“What do you mean by that?”
Lilliana widened her eyes in surprise when I hastily questioned her.
“Oh, come to think of it… I never properly explained our relationship to you, Mother.”
She fidgeted with her fingers, looking a bit anxious.
“I don’t want to hide it from you anymore… May I tell you now?”
“Hmph. It’s not something I care about. Go on, babble away if you must.”
Though I spoke indifferently, I was listening to her more closely than ever.
“Well, it happened when my relationship with you, Mother, was a bit strained. In fact, Jeremyon and I became contract lovers again.”
Summarizing Lliliana’s story, this was how it went: Jeremyon, wanting to help repair her relationship with me, had suggested they become contract lovers once more.
He believed that if she was in a relationship with my son, it would inevitably lead to them reconnecting with me. It was a plan to bring us closer together again.
In other words, all the dates they went on and everything they did together was an elaborate ruse to deceive me.
Lilliana, revealing the truth of this deception, lowered her head deeply. Her eyes were filled with concern, as if worried I might now dislike her.
“I know I’ve deceived you again… and I know how much you hate being tricked… But at the time, it seemed like the only option, so… even though it’s too late, I’m really sorry…”
She mumbled, curled up, clearly overwhelmed.
I kept my gaze on her, lips pressed together.
‘So, the two of them were conspiring to deceive me all along?’
Hah.
I let out a dry chuckle, utterly astonished.
‘…Jeremyon, huh. He’s learned how to pull off such tricks? He’s grown, hasn’t he?’
For Jeremyon to suggest contract dating, it seemed he had a decent grasp of my psychology. He must have realized that, despite pushing Lilliana away, I didn’t actually dislike her.
He believed that if there was any connection between us, Lilliana and I would eventually grow close again.
‘The two of them really pulled off a clever little scheme.’
It seemed I had underestimated the two of them.
“Do you intend to bow your head over something so trivial? A noble lady should not lower her head so easily.”
As I reprimanded her, her face instantly brightened. It seemed she had understood that my words held a hidden message of forgiveness and comfort.
“…Yes! I’m sorry! I’ll be more careful from now on.”
“That’s enough. So, what happened next?”
Curious about what happened after they began their contract relationship, I urged her to continue.
“There’s not much more to it. It’s just… Jeremyon only suggested the contract relationship out of pity.”
“…”
“…The original purpose of the contract has been achieved, so we should end it. I don’t want to be an obstacle when Jeremyon finds someone else in the future. So, we agreed to stay good friends.”
Hmm. So that’s how it turned out.
I listened quietly, pondering.
‘She’s completely misunderstanding the situation.’
Judging by the circumstances, Lilliana didn’t seem to dislike Jeremyon all that much. Yet things had turned out this way.
The cause was pretty clear to me.
It was likely that Jeremyon, feeling love for the first time, had been awkward and clumsy. Because of this, Lilliana had misunderstood the situation. I didn’t need to confirm it to know for sure.
‘Should I be the one to clear up this misunderstanding?’
If I actively intervened, breaking Lilliana’s misconception would be no trouble at all. In that case, they might end up together, just like in the original story.
But… I hesitated, unsure if that was the right thing to do.
‘I’ve already intervened once and driven a wedge between them. Would it be right to interfere again?’
A lot had changed from the original story.
While Lilliana had clearly loved Jeremyon in the novel, it was hard to gauge how much she cared for him now.
‘If she liked him as much as in the original, I would definitely help them. I like both Lilliana and Jeremyon. I want them to be happy.’
But I couldn’t be sure if bringing them together was what Lilliana really wanted now.
Jeremyon would undoubtedly be happy… but I didn’t want to support him at the expense of Liliana’s feelings.
After some thought, I reached my conclusion.
‘I’ll just observe for now. There’s no need for me to meddle in their romance.’
Besides, I wasn’t well-versed in matters of love. Intrigue and politics were more my expertise.
“Ah, since we’ve broken up, does that mean I shouldn’t call you ‘Mother’ anymore?”
“Hmph, call me whatever you like. Whether you call me ‘Mother’ or not, such trivial things are for you to decide.”
Even though they had broken up, the two of them had agreed to remain friends. It wasn’t unnatural for her to continue calling me ‘Mother’ as a friend’s mother.
‘And above all else, she’s just so cute.’
There was no need to insist on changing how she addressed me, as long as she was careful in front of other nobles.
Understanding the intent behind my words, she smiled brightly.
“Yes, Mother! Thank you for allowing it! If we meet at a formal event… I’ll be sure to call you Lady Winder to avoid causing any trouble. Hehe.”
I glanced at the clock and realized that an hour had already passed. Before it got any later, I needed to discuss the real reason I had called her.
“By the way, did you have a good conversation with your brother?”
“Hm?”
“Oh, I heard that he visited yesterday.”
“I actually have something to tell you about that.”
I stood up from my seat, giving her a confident smile.
“Follow me. There’s something I want to show you.”
I led Lilliana to my workshop.
It was the first time I was revealing the perfume I had created to someone else.
***
“Wow. What is this?”
Lilliana’s eyes sparkled with curiosity as she looked at the rows of perfume bottles on the workbench.
“I think I can smell something nice…”
The lingering scents from my earlier work still hung in the air around the workshop.
But the true charm of the perfume couldn’t be captured by just a faint trace of its fragrance.
“If you want, you can open the cap and take a smell.”
With my permission, she carefully picked up the nearest bottle and opened it to take a sniff.
“…!”
Her eyes widened in surprise.
“It smells like roses! It’s such a refreshing scent, like I’ve stepped into a rose garden! This one… smells like oranges, and this one… it’s a fruity scent… Ah, I got it! It’s grapes, isn’t it?”
Starting with the first bottle, she picked them up one by one, eagerly smelling each. Her blue eyes shone brightly, as if she had discovered something magical.
I watched her in satisfaction, silently amused as she continued.
“What are these, Mother? Are they essential oils? But I heard essential oils are really strong… These feel more like water than oil.”
It was a sharp observation.
In the Empire, essential oils were incredibly expensive and difficult to obtain. They were also overly strong in scent, so they weren’t commonly used. In the past, noblewomen would occasionally use them to show off, but because the scent was so overpowering, the practice gradually fell out of favor. It had never been particularly popular to begin with.
So in an empire where fragrance culture hadn’t developed much, this perfume must have seemed quite unfamiliar. I decided to explain it to her kindly.
“These aren’t essential oils, they’re perfumes. I made them myself.”
“You made all of these, Mother? Wow…”
Her eyes alternated between me and the bottles with admiration. Then, as if a question occurred to her, she tilted her head.
“But why are you showing them to me…?”
“You’re aware that I’m preparing a business venture, right?”
She nodded.
“Well, this is the business I’ve been working on.”
“Hau! Are you really allowed to show me something like this? I’m thrilled, of course, but… isn’t this the kind of thing you usually keep top secret? Or… is it because you trust me…?”
She muttered excitedly, unable to hide her delight.
I couldn’t help but chuckle softly.
‘Well, it’s not wrong to say I’m showing it to her because I trust her.’
But there was another reason I had chosen to reveal this to her first.
I intended to make Lilliana the muse of my perfume line.
• ❁ • ❁ • ❁ •By Esraa• ❁ • ❁ • ❁ •
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