed them back.

And when the ladies saw the words written, they smoked victoriously, continually their overly excited fan act.

Of course, according to the instructions, Lucy also joined in on the act as well.

"Hahahahaha! I can't believe that I have my goddess's signature! I'm so happy."

"Goddess! Goddess! I love you!"

"My Goddess, you're so kind!"

Lucy listened, smiled even deeper and waved her hands nonchalantly: "It's the least I can do, so don't think much of it

After all, you ladies are the ones who look your time out to see me. So why can't I do this little thing for you?... Well, since I'm in an even better mode now, how about I offer you all a ride? I still have some time before my next appointment. So how about it?" 

What??!!!

A ride... A ride... A RIDE?

The guards wanted to stop Lucy but knew that since the Princess had decided, then it shall be so.

The only thing they had to do was check these ladies for weapons before they git into the vehicle.

Listening to the lead dirty male guard asking them to spread their hands and legs apart for a search, the ladies almost throw up when thinking about having these men touch their bodies.

F***! They would rather chew their own flesh than allow these worthless, dirty, undeserving, low entities to touch them.

Just thinking about it made them all shower uncontrollably.

But what they didn't know was that the lead guard had intended to have the female guards search them instead.

He was just giving the orders, and that was all.

However, this time, Lucy adamantly refused the ladies to be searched, making Number 5 and the rest secretly breathe out from relief.

One had to know that they had daggers on their thighs and even more at their back too.

So if they got searched, then wouldn't they be found out in a heartbeat?

Nonexistent sweat appeared on their faces when they felt their bellies churn with anxiety.

"No search. Just let them in. After all, we don't want to scare them even further, right?" Lucy spoke out with a calm smile on her face.

And even though her people were unwilling, they had no choice but to listen and obey her command.

The witches, as real fans, all jumped high up excitedly, clapping their hands and hugging from time to time as they seemed to look like 5-year-old girls now.

.

"Hahahahah! Thank you, my Goddess!"

"Thank you, my Goddess! I can't believe I get to sit next to you." 

"Thank you, my Goddess!"

Lucy chuckled when listening to their fake exclamations.

Sore enough. Fakes would always be fakes.

But she had to admit that the way these fakes coordinated, even though they did research and maybe learned a few things here or there about how fans acted, Lucy couldn't find the love radiating from them.

Their eyes weren't as clear as true fans, and maybe it was her illusion, but typically, one could feel the vibe gotten from them was too fake!

Hey! Could this be what meeting Dark Fans would feel like?

In the weekly idol magazines, there were always people who claimed to be fans but were actually steering comments towards a negative angle.

They acted like fans, but might not even like the idol at all.

So they were titled Dark fans.

It was similar to enemies or those who would always act nice or in your best interest, only to end up stabbing you in the back.

Heh! After meeting thousands and thousands of fans over the years, it was easy for Lucy to see that these fans were Dark fans.

She had to admit that her dark fans mostly popped out when Baymard was first open to the public year's back.

Those noble ladies of different areas would meet her in fashion shows or wherever and act like fans who admired her. Some would also say that her talent for finding a good man (A.K.A, scaling Landon) was astronomical.

Others wanted her to teach her tricks, and were indirectly kicking her because of jealousy.

During those first few years, her man was constantly getting seduced since at the time, many people did look down at Baymard.

.

Again, her background as a woman who used to be the only maid in Mother Kim's courtyard back in Arcadina's Capital city was still the talk of the time back then.

So how could tense Noblewomen accept that a maid was getting all of Landon's attention?

It was also one of the reasons why Lucy wanted to better herself and stand as an equal or someone valuable to Landon by working hard.

Fortunately, her good nature and her efforts paid off.

And the more her reputation grew, the more people kept quiet about their complaints.

With time, the complaints all died down, and now, coupled with the general knowledge impacted by Baymard to the rest of Pyno, people's thoughts have long changed.

Thus, seeing how much Lucy had done while hardly relying on Landon, even the noblewomen who mocked her suddenly began wholeheartedly raising her instead.

After all, some of them had adopted Baymard's ways of thinking and found that they now had a purpose in life, rather than sitting still, looking pretty, staying in their courtyard and fighting against other women over their husbands or fiances.

Like so, the last time Lucy had ever seen a 'Dark Fan,' as they call it now, was 2 years ago.

Nonetheless, she could easily distinguish that these 'fans' of hers were Dark Fans... Even before they have her their items to sign.

Her intuition had told her that, but she decided to act as she typically would, maintaining her 'idol face' for these fans.

.

Lucy calmly unstrapped Kora from her baby car seat and carried her over her chest while allowing these three ladies to step in from the other door.

Luckily, her official vehicle was so spacious and luxurious. So they didn't feel cramped or squeezed in at all.

And the money they came in, the cafe staff once again stepped out with Lucy's order, having broad smiles on their faces.

They were so unaware of the dangers around.

"Princess! Princess! Your order is here!"

"Thank you," Lucy responded while watching her guards take the orders and pay for the goods. Of course, she took out a warm croissant to eat too.

But not before turning to her fans and also asking if they wanted anything.

The ladies just shook their heads in denial with helpless, anxious and shy expressions on their faces.

"No! No! No! Goddess! We are just content with seeing you eat."

Heh! Lucy chewed her croissant with a playful smirk on her face, while Kora could only watch pitifully.

Hey! The smell of this was really a stomach churner.

But who asked her to be a toothless baby?

She was on a strict and very highly approved diet and food regime.

So she found that she was mostly drinking or taking in liquidy things instead. 

In short, it has been mostly milk and water.

Sigh... When will her teeth pop out?

.

~Vrrrmmmmm

Like so, Lucy's vehicles all pulled away from the scene.

And following them were several ordinary vehicles too.

Number 5 squinted her eyes merrily while watching the roads.

Good. Good. Good.

Everything was right on track!

They were headed for the secret spot.

There, they would convert the traitor's daughter into, maybe, the orders most secret weapon of all!