Chapter 313 The Launch Of The Beauty And Fashion Departments Is Inevitable
"Sara, we should get to the main topic soon. We don't have much time left."
"You're right. First, please allow me to take a bit of the forest next to Maiden's Tower for Sophia's estate."
"I can't just give away land around Grandchester Castle to a merchant with no ties to Grandchester. You're not a loyal subject or anything. Or does Sophia want to become a vassal of Grandchester?"
Marquis Grandchester smirked and asked Sara.
"Even if it's Grandchester, I don't want to serve a specific noble family. It would interfere with my business."
"I expected you to say that. That's why I'm thinking of giving that land to you, Sara. You can decide who to rent it to, but if you want to transfer the land, you'll need permission from the head of the Grandchester family. Is that okay with you?"
Since the land next to Grandchester Castle is valuable, it's difficult to transfer it to anyone outside the family. So, Marquis Grandchester decided to give it to Sara, his granddaughter, instead of Sophia. Since he has already transferred the land and buildings of Maiden's Tower, it would be easier to convince those around them.
"My side is fine. However, I feel bad about getting it for free, so let's say I'll take it as a deduction from the loan to the Grandchester family. Since that loan is from the Sophia Merchant Guild, I'll make it look like I'm the one repaying it."
"...Sara, don't you have more personal assets than the Grandchester family?"
"Even just the assets of the Grandchester family that I know of are still more than mine. But I don't have the right to see their treasures, so I can't really know."
This is a big lie from Sara. She confirmed it through Sedrick, and she knows there are fakes and junk among them. And while Sara's "personal assets" are indeed less than the Grandchester family's, this does not include the assets of the Sophia Merchant Guild.
"Well, that's fine. If I can offset it with the loan from the Sophia Merchant Guild, it will definitely make things easier. After all, they charge a solid interest."
"Even so, the interest rate is at the lowest level, so it's quite reasonable."
Edward and Robert, who were listening to this conversation from the side, nervously asked Sara.
"Hey, Sara. Can you also reduce my debt...?"
"That has nothing to do with this, so it won't decrease. Please work hard to repay it."
"Then what about the cost of my music box?"
"That's a result of your show-off, so you need to pay it back in full. Not a single money off."
The very similar brothers both sank in front of Sara.
"However, Uncle, if you properly review the finances, the Young Marquis family's debt can be paid off quickly. According to my estimates, it should take about 3 years. Thanks to the scheming Chloe, clothing expenses will be greatly reduced. Well, the problem is Aunt Elizabeth..."
Just then, as Sara spoke, the office door suddenly swung open with a loud bang, without even a knock, and there stood Elizabeth with a fierce expression. From her heavy breathing, it was clear she had run here.
From behind her, the sound of hurried footsteps could be heard, likely belonging to Elizabeth's lady-in-waiting or a maid.
"Sara! What's going on!?"
"Why are you so sudden, Aunt?"
There was only one reason that came to mind for Elizabeth to be this upset, but for now, Sara decided to play dumb.
"It's about my maid! What was that all about!?"
"I had her become a test subject for a new product. Was there a problem?"
"It's not just any problem! It's been a huge commotion since this morning. And it's not just that girl; there seem to be several others too! Plus, not everyone went to help at your tower. Tell me, what kind of new product is it? What did you do to make them look like that!?"
Elizabeth quickly approached Sara, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her roughly.
"Aunt, let go of me!"
"Just confess already!"
"Le, let go..."
In this situation, the 3 young men of the Grandchester family panicked and tried to restrain Elizabeth.
"Elizabeth, what are you doing?"
"Liz! Stop it!"
"Get your hands off my daughter!"
But Elizabeth didn't hear anything at all. She pushed away Edward and Robert, who rushed over, and continued to shake Sara.
"Enough already, you idiot!"
Sara, fed up, used wind magic to blow Elizabeth back about a meter and then bound her with earth magic. Still, since Elizabeth was making a lot of noise, she stuffed a cloth in her mouth to silence her.
"What are you doing, Young Marquis's wife, forgetting your manners as a lady?"
Then, they heard a knock on the door. When they turned around, Chloe was standing at the entrance, curtsying, and even though the door was wide open, she was politely asking for permission to enter.
"Chloe. I don't really understand what's going on, but you can come in for now. And please close the door behind you."
"Understood, Grandfather."
Chloe properly closed the door and gracefully walked over to stand by her mother.
"Mother, if you lose your composure, you won't get anything done. Please calm down for now."
Elizabeth regained her composure thanks to her daughter's attitude and nodded repeatedly.
"I'm sorry, Sara. I overslept a bit, and I was late in helping my mother."
"What happened?"
"You told the maids to keep quiet when you were leaving yesterday, right? You said, 'If you tell anyone else, you won't be a subject again'."
"Now that you mention it, I did say that."
"But my mother wouldn't ignore that, right? That's why she confronted the maids."
"So, basically, she asked what happened to the maid who suddenly got beautiful skin overnight, but they stubbornly refused to say, 'I can't tell you,' right?"
"At least you should have seen this coming."
"I did see it coming. But I thought Aunt would just send a maid to call me, you know?"
After listening to Chloe's explanation, Sara looked at Elizabeth with a mix of disbelief.
"The maids wouldn't even talk about going to Maiden's Tower, so my mother was running around trying to figure out what they were up to all morning like it was some big investigation. And my mother was getting more and more frustrated and even tried to whip the beauty maid."
"Did she use violence?"
"She had someone hold down the other maid and pretended to whip her."
"That's still enough violence just to threaten like that."
"Yeah, I won't make excuses."
Chloe slumped her shoulders sadly.
"But I also have a responsibility for carelessly increasing the number of subjects, Chloe."
"I kind of expected this, so I was planning to help out... I'm sorry. I slept really well last night because it was so late."
"It's not your fault, Chloe."
Sara gently approached Elizabeth, who was tied up and lying on the floor.
"I'm going to untie you now, but please don't struggle or make a scene, okay? Try to have some sense."
After confirming that Elizabeth nodded, Sara smoothly untied her.
"I'm sorry for showing you such an embarrassing side of me."
"Absolutely. More importantly, Aunt, are you okay after making such a scene in front of your husband, father-in-law, and brother-in-law?"
"Of course I'm not okay."
"You're overreacting. You made Chloe look like this too. Please apologize properly to the maids later."
Sara made Elizabeth sit on the sofa and rejuvenated her skin in front of the watching men. She took out a hand mirror from her space storage and gently handed it to Elizabeth.
"What is that?!"
"L-Liz? You look like you did before getting married!"
"Whoa. Does the fairy's blessing work on Liz too?"
'Hmm. So men react like this too. This is quite interesting.'
"Aunt, are you satisfied?"
"Y-Yes. I never thought it was your magic. I thought it was a new product from the Sophia Merchant Guild."
"Right now, it can only be done with my magic, but I am developing a magic potion (serum) with this effect. They agreed to be test subjects for it. However, we haven't tested what effects it might have after getting beautiful skin. Just..."
"Just?"
"One of the developers said it would be so expensive because of the ingredients that even nobles would be shocked."
"Even nobles would be shocked..."
Elizabeth's face twitched.
"Also, even if your skin is rejuvenated like this, if you do nothing, it will get damaged again. Just making it younger doesn't mean you can stay beautiful forever. We will also need to develop other products to maintain that skin quality."
"So, even if it costs a lot to make the skin younger, it will also cost a lot to keep it that way?"
"To put it simply, yes. Also, not everyone has the same skin, and some people may react differently to magic. So, we won't sell the skin rejuvenation serum to the general public. It will only be available after receiving counseling from experts at the Sophia Merchant Guild and being in a position to take care of it afterward."
"Well, what if the queen orders you to sell it?"
"I guess we can only say to come to the Sophia Merchant Guild in the Grandchester territory."
"You might get punished for being disrespectful, you know?"
"In that case, I'll spread the word. 'The queen kidnapped a reluctant little girl to maintain her beautiful skin.' If we're not careful, there might be pictures of the queen bathing in the blood of young girls all over the place."
Sara smiled sweetly, and the adults around her and Chloe all stepped back at once.
"That's scary to think about!"
"Even if it's just a story, it sounds believable. The queen is not that kind of person, okay?"
Edward and Marquis Grandchester hurriedly jumped in to defend Sara.
"Everyone, it's just a silly joke."
"That's way too dark!"
"Come on, if it really happened like that, the royal castle wouldn't be safe at all."
"That sounds way scarier."
Robert wasn't silent either.
"Sara... if you're going to blow up the royal castle, please at least protect Prince Andrew, okay?"
"Chloe, you never waver."
"Well, if there's no prince, I can't become a princess. Plus, if Sara destroys the castle, Sara'll probably rebuild it, right? Maybe even add a bathroom and toilet like Maiden's Tower."
"I'll think about it if I ever get the chance to blow up the royal castle."
Chloe had gotten so used to Sara that she was very strong. Knowing it was just a joke, she felt safe to play with words.
"Well, anyway, Aunt. Although it's still in development, please promote that the Sophia Merchant Guild will be focusing more on the beauty and fashion sectors in the future, okay? If you can do that, I'll offer this treatment for free this time. But starting next time, it will be paid, so please discuss it with Uncle before making a decision. The price will be shockingly high."
"Y-yes, I understand."
"And if there are any urgent requests for treatment, I'll let you know the price."
Sara whispered the amount into Elizabeth's ear.
"Wha! It's that expensive!!!?"
"The treatment is done by the famous alchemist, Paracelsus."
"I'm scared that women will sell their souls to the devil just to look younger."
At that moment, Edward approached and lightly tapped Elizabeth on the shoulder.
"Liz, I don't know how much you heard, but remember that selling your soul to the devil isn't just something women do."
"Is that so?"
"Of course, the desire to be young and beautiful exists for men too. However, more than that, those in power hate showing their age. They want to appear young and energetic to show that their control hasn't weakened."
'I see. I never thought of it that way. The beauty sector seems incredibly profitable.'
"So, does Uncle want to become younger?"
"Hmm. If possible, I'd like to be someone who doesn't look out of place standing next to the current Liz."
"Oh, I want to look a bit younger at my wedding with Revi too. Even though our actual ages aren't that different, I look like an old man marrying a girl."
"Just so you know, getting younger only affects the skin. Father, your little belly that has recently appeared won't go away, okay?"
"Hey! How do you know about that?"
"I can tell just by looking. I know you're busy with work, but you're not getting enough exercise. How about practicing swordsmanship with me? I plan to start again tomorrow morning."
But it was Marquis Grandchester who reacted to this line.
"Oh, so Sara is starting sword training again tomorrow. In that case, why don't we have a little sparring session before you leave?"
"I'm fine with that, but are you sure it's okay since you're busy, Grandfather?"
"Haha. I might get scolded by my aides later. But I haven't seen Sara's sword skills yet."
"Understood. Then I'll go to the Knights' headquarters tomorrow morning."
"I see. I'm looking forward to it."
"I guess I should swing my sword again after a long time, huh?"
"Rob... how many years has it been for you?"
"Well, I did have some basic training as a noble. Don't compare me to Jeff or my father. What about you, Ed?"
"Just so you know, I've been training in swordsmanship with father at the estate in the capital."
"Oh, really?"
"That's why I don't have a belly like you."
Edward said this with a cool expression.
'It's true that my uncle has a good physique. I see, he trained with my grandfather. But I wonder why he didn't do the same with his work. Such a strange family.'
While thinking about this, Sara rejuvenated Edward and Robert's skin. She asked the Marquis if he wanted the same treatment, but he said, "I prefer to stay natural," so she didn't do anything for him.
Due to this treatment, a huge storm will sweep through this season's social scene. Of course, Sara had expected this, but at that moment, she still didn't know that she would be hit by a storm so strong that it would make her predictions seem laughable.
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