43 - The Bride of the Great Lord is a Warrior from Hell
“Your Highness.”
As Alisha was about to voice her displeasure, Reikart shook his head.
Then, he removed the leather gloves he was wearing.
The man's bare hand reached out towards Alisha.
“Please, hold my hand.”
According to the information they had exchanged, Reikart's health deteriorated when he left Tessen.
It wasn't that his health was directly worsening due to the constant unpleasant noise in a specific place, but his condition could worsen at any time.
“Oh, are you in pain?”
Alisha hurriedly took the man's hand.
Reikart shook his head repeatedly.
“It’s not that I’m particularly worse. But I was worried that my fiancée had killed someone because of the sudden news, so I moved hastily, and the sound became a little louder.”
Usually, that's what people mean when they say they're particularly worse.
“I’m sorry.”
Alisha squeezed his hand tighter and apologized, then changed her train of thought.
Reikart's bizarre words when he rushed into the Audience Chamber belatedly came to mind.
Judging by what he was saying now, it seemed like everything he had said earlier was genuine.
Hey.
Alisha was about to question him anew.
“Since His Majesty has begun to suspect, we need to show that Alicia Lane is harmless. There are many of the Emperor's hidden spies in the Grand Duke's Residence, so stay there for a few days. Please, act normally.”
Reikart whispered softly, entrusting his hand to Alisha's.
The Imperial Family was unpredictable.
That there were the Emperor's spies in the Grand Duke's Residence, and that the Grand Duke himself knew it well.
That he was using it while complying with the Emperor.
“But earlier…”
Alisha slowly shook off her bewilderment.
She tried to focus on the words she was about to question.
“But don’t you really have any friends?”
Reikart interrupted Alisha's words.
His face as he looked at Alisha was as if he were looking at something incomprehensible.
Alisha responded by squeezing the man's hand she was holding tightly.
Of course, Alisha's actions had no effect on Reikart.
A sweet voice spoke proudly.
“The Girl with the Pearl Necklace, the Vase with Emerald Earrings, the Amethyst Violet, the Rabbit Wearing the Black Pearl Crown. These are the four I recommend.”
Katrina, a perfumer from the Western Continent, smiled brightly.
The table was lined with glittering, luxurious perfume bottles.
With different rings on seven of her ten fingers, Katrina looked more like a jeweler than a perfumer.
“Can I sample the ones you recommended?”
Alisha said, taking in the splendid perfume bottles.
Anticipation turned to embarrassment on Katrina's face as she waited for an answer.
A pleasant smile followed the brief embarrassment.
“Of course.”
Perfume was an old cosmetic.
Even after makeup became common, perfume remained one of the most important cosmetics.
It was widely used by the noble and wealthy, but the importance of perfumers was not yet widely known.
So, many perfumers didn't just sell perfume.
They put it in luxurious perfume bottles and sold expensive perfume even more expensively.
Now was a time when the brilliant perfume bottles received more attention than the perfume itself.
Katrina sprinkled a little perfume on blotting papers and handed them to Alisha.
Almond, sandalwood, bergamot, winter sweet, neroli, hyacinth.
Alisha's face was serious as she smelled the fragrances, listening to the ingredients used as a base.
Katrina's face was full of anticipation.
After a moment of contemplation, Alisha said calmly.
“I’ll take the Girl with the Pearl Necklace and the Rabbit Wearing the Black Pearl Crown.”
Alisha's inner thoughts were complicated as she spoke.
“Excellent choice.”
Katrina said with a big smile.
“Ahem, please also prepare the Emerald and Amethyst.”
Henrik, who had been watching from the side, added.
A smile spread across Katrina's face again.
“I will.”
“I will pay as soon as you bring the items.”
Alisha looked up at Henrik quietly.
“His Highness told me to buy everything that the Lady was considering. There is plenty of space to store them.”
Henrik said with a benevolent face.
What he said was not wrong.
Yes, there was plenty of space to store them.
Alisha nodded as if she understood.
“Master Katrina.”
“That’s too much of an honor, Lady Alisha. Please, call me comfortably.”
Katrina waved her hand.
Alisha handed the woman, who was speaking modestly, a piece of paper with notes on it.
“Please contact me when new perfumes come out.”
“I will contact the Lady first. I will step back now.”
Katrina carefully took the paper with Alisha's handwriting and stepped back.
Alisha saw off the atelier master, who seemed to be immersed only in splendor and extravagance, with complicated eyes.
The woman, whose extravagance flowed from head to toe, was about to become a famous person soon.
Veil Eau de Toilette, Veil Eau de Parfum, Veil Esprit de Parfum.
The Veil series released by Katrina's Atelier Veil would shake the Eastern Continent's Empire and spread to the entire continent.
The imperial nobles of the capital were going to be enthusiastic about the sweet and cool fragrance combination of the Veil series.
The combination of fragrances was a factor, but Katrina's business acumen also stood out.
She made the same perfume with different fragrance concentrations (the ratio of perfume extract included) so that people could choose according to their preference.
Veil Esprit de Parfum, the strongest fragrance, for people with a strong body odor.
Veil Eau de Toilette for people with a light body odor who want to spray perfume often.
The fact that you could choose the strength of the fragrance according to your body odor was one of the charms of the Veil series.
Alisha sniffed and smelled the fragrance sprayed on the blotting paper again.
“……”
She still couldn't understand.
Alisha had lived her whole life as a lady before falling into hell.
She thought so back then, but Alisha was now convinced that she lacked a sense of perfume or fashion.
She had been listening, watching, and learning for over twenty years since she was born, so she had developed a sense of awareness.
Thanks to that, she didn't make ridiculous choices.
But while choosing something appropriate according to other people's standards, she didn't know exactly what was good about it or why it was good.
No matter how much she smelled the fragrance contained in the Rabbit Wearing the Black Pearl Crown, which was known as the prototype of the Veil series, she couldn't understand what made people so enthusiastic about it.
Before she fell into hell, she thought she was just a little duller than others.
Now, looking back, she wondered if she had lacked aesthetic sense from birth.
“I really don’t know.”
Alisha sniffed repeatedly until her head felt dizzy, and she gave up trying to distinguish them.
“Lady, Alisha. This way, please.”
Henrik, who had been watching Alisha, spoke.
He was already standing in front of the inner door of the room.
“Are there more schedules left?”
Alisha got up and went to Henrik's side.
“You need to have riding clothes made in preparation for the spring hunt. And dresses too.”
“I already had six spring dresses made yesterday.”
“The ones you had made yesterday are for going out. You also need to have indoor dresses made that you can wear lightly in the morning or during the day.”
Henrik said sternly in a benevolent voice.
“I bought teacups, furniture, custom-made rings, and perfume since dawn today. How about buying dresses tomorrow? We’ve already been handling five schedules a day for three days.”
The number of schedules meant the number of merchants she had met.
“Lady, you need to have summer dresses made tomorrow. Dresses take a long time, so you need to have them made in advance. You also need to have accessories made to match the dresses you will have made today and tomorrow. Also, you will be looking at study supplies. You also need to meet with the shoemaker and the leather craftsman. Shall we go?”
Henrik said with a flawless face.
“Yes.”
Alisha answered obediently without resisting further.
It was a normal noble's day.
In the Imperial Capital, three footmen were standing in front of the entrance to the Grand Duke's Residence.
The boys bowed immediately upon seeing the door open.
Reikart responded to the boys' greetings with a gesture.
“You may step back now.”
Reikart greeted Roderick, who had opened the door for him.
“I will step back now.”
Roderick replied briefly and turned away.
The tallest boy followed Reikart.
The boy of medium height left to find Baron Langs.
The smallest boy escorted Roderick, who had brought the Grand Duke, out.
Reikart took off his gloves and headed for the stairs.
“Where is the Grand Duchess?”
The boy maintained a proper distance and received the gloves that the Grand Duke had taken off.
“She is in the study.”
The boy answered politely to Reikart's words.
Everyone in the Grand Duke's Residence called Alisha 'Grand Duchess'.
The Grand Duke and Grand Duchess were not yet formally married, but because they were engaged, it was no different from being married.
No one called her Grand Duchess in front of Alisha herself, but she was already the Grand Duchess inside the Grand Duke's Residence.
“Study?”
“Yes.”
“Have the clan masters been here?”
Reikart stopped briefly, keeping his distance from the door.
The boy quickly opened the door and stepped back to the Grand Duke's side again.
“Yes. It seemed that the Grand Duchess had given an invitation to the perfume atelier master. Baron Langs was worried that she hadn't had many indoor dresses made.”
Reikart entered the dressing room next to the bedroom.
He stopped briefly each time a door appeared.
Each time, the boy stepped forward, opened the door, and stepped back.
The boy, who had kept the gloves he had received from Reikart, helped the Grand Duke take off his jacket.
The service was as smooth as flowing water.
“You may step back now.”
“Yes.”
At Reikart's words, the boy stepped back immediately.
If he had been dismissed after serving someone else, he would have worried if he had made a mistake.
But because it was the Grand Duke's order, who didn't keep servants by his side, the boy stepped back without worry.
Reikart said, loosening his shirt.
“I will go to the study soon.”
“Shall I prepare a meal next to the study?”
“No.”
“I will tell the Baron.”
The boy spoke and closed the middle door of the dressing room.
Henrik heard the footman's words and had tea brought to the study and dinner prepared in the main dining room.
These days, the Grand Duke's Residence was as noisy as if a dinner party was being held every evening.
The chef of the Grand Duke's Residence served the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess's dinner according to the etiquette of a banquet.
After leaving the Imperial Palace, Reikart was indifferent to lavish meals.
Because of this, the head chef of the Grand Duke's Residence was subtly ignored when he met with other chefs.
He was taunted with remarks like, "You can just boil eggs well."
He also heard condescending remarks like, "It must be nice for you because the Grand Duke is often at the border, so he eats anything well."
It wasn't just the head chef who heard such things.
The maids were also treated with difficulty and subtly ignored when they went to and from the Imperial Palace and said they were from the Grand Duke's Residence.
They were told, pretending to be envious, that it must be easy because the Grand Duke's Residence rarely had an owner.
Everyone at the Grand Duke's Residence hoped that the Grand Duchess would marry the Grand Duke as soon as possible.
If that was difficult, they hoped that Alisha would continue to stay at the Grand Duke's Residence as she was now.
Alisha was resting in the study after finishing today's schedule.
She decided to think about tomorrow's schedule tomorrow.
A sense of relief flowed across her face as she drank tea.
