Meia was not yet ready to give up after one setback, but actively approaching people turned out to be more difficult than expected. She needed a plan. The biggest mistake so far had been to have chosen people who were too disengaged. A group that was already having an intense conversation could not simply disband and run away. Engaging in such a conversation was bound to be easier too. Meia did not want to impose herself on anyone, but neither did she want to be completely ignored. She needed a strategy that took a middle course and at the same time did not depend too much on the behaviour of others.

Maybe she could start a conversation with an interesting fact. ~'Oh, let me correct you there. In fact, this steel was developed back in blahblahblah. Nice to meet you, my name is Meiandra Arvis.' - This comes across as super cocky and know-it-all. If encyclopaedias were popular, we'd have one at home.~ Entering into a conversation without prior introduction certainly always seemed pushy. It deprived people of the chance to reject one. Was it better to introduce first? In that case, she could introduce herself, say she did not know anyone here and ask if she could join the group. ~Would that work? But it sounds pitiful and I don't want people to take me in just out of pity.~ She could also mention that she is waiting for Mr Monet. ~It would probably be better to leave Mr. Monet out of it.~ So just introduce herself? ~But anything could happen there.~ Maybe she could also just pretend that she was already part of the group.... That was all the ideas she had. In the end, she would always impose herself somehow. How was she supposed to know if people would have a problem with it? She did not have enough self-confidence to be rejected one after the other. How did people even get to know each other? She had no idea. Was it only because they were forced to by external circumstances? Like work colleagues, for example? Should she get a job?

Once again, thinking led nowhere. The necessary experience was missing. She therefore decided to stand with a group and introduce herself at an appropriate moment, perhaps mentioning Mr Monet in passing. If people would still reject her, so be it.

She found her next target immediately. It was again two young women. These two were engrossed in a debauched conversation.

Meia stalked up carefully.

"... came here?

"I came here with Mr Monet."

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~Mr. Monet?~

The other woman's eyes snapped open in shock. "What, you're just telling me now. He picked you up specially?" she asked frantically and full of curiosity.

"Unfortunately, it's not how it sounds. He didn't pick me up. I recognised him in the street and he only gave me a lift because I asked him."

"He was in town? What was he doing there?"

"He didn't tell me. Or he didn't want to. But it was certainly about some business."

"When did you arrive?"

"Just this morning. Luckily he had a bed in the carriage."

"Uhh, So it was a romantic carriage ride with Mr Monet."

"I wish. I wasn't even noticed."

"You're kidding me, right? You rode the whole way together and nothing happened?"

"I really tried, but unfortunately we weren't alone. His butler always squeezed in between, like a chastity belt."

"You slept in a bed next to Mr Monet and nothing happened?"

"I didn't. He was just working all the time. I think he slept sitting up."

"But you could have tried something today?"

"Yes, I could have... Well, we even had breakfast together and got on really well, but then I only went to the toilet once and when I came back, his seat was empty. He just disappeared and left me alone and none of the staff supposedly knew where he went. I just waited alone all day and because I was in the hot bath too long, my skin shrivelled up completely." Whining, she held out her hand to her. "Here, I look like an old potato."

Meia stealthily kept her distance again. The two of them were exactly the wrong people to introduce themselves to. The fact that Mr Monet was supposed to have had breakfast with one of them had not escaped Meia's notice. It was assumable that he had left this woman for Meia. However, the time between breakfast and the afternoon was a bit long? He had had breakfast with this woman in the morning. With Meia he wanted coffee and cake in the afternoon. So had he had lunch with a third woman in the meantime and then gone from her to Meia? And did he then have to leave Meia early again to have dinner with a fourth woman? Was Meia on the way to polygamy? It would have no legal disadvantages, but it was frowned upon. Mr Monet, however, was someone who set the trend. He could certainly do what he wanted and with this move directly drop several heirs in his name. In Jena, as a man, he legally automatically received full inheritance rights from his wife, provided her parents had consented to the marriage. The only obstacle for him would be that no one would give him his daughter for such a relationship - at least no one who had no need to. So was that the catch he was yet to tell Meia? "Hehehe." Probably not. But it was quite astonishing. Did any of the guests here really have something to do with the Monets directly? No matter where Meia listened in, their names came up almost everywhere. Perhaps Mr Monet had not exaggerated and for him this was really just a small celebration in a small circle.

.../ End Part