Chapter 12
Ahwin had misunderstood something.
Penelope had mourned her husband’s death, but she had never been heartbroken enough to cry endlessly.
Their marriage had been arranged from the beginning.
Not long after the wedding, her husband had left to hunt monsters, so they never had enough time to grow close.
On their wedding night, he had only shown his face for a moment before leaving again to deal with work.
What feelings could she possibly have left for him?
The moment she heard that he had died…
She had only been shocked because her own future had suddenly become uncertain.
Her life had become as fragile as a candle flickering in the wind.
Then, as if struck by lightning…
She remembered her previous life.
After that, she spent her days arranging the funerals for her husband and the knights while cleaning up everything left behind by the tragedy.
“Those days were unbelievably chaotic… and incredibly busy.”
Instead of explaining all of that…
Penelope simply accepted the mage’s apology calmly.
“Thank you very much for your concern.”
“Ahem… Anyway, I’ve apologized. I’ll be going now.”
The mage answered awkwardly before walking back the way he had come.
He seemed much more considerate than he looked.
He’s a little different from what I expected.
Penelope quietly revised her opinion of the mage once again.
The next morning…
Penelope sat at the desk in her office, buried in paperwork.
This had become her daily routine ever since her husband died.
In other words…
She spent her time sweating over endless documents, comparing them with last year’s records just to make the numbers match.
The financial paperwork, especially, seemed never-ending.
My eyes are going to fall out.
Since she had inherited everything without any proper handover…
Every task took several times longer than it should have.
On top of that…
The previous lord clearly hadn’t been very diligent with paperwork.
Am I imagining it… or is this even more work than when I worked at a major company?
No.
She wasn’t imagining it.
“Why don’t these numbers match?!”
Penelope frowned deeply as she glared at the documents.
Nobody had embezzled any money…
So how could the accounts be this inconsistent?
“Seriously, how could someone be this incompetent?! They couldn’t even organize paperwork properly!”
In the end…
Penelope threw the documents onto the desk.
She didn’t want to resent a dead man…
But at that moment, she wanted to grab her late husband’s collar.
No wonder he had been obsessed with hunting monsters.
His paperwork was a complete disaster.
Because some idiot had recorded the knights’ dormitory maintenance expenses from spring under the autumn budget…
She had wasted two full hours.
I really need to stop obsessing over little details.
What a waste… My precious time!
After years of working at a large corporation…
Penelope simply couldn’t ignore such sloppy accounting.
“This isn’t the time for this. I need to come up with business ideas for the estate.”
She was starting to feel anxious.
Research on the underfloor heating business had only just begun.
She also needed other businesses for the estate.
If she wanted to launch anything before winter arrived…
Even starting now was already late.
I only started reviewing these records because I hoped they’d give me some business ideas…
But somehow…
She had become completely absorbed in organizing the documents instead.
“I think I’ve already used all the useful information from the original novel.”
Buying shares in the Durek Railroad Company…
Selling green herbs to the Magic Tower…
Both ideas had come from the original story.
Unfortunately…
Penelope didn’t remember much about it.
Even though it had been a novel she loved so much that it kept her awake all night…
All she could remember now were the important characters and the major events.
She had only regained those memories because it was the last novel she read before she died.
Remembering the name Durek Railroad Company at all was practically a miracle.
I probably remembered it because the name was unusual.
In other words…
She had already used almost everything she could from the original novel.
“From now on… I’ll have to figure things out myself.”
After spending the entire morning reviewing the estate’s old records…
She couldn’t find a single past business worth reviving.
“I’ll have to change the way I think.”
So Penelope began thinking carefully about modern ideas that could work in this world.
A café business… ready-made clothing…
But both required far too much starting capital.
Besides…
People always said business wasn’t something just anyone could do.
If she rushed in without thinking…
She would probably lose everything.
“I should start with something small.”
She slowly made a realistic plan.
What kind of business would be easy to start?
It would probably be best to improve products that already exist.
While thinking…
She washed her hands with the water the maids had brought.
She rubbed soap into a rich lather…
Rinsed it away…
And immediately felt refreshed.
Unfortunately…
The soap had no fragrance at all.
“Hm…”
“Come to think of it…”
Soap in this world wasn’t scented.
In fact…
The quality of the soap itself wasn’t very good.
After using it…
People’s skin became rough.
Rich nobles solved that problem by applying fragrant oils afterward.
They even mixed perfume oils into their cosmetics to keep their faces moisturized.
That was why…
Most poor commoners had rough skin.
…Wait.
This might actually work.
Penelope’s eyes brightened.
As soon as she organized her thoughts…
She headed straight for the mage’s room.
Knock. Knock.
“Are you inside?”
“I’m not!”
“…”
Penelope was speechless for a moment.
She doubted she would ever get used to the mage’s way of speaking.
Now that I think about it… he’s starting to cross the line.
He looks younger than me, too.
The part of her that had been raised to respect proper manners in her previous life was beginning to awaken.
Be patient.
He’s from the Magic Tower. He’s probably just arrogant.
She scraped together every last bit of patience she had.
Taking a deep breath…
She knocked again.
Knock. Knock.
“It’s me. Are you inside?”
“I told you, nobody’s here!”
“Oh? Then I suppose a ghost is answering me. I actually have something I’d like to ask the ghost.”
Penelope smiled brightly as she deliberately raised her voice.
She had no intention of leaving until he opened the door.
Bang!
The door suddenly flew open.
Ahwin stuck his head outside.
His messy dark blond hair still covered most of his face.
The dark circles beneath his eyes remained.
His skin somehow looked even paler than yesterday.
Even so…
There was still something strangely captivating about the dangerously tired look in his eyes.
Ah…
Is this what people call a decadent beauty…?
…Maybe not.
Without realizing it…
Penelope swallowed nervously.
Perhaps because he was wearing a pure white shirt and black trousers…
His broad shoulders and slim waist stood out clearly.
His collarbones peeked through his open collar.
And surprisingly…
The body beneath the shirt looked firm and well-built.
I thought he never exercised.
That’s unexpected.
The mage continued to exceed Penelope’s expectations.
She had imagined someone skinny…
Unsociable…
A person who locked himself away in a room doing nothing but studying magic formulas.
Only one part had been correct.
His complete lack of social skills.
Ahwin asked coldly,
“What exactly do you want to ask?”
His tone carried a clear warning.
If you ask something ridiculous… I’ll throw you across the border.
Ah!
Why was I just standing there staring at him?
Penelope quickly came back to her senses.
She straightened her posture and carefully controlled her expression.
“You mentioned before that you’re also skilled in alchemy.”
“So?”
Ahwin replied uneasily.
Please don’t tell me she’s about to ask how to make gold.
He had already experienced that question hundreds of times.
Without realizing it…
He frowned.
Penelope cleared her throat before getting to the point.
“Please teach me how to make soap.”
“…What?”
Ahwin’s eyes shook violently.
Soap…?
Soap?
“Did you… just ask me how to make soap?”
“Yes.”
“You heard correctly.”
Ahwin was completely stunned.
It felt as though a bolt of magical lightning had struck the back of his head.
Penelope looked at him curiously.
“I thought chemistry was the foundation of alchemy.”
“So because of that…”
“You’re asking me how to make soap?”
“Um…”
“Is… that not okay…?”
Penelope’s voice gradually became quieter.
Ahwin’s eyes looked terrifying.
His face was hidden behind his messy hair…
But his expression was just as fierce.
Meanwhile…
Ahwin couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
He had entered the Magic Tower at the age of three because of his natural genius.
Since then…
He had been treasured like gold and jewels.
A mage among mages.
The pride of the Arcsante Magic Tower.
A once-in-many-generations genius.
And yet…
The thing she wanted to ask him…
Was how to make soap.
Crack…
Crack…
It sounded as if tiny cracks were spreading through the pride of the arrogant mage.
