TBULF 10

chapter 10

“You’re insulting your own family?”

I couldn’t tell if she was being high-level sarcastic or genuinely serious.

Again.
All of them were once more caught off guard.

“What on earth…?”

While their words failed them, Serenitia, like a “wall of a defender,” cheerfully spoke next.

“It’s true… Anyway, since both of you are here, let’s start the presentation.”

But beneath the smile, Serenitia’s heart was, very subtly, conflicted.
Feeling the gazes of the two pairs upon her…
“I just got rejected for chocolate flirting.”

…She was a little intimidated.

“I’m pretty sure he liked chocolate before I returned in this life.”

The gap between the past Rafael and the current Rafael made her feel bitter as memories of sharing sweets surfaced.

“Still, he’s the Rafael I like! I’ve got to cheer up!”

Clutching the blueprint firmly, she looked around.
She was confident about the blueprint itself.
Yet, despite that, the shadows of her past, always lurking, briefly held her back.

“Ah, what if my voice comes out all squeaky…?”

But!

“I have the presentation skills of the master from my previous life, who used to make me work like a dog!”

She had watched his dazzling presentations dozens of times!

Serenitia installed 0.1g of courage in her heart again.
Clutching the blueprint with her signature at the bottom, she summoned her courage solemnly and spoke.

“Then! Let’s begin.”

Finally, the presentation for the blueprint had begun.

“Everyone, what should a salon be like?”
“At the very least, it shouldn’t be as ordinary as your blueprint.”

Madame Isidel’s cutting words were accurate.
At first glance, the blueprint Serenitia had shown seemed ordinary.

Serenitia nodded.
“Exactly. Then let’s talk about something else! First, the recent philosophy of salon construction is that ‘the guest must be comfortable.’”

Madame Isidel snorted briefly.
“That’s a philosophy anyone could have.”

She seemed already disinterested, as if hearing it was bothersome.
But then, at that moment, Serenitia lightly tapped the top part of the blueprint.

“But I thought differently. Could you take a look at this blueprint?”

Silence fell, and Rafael raised an eyebrow.

“The most important person in a salon is not the guest.”

His tone was precise, professional—not curious, not indifferent.

“Then who?”

“The madam herself.”

Madame Isidel grabbed her fan.
“Hmph, flattery, huh?”

“No, it’s not flattery. It’s the truth. Guests only stay for a short while, but the madam remains for a long time preparing the party. I first thought about what she would need. So…”

Serenitia pointed at the very end of the third-floor blueprint, a small mysterious room, and smiled.

“This is the madam’s room.”

“You put the madam’s room inside the salon? Nonsense. No salon has that.”

“But even the most veteran could not easily manage hearing countless people, conversing with them, sharpening their senses, and quickly handling social affairs.”

Madame Isidel’s fingertip stiffened slightly.
But her exterior was not easily cracked.

“So, that’s your secret weapon?”

“…No. Let’s move on. Do you know how the ‘maid and servant call bell’ in the mansion works?”

“Do you think I’m a child? The call bell transmits via the mana circuit inside the wall.”

“Exactly. Then, ding, ding-ding. Do you know what this sound is?”

“Ha. You even crudely imitate the call bell sound.”

Serenitia nodded.
“Yes! Crude, right? But you understood. That’s great. As you said, usually, no matter which room you press the salon’s call bell from, the sound is the same in the maid and servant rooms. So maids and servants must go to every room to find which one called them.”

“That’s obvious…”

“Exactly. But I designed the mana circuits so that each room’s bell sounds differently. Room 1 is ding, Room 2 is deeding, Room 3 is ding-dong-deng!”

Serenitia’s imitation was still crude.
Unlike before, Madame Isidel’s eyes widened.

This way, visitors would use a faster and more convenient system.
Even her hoarse, capable head maid would be more comfortable.

But…

“Ha! You… now…”
She twisted her mouth.
“…Are you joking?”

There was a fatal flaw in Serenitia’s design.
At the moment Madame Isidel glared sharply at her, Rafael’s eyes narrowed, sensing something.
And Serenitia’s mouth curled up slightly.

“What is?”

“Make a realistically implementable design. This is impossible. Wake up from your delusion, last place.”

When he harshly emphasized that she was at the bottom of the academy rankings, the color drained from Serenitia’s face.

“You know I’m last place and are so interested!”

…She didn’t walk out.

‘Just how low are his expectations of others?’

An opponent she couldn’t attack at all.
Madame Isidel was about to shout again that it was “unrealizable,” but the response came from elsewhere.
From Rafael.

“This design can be realistically implemented.”

“…Duke, what do you mean?”

“Here.”

The document Rafael pointed at was filled with formulas.
He had apparently checked the calculations while they were bickering.
If the Duke himself had verified the mana circuit formulas, it couldn’t be wrong.

‘Even the young architect, Vero Ansen, who recently visited the North, wouldn’t have designed a mana circuit like this.’

While Madame Isidel blinked, Rafael organized the blueprint at a precise pace.

“Do you have any objections, aunt?”

For Rafael, this meant approval.

Meanwhile, Madame Isidel’s eyes were sharp. She had intended to object upon coming here, but Serenitia’s blueprint…

‘It can’t be this perfect.’

She narrowed her eyes and looked at Serenitia.
Then whispered softly:

“No objections.”

“…?”

When Rafael and Serenitia’s gaze met in the center, Madame Isidel exhaled and continued:

“None. But… the building may not be perfectly constructed as designed. If I dislike it, even once completed, I will tear it down. And all costs of construction will be charged to you as debt. Do you accept that?”

A line that could feel almost malicious.
And Serenitia replied seriously:

“Black Panther—no, Madame Isidel. I am not a fool.”

So she still wouldn’t do business under debt?
At that moment, Serenitia’s eyes sparkled.

“Of course I’ll do it!”

No, how could this prickly Black Panther say such a thing!
‘She can’t possibly be dissatisfied!’

Heart pounding and proud, I nodded to Madame Isidel.
Looking into the eyes of the cute little black panther, reminiscent of Rafael, no, Madame Isidel, I said:

“But I have conditions too! You’ll be in charge of my wedding, Madame Isidel!”

“Agreed.”

“If I build the salon properly, please make my wedding preparations perfect and splendid as well!”

Madame Isidel stared at Serenitia, then smirked.

“…Fine, I’ll make it a scale that even the princess would envy. If you do well, that is.”

“Oh…!”

“But competent with a head full of flowers? Impossible. I don’t trust you.”

She passed me coldly.
Then, the driest man in the world.
Rafael, as if everything was over, spoke indifferently:

“Regarding the construction of this annex, I will explain via documents later. Return to the guest room.”

I received the contract.
But there was a huge problem here.

‘…Wait, does that mean my meeting with Rafael ends like this?’

My eyes shook violently.

‘Considering the construction process… I might not be able to see Rafael for a while?’

This time, I needed a strong, impactful move.