“There are currently no symptoms. However, signs of poisoning may appear later, so let’s keep an eye on her for a few days.”
“Thank you, doctor.”
Derrick let out a sigh of relief.
“But for the silver to tarnish… Where on earth did you get this?”
The doctor inspected the remaining small amount of cosmetics carefully.
“…I got it from someone else. They say it’s a trending product, but I’m worried that others might be affected too.”
“Hm, I feel like I’ve seen this somewhere before. Can I take it to investigate?”
“Yes, I would appreciate it if you could take a look, doctor.”
“It might help with the treatment of the child, so I’ll come back if I find anything. There could still be residual toxins in her body, so please bathe her with soap every day for a week.”
The doctor took the cosmetics and left the mansion. As Derrick saw him off at the entrance, he wiped his dry face and headed back to Hestia’s room.
“Ugh, Mom, this tastes bad.”
“Even if it tastes bad, you have to eat it. It’s all for your health.”
Anna was equally surprised and was giving Hestia the medicine the doctor had left. Hestia grimaced as she swallowed the medicine. Derrick approached her and put candy in her mouth.
As the sweetness neutralized the bitterness of the medicine, Hestia smiled brightly.
“Daddy!”
“Tia, don’t do things like that again. Do you know how worried I was?”
“…Yes, I won’t do it again. I’m sorry.”
Seeing his sulking daughter, Derrick’s heart softened immediately.
“Daddy, was there something strange about that cosmetic?”
“Yes. So you must not touch those cosmetics again, okay?”
“Okay, I won’t. But Daddy.”
“Yes?”
“Didn’t Lord Harbor say that the cosmetics are popular and suggest we sell them together? Is it okay to sell something bad to others?”
‘Now that you mention it…’
In worrying about Hestia, he hadn’t realized that fact.
Since Victor had left the products for a business proposal, it was unlikely he had intentionally poisoned them.
“It is popular, but…”
It wasn’t clear if he was trying to harm his own family. He knew it was a trending product.
However, it was certain that the cosmetics were toxic. Since the doctor said there were no visible symptoms right now, if symptoms appear after some time…!
‘That could have been a disaster.’
Moreover, since it was still circulating as a trendy product, it was clear that others were unaware of the toxicity.
“I need to issue a complete ban on its use in the territory.”
As Derrick muttered this, Hestia secretly smiled.
* * *
“Hestia, the bathwater is ready.”
“Yes~.”
Three days after the incident.
Hestia had not shown any signs of poisoning yet, but she was taking a bath every day as the doctor advised.
Honestly, it was a bit annoying.
‘It’s not like I’m that poisoned.’
The cosmetic contained powder of the Sorin flower petals, which, when applied to the skin, provided a brightening effect on the face. However, if it accumulates in the body, it can cause poisoning reactions leading to rashes, vomiting, mild fever, and ultimately death.
While brief contact wouldn’t cause severe side effects…
‘I’ll just stay quiet since I’m just a child.’
Currently, Hestia was an 8-year-old girl.
She quietly let her mother wash her.
‘For now, I’ve prevented the first disaster, but what should I do next?’
Stopping this disaster didn’t mean everything was resolved.
There were still many challenges ahead, and until the family’s finances stabilized, Derrick would continue taking risks to run the business.
‘What could revive the household in one go?’
They weren’t originally a wealthy family, with only two maids and one butler to manage the household.
They couldn’t afford to invest heavily in something like a mining.
Something that could yield great profits without spending much money…
“Ugh.”
Suddenly, Hestia recoiled at the unpleasant smell that pierced her nose.
The source of the smell was the soap used to wash her body.
“Mom, I feel nauseous.”
“Just hang in there; it’ll be over soon.”
But the smell just kept getting into her nose, making her feel like she was going to throw up. Maybe because she was a kid, her sense of smell was sharper.
What kind of smell could this be?
Like frying oil? A greasy smell? It wasn’t exactly terrible, but the more she breathed it in, the more it churned her stomach, like she’d swallowed too much greasy oil.
Fortunately, the smell went away once she washed it off, but having to deal with that odor every time was just too much for her.
‘Can’t I use scented soap instead?’
She couldn’t afford anything too expensive, but something with a light wildflower scent was within her budget…
“That’s it!”
“Gosh! Hestia, you startled me.”
“Mom! Don’t we have a soap workshop in our territory?”
“Yes, we do.”
“I want to visit it!”
“What? You’ve been acting strange for the past few days. Are you sure you’re not still sick?”
“I’m fine now. So, can I visit the workshop?”
“If you take your medicine today without complaint.”
“Ugh… I don’t need the medicine, though.”
“Then no outing.”
Seeing Anna’s firm stance, Hestia pouted.
“Okay! I’ll take the medicine!”
She figured she could swallow the bitter pill with her eyes closed.
Anna quickly brought the medicine before Hestia could change her mind, and Hestia pinched her nose as she gulped it down.
“Yuck, it’s gross.”
“You took it like a champ. You really want to go out that badly?”
“Yes! Can I go now?”
“Alright. But don’t stay out too late.”
“Don’t worry~.”
Hestia quickly went to her room to prepare for her outing.
“Oh, I need to bring that.”
As she was about to go downstairs, she looked around cautiously and made her way to her parents’ room.
After confirming that no one was around, she slipped inside.
Her destination was Anna’s dressing table.
Even though they weren’t wealthy, they were still nobles, so there were quite a few cosmetics.
Hestia picked up a bottle of perfume.
“Perfect.”
“What are you doing, sis?”
“Kyaaa!”
Hestia jumped at the voice that came from behind without any warning.
She almost dropped the expensive perfume but managed to catch it just in time before turning around.
“Elvin!”
“That’s Mom’s stuff.”
Her 3-year-old brother tilted his head innocently.
‘Of all people, it had to be Elvin who caught me…’
If Elvin went running to tell Mom, she’d be in big trouble.
“Elvin, how about I buy you some candy?”
“Candy?!”
Elvin’s eyes sparkled instantly, and Hestia discreetly put the perfume in her pocket.
“Yes, I’m going out for a bit, but I’ll bring you back a big piece of candy. So, what you saw here has to be our little secret, okay?”
“Okay, secret!”
I’m a bit anxious, but there’s no particular solution.
“Sister! You must buy candy!”
Leaving behind Elvin, who was shouting at the entrance, Hestia hurried her steps.
“Let’s take care of this quickly before we get caught.”
As soon as Hestia exited the mansion, she headed straight for the village.
A familiar yet somewhat unfamiliar landscape unfolded before her. There were fewer shops and buildings than the last time she saw it, but it was enough to recall memories.
“It’s been almost 12 years.”
After being driven out of the Frost family, she had never been able to return to this place.
Byrin. A territory ruled by the Frost family, it was a fairly large village, it wasn’t quite a city but still a large enough village to be bustling with people walking along the streets.
Lost in memories for a moment, Hestia slapped her cheeks.
“This isn’t the time. Let’s go quickly.”
Before stopping by the soap workshop, she looked for an herbal shop.
“Welcome! Oh? Aren’t you the young lady?”
“Hello.”
The owner recognized Hestia and greeted her warmly. Since Derrick was a good lord, most people in Byrin were favorable towards the Frost family.
“Did you come for an errand?”
“Not exactly, I’m looking for something. Do you have black herbs?”
“Yes, we do. But that’s something commoners like us use. Would you like me to recommend something better?”
“No, the black herbs will do. Just give me about a handful.”
The shopkeeper looked puzzled but brought out the black herbs that Hestia requested.
“Is this enough?”
“Yes! That’s plenty.”
Seeing the black herbs piled in a small cloth, Hestia smiled with satisfaction. She paid for them and stepped outside.
“Now I just need to sneak this in.”
The reason she gathered the black herbs and perfume was that these were the ingredients needed to make fragrant soap.
Fragrant soap had been a trend that swept through the entire empire when she was in her mid-twenties.
Before that, soap was made by collecting animal fat, which didn’t smell very good and often had a foul odor.
Nobles used olive soap, which had a milder scent, but it was expensive and not affordable for commoners.
People have been trying various methods to eliminate the unpleasant smell of soap for a long time.
They added fragrances and experimented with different herbs, but none succeeded in masking the distinct odor.
‘At that time, someone created fragrant soap.’
Someone who often drank black herb tea accidentally spilled it into a soap pot during production, and that’s when they found out that black herbs could get rid of soap’s bad smell.
Black herbs, as the name suggests, had a dark color that gave off a mysterious vibe, and when it came to their use as an herb, they didn’t have much impact; they were just tea leaves that comoners used to brew a cup of tea.
However, black herbs proved to be exceptionally effective at eliminating bad odors compared to other herbs.
Since then, black herbs have been added to soap production to get rid of the foul smell, and various fragrances have been added to create different fragrant soaps.
Naturally, the soap workshop that produced these products became a huge success.
‘The father of soap, Jerome.’
I’m sorry, but I’ll borrow your idea.
I felt a bit guilty for using someone else’s idea, but for now, reviving my family was more important.
Hestia hurried towards the soap workshop.
* * *
“Hey, youngest, take this out and throw it away!”
“Okay!”
A new apprentice, who had just joined the soap workshop, was busy handling chores given by the senior workers.
On his way back after taking out the trash, he noticed a little girl peeking into the entrance of the workshop.
“Hey, are you looking for someone?”
The child flinched and turned their head.
‘So cute.’
With an adorably rabbit-like appearance, the young man looked at the child for a moment.
“I came to find my dad. Is he inside?”
“Dad? What’s his name?”
“Derrick Frost!”
“Derrick isn’t here… Wait, Frost?”
Isn’t that the lord?
For a moment, he blinked in disbelief, then looked down at the child in shock.
‘Come to think of it, the Lord got married a few years ago.’
At that time, the countess had come in with her young daughter.
Recalling the face of the countess he had seen from afar, the young man realized that the child’s face resembled hers very closely.
“S-Sir…! The young lady has arrived!”
Thinking this was far beyond what he could handle, the young man hurried off to find the boss.
