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He was startled and quickly straightened his posture.
Calix’s heart tightened painfully.
He had assumed it was natural for Mari to attract attention because she was beautiful.
But he had never imagined that she would receive such persistent courtship.
“By the way, what about you, Duke? So full of pride!”
“Pride?”
“You’ve been sitting back and doing nothing, and in the end, some other guy might take the woman you like.”
“Can’t you watch your words!”
Calix scolded sharply.
Yet the old woman seemed entirely unconcerned, ignoring his piercing red eyes as she focused on her ladle.
“But isn’t it true? Others go all out with flowers, letters, and gifts, but you, Duke, don’t seem very proactive.”
“…”
“What kind of capable woman like our lady would choose a man she doesn’t like?”
“Don’t talk nonsense. When have I ever—”
He protested indignantly.
But Tama paid no heed and continued stirring the pot mercilessly.
“So you deny it? How many women would think a man who doesn’t even show his face properly likes them?”
“…”
“Trying to hide something makes you look like someone plotting a shady scheme. If our lady married such a man, I’d pack up and follow her just to stop it.”
“Shady…?”
“Of course! Our lady notices a man’s face!”
“…!”
Calix was left speechless.
He had never even dreamed that he might appear that way to Mari.
“Oh! It’s ready!”
Tama poured a liquid from a small vial.
“Here we go!”
Calix jumped to his feet.
“Come on, pour it straight into that bearded fellow’s mouth. He’ll wake up immediately!”
The glass bottle Tama handed him held a brown liquid, steam rising faintly from its lukewarm surface.
Calix pried open Ludik’s mouth and poured the entire contents down.
“Ugh!”
Sure enough, Ludik regained consciousness immediately.
However, perhaps due to the alcohol he had consumed or the harshness of the sobering potion, he ended up vomiting uncontrollably, barely able to focus.
“Uwaaahhh!”
After some time, a dazed Ludik finally spoke.
“Huh? That patented item? I’ve already shipped it!”
Calix went with him to the Ludik Trading Company to check the shipping slip.
But the destination wasn’t Roar.
“Ah! T-this is terrible! The glowing star package meant for Arsen got swapped with the address! What should I do?”
Seeing Calix’s piercing gaze, Ludik trembled and pleaded.
“P-please forgive me! I must have been distracted promoting Arsen!”
“Promoting what?”
“T-trying to increase exports. I spread a rumor that the interior quality in Leongrad had started to surpass Arsen’s!”
It was trouble on top of trouble.
At dawn, Josh awoke in his bed.
He had spent the previous night riding and was just about to fall into a deep sleep when he sensed commotion outside.
“What’s going on?”
Looking out the window, he saw knights and servants preparing the horses and guessed the situation.
“Ugh, that Ludik fellow is already awake…!”
If you’re going to drink, either don’t, or drink so much you can’t wake up at all, he thought.
“My body…”
When he arrived at the stables, Calix was personally saddling the black horse.
“A-are we really departing already? You barely had any rest…”
“Yes. We’re heading to Peron Port.”
“I-I see…”
Seeing Josh frown, Calix paused and asked:
“Why?”
“N-nothing.”
“You look tired. You can rest if you want.”
“No, I can’t. I’ll get ready quickly…”
Calix and Josh’s group rode again toward the southern port of Leongrad.
After searching the harbor meticulously, the knights of Calix and the Bloodstone Dukes finally located the ship carrying the cargo.
It was just about to depart.
“Stop the ship immediately!”
The knights forced planks across the ship’s sides, preventing it from leaving.
“W-what is the meaning of this, sirs?!”
As the black-uniformed knights boarded, the captain and crew bowed deeply.
They were terrified at the sight of Calix’s black mask.
“P-please spare us! We are authorized to export goods to Arsen!”
“Lord…”
Josh, reluctantly following despite Calix’s warnings, was already half out of it.
It was already 2 p.m. By now, it was impossible to reach Roar on time from the port.
Seeing Josh’s trembling legs, Calix turned to the old captain.
“Captain. Head to Roar immediately.”
“W-what?”
The captain panicked, kneeling with his hat in hand.
“Sir! You can’t! If we stop at Roar, we won’t reach Arsen on time. I’d have to pay the penalties for all the cargo onboard!”
“…How much are the penalties?”
“W-what?”
“Didn’t you hear me? How much?”
The captain had no idea how to respond. Was Calix simply asking or using it as a pretext to kill him?
“All the cargo… all of it?”
“Yes.”
“T-that’s… very expensive. Roughly… a billion…”
“I’ll cover it. I’ll buy all the goods myself. Is that enough?”
“My lord!”
Josh screamed beside him. One billion for mere interior items? His rear ached, his eyes glazed. He probably wasn’t fully aware of reality.
“My lord! Even so, a billion is ridiculous!”
But Calix didn’t listen. His gaze was already fixed on Roar.
“Haah…”
Josh wiped the sweat from his forehead, feeling dizzy.
“I-I don’t know…”
The captain cautiously stood, watching Calix and Josh for cues.
That same afternoon.
Mari wore a soft sky-blue dress, adorned with a white pearl necklace and matching earrings.
Her long, light-brown hair was elegantly styled, some strands left loose on each side.
A ribbon made from the same fabric as her dress completed the look. She looked stunning even to herself.
“…”
Yet her expression wasn’t cheerful.
There was no news from Calix. He should have arrived at the latest by that morning.
“Miss, could there have been a mistake on the shipping slip I sent?”
Mildred asked dejectedly. Though Ludik hadn’t shipped the items, she felt responsible as the one who ordered the materials.
“I suppose we’ll have to check.”
“I’m sorry. I was certain I wrote it correctly…”
“No. We don’t know the reason yet.”
Knock knock. Dioge arrived.
“Master! What should we do now?! Without it, we can’t cover the windows!”
He looked like he might cry.
“It’s entirely my fault! I should have checked the arrivals and schedule ahead of time!”
“No, Miss. I think I made the mistake.”
“No, Master. Mildred did nothing wrong. I should have overseen things better! As the supervisor, it’s all my responsibility.”
Dioge bowed deeply. Mildred lowered her head beside him.
“Stop both of you. We don’t even know the cause yet.”
Mari sighed lightly, watching the curtains flutter outside.
Carriages were arriving at the mansion, coming for the banquet and interior unveiling.
But the black carriage she was waiting for hadn’t arrived.
“Did something happen to the items? I thought Ludik would just deliver them…”
Mari sighed and drew the curtain.
In Leongrad, curtains were the only way to block sunlight.
Different fabrics and materials could vary the curtains, but nothing more advanced had been developed.
But with memories from her previous life, Mari decided to create something to block sunlight instead of curtains.
‘Exciting! Anything I make can be patented!’
A long, thin rectangular panel with horizontal slats on each side: a blind.
A vertical blind with vertical slats.
A roller screen wrapped around a rod.
‘Three inventions at once! With these, Mari Whitehouse can become synonymous with window interiors.’
When she brought the prototypes to Ludik, he nearly fainted.
“Wow! Oh! Ooh!”
He couldn’t even critique them, only repeatedly asking if she really developed them herself.
Soon, he composed himself and kept unfolding and folding the blinds and screens, muttering frantically.
“Oh! These high-end items! Orders will flood in! The profit will surpass the glowing stars! Orders from abroad are already increasing, and once these are announced, it’ll be chaos!”
Mari herself had high expectations for these patented items.
Though the glowing stars were in demand, many dismissed them as children’s toys. Many still didn’t fully recognize her interior skills.
But blinds and roller screens were directly related to windows, a core part of a space.
Plus, there would likely be strong demand in offices and commercial spaces.
The item everyone was waiting for was one of these blinds.
‘This banquet was supposed to be a perfect opportunity to promote them…’
By 6 p.m., the items still hadn’t arrived. Something had clearly gone wrong.
Yet, she couldn’t present an unfinished interior.
