Ian frowned.
“So why are you waiting here?”
“Afraid you might run away?”
“I’m here to see Rose!”
At their confident responses, Ian held back his rising anger.
At that moment, Rose, who had been sitting quietly in his arms, started to squirm.
“Uncle! I want to get down!”
Worried she might fall, Ian quickly set Rose down, and Rose immediately grabbed Fenrex’s hand.
“Let’s go see Sister May.”
“Alright,”
Fenrex nodded, his cheeks flushed, and Rose took his hand, running towards the study.
‘That wolf.’
Grinding his teeth, Ian followed closely behind, with Edelmar by his side, chuckling as he said teasingly,
“Is she already looking out for her future husband?”
“What husband?”
Ian glared fiercely, causing Edelmar to raise his hands in surrender.
“Fine, fine. It was just a joke.”
“Quiet.”
Ian, still gritting his teeth, hurried after Rose. He ignored the laughter echoing from behind him.
***
“Lady Rose!”
“Sister!”
May rushed to hug Rose, showering her cheeks with kisses as if they were long-lost family members reunited.
“Oh my, I missed you so much, little lady!”
Rose giggled at May’s exaggerated show of affection.
Ian, arriving a bit later, let out a small laugh.
“People would think you’re more family than I am.”
“I wouldn’t mind being family to this precious little lady!”
May’s playful comment made Ian chuckle softly.
“Rose, shall we eat this?”
“Sure!”
Rose sat beside May, taking a snack offered by Fenrex, while May turned to Ian and asked,
“Why did you call for me?”
Ian sat down on the couch across from her.
“How’s about ‘Rose’ condition?”
Rose tilted her head, thinking Ian was referring to her, but Ian clarified,
“I meant the jewelry shop named after her.”
Realizing it wasn’t about her, Rose lost interest and resumed eating her snack.
“Well, sales have dipped a bit. It seems like rumors are going around that Yekhaterina is connected to the Crown Prince.”
“The Crown Prince?”
Edelmar, who had been sitting next to Ian, asked as he picked up his teacup.
“Yes, Lord Edelmar. After arriving in the capital, I heard rumors that the Crown Prince has invested capital into Yekhaterina’s jewelry shop.”
Edelmar chuckled at this.
“That would be a disgrace to the imperial family.”
Ian agreed.
It was unbecoming for a noble to run a shop, let alone a member of the imperial family.
It would be bad enough to secretly support a business, but rumors of the Crown Prince openly investing in one?
If it had been an older prince, it could be chalked up to youthful infatuation, but the Crown Prince was only eight years old—far too young to understand love.
“Have you investigated the truth?”
May scratched her cheek.
“There’s no need for an investigation. If the rumors were false, the imperial family would have denied them by now, but they’ve been silent for quite some time.”
Ian crossed his arms.
‘The imperial family is silent?’
If it were something the Crown Prince had done on his own, the Emperor would have stepped in to handle it.
The fact that the Emperor hadn’t suggests something deeper.
Ian and Edelmar exchanged a glance.
‘Black magic.’
They understood each other’s thoughts without words. Ian handed the blueprint he brought to May.
“Take a look at this.”
“What’s this? Oh my!”
May gasped upon seeing the blueprint.
“We can’t let anyone beat us, especially not with Rose’s name on the line. What do you think? Do you think this will succeed?”
Flipping through the pages one by one, May nodded enthusiastically.
“How did you come up with this idea?”
‘Well, it’s because I lived in a more advanced world than this one.’
Ian swallowed his inner thoughts and smiled.
“What is it?”
Curious, Edelmar extended his hand to May, asking for the blueprint.
May glanced at Ian.
“Is it okay to show him?”
With Ian’s simple approval, May handed the blueprint to Edelmar.
“Ha.”
Edelmar let out a small laugh upon seeing it. May’s earlier question now seemed pointless.
He really wanted to take a peek inside Ian’s brain to figure out how he came up with such an idea.
A wristwatch?
Up until now, the only kind of watch people carried was a pocket watch, usually kept in one’s pocket. And even then, only the wealthiest nobles could afford one.
But a wristwatch this small?
If it were to be sold, it would definitely be something nobles would go crazy for.
“Did you come up with this all by yourself?”
Ian elegantly lifted his teacup and replied,
“Who else would?”
“There’s no way Yekhaterina could compete with this.”
“Obviously.”
Ian took a sip of tea and asked,
“May, is there a patent system here?”
“Yes, there is!”
“Then we should start by applying for a patent. We can’t let another situation like the Silk Flower incident happen again. Where should we get this manufactured?”
“Hm, I think we might need to contact the alchemists. I can ask my aunt–”
“No,”
Edelmar interrupted May, turning to Ian.
“I’ll handle the manufacturing.”
“You’re starting a business?”
Edelmar placed the blueprint down on the table.
“If you want in, I can make it happen.”
“Didn’t you just call it disgraceful?”
Edelmar tapped the blueprint with his finger.
“Anyone who sees this and doesn’t want to join in would be an idiot.”
Ian couldn’t understand why Edelmar suddenly wanted to get involved in the business.
It wasn’t as if Edelmar needed independent funds like Ian, nor was he obsessed with black magic like the Crown Prince.
So why was he so eager to participate?
“Does this seem fun to you?”
“Half of it, yes.”
Edelmar didn’t deny it.
“And the other half?”
“I get to keep the first watch ever made.”
“You’re not asking for any profit share?”
Edelmar looked at Ian and asked,
“Do I look like I’m short on money?”
“Not at all.”
Even children on the street knew that the previous Emperor had left his entire personal fortune to his youngest son, Edelmar.
So it wasn’t a question of money.
Watching their conversation, May timidly raised her hand.
“Um, can I join the discussion too?”
Ian set down his teacup.
“Miss May, do you have something to say?”
“Yes. If it’s alright, I’d like to suggest dividing the product into two types.”
Edelmar showed interest.
“What exactly do you mean by two types?”
“Well, one would be a standard version, and the other would be a premium, high-end version.”
Having experienced the concept of premium goods on Earth, Ian immediately understood what May meant.
However, Edelmar, who had always been accustomed to only having the finest things, didn’t grasp it right away.
May separated the blueprints on the table into two groups—one with jewels and one without.
“This one without jewels is for the standard version, and the one with jewels is for the premium version.”
“Hm, I prefer the one without jewels,”
As May hesitated, Ian took the blueprint for the one without jewels and separated it further.
“Is there more to divide?”
“Yes.”
Ian pulled out the simplest designs from the blueprint.
“These, these, and this one will be made into skeleton watches, where the gears are visible.”
“Won’t it look too unsightly if the gears are exposed?”
Ian chuckled.
“But you won’t need magical stones for these.”
Both May and Edelmar looked at Ian in surprise.
“How can the watch work without a magical stone?”
“It’s an automatic watch that winds itself just by wearing it and walking.”
“That’s insane,”
“As you suggested, we’ll divide them, but into three categories: standard, premium, and royal,”
Edelmar let out a small laugh.
“Royal, huh.”
“It’s a semi-permanent watch, so don’t you think it deserves the title of ‘royal’?”
“Are you planning to offer it to my brother?”
Ian straightened his face.
“No, wouldn’t that connect me to him?”
“Just having the name ‘Rose’ on it is enough to link you,”
Ian shrugged.
“I can’t go around explaining it to every person who misunderstands.”
As Edelmar looked at him incredulously, May stood up, gathering the blueprints.
“I should go look for materials to make the watches.”
“I’ll take care of the magical stones, so don’t worry about those,”
“Alright! And you’ll give me the separate blueprints for the skeleton watch, right?”
“Of course.”
Satisfied with Ian’s answer,
May turned to Edelmar.
“When will you introduce the person who’s going to make the watches?”
“They’ll visit in two hours.”
May, who had briefly widened her eyes in surprise, beamed brightly.
“Thank you! I’ll go ahead now!”
May exited the study with such light steps, it was as if she were floating.
Ian chuckled softly and looked over at Rose.
Even though the carriage had been made more comfortable with magic, it couldn’t compare to the comfort of a bed.
While the adults talked, the two children, full from their snacks, had fallen asleep.
Ian unfolded a blanket resting on the armrest and gently covered the two kids.
“How did you come up with the idea for a wristwatch?”
Ian responded casually,
“It wasn’t a new idea. I just made something that already existed smaller.”
“But the internal mechanics were different, weren’t they?”
“How do you know that?”
“I took it apart.”
Ian was taken aback.
In this world, watches were luxury items.
Laden with jewels, and only a limited number of places could even make them.
Pocket watches were something only the wealthiest nobles could afford.
Furthermore, pocket watches were disposable—once they stopped working, they couldn’t be repaired.
Yet Edelmar had disassembled one.
‘He must be really wealthy.’
Seeing Ian’s expression, Edelmar scoffed.
“Don’t forget that I was a prince.”
“…Must be nice having all that imperial wealth.”
“There’s nothing bad about it. So, will you tell me now? How did you figure it out?”
Ian gave a bitter smile at the continued questioning.
On Earth, wristwatches were commonplace.
Anyone could buy one if they had money.
But because they were so common, nobody paid attention to the inner workings.
Ian himself wouldn’t have known either, if not for his niece, Yoori.
‘I wanted to give it to her as a coming-of-age gift.’
