Let’s Make Saving a Habit - Chapter 85

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 85
“You want me to prepare for a catalog business?”
At Ron’s question, I popped a individually wrapped chocolate into my mouth and nodded affirmatively.
“Yes. It’s a business model that allows us to lead trends and monopolize them.”
“Hey, how am I supposed to understand if you explain it like that? Give me the details.”
“You’re so prickly.”
He’d always been that way since childhood, and he still was.
To ease his irritation, I unwrapped another chocolate and popped it into his mouth.
Whenever something sweet entered his mouth, his temperament would soften considerably.
I’d learned the art of coaxing Ron.
With a dissatisfied expression, he quietly began to mutter.
I’d hired the twin siblings the moment they reached graduation age from the Talent Cultivation Institute and made them my own people.
Ron hadn’t reached graduation age yet, but I’d brought him along when I took them.
Raspi and Rosemary were nineteen this year, so it had already been three years since I’d brought them on.
Ron served as my aide and manager of the Information Guild.
Rosemary worked as an Information Guild member.
Raspi served alongside Aiden as my second bodyguard.
“The method is simple.”
I spoke before the chocolate’s effect wore off.
“I send the nobility detailed information and illustrated catalogs of products every month.”
“And then?”
“The nobility look through the catalog, write down the products they like, and send us a letter with their order.”
“So we confirm the ordered products on our end and send them?”
“Yes.”
True to his sharp business acumen, Ron seemed to already understand what I was getting at.
Though we called it a catalog business, it was essentially no different from online shopping in the modern world.
Viewing products through description pages and placing orders.
However, Ron seemed to have doubts about my business idea.
“Does that really have merit? The nobility don’t go out and purchase things anyway.”
He had a point.
The nobility didn’t bother with the trouble of going out to make purchases themselves.
It was customary for them to either summon craftsmen to their homes or order their servants to procure items.
“But having craftsmen come to the house to custom-make products takes far too long to receive the goods.”
“That’s true.”
“And ordering servants to fetch things has a high probability of disappointing results.”
“Hmm…”
Even after explaining this much, Ron remained skeptical about the catalog’s business viability.
“But the cost of producing the catalog booklets will be enormous. There’s also the cost of delivery.”
I’d naturally already considered that aspect.
I couldn’t run a business at a loss.
“The catalog will operate through subscriptions. People pay money and receive the catalog each month.”
“This woman’s lost her mind. Who pays to look at product brochures?”
Ron’s face twisted in disapproval as he objected to the venture, but I pressed on with my explanation undeterred.
“Subscriptions will require a referrer to join. And only people whose purchases exceed a certain threshold can become referrers.”
“You’re adding even more restrictions?”
“Yes.”
Unable to contain himself any longer, Ron slammed his hand against the desk.
“You should have said this from the start.”
A smile finally bloomed on Ron’s lips—he who had been skeptical all along.
“Why didn’t you mention this strategy earlier? Appealing to the nobles’ desire for ostentation, positioning ourselves as luxury and prestige?”
“I knew you’d understand. I was counting on it.”
Once we were on the same page, everything became simple.
Ron and I began mapping out the concrete details together.
And soon after, I handed him the products that would soon become fashionable.
The catalog business would be called Bilbergia.
“At Bilbergia, we’ll always sell products a month before trends arrive.”
Only someone who knew the future could do such a thing.
Even if the future I knew diverged from what actually occurred, I could simply adjust the timing.
And once we’d established ourselves sufficiently….
Whatever Bilbergia sold would instantly become the trend, the latest fashion.
“Ron, do you know what the advantage is of living as a Foresight Ability User?”
“That people beg you every time they meet you to tell them which horse number will win the race?”
“…That’s not an advantage. That’s a disadvantage.”
“Then what advantage is there?”
“It gives credibility to everything I say.”
If I were to declare right now, “In three days, a massive tsunami will engulf the Empire!” the Empire would prepare for the coming catastrophe.
Without a shred of evidence.
“Tania. So you’re putting your name behind Bilbergia this time?”
“Yes. The whole point is to let people know I have money to work with.”
“Hmm, a business venture—it’s been a while since something this entertaining came along.”
With his specialty in hand, Ron grinned with confidence.
Since Ron would handle everything himself, I no longer needed to worry about the operations.
Now my task was….
To hook the influential figures who would subscribe to our Bilbergia catalog.

✦ ✦ ✦
After finishing my conversation with Ron, I called for Lena.
“Lena, among all the invitations I’ve received, which noble house seems most favorably inclined toward me?”
“There are quite a few, actually. Some houses have been sending invitations consistently over the years.”
“Filter it down to just a few for me. Regardless of age, but only personal meetings—no group gatherings.”
“Yes, understood.”
Lena swiftly sorted through the invitations and laid them before me without delay.
After confirming the names of the nobles written on the cards, I filtered out a couple and handed the rest back to her.
“Send acceptances for all of these except these two.”
“Are you finally stepping into high society?”
“Yes. I think it’s time.”
Lena clapped her hands together, celebrating my debut into society.
“What a wonderful idea! I’ve always hoped you’d mingle with young ladies of your own age. Now you’ll finally have friends!”
“…Do I really look like I have no friends?”
“It’s not that you look friendless—you are friendless.”
Lena delivered this painful truth with a smile on her face.
“But I still correspond regularly with Elysion.”
“Elysion isn’t a noblewoman of the same gender, though.”
“…I have Ron, and Raspi, and you, Lena—”
“While I’m grateful to be included, none of us are really friends. We’re all servants.”
“Ouch! That really hurts, Lena. I think I’m mortally wounded.”
I clutched my chest dramatically, and she let out a small laugh.
“Now I’ll help you so you won’t be hurt by being called friendless anymore.”
“…But I’m the one who makes friends. What do you mean ‘help’?”
“When making friends, appearance matters quite a bit, you know.”
Behind Lena, who wore a mischievous smile, I glimpsed a devil laden with various dresses and accessories.
I realized something.
I had touched upon something I should have left alone.

✦ ✦ ✦
The first person to accept my invitation was Rivera Primula, the Marquess’s wife.
Rivera Primula.
A married woman of an age similar to the Duchess, and as far as I knew, she had no children.
Though her marriage to the Marquess was harmonious, it seemed she had been unable to conceive again after a miscarriage.
“Good day, Marquess Primula. I am Tania Papiope, daughter of Duke Papiope’s Household.”
“Thank you so much for accepting my invitation. I heard you’ve never attended a social gathering before….”
“Yes. You are my first, Marquess.”
Why had I chosen the Marquess’s wife over girls my own age?
First, as a Marquess’s wife, she wielded considerable influence in high society.
The dresses she wore and the jewels she adorned herself with were of a caliber to draw everyone’s attention.
While her station as a Marquess’s wife played a role, her stunning beauty contributed equally to her prominence.
Those crystalline green eyes and her lovely rose-pink hair.
Even now, she possessed a beauty that made anyone pause—one could only imagine how breathtaking she must have been in her youth.
And second.
In truth, it would be no exaggeration to say I sought her out for this very reason….
The Marquess’s wife suddenly took my hand, her face radiant with joy as she gazed at me.
“Tania, I have longed to meet you for so very long.”
She was the only person who had consistently sent me invitations for six years, ever since my registration with Papiope was publicly announced.
Her discarded invitations alone would have filled my drawer to overflowing.
As though her six years of unrequited affection were finally being repaid, she asked me with great emotion and delicate care.
“…Would it be all right if I embraced you, just once?”
It was an unexpected request for an embrace.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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