Chapter 221: Beginning
Ten minutes before the autograph session was scheduled to start at 9 AM, Shinomiya Kaguya, who had long planned to attend, arrived at the venue with her maid, Hayasaka Ai.
After getting out of the car and telling the driver to leave, Hayasaka Ai looked at the long line of readers and asked, "Young Lady Kaguya, there are quite a few people in line, should we..."
Shinomiya Kaguya shook her head without hesitation, "It's about to start, let's not make a fuss. Today we are just ordinary readers. Doing that wouldn't be fair to these readers. Let's go, Hayasaka, let's get in line. Anyway, we have books and phones, so it won't be too boring."
Hayasaka Ai naturally wouldn't go against her young lady's wishes and followed her to join the queue.
Meanwhile, Kaede and Eriri, who were chatting with Utaha in the lounge, were just there to join the fun today. If they wanted autographs, they could get them anytime. Their real purpose was to see Utaha and help her relieve some tension.
Although she claimed there were no problems, when it was close to 9 o'clock, both Kaede and Eriri saw Utaha's legs unconsciously trembling.
It was clear that she was a bit nervous inside.
With five minutes to go, Machida Sonoko walked in and looked at Utaha, saying, "Utaha, it's time to get ready!"
"Okay."
Taking a deep breath, Utaha stood up, then said to Eriri, "Are my clothes and makeup okay?"
Eriri nodded, "Don't worry, no problem."
Moreover, even though the other person was already quite tall, she wore high heels. When Eriri saw her standing height and compared it to her own, she felt a deep sense of helplessness.
She had already reached the standard height for girls her age, but compared to Utaha, she was still half a head shorter, not to mention with the added height of the high heels.
Utaha went out to prepare. Although Kaede and Eriri wouldn't be at the party, they still followed, planning to stand by Machida Sonoko and observe the lively scene.
At the appointed time, to the sound of the event host's voice, Utaha, having calmed herself, walked out of the passage and appeared before the many attendees. After a slight bow, she took her seat at the autograph table.
And those fans at the scene, especially the male fans, all had dumbfounded expressions.
No reader wouldn't be curious about what the author of a novel looked like, but no one expected Utako Kasumi to be such a beautiful and young girl.
After a brief silence, a burst of enthusiastic cheers erupted from the fan crowd.
Behind, standing with Machida Sonoko, Kaede said to her and Eriri, "Indeed, it's pretty much as I expected. Editor Machida, have you arranged for no fan photography?"
Machida Sonoko nodded, "Don't worry, it's been arranged long ago. Both I and the publishing house are very attentive to this. Utaha is different from Kaede-kun; you two have completely different development paths. Your future is in light novels, or possibly as a scriptwriter for games and anime, while Utaha, if she wants to, can completely develop into youth literature or traditional literature. In this regard, the publishing house is also very happy to cultivate her."
Although Utaha's novel sales are not particularly high right now, only slightly better than the normal level for a newcomer, her potential is still very high.
The commotion at the front of the autograph session gradually spread to the queues behind.
Shinomiya Kaguya and Hayasaka Ai, who were in line, vaguely heard the commotion inside and exchanged curious glances.
"Is something happening?" Shinomiya Kaguya curiously stood on her tiptoes, but the line was indeed quite long, and the distance too far, so she couldn't see what was happening inside.
Just then, a girl in front, after looking at her phone, knew that the two behind her were also girls, so she turned around and said to Shinomiya Kaguya and Hayasaka Ai, "Teacher Utako Kasumi just came out! The people at the very front of the line saw her, and they say Teacher Utako Kasumi is super beautiful, with a great figure, completely like a school idol!"
But as soon as she finished speaking, she surprisingly noticed that the two girls behind her, one with black hair and one with blonde hair, could also be considered school idols.
Shinomiya Kaguya thanked her after hearing this, then leaned close to Hayasaka Ai and whispered, "Hayasaka, do you have a picture of Utako Kasumi? Let me see."
To keep the suspense until today, Shinomiya Kaguya had not allowed Hayasaka Ai to show her photos of Utaha, and she hadn't even mentioned to Eriri that she would be attending the autograph session today.
Hayasaka Ai naturally had photos of Utaha on her phone. She nodded, pulled out her phone, and brought up a picture of Utaha, though it was only an ID photo.
Looking at the phone placed in front of her, Shinomiya Kaguya unexpectedly raised her eyebrows, "I didn't expect her to be really beautiful."
Shinomiya Kaguya had always been confident in her appearance, and even her maid, Hayasaka Ai, who had grown up with her since childhood, was just as beautiful as most girls her age. But Utaha's appearance, even in her eyes, was exceptionally outstanding, and of the more mature type.
After looking at the photo, she had Hayasaka Ai put her phone away, and Shinomiya Kaguya asked, "Hayasaka, have Asakura-kun and Sawamura-san arrived?"
"Yes," Hayasaka Ai said softly, "They are both inside the venue now, here to accompany Utako Kasumi today."
Nodding, Shinomiya Kaguya smiled, "I wonder if they'll be surprised when they see me later?"
Regarding Shinomiya Kaguya's anticipation, Hayasaka Ai had a small worry.
Just now, the young lady only saw Utaha's ID photo, which was from the shoulders up. It's important to know that the other person's figure was by no means inferior to Fujiwara Chika's, especially in terms of height, where she had a definite lead.
If they were to meet face-to-face, Hayasaka Ai worried that Shinomiya Kaguya would experience the same sense of defeat she felt when facing Fujiwara Chika.
But she couldn't really say that out loud, so she could only pray that such a thing wouldn't happen.
At the signing event, fans slowly moved forward one by one, receiving Utako Kasumi's signature, and were extremely happy, especially since they got to see the author's real face.
The only regret was perhaps that no photos were allowed at the venue, but at this moment, topics online about "Utako Kasumi is a super beautiful girl" had already begun appearing everywhere, though no photos had leaked.
Of course, this was only a matter of time; as soon as Utaha appeared in public once, information about her would definitely be dug up extremely quickly, and she had long been prepared for this.
Signing novel after novel, and having to smile and thank the approaching readers, Utaha slowly began to understand how tiring a signing event was.
More than an hour later, it was finally the turn of Shinomiya Kaguya and Hayasaka Ai.