Episode 42

 

“She’s always surrounded by such unfavorable rumors, isn’t she? It’s her position… If something like this happens again, just say you don’t know and immediately send a messenger to Her Highness, the Princess, to verify the truth.”

“Can I really do that?”

“Usually, when you speak strongly like that, they back off.”

“Ah… that’s a good method.”

I was impressed by the clever handling.

“By the way, it was quite a struggle to get here. The salon is quite far from our residence. I was getting ready, thinking about going to the salon in the city center, and ended up being late.”

Stella smiled weakly, as if she was exhausted.

I smiled back at Stella.

I used to see her face at least two or three times a week, but I hadn’t seen her for over a month now.

I suddenly remembered that I hadn’t even asked about her well-being, in her unique, comforting presence.

“Oh dear, I forgot to ask how you were. Lady Stella, how have you been?”

“Yes. Thanks to your concern. How about you, my lady?”

“Yes, yes. I’ve been well too. I missed seeing you recently. Why didn’t you come to Lady Tielle’s dinner invitation? Everyone was waiting for you. Even the Margo ladies were very disappointed.”

When I mentioned a few gatherings she had missed, Stella shook her head and smiled slightly.

“I’ve been quite busy these days too.”

“Then for Lady Andrea’s ball…”

“Mm! By the way, you have a very nice scent, my lady.”

What?

It seemed like she intentionally cut me off.

Was it just my imagination?

No, the timing was too odd to be just a feeling.

Stella continued to talk about the scent coming from me with a calm face.

“Is it roses? The scent is very nice.”

“Really?”

It seemed like Stella had smelled Rosalind’s perfume.

“Um… did you buy it from ‘Soul of Flowers’? The scent seems similar.”

“No. It’s just something we had at home…”

I stopped talking as I felt a sense of familiarity with the word.

It was a bit strange to hear someone else say the word that had been on my mind all along.

I wondered if I had misheard it because I had been thinking about it too much.

‘It’s so rude to be thinking about other things while having a conversation… I keep hearing everything as related to Rosalind… No.’

Wait a moment.

“What did you just say?”

“‘Soul of Flowers.’”

The image of the wizard’s letter envelope, which I had read over and over until it was imprinted in my mind like a photograph, came to mind.

The phrase ‘Soul of Flowers’ was written on it too.

Similar perfume scent, same word.

This is no coincidence.

I stared blankly at Stella for a moment.

“Lady Rodore?”

“Oh.”

“Are you not feeling well?”

“No, no.”

“Lady Stella, is ‘Soul of Flowers’ perhaps a perfume shop?”

“Yes. It’s only been around for a few years, but it’s a very popular shop. It’s on the fashion street in the capital.”

Oh my…, this is unbelievable…

I found it so easily!

I thought it would take at least a month, if not more.

Unable to contain my joy, I pulled Stella into a tight hug.

Her body seemed to stiffen slightly in my arms.

“Lady Stella… thank you, really, thank you so much.”

“Um… I don’t know what it is, but… I’m glad I could help.”

Her voice sounded somewhat reluctant, but I didn’t care.

I hugged her a little tighter and then let her go.

***

My heart had been racing since I returned from the banquet.

I felt like running to the shop right away.

I was overwhelmed with joy.

The fear of death still lingered around my ankles, but now there was hope.

I wasn’t just stubbornly determined to survive.

Under the clear moonlight shining through the window on a deep, dark night, I thanked the heavens.

Despite having had a busy schedule that should have left me exhausted, I didn’t feel tired at all.

I paced around the room, eagerly waiting for dawn.

As soon as the sun rose and people began to stir, I would get on the carriage and head to that shop.

“Eve.”

“Igon!”

I ran to Igon as he entered the room and hugged him.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, rubbed my forehead against his, buried my head in his hair, and deeply inhaled his scent.

The smell of summer night wind and his fragrance, similar to flowers, blended together.

“Is something wrong, Eve?”

He asked, his lips close to my ear as if whispering.

It tickled.

I couldn’t tell if my joy-filled heart was ticklish or if it was the breeze from his breath near my ear.

“I dreamed of a hopeful future.”

My heart fluttered.

Yes, you can feel this flutter even when you’re happy and joyful.

“That’s good to hear.”

“Yes, really… really.”

For the first time in my life, I cried tears of happiness.

I felt like everything was going to be alright.

I felt like my heart was going to burst.

***

‘Soul of Flowers.’

I couldn’t believe it even as I looked at the sign.

My heart had been pounding since I returned from the banquet.

I didn’t sleep a wink until today, the very next day, when I arrived here.

I was overwhelmed with the thought that I might have finally found a way to avoid the death I had worried and feared for years.

My breath quickened, and my eyes became teary.

I composed myself so that the maid who had accompanied me wouldn’t notice.

The training to appear fine in the face of the fear of death had paid off.

I stood straight and walked in with a calm demeanor.

The shop door opened.

‘Ding-ding’ The cheerful sound of a bell rang.

The fresh scent of flowers filled the air so much that I could mistake it for a flower garden.

Many noble ladies besides me were testing scents and purchasing perfumes inside the shop.

I could test the rose perfume nearby.

Just to be sure, I confirmed the scent.

It was exactly the same as the one the innkeeper had given me.

The employees were wearing matching tops and skirts in the same color.

Somehow, the scene reminded me of a cosmetics shop from my previous life, making my heart flutter and giving me goosebumps.

My breathing became rough again.

Be composed, be composed.

Calm down.

“Welcome. How can I help you?”

I gave the approaching employee a bright smile.

“I’d like to meet the owner of this place.”

It was surprising to ask for the owner right after entering, but the well-trained employee didn’t show any sign of it.

She led me to the reception room and asked me to wait for a moment before disappearing.

Not long after the employee left, a young woman drew back the red curtain and walked into the reception room from the opposite side of the door I had entered.

To be precise, it was a young woman.

I was slightly taken aback because I had expected an older woman.

However, it was alright.

Rosalind could have partnered with someone else.

Or maybe the real owner was Rosalind, and this woman was just a figurehead…

“You were looking for me?”

Her tone was round and refined.

It wasn’t excessively aristocratic, but it had the strong accent of a true native of the capital.

“My name is Green, and I am the owner of this shop. It’s an honor to meet you, Lady Rodore.”

I could have asked how she knew, but I didn’t.

I could roughly guess how she figured it out.

I came here in a carriage bearing my family’s crest, accompanied by a maid, and I was wearing a luxurious dress. Anyone observant could deduce who I was.

The important thing for me now wasn’t her.

“I’m looking for someone. I want to meet the perfumer of this place.”

“Oh…”

The woman who introduced herself as Green placed her fingertips on her chin.

“That would be me, my lady.”

What?

My brow furrowed immediately.

Rosalind was described as an older woman, even older than the innkeeper.

And the perfume was made by Rosalind. The woman who appeared as the owner of the perfume shop didn’t look older than the innkeeper, nor was her name Rosalind.

“The person I’m looking for is an elderly woman named Rosalind. Do you know her?”

Green tilted her head.

“Rosalind?”

Then she slowly curled her lips into a pretty smile.

“I’ve never heard of that name.”

My breath caught.

Her smiling eyes seemed like they wouldn’t reveal anything even if they knew something.

I could tell she was hiding something.

Beyond that, the rest of the truth was hidden behind a solid wall.

It was certain that this woman named Green knew something.

The shop’s name was the same as the word in Rosalind’s letter, and the perfume scent was the same.

If Rosalind was the hidden owner of this place, she wouldn’t have tried to conceal it so perfectly.

‘She’ll never tell me.’

The thought made me feel deeply despondent.

I forced a smile as I gathered the scattered fragments of hope.

“I heard she would be here.”

“No, such a person does not exist.”

Green said again, firmly, this time without even a smile.

“I’m sorry. It seems there are some misunderstandings regarding our shop.”

She nodded slightly.

“No.”

I took out the letter and the money pouch I had brought and placed them on the table.

Then I slowly stood up.

Green, seeing the letter, froze as if she had seen something shocking.