Episode 36

“Ding dong!”

I grinned widely.

Old Man Gordon looked at me and the pouch in shock.

His herbal collection box had a few empty spots, one of which was reserved for this very Fairy Herb.

And in his previous life, he never managed to fill that spot before he died.

Because of his bad relationship with Diana, he never found out the herb’s habitat.

‘Tsk tsk. If he had been a little more accommodating, the kind heroine would have given him a few pieces…’

But the old man’s deeply ingrained atheism didn’t allow his pride to do that.

‘Of course, I was the same.’

After a moment, Old Man Gordon, recovering from his shock, eagerly asked me,

“You…! Where did you get that?!”

“Well, that’s a business secret!”

“A business secret?!”

He seemed momentarily speechless at my answer, then finally managed to calm his excitement.

“Child. Do you know what that is?”

“Yes! It makes your skin completely flawless!”

“How do you know that…! No, if you know about Relious Grass, you’d certainly know this too.”

He answered his own question.

Fortunately, he didn’t seem suspicious of my extensive knowledge of rare herbs.

“Grandpa. If I grow this a lot, could I become rich?”

“Hmm… if you succeed in cultivating it, it could be used in many ways.”

Gordon stroked his beard thoughtfully before answering.

“But without knowing where it naturally grows, how do you plan to cultivate it? This small amount won’t be enough. It’d be better to dry it and keep it preserved.”

“Well, then… if I keep bringing more, do you think we could succeed?”

“What? There’s more of it? Where is it?”

Old Man Gordon’s eyes sparkled with greed again.

I shook my head firmly.

“That’s a business secret too!”

“How can there be secrets among people in the same boat? Just tell me where it grows, only to me!”

“No way. And besides, that’s all I know right now!”

“Tch…”

When I firmly refused, the old man twitched his mustache.

I continued negotiating.

“Anyway! Can you make it grow a lot?”

“If I don’t even know where it grows, how can I do that? I can’t do it!”

“I heard the people in your family can make herbs grow with their spit.”

“…”

As expected, it seemed like nonsense because the old man remained silent.

I pouted and began closing the pocket of my bag.

“If you can’t do it, I have no choice… I’ll find another grandpa.”

“W-wait!”

The old man grabbed my pocket in a hurry and shouted.

“…Let’s at least hear about the habitat! Can’t you at least tell me that?”

“Um…”

Pretending to hesitate, I answered slyly.

“It was in a place where the sun doesn’t shine well.”

“A shaded area… Were there any other herbs or plants around it?”

“No, there wasn’t anything else… Oh! There was a dead tree!”

“A parasitic tree. It seems to need a host plant for nutrients… What kind of tree was it?”

“I don’t know… It was just a common tree.”

“Next time, bring some of that tree bark. Also, take some soil from around it.”

Even though he said he couldn’t do it, he now took out a notebook and scribbled something in it.

“So, what do you plan to use this for? No matter how good it is for the skin, you can’t use it as tea leaves because it’s too bitter…”

He looked at me suspiciously.

Despite his extensive knowledge of herbs, he didn’t seem to know that fairy herb was effective even as a fragrance.

“The lady’s buff is really strong.”

The old man’s words were correct.

Even in the original work, Diana only managed to make sachets instead of tea leaves because of this.

“But, it’s not necessary to have only sachets to smell the fragrance!”

There is a better way to make the scent last longer with a small amount.

Candles!

Candles are cheap to make and easy to produce.

Furthermore, they can emit fragrance with a small amount of extract, making them an ideal business item in the early stages of cultivation when harvests are meager.

“What are you planning to do with this, huh?”

The old man urged me as I kept silent, only sparkling my eyes.

“That…”

“That…?”

“Is a business secret!”

“Hey!”

The old man, having expected a proper answer, scowled and turned his head away.

“Give it up, you brat! What kind of business secrets do you have without even doing any business!”

“You might fail to grow a lot…”

“Don’t underestimate my skills! I am the 23rd descendant of Aesher Felias, who grew herbs with his spit! Got that, you brat!”

I wasn’t curious at all.

But the old man, now fired up and determined, was a good sign.

“Great.”

I had a feeling that the old man would somehow succeed in mass cultivation.

Look at those greedy, determined eyes behind those glasses!

“You are more than qualified to be my hospital director!”

Candles are just the beginning.

I will establish a dermatology world based on fairy herbs that does not exist in this world!

“So I will comfortably take on the role of chairman!”

However, my future hospital director, who would work tirelessly instead of me, was quite skeptical.

“But, even if you somehow succeed in cultivating fairy herbs… how will you handle distribution?”

“Distribution?”

“Yes. You’re not thinking of setting up a street stall, are you? Nobles wouldn’t just buy some weeds.”

“Um…”

I was taken aback.

‘I was actually thinking of that…’

Of course, I planned to process it into candles rather than selling it as raw herbs, but I was still planning to do the footwork myself.

Fortunately, I had a very reliable card up my sleeve: Edwin!

‘I was going to ask Edwin to take me as a maid whenever he was invited somewhere…’

Isn’t that how all businesses start?

“Good grief!”

Gordon sighed deeply at my naive expression.

“How about talking to His Grace and entrusting it to the Kallios Merchant Guild?”

“No way!”

I jumped up and waved my hands at the alternative plan the old man suggested.

“You mustn’t tell the Duke! Absolutely, absolutely not!”

“Why?”

“Th-that’s because…”

I broke out in a cold sweat.

“Because it’s growing on the Duke’s land!”

Although I discovered it, it was technically growing on the Duke’s property, so it could be considered his.

I was planning to secretly sell it…!

I barely managed to come up with an excuse for the old man’s puzzled look.

“There’s a chance it might fail… If it goes well, then I’ll tell him!”

“Hmm. That’s quite likely.”

“As for the merchant guild, I’ll look into it myself!”

Luckily, knowing the original work, I was aware of several key merchant guilds.

“You… really? Pfft.”

However, the old man laughed at me.

It was understandable.

‘A five-year-old saying she’ll look into a merchant guild is indeed laughable.’

Even I found it absurd.

“Let’s talk about that again if you succeed in cultivation first.”

But, thinking that failure was more likely, he dismissed it lightly.

“Okay! I’ll trust only you, Grandpa!”

“Alright. Then you’re handing over this pocket to me, right?”

“Whoa…?!”

Snap!

As the general conversation wrapped up, the old man snatched the bag I was holding before I could react.

‘You sly old fart…’

I glared sideways at the old man, who was gleefully rummaging through the bag.

“Oh my goodness! To think I’d see fairy herbs before I die…! Hello, my babies. From today, I’m your daddy.”

“Tch. I was only going to give you one stalk…”

“You rascal! To succeed in cultivation, I need to experiment with various things. What can I do with just one stalk?”

“Uh… really…?”

“And considering how much you’ve already consumed, you think one stalk is enough? You naughty kid…!”

The old man scolded me with a look of grievance.

He was right.

No matter how precious fairy herbs were.

They couldn’t be more valuable than black buffalo bones that can’t be used as medicine anymore.

“Hmnya nya~”

I hummed a tune, trying to look nonchalant, while feeling guilty.

The old man, who had swiftly secured the fairy herbs, suddenly clicked his tongue.

“Tsk tsk. His Grace has taken in quite a monster… It’s said that you shouldn’t raise a white-haired beast.”

“Monster? I’m not a monster!”

I snapped at his words.

“It’s platinum blonde! Grandpa, are you getting farsighted?”

“You cheeky brat! Don’t you know how to respect your elders? Platinum blonde or white hair, it’s the same!”

“Grandpa, you have more white hair than I do!”

“I-I don’t have that much yet!”

“Oh, teacher―!”

At that moment.

Tara, who had brought lunch, intervened between the old man and me.

“Stop arguing with the young lady! Your voices are echoing outside!”

“It’s because this brat keeps talking back to me!”

“Are you seriously arguing with a five-year-old? Honestly, I can’t tell who’s five and who’s sixty-five!”

“Ahem!”

Gordon the old man cleared his throat, his face flushed with embarrassment from her words.

‘Sometimes it’s good to be in a kid’s body!’

I grinned at Tara, who had taken my side at the right moment.

“Tara, you’re the best!”

“Tsk!”

Gordon the old man clicked his tongue again with a very displeased expression.

“She hasn’t even been here a few days, and she’s already charming everyone in the house, driving out the settled stones… She’s definitely a monster!”

“Then Grandpa, you’re a gray-hair monster!”

“You brat! I told you, I barely have any gray hairs yet!”

***
Endlessly grumbling, Gordon the old man left after carefully preparing an ointment for my wounds.

I, like a little piglet, ate a hearty lunch and then lazed around all day under Tara’s diligent care.

Eventually, I dozed off.

When Tara came to wake me, the sun was already setting.

“Miss, Miss.”

“Mmm…”

“The Duke and the Young Duke are here.”

I rubbed my eyes and forced myself to get up.

“Shall I go greet them?”

“No. They arrived 30 minutes ago.”

Then why is she waking me up now?

The answer to my question soon came with Tara’s next words.

“They’ve requested you be brought to the Duke’s office immediately.”

“Right now? Why, why?”

“It’s probably about what happened earlier…”

Tara murmured with a slightly worried expression.

‘What happened earlier…’

It must be about the confrontation with Emma.

‘Could it be that he’s going to scold me for causing a disturbance again?’

I was a bit scared, not knowing the reason the Duke was summoning me.

Even though it wasn’t my fault, it was true that I had caused a stir by clashing with the staff repeatedly.

‘Besides… Emma is also important to Joshua.’

I muttered with a somewhat gloomy face.

“…Let’s go, Tara.”

I then followed Tara out of the room.

The Duke’s office, which I faced once again, looked the same as yesterday.

The Duke had a stern expression, and Edwin was sitting beside him.

The only new addition was…

“Sis!”

“Huh… Josh?”

Why is Joshua here when he should be in his room?

As I stood confused, the Duke acknowledged my presence.

“You have arrived.”

“Hello, Your Grace.”

“Hello.”

“Mmm…”

Edwin, who greeted me a bit late, couldn’t receive my warm response.

‘Seeing them all gathered like this, has something serious happened?’

In the strangely heavy atmosphere, the Duke spoke solemnly.

“…First, take a seat.”

“Yes.”

I hesitated for a moment, unsure where to sit, and then chose the spot next to Joshua, who seemed the least intimidating.

At that moment, Edwin, sitting across from me, furrowed his brow.

‘Did Emma spread more nonsense?’

Distracted by Edwin’s displeased look, I was caught off guard by the Duke’s words.

“There was a commotion.”

The Duke spoke gravely.

“The reason I called you is nothing else but…”

“…”

“To ask your opinion on the disposition of Emma Caston.”