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Chapter 11
Amon Sashé.
The second son of the Sashé family and its first adopted child.
A man who operated in the shadows, carrying out all of Duke Sashé’s atrocities on his behalf.
He was now quietly watching the back of his half-sister—someone with whom he shared no blood.
This place, filled with overpowering fragrances, was honestly enough to give him a headache.
Even the smell of chemicals and ink used to produce counterfeit money was unpleasant, but this place was on an entirely different level—so overwhelming it felt almost like mental confusion.
It was as if “suffocating someone with fragrance” had been taken literally.
And yet Biliette lived here just fine.
He had thought her sensitive nose would make this difficult, but apparently not.
Rather than simply being “sensitive,” she seemed to perceive each layered scent separately—and enjoy it.
“……”
Amon leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, not making a single sound.
He didn’t want to interrupt the “performance” unfolding before him.
The first time he met Biliette, he had found it amusing—the small child who instinctively backed away at the smell of blood that shouldn’t have been there.
Just an adopted girl with no talent, chosen only because she was pretty.
Nothing more, nothing less.
But it turned out Biliette did have a talent.
The talent of composing fragrance.
Whoosh!
Behind Biliette, who was completely absorbed, faint illusions spread like delicate butterfly wings.
This phenomenon only appeared when she was fully immersed in making perfume, and as far as he knew, he alone in the world had ever seen it.
Even Biliette herself had no idea it existed—which satisfied Amon greatly.
“Your perfume… the formula is different from before.”
When everything ended, even the butterfly-like wings scattered and disappeared.
When he spoke, Biliette looked at him with a dazed expression, like someone who had been wandering in a dream.
Amon liked that look too.
That helpless, unfocused gaze was beautiful.
“A… Amon?”
“Yes.”
Amon lazily reached out a gloved hand and brushed her cheek.
“I brought the payment.”
“How much did it sell for?”
“Three hundred million.”
He replied flatly and kicked the money sack on the floor.
“Count it yourself.”
“You didn’t mix counterfeit bills in like last time, did you?”
Suspicion flickered in Biliette’s eyes.
And she had every reason to be suspicious.
Amon, who enjoyed troubling her, often slipped a few fake bills into the bundles.
And then, when she found them, he would lazily say:
“Good job, puppy.”
It was quite entertaining to watch her look like she wanted to stomp on his foot.
Even though she never actually would.
“Well. I just like seeing you struggle.”
He shrugged, quietly observing the protest forming in her golden eyes.
The way her irrationality and immersion faded like a tide, replaced by calm, cold logic—it always felt a little disappointing.
“You were prettier earlier.”
“What?”
“Nothing. Just talking to myself.”
In truth, Amon was far too busy to personally handle something as trivial as transporting money.
Anyone who knew him would be shocked that Amon Sashé had personally carried a money sack for his sister.
He only took personal action when someone needed to be beaten to a pulp.
“So, what’s the name of the new perfume?”
He asked lazily, and Biliette’s lips slowly parted.
When I turned around and saw Amon, I nearly fainted.
‘Stop sneaking in here and watching me!’
I had told him countless times, but he never listened.
Annoyed, I forced myself to hide my irritation.
“I haven’t decided yet.”
“Why did you make it?”
“For someone I want to give it to.”
Ugh. So annoying.
He kept staring at me again.
That piercing gaze was unbearable.
I tried looking away, then forced myself to meet it—but either way, I was the only one uncomfortable.
Please stop doing that.
“Who is it for?”
Even though I answered vaguely, Amon kept pressing.
Under his dark violet hair, his shadowy, almost sticky gaze felt like a nightmare itself.
His trained body and tall frame—shaped by years of violent work—made him intimidating just by standing there.
If he weren’t my brother, I would’ve taken the longest possible route to avoid him.
Watching him train his subordinates in the backyard made me want to pretend I saw nothing.
Why does my family look like this when other nobles have knight orders?
‘I really ended up inside the wrong book.’
Thinking that, I hid the perfume I had just made against my chest.
“Don’t worry about it. It’s not for sale.”
At that moment, Amon’s eyes flashed.
“I don’t want to use my abilities on a puppy.”
“……”
“So behave properly so I don’t have to.”
Even when spoken calmly, it was still a threat.
That was why I hated Amon.
If persuasion didn’t work, he immediately switched to coercion.
No charm at all. Not even cute like Helios.
Helios had a temper too, but at least he was cute.
“You know I got married recently, right?”
I didn’t want to continue the conversation any longer.
I replied a bit sharply, and Amon paused, frowned, then slowly nodded.
“Right, you did.”
“I’m giving it to him. Father told me to ‘tame’ him.”
My attitude toward Richard and my attitude toward Amon were very different.
The reason was simple.
They wanted different things from me.
If Richard liked me acting like a sweet, obedient pet, that didn’t work on Amon.
What Amon liked was a “slightly insolent attitude that didn’t cross the line.”
Knowing that, I behaved exactly within that range.
‘Still… did I push it too far? Should I act a bit more submissive?’
I swallowed my anxiety and looked up at him.
Fortunately, he seemed distracted and wasn’t paying attention to my behavior.
“Using a perfume you made…”
He dragged out his words, clearly displeased.
I tensed slightly.
If I had to choose between Blain and Amon, I would choose Blain.
Blain was predictable. Amon was not.
If Blain got angry, I could soothe him—but Amon… I wasn’t confident I could handle him.
“I’m following Father’s orders. I chose the most efficient method.”
In the end, I brought up the duke’s authority.
After all, Amon was still obedient to him.
“Your husband doesn’t listen to you?”
Those violet eyes filled with nightmares turned toward me.
…What am I supposed to say here?
After a moment of hesitation, I forced a smile.
“He’s just a child. Of course he listens.”
I had no idea what part of that satisfied him, but after that, Amon let me go.
Cold sweat ran down my back.
It was always like this with him.
“So I need a healing potion. Sell me one.”
Fortunately, he didn’t refuse and nodded.
“Helios?”
When I climbed the stairs back to the mansion, everything was already swallowed by darkness.
Rubbing my tired eyes, I opened the bedroom door—and froze.
A strange smell.
Normally I would have ignored it, but my sense of smell was heightened from working with perfumes earlier.
‘What is this scent? It’s really unusual.’
It wasn’t perfume.
If anything, it resembled body scent—but the strange part was that it was floating in the air.
The window was wide open, so it mixed with the rain, damp earth, and wind drifting in from outside—but my nose told me something else.
Hidden within it all…
This was a scent I had never smelled before.
