Translator: Nox

Chapter 16

16

“S-Sister….”

“Yes, Alice.”

Crunch. Dana twisted her heel. She asked with a bright, clear smile.

“You said this was a precious flower, didn’t you? But Alice, do you think it’s precious to me, too?”

“Sister Dana!”

“Don’t think on your meager level. To me, something like this is no different from a scrap of waste paper.”

She beamed. With the tip of her shoe, she gave the mangled Moonlight Flower a dismissive flick.

“Take this and get out immediately.”

* * *

The moment she returned to her room, Alice burst into tears.

“Waaaaah. Sob.”

“Alice, don’t cry. Please?”

“But Miona, hic, Sister, she—!”

Miona comforted Alice with a look of deep distress.

“What on earth did Sister Dana say to make you like this?”

“I… I went to see her with a Moonlight Flower as a gift to apologize, but she….”

Alice gasped for breath between sobs.

“She said it was a low-class gift.”

“What?”

“And, hic, she smashed the pot and said the Moonlight Flower business I’m in charge of will be ruined….”

“My goodness! How could she do such a thing!”

Miona seemed genuinely shocked.

“Sister Dana really is as wicked as ever.”

“D-Don’t say that.”

“Show her what you’re made of. You just have to show her that you can do a great job!”

“But how? Maybe I really will ruin everything like she said. I don’t know anything.”

Alice was truly frightened.

She had only attended the Academy because all the other children of noble families did.

Her favorite subject was piano; in classes like economics or management, she had barely managed to avoid failing marks….

“Don’t worry. You have me!”

Miona cried out confidently.

‘Come to think of it, Miona always got the highest marks in those subjects.’

Furthermore, Miona’s father, Viscount Cruiser, had been the head of a trading company.

Though he had eventually sunk along with his ship and his entire fortune while crossing the sea—

Miona had learned much from her father since childhood. She had been educated as the successor to that company.

“T-Then, do you have any good ideas?”

When Alice asked tentatively, Miona sank into deep thought.

“Yes. In fact, I have a great idea.”

“What is it?”

“It’s this….”

* * *

“What?”

Juan’s face scrunched up fiercely.

“Sell Moonlight Flower bulbs?”

“Yes.”

“What kind of idiotic talk is that, Alice! Selling roots when the flowers haven’t even bloomed yet!”

“I’m not saying we should sell the literal roots. I’m saying we sell the rights to receive them once they bloom later.”

Alice recited exactly what Miona had explained to her.

“We promise to give them the flowers once they bloom, and we sell them in advance while they’re still at the bulb stage.”

“Foolish girl! Where did you hear such nonsense—”

“One moment.”

A man stepped forward then.

It was Eric, a vassal of the Winzer family and the man in charge of the practical operations of the Moonlight Flower business.

“I think it is an excellent idea.”

“Eh?”

Juan looked dazed at Eric’s words. An excellent idea?

“You are suggesting we introduce a pre-sale system. It is a very good idea.”

It wasn’t mere flattery. Eric was actually impressed.

“If we do as Lady Alice says, we can bring in profits years in advance.”

“R-Really?”

“Yes. I wonder why we haven’t thought of this until now. Did you come up with this yourself, Lady Alice?”

Alice hesitated for a moment at Eric’s question.

In truth, this was Miona’s idea, but….

Still….

‘If I hadn’t asked Miona, the idea wouldn’t have come out.’

So, it was basically the same as if it were my own idea, right?

Having finished her rationalization, Alice smiled shyly.

“Yes.”

“Remarkable. I did not realize the young lady was so brilliant.”

At that, Juan grumbled from the side with a sour expression.

“Hmph. Well. I find it suspicious.”

He was extremely displeased.

‘Selling the bulbs too? Then it’ll be even harder for me to spirit away the Moonlight Flowers!’

In fact, Juan had planned to slowly siphon off Moonlight Flowers to create his own Moonlight Flower garden.

But if they were pre-selling bulbs now—management would become much stricter than before.

If that happened, stealing them would become nearly impossible!

‘Danae said she’d consider marrying me if I made her a Moonlight Flower garden!’

He couldn’t let this proceed smoothly.

“I’m against it. The Moonlight Flower business is booming enough as it is; is there any need to take such a dangerous risk?”

Alice stared straight at Juan.

“It doesn’t matter if you object, Uncle.”

“What?”

“I’ve received permission from my parents to be the general manager of sales. So, even if you object, Uncle, I am going to sell the bulbs.”

For a moment, a thick vein bulged on Juan’s forehead.

Could it be that this brat was currently…

‘Defying me?!’

Rage flared up within him.

He wanted to reach out and slap her across the face. But if word reached his sister and brother-in-law—he would surely suffer for it.

So he had to endure.

‘That damn girl!’

* * *

One week later.

“Family Head, have you heard the news?”

Sandra chattered away, her nose high in the air with pride.

“Thanks to our Alice’s idea, the Moonlight Flower business is thriving!”

The past week had felt like a dream to Sandra.

Since Alice had been brought in, the bidding prices at the Moonlight Flower auctions had more than doubled.

In just one week!

“Isn’t Alice truly amazing?”

Karl Winzer also seemed proud of his daughter’s achievements.

However.

“It is too early to jump to conclusions.”

Viego Winzer spoke coldly.

“While we are seeing short-term gains, you must respond with agility to ensure this upward trend is maintained.”

Meanwhile, the subject of the praise, Alice Winzer, was blushing deeply.

This past week.

The Moonlight Flowers had broken record prices every time they appeared at auction, and the bulb auctions were equally successful.

‘I heard that from the very first bulb auction, they were sold at an incredibly high price.’

A week ago, a single Moonlight Flower cost 300 million Fran.

But at yesterday’s auction, a single flower sold for 600 million Fran. The bulbs were sold for nearly the same price.

‘I didn’t know it would go this well.’

Alice stole a glance at Dana’s face.

Was she discouraged? Dana was eating her stew in silence, her face devoid of any smile.

‘Well, she must be embarrassed.’

She had been caught up in some strange delusion about me ruining the Moonlight Flower business within a month or whatever.

‘But in reality, I’m highly successful.’

How ashamed and embarrassed must she be right now? How jealous must she be, enough to make her stomach ache?

Me, who has captured the Crown Prince’s heart and is even being called a business genius….

She must be dying of envy, right? She must feel miserable.

‘Poor Sister Dana. How pitiful.’

At that moment, her eyes met Dana’s.

“…….”

Alice felt a throb in her chest.

‘Why?’

She realized it instantly.

Dana still didn’t envy her. She still wasn’t miserable. Still.

‘Could she be ignoring reality?’

Yes, that must be it. She probably couldn’t accept this reality at all.

Because the sister who was always the object of admiration now had to watch it all like a mere spectator.

‘But Sister, ignoring reality is a dangerous thing to do.’

What if she continues to live in a delusion like that?

Alice looked at Dana with pitying eyes. At her pathetic cousin who was denying her own insignificance.

Look, she’s even wearing a faint smile right now.

Isn’t that right?