“So you need my help?”
“Yes, my intuition tells me that with your ideas, we can achieve much more.”
It was a sincere statement, not just sweet talk to lure her in.
Hestia paused for a moment, deep in thought, and then adopted a determined expression.
“…If you want my help, there are conditions.”
“What are they?”
“First, you will not tell anyone about our conversations. Second, treat me as an equal, not just a child. Third, do not betray Frost.”
This was effectively accepting Jerome as her ally and declaring that she would show him her true self.
‘Honestly, I’m not sure if Jerome sees me as a genius or just as a strange child.’
Isn’t it okay to not act like a child, at least around one person?
Moreover, based on what she had seen of Jerome so far, he seemed to be the type who kept secrets and wasn’t someone who would betray her trust.
“Indeed, you are not an ordinary child…!”
“Answer me.”
“I, Jerome, swear to uphold my promise with you for a lifetime.”
Placing his right hand on his chest and his left hand in a vow, Jerome’s eyes gleamed with excitement, much like when he first saw her scented soap.
It made her smile.
“You know you must not tell anyone about what we discuss here, right?”
“Yes, of course. I won’t even tell my father or the Lord.”
“Good.”
For the first time, she felt a bit relieved to have a solid ally.
“What do you want to hear from me?”
“Anything you say, Miss. Oh, I have some thoughts on the scented soap I developed this time; could you take a look?”
Jerome stumbled through his notes and showed her the ideas he had jotted down.
As Hestia flipped through the pages, she couldn’t help but admire them internally.
‘…He’s really impressive.’
Several products she had seen in the future were already written down.
Though not fully refined yet, just sharing what she knew would allow Jerome to develop new products on his own.
“A moisturizer. It’s true that the skin dries out after using soap.”
“Yes, people usually apply oils or balms for moisture. But balms are luxury items, making them hard for commoners to obtain, and there hasn’t been a moisturizer aimed at the common people yet.”
“If we just change the processing method, isn’t it pretty much the same as soap?”
“That’s exactly what I want to say. We have the necessary ingredients and technology, and we can definitely create a moisturizer with just some new equipment. Plus…”
“Since we’ve already captured the scent with black herb.”
Jerome shivered with excitement as they understood each other without needing further explanation.
“Do you think it’s a good idea, Miss?”
“Yes, if we package it with the soap, it’ll definitely sell like hotcakes.”
The two engaged in a passionate discussion about the new product that would follow the scented soap.
As Hestia explained parts Jerome had missed or things she knew from the future, he listened intently, his eyes shining.
“Everything here is fantastic. It may take some time, but with this, we can definitely make a lot of money!”
“Let’s take it slow. First, we need to successfully launch this scented soap, right?”
Jerome, who had been staring intently at the notes he had just organized, turned to Hestia.
“Do you have any goals?”
“Goals?”
“Yes, you don’t seem satisfied with just the scented soap.”
She hadn’t really thought about it, but if she had to organize her thoughts:
“I will make Frost a family that no one can look down on.”
“What do you mean…?”
“To do that, we need to make money. Only with money can we do many things and make our Byren more prosperous, right?”
In truth, her motivations went deeper—she wanted to survive and protect her future family. That’s why she started all of this.
In the future she had already lived through, she had experienced the hardships of having nothing.
The sorrow of being parentless, the sorrow of having her family taken away, the sorrow of being poor, the sorrow of not being educated.
Even though she was born a commoner, she had grown up enjoying the privileges of the nobility, and starting her life from scratch as an adult had been quite tough.
‘I don’t want to live that kind of life again.’
“You’re already looking far ahead.”
“While the current situation of Frost isn’t bad, it’s not particularly good either. This business will be the first step in growing our territory.”
This product could easily be sold at a high price, but that wasn’t what Hestia wanted.
“I want many people to use this. So I plan to lower the cost as much as possible to sell it to commoners.”
“I was just thinking the same. We can focus on luxury later.”
“Since we’ve successfully secured investment, we should grow slowly.”
A few days ago, Derrick had gone to the duke’s residence to secure investment.
Fortunately, Duke Winston recognized the market potential of the scented soap, resulting in a significant investment.
“While developing the scented soap is great, we also need to promote it; otherwise, it won’t sell, right?”
“You don’t need to worry about that. There’s a big event coming up soon.”
The Duke of Winston’s wedding, which would take place in a month, was the perfect opportunity. Many southern nobles and famous figures would be in attendance.
It would be the ideal place to introduce the scented soap to people.
In one month, the wedding would be the opportunity for the scented soap to gain recognition throughout the empire.
* * *
“Ugh, mom, when will we arrive? Elvin is bored.”
“Just a little longer. We’ll be at the duke’s residence soon.”
“Same thing! I’m bored! Bored!”
Elvin whined, insisting he wanted to go outside.
Hestia, staring blankly out the window, sighed and turned her head.
“Elvin, you shouldn’t annoy mom.”
“But I’m bored. Sister, play with me!”
“Ugh! I guess I have no choice…”
If she didn’t step in, her parents would undoubtedly have an even harder time, so Hestia reluctantly decided to entertain Elvin.
It had been two days since they left Byren.
The Frost family was heading to Chest, the duke’s territory, to attend the wedding the next day.
‘The preparations have been perfect so far.’
Two weeks ago, they had already produced all the products and released them to the market early.
There were four types of scented soap, including the pine fruit soap, and they had also made a small batch of two types of moisturizers.
However, since they hadn’t promoted it to anyone yet, the scented soap wasn’t widely known.
Still, the people of Byren who had encountered the scented soap first were showing quite positive reactions.
‘Moreover, they had placed the scented soap in various inns and hotels to introduce it to tourists.’
The scented soap was so well-made that it could easily be mistaken for a luxury item, making it unlikely for commoners to purchase it.
Thus, they increased accessibility by placing the scented soap in affordable inns where commoners could also encounter it, along with setting up small stalls in corners of the inns and hotels for purchasing.
‘At 2 silver coins, the price isn’t too burdensome.’
Commoners who usually admired nobles would likely spend a little more to buy the scented soap instead of cheap soap.
Moreover, since many nobles would pass through Byren to attend the duke’s wedding, it would naturally have a synergistic effect.
In essence, all of this was part of a grand plan to dramatically promote the product at the wedding.
‘Even just before leaving Byren, quite a few nobles had visited the soap workshop.’
Everything was going smoothly. At this rate, it wouldn’t be long before they could supply the scented soap in the entire empire.
“Hehe, hehehe…”
“…Sister, you’re acting strange.”
Elvin frowned at Hestia, who was suddenly chuckling ominously.
“Everyone, we’ve arrived.”
At Derrick’s words, Hestia and Elvin pressed their faces against the window.
“Wow…! It’s huge!”
“…As expected of the duke’s territory.”
She had thought Byren was impressive, but the sight of the enormous city left her speechless.
The streets they passed through were adorned with garlands and filled with people celebrating joyfully.
It was all in honor of the Duke of Winston’s wedding.
As Hestia marveled at the scene, she grew puzzled by the carriage’s continued movement.
“Dad, where are we going? The hotel is back that way.”
“We’re not going to the hotel.”
“This time, the duke has formally invited us.”
“…Huh?”
“The duke is making special arrangements, so you mustn’t cause any trouble while we’re at the duke’s residence, understood?”
“Wow! A castle!”
Elvin jumped up and down in excitement, while Hestia, in shock, couldn’t close her mouth.
‘We’re staying at the duke’s residence?’
This was something that hadn’t happened before her regression.
Back then, they had stayed at a hotel.
Only distinguished guests were typically allowed to stay at the duke’s residence.
Even branch families usually stay at hotels…
‘The future has changed.’
The only reason for this change could only be one thing.
The scented soap business.
The duke purchased the scented soap at a high price.
The seeds sown two months ago had sprouted and begun to bloom.
This was not just a success; it was a huge hit.
She started to feel excited about how the upcoming wedding would unfold.
* * *
“Welcome, Baron Frost. You’ve worked hard to get here. Was it difficult?”
“Thanks to your consideration, Your Grace, I was able to come comfortably. This is my wife, Anna.”
“Nice to meet you. I am Anna Frost.”
“This is my first time meeting the baroness. It’s a pleasure.”
After exchanging greetings with Duke Winston, Derrick turned around and called for Hestia and Elvin.
“Kids, this is Duke Icarus Winston. You should greet him.”
“Hello, I’m Elvin Frost, and I’m three years old!”
“Nice to meet you, Elvin.”
Duke Winston patted Elvin’s little head and turned his gaze to the side.
When Hestia met his eyes, she swallowed hard and gently lifted the hem of her dress.
“I am Hestia Frost, the eldest daughter of the Frost family. It is an honor to meet you, Your Grace.”
The young duke, Icarus Winston, was 22 years old.
He looked just like the man who had killed him. It was only natural since he was his biological father.
Though three months had passed since her regression, seeing his blood-red hair and eyes made her body tremble involuntarily.
To hide her feelings, Hestia tightly gripped the hem of her dress and maintained a calm expression.
“Oh, so this is the stepdaughter you’ve recently taken in.”
His voice was full of curiosity, but unlike Victor’s, there was no disdain in it.
‘He’s actually being quite friendly.’
Seeing Icarus’s sparkling eyes, Hestia fidgeted with her fingers.
She tried to recall whether he had been friendly to her before her regression, but it was too long ago to remember. Besides, they had never met this closely before.
‘For now, just greeting him well is my job here…’
She was just about to lift her head when she suddenly flinched.
Icarus had come so close that he was practically right in front of her.
“Hestia, was it? How old are you?”
“E-Eight years old.”
“Really? You’re only two years older than my younger sibling.”
‘Younger sibling?’
Oh, right. Icarus did have a younger sibling who was much younger than him, didn’t he?
For a moment, she had completely forgotten.
“Well, instead of standing around here, why don’t we go inside?”
Icarus personally led them in.
Anna decided to rest in the room with little Annie after their exhausting journey, and Elvin, feeling sleepy, followed Anna to the room.
In the end, only Hestia followed Derrick to the reception room.
“Wow….”
Hestia couldn’t help but admire the luxurious reception room, which was incomparable to that of Frost.
“You can look around as much as you like.”
At the friendly voice from behind, Hestia snapped back to reality and gave an awkward smile.
“No, I’ve seen everything.”
Icarus narrowed his eyes slightly before handing Hestia a small golden model ship from a corner of the reception room.
“Would you like to play with this?”
“Y-yes…?”
As Hestia stood there flustered, Derrick awkwardly intervened.
“My lord, such a precious item…”
“Hmm? Don’t kids like these kinds of things? Then how about this?”
This time, it was a bear statue adorned with jewels.
The overwhelming luxury made Hestia’s spirit momentarily leave her body.
“You don’t have to do this. Tia doesn’t really like toys compared to other kids since she’s quite mature.”
“Is that so? Children’s hearts are difficult to understand.”
Icarus shrugged his shoulders, showing a hint of disappointment.
Feeling a bit concerned, Hestia took the golden ship from Icarus’s hand.
“…I’ll play with it.”
Icarus’s face gradually brightened, and he smiled widely.
“Feel free to play. You can walk around here as you like, so don’t worry about us, okay?”
“Yes.”
“Good girl.”
Icarus affectionately patted Hestia’s head with a relaxed expression.
Feeling strange, Hestia decided to move to a different spot to continue her exploration of the reception room.
