"Luxuriaria... a dream city upon the water..."
The words slipped from Yuri's lips as his imagination ran away with him.
At that, Lieselotte and Ophelia traded glances and narrowed their eyes with interest.
"...My lord, just what is that...?"
Ophelia's quiet voice snapped Yuri back to himself, and he scratched his head in embarrassment with a small laugh.
"Ah, sorry. It's still only at the concept stage. First we need to get the salon up and running, and then push ahead with industrial development and agricultural reform."
At Yuri's words, Lieselotte thought for a moment before speaking.
"Still, if the salon is to be our centerpiece, then even if soap belongs there, candles, tableware, and silk textiles might be more efficiently sold elsewhere."
"Indeed. It would be wiser to handle beauty-related goods through the Luna-Noir Trading Company and wholesale the rest to the Saint-Elmo Trading Company."
Ophelia nodded in agreement with Lieselotte's suggestion.
"Right. The Saint-Elmo Trading Company is extending us credit, after all. That might be the better approach."
Yuri nodded as well, apparently convinced. As she listened to the exchange, Lieselotte tilted her head as if a thought had just struck her.
"Come to think of it, Lord Yuri, can your Merchant Gift only conduct transactions in gold and silver coins?"
"Hm? No, not necessarily coins... As long as it's something that can be converted into money, like gemstones, it should work."
When Yuri answered, relief washed over Lieselotte's face.
"Were you worried that vast quantities of gold and silver might vanish from the kingdom?"
Catching her meaning, Yuri asked the question aloud. He did want to avoid disturbing the kingdom's economy as much as possible, but at present he had yet to come up with a good solution.
"Yes. Much would depend on the scale of demand, of course. But if the Crown were to deem it a grave enough problem... you could be charged with high treason."
Yuri frowned. The words high treason landed heavily in his chest.
"...That serious?"
When he asked, Lieselotte gave a small nod and continued in a subdued voice.
"In the worst case, an entire house could be executed."
There was a trace of uncertainty in her expression, yet her eyes were fixed on Yuri with utter seriousness. That alone told him how grave her concern was. Meeting her gaze, Yuri asked slowly,
"But you'd still need money to buy the gemstones, and if the Merchant Gift consumes them, doesn't that amount to the same thing in the end?"
"Compared to gold and silver vanishing, a modest reduction in gemstones would have almost no effect on daily life. So it would not be a problem."
Lieselotte answered with a gentle smile.
Huh. Maybe Lotte isn't all that interested in jewelry...
Though the thought snagged at him, Yuri turned his mind back to the matter at hand and asked,
"If we're going to use gemstones for the Merchant Gift, where do we get the money to buy them?"
At that, Lieselotte smiled brightly, as though she had been waiting for him to ask.
"In that case, let us use the jewelry we received at the Presentation Ceremony."
"What? Sell gifts we were given?"
Startled by her bold proposal, Yuri raised his voice in surprise. In that instant, a memory from his previous life came back to him.
A present he had once given a hostess who was about to retire and get married.
When he later saw it listed in an online auction, the shock had hit him so hard he had been unable to go to work the next day. That night, wavering between lingering attachment and wistful sadness, he had forced himself to accept it by wishing for her happiness. He remembered with some emotion how he had shed tears, telling himself he had finally grown up.
"What? You mean you would not sell them? Lord Yuri, do you wish for my mother to be stolen away by another man?"
Lieselotte stared at him in horror, as though thinking, Surely you can't have such tastes... Yuri, meanwhile, stared back just as aghast.
"What? Why? They're gifts, aren't they?"
"For noblewomen, the chance to take a lover comes after marriage and after bearing children. When a man gifts a woman his own jewels, it is much the same as declaring, 'Once you tire of your husband, I shall be the one to amuse you.' So for a married lady to wear those jewels to an evening party amounts to tacit consent—to say, 'I accept an affair with you.'"
"What?"
Yuri could only stare blankly at Lieselotte as he listened to her explanation. His mind had gone utterly white.
"My lord, it is true," Chloe added flatly, pressing a hand to her forehead. "My own mother keeps a lover, and at court, more than half the ladies do the same."
"N-No! Get rid of all those jewels at once!"
Yuri slammed both hands down on the table and shot to his feet. His voice rang through the room, and Lieselotte and the others exchanged startled looks. Yuri clenched his fist and muttered darkly,
"So that's why there were so many of them... I'll need a list later of every man who sent jewelry..."
"I am relieved," Lieselotte said with an easing smile. "I truly did wonder what I would do if Lord Yuri harbored such a pitiable taste."
"Yes. Apparently there are even salons that host nighttime viewings, so I am genuinely glad you do not possess such inclinations."
Ophelia smiled as well, joining Lieselotte in a small sigh of relief.
"The fact that such salons exist at all is shocking! A-And I don't have tastes like that!"
Yuri's face turned bright red, and he dropped back into his chair. Once he had finally calmed down, Lieselotte spoke again.
"Even if we can cover procurement for the time being, we will still need a steady way to secure gemstones after that. What shall we do?"
"Right. We can consult the Saint-Elmo Trading Company for now, but eventually it would be nice to produce them ourselves."
Yuri said it casually, and Lieselotte and Ophelia stared at him as if to say, What on earth is this man talking about?
"Lord Yuri. There is no dungeon in the Reberk Barony where gemstones can be obtained."
When Lieselotte gently reminded him of that, Yuri answered with a slightly mulish look.
"I know that much. Most dungeons are in the Free Cities League, right?"
Lieselotte answered with an elegant smile.
"How reassuring. It seems even Lord Yuri, who can be rather innocent of common sense, does at least know some things."
"That was quietly cruel!"
When Yuri protested, even Ophelia, seated beside him, let the corner of her mouth lift in a small smile. Lieselotte gave a shrug, then, as if setting the joke aside, asked,
"So then, how do you intend to make gemstones?"
Drawing on memories from his previous life, Yuri thought for a moment before answering.
"I don't know if it'll work, but I was wondering whether we might be able to raise pearls in the lake by the harem."
"Can pearls truly be produced in a lake?"
Lieselotte asked in surprise, and Yuri answered with a hint of uncertainty.
"Yeah. If we raise the right kind of shellfish, it should be possible. I was thinking we could try it slowly and patiently."
Hearing that, Ophelia let out a soft laugh.
"If pearls that can normally be found only in dungeons could be harvested from a lake, our gemstone procurement problem would be solved all at once."
Yuri puffed out his cheeks a little and jutted out his lower lip.
"That laugh means you don't believe me. I'll make you all gape one day, you'll see!"
Lieselotte and Ophelia exchanged a smile. After a brief pause, Ophelia returned to a serious expression and asked Yuri,
"That aside, my lord, what price do you intend to set for the beauty elixir?"
Still feeling a little disgruntled, Yuri thought for a moment before answering.
"In that case, I'll leave that to you and Lotte. I imagine the procurement cost starts at no less than one gold coin."
Yuri's airy reply made Ophelia narrow her eyes and let out the faintest sigh.
"Goodness... and not at the most important question?"
At her quiet rebuke, Yuri gave a wry smile.
"Haha. It just means I trust you and Lotte that much."
Yuri tried to brush it off lightly, but Ophelia folded her arms and pursed her lips.
"You merely wish to palm the work off on us in a polite fashion. Still, I do not altogether dislike being entrusted by you. I shall do my utmost, then."
Her cold glance made Yuri look away for an instant, and he scratched his cheek awkwardly.
"R-Right... I'm counting on you."
Meanwhile, after watching their exchange, Lieselotte let out a small sigh. Resting a finger against her chin, she thought for a moment and then turned to Chloe.
"Chloe, if the procurement cost is one gold coin, could you make a rough calculation of what price would be appropriate?"
Chloe nodded and ran her quill across the ledger before her. Amid the quiet scratch of pen on paper, she answered in her composed voice.
"Once you factor in transport costs, guard fees, road tolls, market taxes, customs duties, sales tax... and beyond that, shop rent, employees' wages, the annual dues to the Retailers' Guild, and security for the premises, the costs will easily amount to another gold coin at minimum. We would need a proper estimate, of course, but if the target market is the nobility, I should like to price it at no less than five gold coins."
"What? That high?"
Taken aback by the figure Chloe named, Yuri found himself repeating it over and over in his head.
"Of course," Ophelia continued in all seriousness. "As Lady Celine herself said, our skin became wonderfully plump and firm."
She lifted her chin with a proud little motion.
"It is a product for nobles. If it is not costly, it would lose credibility instead."
Yuri could only stare at her in amazement.
Well... I suppose it is a high-value-added product. And it's not as if I ever bought beauty serum in my previous life...
Realizing the limits of his own knowledge, Yuri let out a small breath. Seeing him like that, Ophelia smiled softly. She raised a hand to her cheek and touched it lightly, as if testing its spring.
"You needn't worry. I use it every day myself, and I can assure you it truly rejuvenates the skin."
The skin that shone beneath the light as she smiled with such confidence made Margaret, Chloe, and Lily, who had been watching nearby, catch their breath.
"How wonderful..."
Margaret breathed out in admiration, and Chloe murmured enviously,
"What... what is that skin of yours...? W-Well, if the effect is that remarkable, then it may well be worth more than ten gold coins."
"A-As expected of Your Highness, Princess of the Dark Moon... I-It's amazing..."
Lily's voice trembled with heartfelt admiration. Yuri gave an awkward little laugh at their reactions.
"Wow... everyone really is curious."
Margaret and the others coughed with slight embarrassment, then quickly rearranged their expressions as though nothing had happened.
"Of course they are. Beauty is a woman's eternal longing."
With a sigh, Ophelia added, wearing a look of mild exasperation,
"My lord, you truly have no idea how much women polish themselves for the sake of men."
"Why not let everyone have a little as well, later?"
At that suggestion, Margaret's eyes lit up at once. Noticing, Yuri smiled and nodded.
"Sure. I'll give everyone some later."
Then, as though something had just occurred to her, Lieselotte looked to Yuri with a worried expression.
"Even if the beauty elixir is to remain exclusively for the nobility, you do intend to sell the soap and shampoo to commoners as well, do you not? Will it be possible to produce something within the territory that matches the quality of what the Merchant Gift can obtain?"