I Became The Sole Perfumer of A Tyrant - Chapter 27

“I, L-lady Ariel… I’m sorry. I caused you trouble yesterday…”

“Hm? What are you talking about. The only thing I did was give you one bed. I’m glad that your impression looks much better than yesterday, Sasha.”

“Ah, thank you…!”

Sasha hurriedly bowed her head. Ariel smiled brightly.

“Well, I was about to have lunch. Would you like to eat together?”

“W-well, can I?”

“Of course.”

When Ariel smiled as if what she said were only the obvious, Sasha’s face turned beet red.

And then it hit her. As soon as she had woken up, the scent she chased was none other than Ariel’s.

‘…A good smell.’

A sweet yet cozy scent that welcomed others warmly.

Did Ariel originally smell like this? Sasha couldn’t tell.

Sasha’s companions and Ariel only consisted of a superficial relationship.

Ariel required a helping hand to commit her bad deeds, while Sasha and her friends needed a social figure to support them.

In other words, their interests were compatible, only to fill in each other’s wants and needs.

It was a very profitable relationship, but it did not develop any further than that.

Ariel undeniably emitted a nice, alluring scent. However, the scent played a different effect when Sasha witnessed her smiling so beautifully.

“Sasha, what’s wrong? You’ve been silent for a while.”

Ariel peculiarly smiled again.

Sasha bowed her head deeply. Her helplessly red face concealed itself within the shadows.

“Are you still sleepy?”

Ariel tilted her head as she peeked at Sasha’s face. All Sasha could do was shake her head.

✧༝┉┉┉┉┉˚*❋ ❋ ❋*˚┉┉┉┉┉༝✧

Dangle.

I turned my head at the sound of the bell. Perhaps there weren’t many guests today due to the hot summer sun. This was the first bell in a while.

Alright, I’ll put in my best to greet this guest. The customer I faced with such determination was a man that seemed to be in his late twenties to early thirties.

“That… Is this a perfume store?”

“Yes, please come in. Is this your first time trying out perfume?”

“That’s exactly it. Do you, by any chance, have any of the following? A scent that makes you feel better just by having a light sniff…”

I tilted my head.

Just smelling everything here makes me feel better.

“Could you kindly be more specific about what you are looking for?”

“What I mean, something that removes all the gloominess within me… a scent that can help you sleep well.”

Aha. I bore a smile on my face.

Not long ago, there was such a perfume made for a change.

“Please come this way.”

I accompanied the man to the third row on the west shelf. There existed a bear-shaped perfume bottle.

<Cozy Memories> was the name of this perfume.

I opened the hat-shaped lid from the bear’s head.

“Try it, sir.”

The man brought his nose to the test paper with a queer face. His nose twitched as he sniffed the incense.

The next moment, the man’s face melted like ice cream in the midsummer.

“This, yes… This is it! A scent that melts away all my thoughts.”

The man smiled broadly.

I’m glad you’re satisfied. I smiled happily. I successfully led a guest to the world of perfume yet again.

“Give me a bottle! No, two bottles! No! Give me three bottles!”

“Yes, sir. Please wait just a moment.”

It was sometime after I assured him with a smile and fumbled behind the shelf that I halted.

‘Wait… This; did I make any other than the sample?’

My God, I didn’t!

I slapped myself on the forehead.

Only then did it come to mind that I had forgotten to pack a stock of this perfume the day before yesterday.

I can’t believe I committed such an obvious mistake. It was a great shame. I clenched my fist and trembled.

“What’s wrong?”

“I apologize, sir. Unfortunately, we’re out of stock. Can you drop by again tomorrow?”

“Ah… Will it be difficult to purchase today?”

The man clenched his lips as if disappointed. My heart shattered into pieces. I can’t believe I couldn’t satisfy the customer’s needs because of my trivial mistake. Even more, a guest who was about to take his first step into the world of perfume!

As soon as I sent the man back, I rushed to call for a wagon. The destination was 7th Street in the Senon district, an area where flower shops filled the place.

<Cozy Memories> contained unique ingredients. One of them was the Akali flower, which only bloomed in the western desert far away. In addition, it was rather rare so not many shops contained the ingredient.

‘The flower garden must have been the place where they sold Acali flowers.’

I nodded as I looked up at the huge glass garden.

Since I’m here, I’ll buy as much as I can and stock them.

Acali flowers were an expensive ingredient, but I didn’t dwell too much on them. The gold coins Cedric invested in were still piled in the safe.

How many should I buy? Ten? Twenty? If I keep more than that, it won’t remain fresh, will it?

I stepped into the garden with such thoughts.

“Welcome, sir! How can I help you…”

I was greeted by a shopkeeper I had done business with a few times.

But the owner of the store remained speechless the moment he recognized my face.

Why is he like that? I tilted my head and approached him.

“Hello, I’d like to purchase some Acali flowers.”

“We don’t sell them.”

“The ones I bought before were of great quality…? Yes? What did you just say?”

“We don’t sell them. We don’t have any Akali flowers right now.”

…What does this mean?

I raised the corners of my lips.

“What do you mean?”

“As I said.”

“You’re not saying that the flowers I’m seeing right now are sold out.”

A bright red Akali flower came into view.

I grinned as I examined the vivid color. The owner of the store flinched before folding his arms nervously.

“Anyway, I can’t sell the flower. Please leave.”

I gazed at the shopkeeper with a puzzled face.

Is it my delusion? There seemed to be a strong sense of vigilance in the owner’s face. There was also a tint of anxiety that looked as if he were afraid of something.

‘Goodness, I’m the one going through all this humiliation.’

Well, that’s fine, I wouldn’t prefer giving gold coins to someone who doesn’t like me.

The shopkeeper’s attitude was a bit reluctant, but I politely walked out of the garden.

This was not the only flower shop in the world.

“Don’t come back!”

The shopkeeper slammed the door as he shouted I was unwelcomed in his shop. Lina huffed.

“What is that man?! Are you out of your mind?! How dare you! Godness! My lady, don’t ever come here again!!”

“Alright, we won’t come again. Calm down, Lina. I’m fine.”

I calmed Lina down by comforting her calmly. I wasn’t very angry. I guess it was true to say that you wouldn’t get angry if you were too dumbfounded to be.

However, when the second and third stops at the garden were rejected.

I had no choice but to realize that something was going wrong.

“Get out!”

The fourth flower shop owner tried to slam the door shut before I could even enter.

I pushed my hand through the door that was about to close.

“Ack! Lady!”

Lina screamed, surprised at my actions.

Fortunately, I didn’t injure my hand. I held the door that was a hair from closing and glared at the shopkeeper as I raised the corners of my mouth.

“Excuse me, Mr. Kenyon.”

Kenyon, the owner of the florist shop, winced at the call.

I spoke with an even brighter smile.

“I don’t want to remain hung up on people who treat me like this, but I’ll have to make an exception this time.”

“Hey, don’t do this here…”

“Well, you have to answer me straightforwardly. Mr. Kenyon.”

Kenyon’s face was in a panic.

He was unlucky. If only he had been the second, or third, maybe he could have avoided this.

I wasn’t the type to just scratch my head after four provokingly unfriendly acts.

I folded the tail of my eyes and asked with a smile.

“Who are they? The one who dared to indulge me, Ariel Winston.”

Kenyon’s gaze shook.

“Let go of me first…”

“If I release you, you’ll close the door.”

Behind me, I could hear the sound of steel material approach.

Before I knew it, Ern had pushed open the door. Kenyon pushed aside along with the door like dry firewood.

Kenyon pulled himself in bewilderment and alternated looks between Ern and me.

“The young lady, of course, is a dear customer, but please consider our position. We mustn’t ruin our business simply because of a single customer…”

“Broken business?”

I frowned.

“What do you mean? Why would you want to ruin your business?”

Kenyon’s shoulders flinched. I dug into the gap without hesitating.

“Who has threatened to ruin your business if you accept me as a guest?”

That seemed to be the right mark. Kenyon’s face completely lost its color.

“That’s… I mean… Ugh, I’m sorry, I can’t say any more!”

Kenyon looked over the door with anxious eyes. His gaze seemed wary of whether someone was watching the situation.

…Sigh, pushing people to be this anxious.

If Kenyon was being blackmailed, there was no point in any further discussion here.

I eventually let go of the poor trembling Kenyon and left the fourth flower shop.

Someone must be trying to ruin my business.

Flowers were one of the main ingredients of the perfume.

The difficulty in the supply and demand of flowers meant that the perfume business was at stake from the root.

This is a pain in the butt.

‘You’ve used a lot of hands.’

I applaud your hard work, Ponta Magnus.

I lightly scratched my chin. He was the only one who would have a grudge against me and interfere with my perfume business.

At this point, I was rather grateful to Baron Magnus. He was showing me how highly he thinks of my work by committing all these acts.

‘Then I’ll have to do my very best here too.’

It was a fight that Magnus walked into first. And I never shy away from the fights I entered.

It was the moment I turned the corner of the street.