Chapter 23
Danae sat in the lavish drawing room, daintily scooping a bite of strawberry crepe into her mouth.
The sweet cream melted in her mouth.
'My daughters would love this.'
She wanted to pack everything here and take it home.
But she was soon embarrassed by her shameless thought.
'What are you thinking, making Rebecca ashamed? You're being ridiculous, Danae Oberlia.'
"How is it? Does the refreshment suit your taste?"
Julian asked, often glancing at Danae's expression even as he read the letter Rebecca had brought.
"Ah, yes. Everything is delicious. I don't know what to do with such gracious treatment."
"What are you saying? You are Rebecca's mother, so you are my mother as well. Please, speak comfortably."
"Pardon? How can I speak so casually to a Duke..."
"It would make me more comfortable."
"Then... I understand."
Julian smiled contentedly and resumed reading the letter with sharp eyes.
Danae stared at him, mesmerized.
'He is handsome, I'll give him that. As much as Rebecca. But looks aren't everything. Look at Zeppelin. I can't let her go through that again.'
Danae snapped out of it and watched his every gesture with a hint of wariness.
If she felt anything strange, she would tell Rebecca to reconsider.
'Pretend to be in love?'
Rebecca's letter to Julian was mostly about her upcoming business ventures.
But at the end, there was a request to pretend to be in love and getting married so that her mother wouldn't worry.
Julian was at a loss.
None of the things Rebecca had asked of him were particularly difficult.
As soon as she mentioned needing a laboratory with a greenhouse in Montfort, he immediately ordered construction.
He immediately prepared a trading company and hired someone to manage it.
Anything he said came to pass. He was more confident than anyone when it came to spending money.
He was slightly taken aback when Rebecca's mother said she would visit, but it wasn't a big deal.
He knew basic etiquette.
He only didn't show courtesy when he felt it was unnecessary.
But Rebecca's mother was different. She was someone to be treated with the utmost respect.
Such an obvious thing wasn't that difficult.
But pretending to be in love?
Julian had never been in love in his life. He had never even had a one-sided crush.
His parents were too busy tearing each other apart to teach him what love between a couple was.
The only relationship between a man and a woman that he vaguely knew was the passionate affair that took place in bed.
So Rebecca's request to pretend to be a man in love was more difficult than any other request.
But his pride wouldn't allow him to say he couldn't do it.
Asking Croa for help would only make him a laughingstock for the rest of his life.
'Let's just change the subject.'
In the end, Julian decided to talk about business all day long, never even mentioning the word 'love'.
"I understand the general idea. You're saying your mother will take on a new business?"
"Huh? Ah, Rebecca asked me to. I don't know if I can do it well..."
"I believe you are more than capable. You have been leading the Oberlia family all this time."
"Thank you for saying that."
Danae's face flushed slightly.
Watching her, Julian recalled his conversation with Rebecca at the Poorhouse.
'Why are you trying to start a business? If you have a lot of debt, I can pay it off for you.'
'Paying off the debt is only a temporary solution. My father might ask the Count for money again. I'm going to hand over the position of head of the family to my mother. To do that, she needs financial power.'
Danae had protected the Oberlia family even with a tight budget. If it hadn't been for her, the Oberlia family would have collapsed long ago.
Rebecca valued that.
Danae wasn't someone who should just be managing the household. She had a natural talent for understanding people and a knack for making money.
Before divorcing Zeppelin, she had to eliminate all the factors that could threaten her.
There were two weaknesses that Zeppelin could use to hold her back:
Her family and the Liberta Poorhouse.
Rebecca decided to first take her family out of Zeppelin's grasp.
Julian smiled and asked.
"By the way, could you tell me more about the business? It says here that I should hear the details directly from you."
"Ah, I'll explain it. It's a kind of rental salon."
The kind Danae's eyes turned sharp as soon as the business talk began.
Julian straightened up without realizing it at her serious attitude.
"A rental salon, you say...?"
"As you know, all the noble ladies of the empire are opening salons in their homes now."
"That's right. It's also a place for factions."
"But the burden is just as great. They have to decorate their houses according to the trends all year round. Besides, the servants might spread their stories to their husbands, so they can't talk about private matters without worry."
"That's true."
"So, we're renting out the salon space. Renting out the entire room or garden. Of course, we'll decorate it to the customer's taste. Customers can open a salon at a lower price than decorating it themselves. And only the salon staff can come and go, so no secret stories can get to their husbands."
"But, wouldn't that prove that they are incapable of decorating themselves? Nobles hate ready-made products. They order everything custom-made, down to the pen, so would nobles really like that?"
"They will."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because I wish I had something like that."
Danae cleared her throat and continued.
"Not all nobles have a lot of money and time. And we can create trends. They hate being left behind, so if it's trendy, the business will thrive. And we're also planning to create private salons for special guests. Wouldn't that be enough?"
It was Rebecca who told Danae about the rental salon.
When Rebecca had just escaped from the Count's Residence, rental salons were becoming explosively popular.
Margaret's Labonne Salon, where she worked, was also a rental salon.
What Rebecca needed most right now was information. Robert alone was enough for the people inside the mansion.
But Robert alone was not enough to collect all the information from the vassals and knights.
Rebecca recalled her work at Labonne Salon before her regression.
She mainly worked as a kitchen assistant, so she didn't know much about the outside world. Nevertheless, all sorts of rumors reached her ears.
Since it was a salon created by a commoner, Margaret, it was mainly frequented by wealthy commoners, so there wasn't much useful information.
But if it was a salon run directly by Duke Johannes, it would be a different story.
His name alone would attract great attention in society.
The problem was that Rebecca had not frequented society much since her previous life, so she did not know the ecosystem well.
That's why she called Danae. When she was young, Danae was one of the noble young ladies who dominated society.
Besides, she had a business sense.
So she was the perfect person for the job.
As soon as Rebecca mentioned the rental salon, Danae immediately began to plan the business.
Seeing Danae's passion, Rebecca sent her to Julian.
She thought that Danae herself would be able to persuade Julian better than she could.
And that expectation was correct.
Julian, who had been listening to Danae's business plan in silence, was nodding his head and listening to her without realizing it.
Danae was more meticulous and enterprising than any businessman he had ever seen.
Julian was admiring Rebecca's insight.
Indeed, Danae was more than capable of becoming the head of a family, or rather, the head of a household.
Julian looked at Danae's sparkling eyes.
It suddenly occurred to him that Rebecca looked a lot like Danae.
At the same time, he thought of his mother.
What if the head of the Johannes family had been his mother instead of his father?
Then the curse might have been lifted long ago.
His intelligent mother had learned about the Duke's curse herself not long after he was born.
And she tried everything to break the curse on her son.
But his father was too busy hiding the truth and locked his mother up.
He made it so she couldn't do anything, couldn't meet anyone.
That's why he had always been concerned about Rebecca. Seeing her in Zeppelin's hands like an ornament reminded him of his mother.
But Julian was becoming more and more certain. Rebecca was different from his mother.
Rebecca was someone who broke down the door herself.
"Then I'll assume we'll proceed with the business like this and get up now."
Danae checked her watch and got up in a hurry. The story had gone on longer than she thought, so she had spent more time than she had expected.
Julian got up and escorted Danae out.
Before leaving the castle, Danae asked Julian.
"By the way, what do you like about our Rebecca?"
Here it comes.
Julian tried not to look flustered, tightening his eyes. Danae was not an easy person to fool.
He rolled all sorts of romantic words in his head, but in the end, he decided to be honest.
It seemed less suspicious to say something that felt like wearing ill-fitting clothes.
Julian cleared his throat as much as possible and said.
"She's cool."
"Cool?"
"Yes. Rebecca has the coolest eyes I've ever seen in a woman."
Danae, who had expected him to praise Rebecca's appearance as other suitors had done, widened her eyes.
But soon, she found the truth in Julian's eyes and smiled brightly.
"Then, I'll see you again next time. Mother."
Julian escorted Danae out until the carriage carrying her departed.
As when she entered the Duke's Residence, a maid accompanied her in the small carriage.
"This is a gift."
The maid held out a basket. The basket was filled with the desserts that Danae had often reached for in the drawing room.
The maid quickly added.
"The Johannes Duke's family has never let a guest leave empty-handed."
It seemed that Julian had anticipated that Danae would be burdened if he gave it to her directly, so he had the maid bring it.
Danae smiled quietly.
For some reason, she had a feeling that Rebecca could be happy with him.
