Chapter 58
58
Perhaps it was because he had been through the battlefield, but Dad was scarier than usual.
The stiff knights swallowed hard.
They had been rolling around with our family, who were like mad dogs, for the past year, so they were almost happy to hear the battle signal.
Noth, who was behind Dad, rubbed his hands at me with a desperate face and mouthed, "Please save me."
I rolled my eyes and muttered, "Oh, that's..."
"So... I slept with the dolls that my brothers gave me every day, so it felt like they were with me in the castle..."
"Every day?"
"Always?"
They both asked, so I quickly nodded.
"Because I wanted to see you every day!"
Only then did my brothers' expressions soften a little.
Dad got off his horse and picked me up.
"Didn't you sleep with the doll I gave you?"
Dad looked a little thinner.
In the past life, he didn't participate in the Kruger War, but he participated in the Allied Forces battle at the end of the war and led the victory.
So I was relieved, but when I saw his tired face, my heart ached.
I hugged Dad's neck tightly and rubbed my face against his cheek.
"I slept hugging it tightly."
Dad's hand stroking the back of my head was affectionate.
That night, the castle was noisy with a victory party until late at night. Duke Dubled generously provided alcohol and meat for the hardworking soldiers.
I slipped out of the party in the middle and hummed, looking at the cotton bag.
Chairman, who followed me, asked.
"The soldiers who returned victorious today almost died of a heart attack, didn't they?"
"Huh?"
"I heard that they welcomed the spoils of war more than the young masters."
"But look at this."
I took 'it' out of the cotton bag and showed it to Chairman.
"What is this?"
He narrowed his brow as if it looked too shabby to be something I welcomed more than my family.
I smiled and said.
"It's better than gold and silver treasures."
"Is that so? It just looks like a seed to me."
"It's a seed. A seed that will separate the Empress Dowager and the Temple, and make us a lot of money."
"There's no way there's such a seed... What is it?"
"It's called Luminous. It's a special seed that only grows in Orgos, the southernmost part of the continent."
"Luminous?"
"If you make it into medicine, it's effective for arthritis and neuralgia. And it's also effective for the Empress Dowager's chronic skin disease."
"Skin disease? Does the Empress Dowager have a skin disease?"
I nodded.
It was something that only a very small number of people in the Temple knew, but the reason why the Empress Dowager had such deep faith was that skin disease.
The Empress Dowager thought that if she had a faithful heart and worked for God, her skin disease would be cured.
Of course, that wasn't the only reason she colluded with the Temple, but skin disease played a big role.
Chairman nodded as I explained.
"But it will be difficult to get it into the hands of the Empress Dowager. Medicines brought into the Imperial Palace undergo years of review."
"So we have to make the Empress Dowager find it herself."
"How?"
"If it's a medicine that most old people of her age have seen the effects of, she can't help but be interested."
I put my hands together and looked up at Chairman with sparkling eyes.
"And there's an old man right in front of me?"
"...Yes?"
He looked at me with an uneasy expression.
The Flower Festival party held before spring.
The party hall was filled with elderly gentlemen and ladies.
Jean-Marc, who got out of the carriage, frowned as he looked at the party hall.
'Why did things turn out like this?'
[We have to send the medicine quickly before the relationship between the Temple and the Empress Dowager gets better. So we have to create a big incident so that the rumors of Luminous spread quickly.]
[What is a big incident?]
[A medicine that makes you younger has appeared, something like that?]
The billboard was himself.
Jean-Marc Nuanok, the richest man on the continent, who leads the council of elders of Dubled, who has a significant influence even among the Five Great Families.
Why did his fate, who had been fighting a battle with the successive Dukes Dubled, turn out like this?
To be a puppet of a nine-year-old child when he's over sixty.
For some reason, LeBlaine was an irresistible child. The rhetoric that had made the predecessors helpless had no effect on that child's smile.
Jean-Marc sighed and entered the party hall.
As he crossed the door, exclamations were heard from everywhere.
"Oh my, Viscount Nuanok..."
"You look especially wonderful today."
That was understandable.
Until he came to this party, he had to manage his figure due to LeBlaine's nagging.
And he had to choose the most suitable one among dozens of dresses, and even Seria came down to the territory and applied something to his face.
For a man to manage himself this much was something that could not have happened in the era Jean-Marc had lived in.
Elderly ladies covered their mouths with peacock feather fans and slowly approached.
"How have you been?"
"It's been a while, Duke Nuanok."
"You look different today."
It was really different from usual. If it were any other time, he would have pushed the ladies away with an annoyed look, but LeBlaine's voice lingered in Chairman's ear.
[If you frown at the party, the rumor that day will end with 'Viscount Nuanok's temper'!]
He forced the corners of his mouth up.
"Yes, how have you all been?"
The ladies blushed.
The beauty that had made many young ladies' hearts flutter in his youth had not disappeared even in his old age.
'Oh my, why is he smiling like that?'
'It reminds me of the old days.'
As the ladies glanced at him and fanned themselves, an old gentleman who was sitting far away with a sullen face slammed the floor.
"Hey, you! Why is a man dressing up like a woman!"
The ladies frowned and said.
"It's better than dressing shabbily like you."
"Why are you so picky about that these days?"
"Look at the kids these days. There's no man who dresses shabbily like you, Duke."
At the reproachful gaze, the old gentleman shouted, pointing his finger.
"How dare a woman talk back to a man like heaven, talk back!"
He approached threateningly with his cane raised. However, he was blocked by Viscount Nuanok, who stood in front of the ladies.
"Be careful. There's nothing uglier than showing off your stiff head."
"What, what...!"
Chairman, who was holding the end of his cane, slowly scanned the old gentleman.
"When you were young, being beaten by me ended as a memory, but now, you might open your coffin."
The old gentleman, who had his two front teeth broken in the past due to a quarrel with Viscount Nuanok, flinched and stepped back.
Then, he made a pointless excuse, "Ugh! I'm not avoiding it because I'm afraid of poop!" and stomped his feet and left the door.
The ladies and some gentlemen approached him.
"Hehehe, I thought this man's temper had softened after he got old, but it seems like he's getting younger again."
"No, you really look younger."
"Duke, don't your joints hurt?"
[The joint talk is the signal. You have to bring up the medicine talk right there!]
LeBlaine's words came to mind.
"I'm taking medicine these days."
The ladies' eyes widened at the words spoken in a reluctant voice.
"Medicine?"
"A medicine that makes you younger."
"Is there such a medicine?!"
Chairman awkwardly took out the medicine bottle from his jacket.
And as LeBlaine had told him, he supported the bottom of the medicine bottle with his right hand and covered the back with his left hand in a polite posture.
"The medicine of youth. Meet it now at Hope Merchant Group."
I hugged the ledger that Seria sent with a blissful expression.
'Ah, the sweetness of this money.'
I don't know how many zeros there are already.
Luminous was selling like hotcakes thanks to the effect of the living billboard.
To what extent? Not only the elderly, who were the target audience, but also middle-aged people were lining up in front of the merchant group.
According to Seria, there was a line of 300 meters in front of the merchant group's store every day.
'I picked the advertising copy well.'
There was nothing that made old people's hearts flutter like the word youth.
If I had sold it to everyone, I would have bought a few islands, but I had a doctor stationed there and sold Luminous only to those who really needed it.
The medicine would only be effective if really sick people used it, so that would be more likely to get the Empress Dowager's attention.
'Now I just have to wait for the call.'
I hid the ledger well, giggling.
"Young Lady, you have to eat?"
"Yes!"
Today's breakfast menu was French toast. It was my favorite menu, so I hummed and went down to the dining room.
"Good morning."
"Little brother too."
I answered Henri, covered my lap with a napkin, and grabbed a spoon and fork.
The smell of freshly made French toast swirled into my nasal cavity.
The savory smell of eggs and the sweet smell of raspberry jam seemed to stimulate my stomach.
I cut the toast long, folded it neatly, and put it in my mouth.
'I'm happy...'
As soon as I finished one, a new toast was placed on top of it. It was Dad's.
"Dad, aren't you eating?"
"Yes."
I never refused food.
In the past, I thought that food was necessary because of my adult mind, but when I got older, I just realized that I really liked eating.
I was a little happy to discover a new side of myself in my fourth life.
I watched my family, who were eating Dad's toast, omnomnom, and checking newspapers and letters.
"There's a party at the Imperial Palace, right?"
When Henri asked, putting sugar cubes in my black tea, Dad nodded.
"It's a combination of the Flower Festival and the victory banquet."
Isaac put a salad on my plate and frowned.
"Ugh, if it's a victory banquet, I can't miss it."
Henri stirred my black tea so that the sugar dissolved well and replied.
"If we don't go, others will steal the credit."
Isaac sprinkled dressing on the salad he had placed.
"We fought to the death, but why is the credit stolen if we don't attend the victory banquet? I'm going to kill them all."
Henri picked up a teacup and fed it to me.
"I've told you many times to watch your words in front of LeBlaine?"
Isaac also picked up a salad with a fork and held it out.
"It's annoying. If I go to the banquet, annoying flies will stick to me again."
I couldn't stand the black tea and salad being fed to me from both sides and groaned.
'Are they teasing me because I welcomed the spoils of war more last time?'
While I was thinking about it, Dad took the black tea and fork from the two and raised his eyebrows.
"Don't joke around."
I made a sullen expression when I saw Isaac smiling.
"You teased me."
I glared at the two with narrowed eyes.
They were very bad brothers for teasing their younger sister.
I couldn't just let this go, so I said very sternly.
"Don't do that again?"
Henri and Isaac, who had their heads bowed, trembled their shoulders. The employees who were serving also turned their heads and covered their mouths.
