Please Don’t Come To The Villainess’ Stationery Store! - Chapter 42

The unexpected remark surprised me.

“A-although it won’t be great publicity…”

“We’ll still work hard…”

When I didn’t say anything, the children hesitated as they spoke.

“No, No.”

I replied while waving my hands quickly.

People used to say that an item displayed at the Petite Debutant was equivalent to a child’s worth.

‘And the publicity would be huge if it’s from a Prince and Princess.’

I was somehow suffocated by the unconditional trust shown by the children.

“Can I really… leave that to you?”

The children all nodded when I asked in a shaking voice.

“I’m a commoner so I can’t go to the Petite Debutant, but I’ll cheer behind the scenes!”

‘Ah, Carat can’t go.’

I could read the disappointment in Carat’s serious tone.

It’s discrimination that they can’t even make their debut because they’re commoners. However, in the Empire, such discrimination was prevalent in a social class society. Even at the Imperial Academy, where students were accepted regardless of social class, subtle discrimination remained.

I raised my hand and stroked Carat’s soft hair.

“I’ll make you something nice specifically for you, Carat.”

Carat bit his lips hard, and his eyes shook hard. Seeing such a Carat, Axion spoke vigorously.

“Mel, just trust us!”

The children raised their hands and waved before me like the apostles of justice.

Axion, who was twisting his body, said with flushed cheeks.

I hugged the children who were willing to give up the highlight of the Petite Debutant for me and my stationery store.

“Thank you for thinking of me first.”

“Ung, we always believe that Mel will do well!”

The children’s childhood innocence glistened clearly in their eyes.

‘I want to make something really good for the three of them. What should I do?’

A way to clearly engrave the stationery store to both children and adults at the Petite Debutant. A way to stop a massive capital attack.

‘Just what could there be?’

I looked around the interior of the stationery store with a tense face. So far, the things I had created caught my eye one by one.

‘Is there a good way?’

I had to find a way to get through the difficulties and advertise the stationery store. However, no special method rolled in my head.

With Dominique and the three children, we put our heads together and got obsessed with exactly what new items to make.

“What was the most popular thing last year?”

The most important thing was, as expected, a problem too.

But unintentionally, the children’s mouths were wide open. Axion’s mouth was even dripping saliva.

“Last year’s was really amazing!”

“How was it?”

“Last year, all the elementary and secondary school students gathered, this year will be the same.”

Melissa, listening to Axion, folded her eyes into half-moons and whispered in a dreamy voice.

“It was so perfect then.”

It was strange to see the children’s eyes flashing to the point where it was weird.

“Why, did something good happen?”

“Ung!”

“I think it was Marquis Jenia’s lady, Unni!”

Just how great of an item did she bring?

I picked up the drink on the table, pretending I was atrophied and looked at Axion.

“She brought an apprentice alchemist!”

I was drinking the slushy, pretending nothing was wrong. But I started coughing. It was after a while that Melissa started to look worried.

The children’s eyes, looking at each other, were shining as if they knew.

“So Mel also knows how great an alchemist is?”

“That’s right, it was amazing how he spread silver in the air!”

“I don’t think anything as great will appear in this year’s debutant.”

“Then, it was a legend back then! Besides, according to the Marquis’ lady, it was very difficult to get him!”

“That’s too bad… It would be nice to see it again this year!”

Seeing the children’s eyes shining, I was stabbed with conscience.

‘An alchemist is here, kids.’

Alchemy seemed to be an amazing ability. But when I heard compliments so openly face to face, I, the great alchemist, felt embarrassed for some reason.

“Alchemy must be great.”

Dominique, who knew all the facts, spoke discreetly.

“I-I guess so.”

I scratched my head and avoided the topic.

But the children seemed to think I was depressed when they saw my attitude.

They exchanged glances that seemed to fluster each other, and hurriedly spoke.

“Mel, Mel! Don’t worry too much. Mel’s products are amazing enough!”

“That’s right, Mel is like an alchemist to me!”

I couldn’t help but smile and nod at the children’s words.

‘If I had been able to do alchemy properly, it would have been okay to appear as an alchemist.’

How regretful.

My alchemy skills hadn’t been very good yet. In addition, there was already an alchemist who showed his face at the debutant in the previous year. It wasn’t a good idea to overlap characteristic with those who already stood out in previous years.

‘The important thing is showing the stationery store’s products with an impact.’

Because I was so nervous, I hugged Melissa’s shoulder and spoke.

“I have to think about what to develop. Can you give me an idea?”

“An idea?”

“Yeah!”

I prepared to take notes with a notebook and fountain pen.

“Tell me anything you like. What’s popular these day too!”

The children, encouraged by what I said, began to pour out what they like.

“I like fluffy cotton blankets.”

Melissa, who seemed to be suffering from growing pains these days, seems to like soft cotton.

I wrote down cotton blankets in my blanket.

“Cotton blankets? Isn’t that hot? I want a sword. A very big one.”

Axion, who was listening to Melissa and Carat, raised his chin and spoke.

“I want a cake made of ice. A cool knight like me gets a little hot after a race!”

When Axion raised his chin, everyone in the room burst into laughter.

‘It’s cute that he’s already pretending to be a knight.’

“It would be so refreshing if there really was a cake made of ice!”

I even wrote down the small talk from the children and thought about things to develop.

‘Cotton blankets, ice cakes, and swords.’

I didn’t see anything in common, but it was definitely a start on what to make.

I glanced towards the darkened window and decided to prepare to let the children go.

“Thank you. You should go back home now.”

I hugged the children once tightly, and said goodbye for the last time.

“Be safe, kids!”

Soon, Melissa and Axion left. But Carat remained inside and carefully squeezed me.

“You know, Mel.”

“Yeah?”

“That… when the Petite Debutante is over, there’s a friend I really want to introduce to you.”

Carat’s friend… a new customer?

“Is that okay?”

Carat’s cheeks flushed red. It was a face that was worried about being rejected.

I poked the child’s nose slightly.

“He’s always welcomed!”

“Then I’ll be back soon!”

“Yeah, what kind of friend is he?”

“T-that, I’ll tell you on that day.”

Carat’s cheeks, which had always been chic, was so sweet that it was strange.

‘Our Red Radish, it’s like that’s his actual name.’
(T/N: She’s saying he’s so red that it’s like his real name is red radish.)

While wondering about Carat’s friend, all the children left. I looked at them from the window until the three dots disappeared. My mood got so much better when I was with the children.

‘My cute regulars.’

It was the best satisfaction. I’m going to word hard today for my kids!