“Ann, what if we say Lord Sesar is creating flowers to decorate the garden? It should be part of the household management then.”

“Oh! I never thought of it that way. Your Grace, when I succeed in making the roses, I will fill the mansion’s garden with them. Please don’t worry.”

Sesar brightened up and agreed with Rubica. For a moment, Ann didn’t know what to say.

“… but it will cost too much, Your Grace.”

“Even if it is an investment? Ann, could you give me a document on how much budget we have left?”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

Rubica took the document from Ann and checked how much money she could use. Sesar was asking for a lot of money. Investing on him was going to leave the household short in money for about a year.

Most noble mistresses would have stopped there, but Rubica was different.

She was an unstoppable train running toward bankruptcy.

‘I must spend the entire budget by autumn.’

The society in the capital was going to be busy with balls during winter. Rubica was planning to go to the capital at any cost. Then, the Claymore Family would have to think of her reputation as the duchess and spend money on dresses even if she had already spent the entire budget. She would need to spend diligently if she wanted to use up the budget before then.

“I think it will be fine. If you are worried, why don’t we get a portion of the revenue through selling roses? Lord Sesar, will you be able to succeed in making them before this summer?”

“Yes, you don’t have to worry about it!”

Ann looked embarrassed when Rubica talked about money. Terms like investment and collection of investment costs were considered inappropriate for noble ladies.

“But who would buy such flowers?”

“People of this kingdom won’t, of course. They say flowers are luxurious but like to decorate their gardens with much more expensive rocks.”

“Yes, you are right, Your Grace. So please, reconsider this.”

Rubica was the daughter of a merchant, so she wasn’t ashamed of talking about money. Moreover, her time at the abbey had taught her nothing mattered more than money when convincing people.

Most of the visitors she had met today had come to get that from her. Rubica then recalled a method her father had often used to persuade investors and busily moved her small lips.

“However, people in the other kingdoms like to plant flowers in their gardens. Roses are trees. They can be exported without a problem. I think such unique and beautiful roses would certainly have value as luxurious goods.”

“Huh, I never thought of that.”

Sesar realized his work could be much more productive than he expected and blinked. He was driven by his passion for his work. He couldn’t be content with studying plants and writing books about them, he had to follow his desire to make a new plant himself. He had never thought of the pretty flowers’ economic value.

But actually, Rubica was just rambling. Although rare flowers were sold at a high price, there wasn’t such a huge market. She wasn’t expecting Sesar to earn her more than she was investing. No, it was going to be a problem if he did earn more.

Rubica just wanted to waste some money and see some pretty flowers newly created at the same time.

“It will be valuable if such beautiful flowers get introduced to the world in the name of the Claymore Family.”

“Mrs. Taylor, I will give 80% of the whole revenue to the Claymore Family!”

Ann’s head was shaking hard. Although she had been managing the household with a given budget, things like investment and trade were out of her expertise. She eventually took a step back.

“Yes, Your Grace. If that is what you want. But you must tell His Grace as this is an important decision.”

She agreed in the end. Rubica and Sesar both smiled. So, Rubica immediately looked at the sketch Sesar had brought and asked, “Can you make different flowers other than these as well?”

“Is there a flower you want, Your Grace? I have organized information about every flower in the kingdom while I wrote my book. Do you know the flower’s color and shape differ depending on the soil and temperature? All you have to do is to give me an idea and the funding.”

“Then, how about light purple flowers…”

Ann shook her head, but she couldn’t help smiling.

The garden full of flowers… imagining the baby playing there, she decided it wouldn’t be that bad.

She had asked Rubica to politely refuse Sesar. She knew his passion. Thinking the weird researcher’s dream was about to come true at last, her heart felt warm and tears filled her eyes.

‘Yes, she has refused all the ridiculous request till now. There has to be a reason. Her late father was a merchant. Maybe she is right, the roses might really be valuable.”

However, her guess was wrong. Rubica wasn’t trying to earn money at all. She had decided so only because she wanted to see the beautiful flowers, but she was soon going to realize she had been wrong. That decision of hers was about to bring a huge turmoil to the entire continent.

All of that was going to happen because of a person’s passion for beauty.

***

The time with Sesar after the long and boring meetings rather tired Rubica. Ann and the maids led her to the duchess’ chamber so that she could get some rest and left. She laid down on the sofa.

‘I must hire new maids and new seamstresses and decide which designer of the neighborhood I will mainly give work to. Oh, and I must prepare for that wedding portrait starting next week.’

A sound came out of her mouth. She didn’t know if it was a yawn or a sigh. Who said a noble lady only had to spend money the husband earned? Managing a household was much more tiring than she had thought. Moreover, her household was huge, managing it wasn’t easy.

Being short on money was a problem but having too much money was as well. It was good that she had helped with the abbey’s management. She imagined the real 22-year-old herself who knew nothing managing the Claymore household and shuddered. She probably would have been shocked to see the books with endless lines of numbers and get scared by people like Mrs. and Lord Huzburn and would have bought those useless hoes in the end.

She soon started to feel bad when thinking about all the things she had to do. There was just too much to do. Moreover, managing the household was something she, of course, had to do well. If she did it well everything would be fine but, at the same time, it was going to get her scolded if she didn’t do it well.

‘Diversion, I need a diversion!’

Just like Edgar found console in that rare drink when he got a headache, Rubica needed time to recharge her soul. She got up from the sofa and walked to where her soul led her.

It led her to the kitchen.

***

“You want me to make ice cream and cake, Your Grace?”

Steven, who had worked as the Claymore Family’s cook for a long time, asked back.

It was surprising enough that the duchess had personally come to the kitchen, and her request surprised him even more.

“But Your Grace, aren’t they for special occasions like birthdays? Today is just a normal day with nothing special.”

To tell you again, the Kingdom of Seritos despised luxury. Cake and ice cream made from expensive sugar could be eaten only on special days. It wasn’t like someone had made such a rule, but everybody believed it had to be that way.

‘But I heard people of other kingdoms had them even on normal days.’

Rubica had met various people at the abbey. At that time, she had been so shocked to hear that. There were people who ate ice cream just to feel good in this world. More than that, in other kingdoms, sweet things like cake called dessert were always brought to the table after meals in nobles’ houses.

‘I wish I could do that one day.’

She had had that dream as she heard people boast about their great past. And now, she was going to make that dream come true to comfort her tired and gloomy soul.

There was nothing that charges the soul like a sweet cake. Just seeing it with clotty cloud-like cream made her feel generous and its sweet taste filled her heart with happiness.

However, the problem was that the cook was a loyal citizen of the Seritos Kingdom. He kept asking why he had to make a cake when it wasn’t a special day. Of course, Rubica could use her power as the duchess and tell him to shut up and make a cake.

‘… but then it will be one tasteless cake.’

People tend not to do their best when they are not given a proper motive. To get a delicious cake, Rubica had to give the cook the right motive.

“Today is a very special day. It is the first day of my marriage with His Grace and the day I started working as the duchess.”

If it wasn’t a special day, she could make it special. The cook blinked his two eyes at this.

“The first day?”

“I think the first day is enough to celebrate. I want to celebrate my first day as Duchess Claymore…”

Steven looked unconvinced. Although he could see what Rubica was saying, he was hesitating. Rubica had no choice but to use god’s name again.