Simon's estate was located in the Andettino district, south of Rome. Unlike other densely populated areas of the city, Andettino, just five kilometers from the city center, had a low residential density and was home to numerous historical sites and urban parks. It also featured amenities like golf courses and equestrian schools, making it a typical enclave for the wealthy.
Securing a 30-acre (approximately 12 hectares) estate in such a prime location was no easy feat. Sophia, tasked with managing Simon's European properties, had spent a considerable sum acquiring three adjacent properties, eventually piecing together the estate. Surrounded by stone walls about three to four hundred meters long on each side, the low walls were more decorative than protective. However, any "intruders" trying to climb over would quickly trigger the estate's security system, alerting both the estate guards and the local police.
The estate's main building was a three-story castle in a French classical style, reportedly built by an Italian nobleman to please his French wife. The castle, with its white walls and blue roof, was shaped like a U facing south, reminiscent of the Palace of Versailles, though on a much smaller scale, covering about 3,000 square meters.
In the mid-morning, if anyone were to enter the estate, they would notice groups of girls scattered around the grounds and inside the castle. The girls, dressed in dark blue outfits that resembled a blend of office attire and private school uniforms, appeared young, with simple ponytails, fresh faces, and flat shoes. They wore gloves and, under the guidance of the estate maids, busily attended to various tasks—trimming hedges, tidying flower beds, and cleaning rooms.
It was Thursday, February 2nd, Simon's third day in Rome.
With no specific agenda, Simon had treated this period as a brief, relaxing vacation, spending time with Sophia.
The young girls scattered across the estate were part of the group Simon had recruited from Eastern Europe and trained as personal attendants. Over the past year, the Westeros system had experienced significant developments, and these girls' lives had been similarly eventful. Of the original 200 girls recruited from Eastern Europe and Latin America, only 163 remained, with the rest eliminated for various reasons.
Initially, the girls were placed in groups of ten across cities like London, Paris, and Milan. However, the two groups originally stationed in France had been relocated to Rome and Milan due to Simon's ongoing friction with the French government.
Although only the London group had been publicly exposed through a month-long live broadcast, the other girls across Europe had attracted varying degrees of attention. Most of this had been suppressed by the Westeros system—except in France, where trouble continued to brew.
There, authorities made repeated efforts to interfere. One day, children's protection organizations would investigate the girls' living conditions; the next, Paris police would receive complaints about child labor violations. When the lavish treatment of the girls was exposed by the French tabloids, protestors gathered outside their Paris residence, accusing Simon of wasting resources that could benefit other children.
The situation escalated when some girls were eliminated from the program. Their families, with backing from certain parties, sued Simon for large sums of money and attempted to smear his reputation. Fortunately, the Westeros legal team had anticipated such scenarios, and the contracts signed with the girls were airtight, turning the lawsuits into nothing more than a farcical spectacle.
After a few rounds of harassment, Simon had the two Paris and Cannes groups relocated to Italy.
Now, the two groups in Rome consisted of 15 girls, with a slightly higher-than-average elimination rate.
Today's activities, cleaning and tidying the estate, were part of the girls' weekly "social practice" courses.
Since they were initially being trained as attendants, their curriculum included learning how to manage Simon's various properties. The child labor accusations in France stemmed from the girls' regular maintenance of Simon's estate in the western suburbs of Paris.
Although Simon's plans for the girls had evolved, these lessons remained unchanged.
The night before, the estate had hosted a grand party, attended by Italian elites connected to the Westeros system, including the Gucci and Bulgari families, Italy's richest Agnelli family, high-ranking executives from Simon's Italian ventures, the scandal-ridden but still-serving Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, and renowned Italian director Giuseppe Tornatore.
The party was Sophia's idea.
From any perspective, Sophia was an exceptional partner, adept at maintaining relationships through direct engagement.
Although Italy presented itself as a democracy, the reality was that its society remained deeply stratified, with power and wealth concentrated among a relatively fixed group of people. This was why Italy's corruption index remained alarmingly high compared to the generally cleaner European nations.
By securing the favor of the attendees, Simon had effectively secured control over Italy.
Including the Stefano family incident last year, which had shocked Italy's underworld, and Simon's strategic influence behind the scenes, he now had free rein in the country.
This was also why he felt comfortable inviting the girls to the estate.
If this were Simon's property in the Paris suburbs, he wouldn't have taken such a risk. Even though nothing inappropriate occurred during his interactions with the girls, their ages—ranging from 11 to 15—would inevitably stir up trouble.
On the third floor of the castle's west wing, Simon and Sophia sat across from each other at a simple round table on the balcony. They enjoyed coffee and the warm Mediterranean sunshine while watching the girls scattered around the estate below.
After chatting about some gossip involving a dispute within the Gucci family, Sophia, lounging comfortably, pointed toward a girl trimming hedges by the flower bed below. "That one, Carmen Kass—she's the one who lied about her age."
Simon, holding his coffee cup, smiled as he glanced over and nodded. "Born in '78. She's 17 now."
When Simon had selected the girls in late 1994, the age criteria were set between 10 and 14 years old. Carmen Kass, who would go on to become a fashion icon, had falsified her records, lowering her real age from 16 to 13. Although such deception wouldn't escape the rigorous scrutiny of the Westeros team, Simon had noticed and decided to keep her, partly for his own collection.
Interestingly, while more than 30 girls had been eliminated over the past year, all 11 girls personally selected by Simon had remained in the program. Since they were special cases, these girls didn't quite measure up to those chosen through strict standards.
Still, Simon mused, the most outstanding girls would eventually be free to pursue their dreams, while the less exceptional ones could stay by his side as attendants.
Someday, Simon imagined, his attendants could be made up of girls like Natalia Vodianova, Eugenia Volodina, Carmen Kass, Gisele Bündchen, Alessandra Ambrosio, Anja Rubik, and Adriana Lima. While the world wouldn't notice anything unusual, to Simon, it would be an incredibly luxurious lineup.
As for the fact that the fashion industry would never see "Carmen the Goddess," "Queen Gisele," "Prince Anja," or "Empress Eugenia," that wasn't Simon's concern.
Thanks to the early rise of the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, the top spots in the fashion industry had already been claimed by veteran and rising supermodels. Models like Christy Turlington, now in their early twenties, could easily extend their careers by another decade with the support of the Victoria's Secret platform.
The early dominance of these top models meant that the next generation, who would have risen to prominence in the early 2000s, would find themselves with far fewer opportunities.
Unless Simon personally intervened to promote them, supermodels like Gisele and Carmen would struggle to rise in the fashion world, where resources were already monopolized by established icons.
Switching to being Simon's attendants wasn't a bad alternative.
Simon had never mistreated the girls around him.
On the balcony, Sophia glanced sideways at Simon with a knowing look. "Do you think she knows we're aware she lied about her age?"
Simon, sensing that Sophia had caught on to something that Janet had already noticed, smiled and said, "She probably does. These girls are very clever."
Sophia continued scanning the estate but couldn't spot her other target, who must have been inside the castle. "There's another one, Anja Rubik. I think she's special too."
There were five "special" girls in Europe.
Natalia Vodianova and Eugenia Volodina were in London, Karolina Kurkova in Berlin, Carmen Kass in Rome, and Anja Rubik had also been assigned to Rome. These five had once been known as "Nata," "Empress Eugenia," "Big KK," "Carmen the Goddess," and "Prince Anja."
Janet had easily picked out all these special girls during her initial evaluation, and Sophia, equally perceptive, had done the same. Simon wasn't surprised and replied with a smile, "If you think they're special, then they must be."
Sophia, intrigued by Simon's noncommittal response, grew even more curious. She pressed the call button on the table, and an attendant appeared moments later. Sophia gestured toward the flower bed below and instructed, "Ask Carmen to come up."
The attendant nodded without question and quietly left.
Sophia took a sip of her coffee and glanced at Simon again, but as always, he gave nothing away.
A few minutes later, a tall, slender girl appeared on the balcony, having passed through the third-floor living room. She greeted them politely, "Mr. Westeros, Ms. Fascia."
Simon turned to look at her.
At 17, Carmen Kass looked exactly as he remembered—nearly 180 cm tall, with the soft facial features common among Eastern
European girls, a short smile at the corners of her mouth, green eyes, and a slim yet healthy figure. Unlike some models who embodied a more fragile, unhealthy beauty, Carmen radiated a robust vitality, likely influenced by the Victoria's Secret trend toward healthier aesthetics.
Thanks to the early rise of Victoria's Secret, the fashion world had already embraced a shift toward promoting healthier beauty standards.
The wave of "heroin chic" that was supposed to be led by Kate Moss in the coming years hadn't taken off. Moss herself, who was ill-suited to the Victoria's Secret brand, had been relegated to the sidelines, unable to claim the same resources dominated by the Angels.
Sophia took a moment to scrutinize the girl in front of her, though she had likely observed her many times before. Finding no new insights, she abruptly and directly asked, "How old are you?"
Carmen Kass was startled for a moment, her expression revealing a hint of nervousness and guilt. She glanced quickly at Simon, hesitated briefly, then replied, "Seventeen, Ms. Fascia. I'm 17."
Sophia's lips curved into a smile. "Why admit it so quickly?"
Noticing the two adults didn't seem angry and that Sophia's tone carried a hint of "we already know," Carmen quickly relaxed. However, she still felt a bit embarrassed and responded, "I didn't think I'd get selected."
That was true.
When she first saw the recruitment ad in the paper, Carmen, who had grown up in a small town in Estonia, had applied with an "it doesn't hurt to try" attitude. As the selection process proved exceptionally rigorous, and she realized her lie about her age could easily disqualify her, she had expected to be rejected. To her surprise, she made it through and became one of the final 200 chosen.
Carmen wasn't naive.
Just a few years ago, Estonia had gained independence from the Soviet Union, and many people from her small Eastern European country were flocking to Western Europe in search of opportunities. At just 13, Carmen had defied her mother's wishes and traveled alone to Milan to pursue a modeling career. However, she had been too young and returned to Estonia shortly afterward.
Then came this chance at the end of 1994.
Like the other girls, Carmen wasn't disappointed that she hadn't become a model but had instead joined Westeros as an attendant, especially after witnessing the success of the Westeros women like A, B, C, and D Girls.
For Carmen, her goal was simply to leave Estonia and make something of herself.
How she achieved that didn't really matter.
Sophia, finding the girl's composed demeanor likable, couldn't resist teasing her. She nodded toward Simon and said, "Actually, it's because Simon took a liking to you. What do you think?"
Carmen was taken aback, her expression showing surprise. She glanced quickly at Simon before lowering her eyes, a slight blush creeping across her face. "It would be an honor."
Though she was older than the other girls, the influence of the past year's training and courses had subtly but effectively shaped her mindset. Like all the girls, Carmen had unknowingly developed a deep sense of admiration for Simon. He was, in every way, worthy of their adoration, and the structured programming had worked wonders.
Sophia, realizing that Carmen's response only dug her deeper into her own trap, quickly said, "Alright, you can go back to work now."
Carmen glanced once more at Simon, then respectfully excused herself and left the balcony.
Once the girl was gone, Sophia glared at Simon with mock anger. Simon shrugged slightly, still smiling. "I can't help it. Sometimes, even I admire myself. I mean, how could the world produce such a brilliant man as me? It's amazing."
Unable to contain herself any longer, Sophia rolled her eyes, made a dramatic gagging motion, and grabbed the call button from the table, tossing it playfully at Simon.
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