“But almost all the girls tighten their corset this much these days. I’ll be fine soon.”

Gabriel said it as if it really was nothing. Then, she saw a vase full of roses by the window and was surprised. It had the opposite gradation from Taylor Rose: white in the edge, red in the middle.

“Is that a new rose invented by Lord Sesar?”

“Oh, yes. I got it last night.”

Elise had put the roses in vases to decorate the mansion, and one of them happened to be in the resting room.

“How are you going to promote it this time? Are you going to host another tea meeting?”

This could be an exclusive news, so Gabriel couldn’t resist her curiosity and asked. Rubica, instead, looked at her curious brown eyes. The girl could get excited so easily and was always curious. Telling her to tighten her corset until she couldn’t breathe properly was just too cruel.

“I didn’t give out the rose at the meeting to promote it.”

She made it clear again even though no one believed her.

“Oh.”

As she had expected, Gabriel let out a sad sigh. Rubica wanted to sigh herself, but she didn’t. As it was nothing to hide about, she told the girl what she was so eager to know.

“I am going to send this rose with the Taylor Rose when I present it to Her Majesty.”

“Oh, the gentrifying tactic!”

Gentrifying tactic? Rubica raised her eyebrows and Gabriel quickly shut her mouth at seeing that. People said it was possible to pay back debts with words, but she rather tended to find herself in debt with words.

“I’m just sending it because the queen is curious about Taylor Rose. I’m not aiming to promote the roses.”

Rubica explained as calmly as she could. The honest girl, who was as talkative as her mother, seemed to be the source of society’s rumors. Therefore, Rubica didn’t want her to get the impression that she was so capable.

“I think you shouldn’t present it to anyone else.”

However, instead of nodding, Gabriel’s eyes sparkled, and she even made a suggestion.

“It must be a precious thing which no one can get from anywhere else so that everyone will open their purse. It will get Claymore even more than what Marchioness Miramont spent at the last rose auction.”

However, Rubica held her breath at hearing that.

‘An auction?’

She thought Carl was selling the rose at a set price. As so many people wanted it, she figured he had to be selling it on a first-come, first-serve basis or in accordance with the relationship they had with Claymore.

However, it turned out Carl was using an unfairer but fairer method. It was called, ‘Those who can afford shalt get the rose!’ It was a way that no other noble family could replicate as they got most of their revenue by selling crops grown in their domain.

‘But… this family makes its living through weapons business.’

Weapons that were manufactured in small numbers were put on auction, or their price was set through lobbying.

Carl must have not given much thought to it. He must have just decided to put the rose on auction as the demand for it was much bigger than the supply.

Rubica could tell him he could have sold it to friends of Claymore first, but he was surely going to be surprised and say he hadn’t thought of that idea.

So, the rose must have earned Claymore a huge sum of money by now. Rubica felt like fainting, but she managed to calm herself and explained it to Gabriel.

“Gabriel, as a plant’s seeds tend to be spread in time and Taylor Rose is relatively easy to grow, this frenzy cannot last for long.”

That was how plants were. It was hard to get the rose now and people were eager to pay as much as they could to buy it, but it was only a temporary phenomenon. Someone could steal its seed or sell it to everyone at a much lower price, blinded by money. Either way, Taylor Rose was going to become a flower that could be commonly seen by the roads.

‘That is exactly why you should get as much as you can get from it now!’

Gabriel really wanted to yell so, but she managed to resist the urge and smiled sweetly.

“But a rose is not a manufactured good. It cannot be produced in a short time just because the demand for it is high. It will take at least five years for it to become a common flower.”

“You are… right. It is affected by the weather and our greenhouse has only limited space.”

“And Lord Sesar is going to create more kinds of roses from now on, right?”

Rubica nodded, feeling like a sailor enchanted by a siren. How did this girl know that much?

She adjusted her evaluation of the girl upward, from a witty girl to an extremely clever girl.

“I think it would be better to give it a luxurious image before that happens. It must be considered a precious flower that was once only seen in the royal garden and Claymore Mansion. Then everyone will be interested in the new roses made by Claymore even after this fever about Taylor Rose dies out.”

“But… I cannot give it only to Her Majesty. It would be a waste of such a pretty flower.”

Sesar and Rubica had boldly decided to make new roses because they wanted to bring pretty flowers to the world and spread them to please the people’s eyes and noses.

She didn’t want to stimulate people’s desire to possess and vanity to make money.

“Um, then let me put it in this way. You can supply it to the royal family, and you can suggest to the queen that she can use it to decorate her garden and give it to visitors from abroad. She will surely be delighted and do so.”

“I think so too.”

Ann immediately got interested in the idea as it was going to let Rubica win the queen’s favor. However, the part about giving the rose to visitors from abroad bothered Rubica more than the part about the queen.

“Do you want to introduce the rose to foreign kingdoms as well?”

The frenzy about Taylor Rose was still only in Seritos. Carl had said it was possible to export it when Rubica decided to invest in Lord Sesar and his work, but to her, the idea had sounded unrealistic.

The south of the continent had good weather and various kinds of crops, so the land had enough beautiful flowers.

“Yes, I wish to make the rose Claymore’s, no, Seritos’s specialty. If the queen lets only a few high nobles who are on good terms with Seritos have it, people in the other kingdoms will also become eager for it as well.”

The competitive spirit of nobles about expensive and luxurious goods was greater than anything. Moreover, nothing aroused nobles’ vanity better than the desire for something special that couldn’t be bought with money.

At least the Kingdom of Seritos had a brake for that called ‘Frugality is Virtue’, but the other kingdoms didn’t even have that.

“You can also make jam and candies using Taylor Rose and present them to the queen.”

“Is it possible to make jam and candies with roses?”

“I once tried a candy made in Sharman. It was a violet flower candy, not rose candy, but if it is possible to make candies with violets, why not roses?”

“But the rose is expensive enough already. Is there really a need to make food from it?”

This time, Ann wasn’t fond of the idea.

“It would be meaningful because it is made from such an expensive rose, and this idea is for when the frenzy about the rose dies out.”

Gabriel was very much excited as she talked. She always had plenty of ideas. Even though her family always scolded her ideas as useless thoughts, thanks to her friend Tatiana, she had been able to publish The Little Bird’s News.

Even though her mother called it a magazine full of gossip, she bought every edition in secret and read it to see if there was anything about her family on it, and Gabriel knew that.

Moreover, when there was a compliment about her, the countess’s voice would even go up a tone higher. Although Gabriel was always being ignored by her family, she was confident about her ideas.

And now, Duchess Claymore was paying attention to what she was saying, just like Tatiana. She was greater than her mother, but she wasn’t ignoring her like her mother, and it encouraged her.

“They will be considered the food that only the greatest nobles could eat, and that impression matters. Food is not like a plant. It can be continuously produced. Sharman’s violet candy is loved because once a queen who was famous for her beauty liked it. However, it tastes really bad. Everyone also thinks of Sharman when it comes to luxury goods, but actually, there are much better products from elsewhere. But people all think, ‘Sharman makes the best luxurious goods,’ all thanks to its image.”

She even waved her arms as she spoke, forgetting her dress’s strap had been undone. Ann covered her bare arms with her shawl in surprise. Only then the girl realized she had been way too enthusiastic and blushed.