Countess Youngae’s Money-Sweeping Makeup Shop - Chapter 29
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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29
I opened and closed my mouth.
What should I do about this.
Actually, I possessed this body, and before the possession I was a makeup artist.
But I think it’s been over 6 years since I’ve done this kind of makeup.
Since I did it after 6 years, it’s been a while, right?
….
Haha. This is the perfect situation to hear ‘So you were a stalker mage after all!’ isn’t it?
He won’t kill me, but will I be able to do makeup in the future?
It would be faster to just grab me and throw me into the Mage’s Tower and leave, right? Yeah yeah.
My eyes rolled to the side.
If I stay quiet for too long, whatever I say will sound like a lie.
First, I need to say something…!
I clapped my hands and smiled at Ricardo.
As his gaze focused on me, I immediately opened my mouth.
Hoping my mouth would move on its own.
“It’s been a while! Since I tried this kind of makeup when I first started doing makeup, it’s already been more than 2 weeks.”
It moved!
Ricardo’s gaze poured down persistently.
It was burdensome, but thinking that avoiding it would expose my lie, I smiled brightly.
If you stare like a clear-eyed lunatic, the lunatic wins.
“Is that so.”
“Yes!”
“How do you remove this?”
Whether he had lost interest, he looked back at the mirror and pointed to his eye area.
I quickly came to his side and looked at the mirror with a bright smile.
“This is both a disadvantage and advantage of these cosmetics – they don’t have good staying power. So as I told you before, just washing with water is enough. But…”
“But?”
“It’s better to keep your skin in a healthy state, right?”
“Mm.”
“So I additionally apply an ointment and wash it off with water again after about 5 minutes.”
“Does that make your skin healthier?”
“Yes! The ointment helps with skin health. It’s like a kind of face pack concept.”
“Hmm, is there a particular reason to wash it off? It’s an ointment, not something else.”
“Good question! Do you know about aging fish or meat?”
“Are you referring to salt-curing methods?”
“Yes! Among those, you directly sprinkle salt on meat to enhance flavor and extend storage period. But if you eat it right after taking it out?”
“The saltiness is too strong, so you wash it once with water before eating. It’s the same principle.”
“Exactly. If you sleep with it on, your skin can’t breathe and feels stuffy. So you supply nutrients and then wash it all off.”
Seeing him nod in understanding, I thought this is why people who love studying are born.
Nothing is as thrilling as sharing my knowledge with someone.
Ricardo, who had been looking in the mirror, moved and stood tall in front of the table.
“Have you decided? Who to hire.”
A confident smile appeared on my lips.
I approached the table, sat on the sofa, and looked up at Ricardo.
“Yes! I think this choice can generate profits more than 10 times the invested amount.”
***
After saying that, Sillia left.
What remained in Ricardo’s hand was a small glass bottle.
According to what he heard, after removing makeup with water, if you apply this generously and wash again after 5 minutes, your skin improves, or something like that.
His gaze turned toward the window.
He could see the Ebennain family’s carriage moving away along the road.
Ricardo’s eyes seemed to be drawn to the carriage, unable to look away until it disappeared.
He didn’t particularly feel emotions like worry or loneliness.
If he felt anything, it was perhaps a light anxiety toward himself?
Whenever Sillia contacted him or when he met with her, his workload always increased or incidents would occur.
He found it amusing that he didn’t dislike that about himself.
He thought that perhaps being busy or hectic suited him well originally.
Once the carriage disappeared, Ricardo let out a short breath and began working in his study.
Despite being the eldest son of the ducal family, Ricardo was not the family’s heir.
The reason was his fox-like younger brother.
His specialty was putting Ricardo at the forefront and then stealing away the things he had built well.
Knowing this, Ricardo suspected everything to avoid being robbed by his younger brother.
And the result of that choice was being completely pushed aside by his younger brother.
Since he didn’t build relationships well, it was difficult to collect business proposals or information.
But even so, he couldn’t easily trust people.
There were many people his younger brother had planted.
In this situation where he could neither do this nor that, his younger brother took finished products and packaged them as his own.
The Duke, who prioritized results over process, favored such a younger brother.
Thanks to this, Ricardo’s position in the manor gradually narrowed.
Scratch scratch.
The quill pen moved busily then paused.
Looking at his own handwriting reminded him of Sillia.
‘She said she wanted to learn, but whenever she came, she only talked about makeup or business before leaving.’
Thinking it was probably just flattery, he tilted his head and moved the quill pen again.
After writing one line like that, tap tap tap.
‘Can I trust Yeongae Ebennain? She’s asking me, not my younger brother, to do business? But it’s not like she’s preparing the business carelessly either.’
Ricardo wrote “Ebennain” on another piece of paper.
His hand, which had been drawing circles while pondering, began writing about her.
‘Doesn’t know me.’
‘Makeup.’
‘Her usual clothes are quite modest.’
‘Ria’
‘Close with Young Master Gadrid.’
‘Likes dogs?’
‘No awareness that men are dangerous.’
‘Likes my face.’
‘Business partner’
“Partner.”
He rolled the word around in his mouth.
It felt awkward.
As if he had said something he shouldn’t have.
He moved his lips, swallowed, and crumpled the paper.
A partner meant a relationship where you could trust each other and lean on each other’s backs.
But the time he had known Sillia was still too short to trust her completely.
She said she wasn’t, but she had done things like seduction, so it was too early to remove suspicion.
‘She’s a dangerous woman.’
That was the only conclusion.
After changing his description of Sillia from “strange woman” to “dangerous woman,” he focused on his remaining work.
Lost in random thoughts, more time had passed than he realized.
Ricardo, who rubbed his forehead and got up from his seat, gazed at himself through the window.
Despite claims that it wouldn’t last long, the scars were still barely visible even now.
‘Ebennain Yeongae’s touch and the Young Man’s touch are definitely different.’
After briefly thinking it was fascinating, he stepped outside for dinner.
As usual, an hour or two before his family dined, Ricardo finished his meal first and returned to his room to wash his face briefly.
Then he opened the glass bottle that Sillia had given him, looked at it quietly, and applied the ointment in front of the mirror.
It felt strange doing this when he wasn’t even a woman.
Thinking of it as business research, Ricardo carefully applied the ointment and sat on the sofa to wait.
Since he couldn’t do anything else for fear of getting it on his clothes or hair, he had no choice but to sit still, making time pass slowly and feel extremely boring.
***
As soon as I returned home, the news I received was that my most fervent prayers had become reality.
“Wow! No more balls!”
Whether the Crown Prince was shocked or Helena had asked for a divorce.
The Royal Ball schedule had been postponed indefinitely.
I thought I could finally rest on weekends now…
Thud!
I caught sight of Lili stuffing a bunch of letter envelopes into the letter basket.
Don’t lie to me.
What are those?
Why are there so many again?
My vision went dark.
I already had so much to do, and now I had to read all those letters too.
Busy, so busy. Novel society.
I sighed deeply and approached the desk.
I don’t even need to apply for partners anymore, so why are there so many letters?
When I opened and read the letter on top, its contents were an invitation to a tea party.
A tea party.
It seemed like all the nobles’ information flowed through here.
I should start doing some marketing work too.
I need to spread awareness about makeup so people can understand the necessity of a makeup shop…
Should I go once?
Right, right. Since I’m promoting anyway, if there are any bad rumors about me, let’s correct those too!
I sat at my desk and spent until sunset checking the letter contents and making a list, pondering whose tea party to attend.
Wouldn’t it be better to go to tea parties hosted by high-ranking families or people with wide connections?
For promotion, putting it on a city billboard would definitely advertise better than handing out flyers.
I counted on my fingers one by one, retracing who had the highest rank, then checked the family rankings on my list.
After such careful consideration, I chose the tea party hosted by the Nekiard Marquis.
I selected this invitation because he was the highest-ranking person among the letter senders.
What was slightly puzzling was that ‘Nekiard Marquis’ had invited me to a tea party.
Usually it was young ladies or wives who sent these.
Even as I tilted my head in wonder, I thought he must be a gentleman very interested in cosmetics and wrote a reply to the letter.
A few days later, I arrived at the Nekiard Marquis Estate and gently stepped down from the carriage.
“Thank you for accepting the invitation, …Ebennain Yeongae.”
And when I confirmed the owner of the voice greeting me, my eyes widened.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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