Chapter 36
“Hmm, hmm-hmm~”
“My lady. You seem to be in a good mood.”
“…Hmm? Do I?”
On the way to Cornet territory, riding a golem.
Ruby, who had been staring intently at my face, spoke.
“Yes, you haven’t been able to keep the corners of your mouth from rising since we left the territory.”
‘Was I?’
After hearing Ruby’s words, I touched the corners of my mouth.
‘She’s right.’
Without even realizing it, the corners of my mouth had risen as high as they could go.
“And you’ve even been humming… Did something good happen?”
“Well… I suppose it’s because I got a chance to sell soap?”
“The fact that you ended with a question is suspicious in itself.”
She interrogated me with a skeptical look.
“Be honest. Something good happened besides going to the tea party, didn’t it?”
“What are you talking about? What good thing….”
“Really? I thought maybe something had happened. For instance….”
Ruby eventually gave me a mischievous smile.
“A d.a.t.e. with Sir Heter, perhaps?”
“!”
This girl… She must have known everything and pretended not to know just to tease me.
But! I wasn’t flustered at all.
“A date? It’s not like that.”
“Come on! If a man and woman plan to spend all day wandering around together, that’s a date!”
Ruby, thoroughly worked up, shook her head emphatically and insisted.
“No, it isn’t. By that logic, if you and Watt wandered around the territory together, could you call that a date?”
“Ugh… That’s not the same.”
When I mentioned Watt, Ruby’s childhood friend, she frowned and showed her dislike.
Watt seemed to like Ruby.
‘Poor Watt.’
Later, I should ask Heter to train him even harder.
You never know.
If he trained hard enough, Ruby might be able to see him differently.
“Then when we go sightseeing in Cornet territory, would it be all right if I came along too?”
“What?”
“If we’re sightseeing as friends, that shouldn’t matter, right?”
“Hmm….”
Ruby was close to both Heter and me, so it might be fun for us to look around Cornet territory together, but….
“Th-then shouldn’t you ask Heter first? He was the one who suggested it, after all.”
“Hehehe. I understand.”
She laughed with an air that suggested she knew everything but would let it slide this time.
“Ahem.”
I said that, but I truly believed Ruby wouldn’t actually come along.
“By the way, have you decided where we’re going to sightsee?”
“Hmm?”
Did we really need to plan something like that?
Couldn’t we just wander around and look at whatever caught our eye?
“What an irresponsible thing to say!”
Ruby shouted as though my answer were utterly absurd.
“How well do you think Sir Heter knows Cornet territory? Naturally, we have to show him around.”
“No, isn’t the person who invited someone on a date normally supposed to plan this sort of thing?”
“You said it wasn’t a date.”
“Ah.”
That was a slip of the tongue.
Ruby kept calling it a date, and she had even managed to confuse me.
“Phew, you really don’t know what to do without me, my lady. First, Cornet territory is famous for Lil’s Puppet Theater, run by a puppeteer renowned throughout the continent, and it also has a restaurant specializing in seahorse dishes….”
“Oh….”
Ruby suddenly began listing Cornet territory’s famous tourist attractions like a Namu Wiki page.
There were so many that we wouldn’t be able to visit them all even if we spent the entire day going around.
“That’s amazing. How do you know all that?”
Ruby probably hadn’t ever left the territory, just as she had been excited to leave Fortune when we went to Mugwort.
“Because I’ve memorized the Northern Tourist Guide, which compiles the North’s attractions!”
“You have?!”
No wonder she had suddenly started reading fluently at some point; apparently, there was a reason for it.
“What do you think? It’s incredibly useful, right?”
“Y-yes….”
The information Ruby gave me was certainly useful.
However, there was one thing I was worried about….
‘Would the places Ruby mentioned really be any good?’
You know how that happens sometimes.
You travel to a place everyone highly recommends, only to find it’s nothing special once you get there.
‘Well, that was in my previous life, so maybe it’ll be fine?’
“So, my lady, where would you like to go?”
“Hmm… I’m interested in the puppet theater first.”
We still had time before reaching Cornet territory, so I decided to play along with Ruby.
***
“My lady. We’ll be arriving in Cornet territory soon.”
“Already?!”
I was startled when Heter told me we would arrive soon.
‘I must have been more focused on Ruby’s story than I realized.’
It was only going sightseeing around the territory with Heter, so why was I looking forward to it so much?
‘Get a hold of yourself.’
What mattered now wasn’t where to go sightseeing with Heter, but selling soap.
Eventually, we arrived at Lady Clary’s residence, and only Ruby and I got off the golem.
“Then we’ll be off, Heter.”
“Have a safe trip, my lady.”
Why were we leaving Heter behind and going alone?
It couldn’t be helped. Men weren’t allowed to attend ladies’ tea parties.
Why? Because that was how it happened in the novel.
Perhaps Heter had been so enthusiastic about training Ruby in preparation for situations like this.
“Welcome, Lady Fortune!”
“Ah, Lady Clary.”
When we entered the residence, Lady Clary, who was hosting the tea party, came out to greet us herself.
“Was the journey here difficult?”
“It was fine. It’s warmer here than in Fortune. The ground had thawed and was a little muddy, but we came by golem.”
“Whew, that’s a relief!”
Lady Clary exhaled deeply and looked relieved.
…What was going on?
She was welcoming me far more warmly than I had expected.
Hadn’t she been itching to tear me apart when we met at the wedding?
“Um… Didn’t you dislike me?”
I couldn’t contain my curiosity any longer, so I asked.
After all, she had even mentioned my parents back then. Wasn’t it strange for her attitude to change so suddenly?
“Come now, what are you talking about? There’s no way I could dislike Lady Fortune.”
“…Pardon?”
“Come, come, hurry in! The young ladies from the other families are waiting.”
I followed her for now, but I didn’t let my guard down.
Though she looked like that on the outside, there was no telling when or where she might subject me to some underhanded bullying.
Today’s tea party was being held in the residence’s courtyard.
‘Why are we having a tea party outside in this weather?’
I was especially sensitive to the cold, so I was suffering terribly, but the ladies who had arrived before me seemed completely unfazed by the weather.
“Hoho, as expected, Cornet territory is quite warm!”
“That’s right. The pond over there hasn’t even frozen, has it?”
“I’m practically hot.”
Was enduring weather like this what made one a Northwoman?
Then I didn’t want to be a Northwoman.
In any case, cold was cold, and I had work to do.
“Ruby.”
“Yes!”
“Oh!”
I had Ruby distribute the soap sets we had brought in advance to the young ladies.
“The wrapping paper is so pretty.”
“It is, and it smells so lovely too….”
As expected, the wrapping paper was a huge hit.
‘As expected of Heter. I knew I could count on you, damn it!’
“So what is this?”
While I was sending Heter infinite thanks in my heart, one of the ladies asked me.
“It’s soap made in our territory.”
“So…ap?”
“The kind that’s supposedly made from that oil?”
The ladies who had admired the packaging immediately looked displeased when they heard what was inside.
As I had feared, it seemed to be because soap was something commoners used.
“Would you open it? It will be completely different from what you expect.”
“Oh, all right….”
While everyone unwrapped their packages with dissatisfied expressions, Lady Clary opened hers first.
“Oh my! Not only is the wrapping paper beautiful, the box is too?”
“It is, isn’t it?”
When they saw the boxes embossed with grapes and flowers, the other ladies’ hands moved faster.
“Oh? Mine has oranges instead of grapes.”
“Mine has strawberries!”
The ladies saw that each box had a different design and squealed with delight.
“I prepared various boxes because I thought it would be boring if they all had the same design.”
“Ooh.”
“Personally, I’d like to collect the other boxes too.”
Yes, that was exactly what I had been aiming for.
Even if the contents were identical, people naturally wanted to collect them all when the packaging came in different designs.
“Now, would you open the box next?”
“…What is this?”
“So it wasn’t deliberately scented like Lady Clary’s letter—the fragrance seeped into it naturally!”
“Is this soap? It looks just like a jewel!”
The ladies’ eyes sparkled as they looked at the individually wrapped soap.
Their reactions made me feel that it had been worth paying attention to the shape of the soap itself.
“I don’t think I can use it. It’s too pretty.”
“Exactly.”
I could understand how they felt.
It looked more like a decorative item than soap.
But that wouldn’t do.
‘If they don’t use it, I can’t sell them any more, can I?’
I ran my fingers once through my waist-length hair.
The young ladies admired my hair as it flowed down like the Milky Way.
“Whoa….”
“It’s like silk, the kind only made on the Eastern Continent.”
“I use this soap every time I wash, too.”
“!”
The moment I said that it wasn’t merely fragrant but also good for one’s appearance, the ladies’ gazes changed.
“Oh, so if I use only this, can I have skin as white as Lady Fortune’s…?”
“Ha ha, I’m sure your skin will become much softer than it is now.”
I didn’t know whether it had any skin-whitening effect, so I glossed over it.
Now only the final decisive blow remained.
“And you see the little pouch in the middle of the box?”
“Oh, now that you mention it, there is one.”
“What is this? Do we put the soap in it to use it?”
“Yes. More precisely, after using the soap, when only a little remains, you can put it in this pouch and use it as a sachet.”
“I see! Well, the scent is wonderful, after all.”
That was it. With this, the ladies would no longer feel any reluctance to use the soap.
‘Then once they use it all up, they’ll want to buy more from me.’
It seemed I had somehow achieved my original goal.
Just as I was wondering where to go with Heter tomorrow.
“My lady.”
“Hmm? Oh, I see.”
Lady Clary’s maid whispered something to her.
“Everyone, I neglected to mention this beforehand, but one more person will be joining the tea party. Would that be all right?”
“Of course.”
“Tea tastes better when shared with many people.”
‘Ugh.’
While everyone at the tea party was pleased, I sighed inwardly.
‘If I’d known, I should have brought one or two more sets from the carriage.’
I had brought only enough for the number of people there because I was worried they would be too heavy for Ruby to carry, and that had been a mistake.
‘Would it be too much to ask Ruby to bring more now?’
I supposed I would have to give the new young lady a soap set after the tea party ended.
“All right, everyone, say hello.”
“Huh?”
However, I would never get the chance to give the new young lady a soap set.
Because.
“Hello. I’m Esdia Rain… no, Drosselmeyer. I haven’t been in the North long, so there’s still a lot I don’t know. I look forward to your help.”
She had already received soap from me.