Chapter 11

[Do you know what trends are dominating society these days?

It’s neither an elegant lace, nor an exotic jewel; it is something more graceful above all of them.

Now, all of society was immersed with the scent of a flower.]

“Hohoho.”

I burst into an artificial laughing fit as I crushed the lilac.

Just as I expected; no. It was greater a success than I had anticipated.

As planned, Charlotte was intrigued by the perfume I offered her. Since it is her first perfume, she would drizzle the perfume onto her body (submerging herself in the scent) whenever she departed from her residence.

The smell of lilac rapidly embellished my trademark.

Charlotte Jenos was a social queen whom everyone looked up to. My trademark soon became the object of envy. Everyone desired to mimic Charlotte’s new taste.

From then on, thunder resonated, and winds blew.

There were many perfumers who were capable of recreating perfume with the scent of lilac. However, I was the only perfumer who constructed the perfume Charlotte Jenos used. Ariel Winston was the first perfumer to create an alcohol-free perfume.

Thanks to this, I was screaming gleefully, watching the flood of orders pouring in.

… Well, even if they were pouring in, it wasn’t that big of a deal yet.

However, it was better than nothing.

“My lady, aren’t you overdoing it?”

Rina seemed troubled. I shook my head and smiled.

What do you mean? This is all money. I grounded the petals with endless passion. The pollen seemed like golden dust.

“Get some rest, Rina. You’re having a hard time, because of me these days, aren’t you?”

“No, my lady. Thanks to you, I’m free from housework.”

“Still, this isn’t normal labor … Sorry, I’ll give you a generous bonus.”

“Oh, thank you! Hehe.”

They weren’t empty words. The only people working on making perfumes now were Rina and I. Did she think I’d leave her struggling to this extent without rewarding her work?

‘Now that I think about it, that’s a problem. We can’t be the only ones struggling here.’

If I thought of the money that would come in, It wouldn’t be difficult for me to crush petals all day long. However, if I was the only one working, there was a limit to the amount of perfumes which could be supplied.

‘There is a shortage of supply compared to the number of requests.’

However, the problem was that there was no more reliable manpower other than Rina. The attendants inside this mansion were not under my surveillance, but my father’s. I was incapable of getting them to step into this perfumery, much less work for me.

‘It’s a pain … even so, let’s start with a meal.’

As I took Rina out of the perfumery, we encountered someone in the hallway.

It was the butler. Come to think of it, I had something to tell the butler. I approached him, thinking it was fortunate.

“Butler, this is great. I have something to say.”

“I’m sorry, my lady.”

I stopped speaking as I heard the butler utter such words.

“It will be rather difficult to give you any allowance this month.”

“I’m sorry?”

The butler’s message caused my brows to furrow. It sounded like something was banging while one was sound asleep.

“What are you implying? Allowance?”

“Master ordered me to deduct your allowance. To be precise, he said: ‘You’ve been warned many times, yet you can’t set your mind straight. This will be the new policy.’ This is the master’s recitation.”

“… Oh dear.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle.

“So, are you saying that this hard-line policy was to cut my allowance?”

“Yes. He stated that if you ceases your visiting to unnourished salons, close the perfumery, and focus on meeting with men which he’d arranged, you’d earn your allowance once again.”

“…”

“He said he wouldn’t hand you a penny for perfume-related work in the future.”

“Haha. I see.”

I raised the corners of my mouth. These days, I didn’t even pay the Count a mind and left for all kinds of salons, in order to work on perfume sales. It turned out very nice.

You dared threaten me with cheap money.

Yet, fortunately, none of that mattered to me anymore.

“Yes, please tell him to do so.”

“… Yes?”

“I was thinking of becoming independent, but thanks to my father, I have successfully achieved economic independence. That’s good news.”

“…”

The butler gazed at me in shock. Why, did you think, if you said I wouldn’t get my allowance, I’d go grasping the Count’s pants and beg?

“Is that everything? Ah, I’m quite starved. What’s the menu for dinner tonight?”

I hummed as I proceeded down the stairs.

I seemed to really favor the word economic independence.

I recalled the words I spat out a few moments ago.

As long as the perfume business continued to expand smoothly, independence was not impossible.

I expressed my deep gratitude to Charlotte, who lent a hand to my success.

“Milady, a letter has arrived.”

Marienne, one of the attendants, called out to me. I tilted my head.

‘Is it Charlotte?’

After our first meeting, Charlotte and I became close friends. As I didn’t have any personal connections, it was thanks to her that I was able to step into all kinds of salon.

Marienne handed me the letter. It was a very luxurious card envelope, engraved with many expensive golden leaves.

‘This is …’

“Oh, my lady! It’s an invitation from the Imperial Household!”

Rina, who approached me, trembled with excitement.

I opened the invitation. A phrase was written, asking for participation during the imperial palace banquet, which was held at the end of every year.

The royal banquet was incomparable to any influential figures’ party. I whistled enthusiastically.

“Will you join, my lady?”

“Of course.”

I smirked. I couldn’t possibly miss such a tremendous opportunity.

✧༝┉┉┉┉┉˚*❋ ❋ ❋*˚┉┉┉┉┉༝✧

As long as a queen exists amongst society, a royal ball would certainly be held.

A row of carriages entered the palace. All of them were luxurious, holding the emblem of their families.

Young ladies and gentlemen left their carriage. People stood out here and there. However, among them, Lady Charlotte was the most brilliant.

As I spotted Charlotte, I proceeded to approach her.

“Lady Ariel!”

“Lady Ariel~”

A chorus of some sort caught my ears.

I turned my head abruptly. What was that? I just heard a bunch of girls calling my name …

“Here, here! Dear Ariel!”

“It’s been a long time since I last saw you.”

It wasn’t an auditory hallucination.

A group of girls ran at me hurriedly. Taken aback, I retreated.

“Who …”

“A-Ariel! It’s us!”

Who … who are you?

One, two, three, four. A total of four girls. They were all cute-looking. It’s most likely they’ve just reached adulthood.

The girls were dressed in pastel ribbons and dresses. I couldn’t help but relax at their lovely appearance.

“You have been so negligent to us. Now that you’ve made a new friend, we’re left in the corner? Luna is so sad!”

“Hey, Luna, don’t act cute.”

“Noisy. Do you want to die, Eileen?”

The two girls whispered between themselves. I didn’t know if they didn’t want me to hear.

By the way … Luna and Eileen. The names sounded familiar. I pondered. Luna, Eileen, and Ariel Winston …

‘Ah!’

I raised my head.

I remember Luna, Eileen, the four girls.

I went through the girls one by one, just to be sure.

“Luna, Eileen … Lily, Sasha?”

When I pronounced the girls’ names, their faces glowed, one by one.

“You’ve memorized all our names!”

“I’m so touched!”

I grasped my forehead.

These girls appeared many times in the original. They were no other than Ariel Winston’s bodyguards.

Well … there are things that appear frequently in novels. The so-called villain’s corps, the sub-villains who bully the heroine and flock to the male protagonist.

Oh my God. Such cute kids possess such a role … No. I quickly came to my senses. Nothing good will come from being close to these villains.

“Sorry girls. I’m a bit busy. I’ll excuse myself now …”

Charlotte, let’s find Charlotte.

However, Charlotte had already disappeared. I barely held myself from collapsing as the evil villain’s division clung to me.

“Come with us, Ariel-nim!”

The girls quickly followed after me.

I had no choice but to enter the palace with four girls hunched around me.

✧༝┉┉┉┉┉˚*❋ ❋ ❋*˚┉┉┉┉┉༝✧

“Lady Ariel, aren’t you thirsty?”

“Lady Ariel! Shall I bring you a canape?”

“Lady Ariel, these men keep gazing at lady Ariel here. How cheeky.”

“Shall I take care of it?”

I grasped my forehead.

While I was with Charlotte, I gradually changed my image of being a wicked woman. Thanks to Charlotte, those who were wary of me were starting to open up bit by bit.

Nevertheless, what was this? I questioned myself objectively. This was the same as a wicked woman and her followers. Rather than approaching me, people distanced themselves and whispered with frightened faces.

‘That’s why I can’t do business.’

I can’t. Let’s rid of them first.

It was the moment I’d made up my mind.

“Ah, who might this be? Aren’t you Lady Winston, the one who owns a high reputation in society these days?”

I discerned a voice I’d never heard before today.

He was a man of sturdy build. His face was quite young and handsome, yet he seemed too young. He was not my type.

However, he received a good grade, looking at the eyes of the evil women’s division behind me. I approached with a smile.

“Greetings. Excuse me, but your name is …”

“Ah, I’m quite late to introduce myself, aren’t I? My name is Ponta Magnus.”

Magnus … I nodded. He seemed to be Baron Magnus, the one famous for his business skills.