The Genius Perfumer of the Fallen Cult - Chapter 7
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
The Genius Perfumer of the Fallen Religious Order Episode 7
While Baron Corvus and his wife briefly disappeared to have a conversation with the Marseria Priest, the children chattered noisily.
The main topic was naturally the violet candy that Baron Corvus and his wife had given to Prim as a gift.
“Hey, Prim. Can we just smell it?”
The children gathered around, swallowing their saliva and speaking cautiously.
Prim considered telling them that this wasn’t such a fine item that even nobles wouldn’t eat it, but decided against it and opened the container lid to show them.
“Wooow…”
“The purple color is so pretty.”
“It must be really sweet, right?”
“It looks fragrant.”
“It looks really delicious.”
“I can’t even imagine what it tastes like.”
While saying this, they kept glancing at Prim. She knew what those looks meant.
They wanted to eat it but couldn’t bring themselves to ask, desperately hoping that Prim would offer to share first.
Prim readily spoke up.
“Let’s all share it together.”
The children were overwhelmed by the precious sweetness they were tasting for the first time.
There were many children in the orphanage and the candy was only what fit in a palm-sized container, so it was gone in an instant.
The children struggled to savor the taste remaining in their mouths. Prim looked down at the empty container.
‘When I pass the perfumer exam, I’ll get some prize money, so I should buy really good candy then.’
Luxury was also her specialty, after all.
Just then, when she looked up, Rozien was staring at her with a frowning face and pouting lips.
“Oh, Rozien. You…”
Come to think of it, she had been so busy giving one to each of the children who asked that she hadn’t even let Rozien see it.
Prim’s heart sank, and at that moment, Rozien snatched the empty container from Prim’s hands and shouted at the children.
“Hey you guys! Even if it’s something amazing, how could you take and eat all of hers?”
“N-no. I only ate one…”
“I only ate one too…”
“How many people is that ‘one each’? She didn’t get to eat even one!”
Only helpless sounds escaped from the children’s mouths. Someone apologized saying they were sorry.
“No, I’m fine. I didn’t really want to eat it that much. Really.”
Though Prim said this, no one looked like they believed her. Rozien crossed his arms and spoke to the children.
“What are you going to do about this!”
“We’re really, really sorry…”
“Sorry? If you’re sorry, let’s go pick wild berries.”
After acting like he was scolding them, Rozien suddenly grinned mischievously, and the children clung to Rozien just like they had clung to the candy.
“W-wild berries?”
“Where are there wild berries?”
“I saw them growing in that forest. Red and shiny ones.”
“Really? There were such things?”
“Of course there were. Since you ate all her candy, we’ll pick wild berries for you, Prim. You’ll all come pick them together, right?”
“Yes! Prim, wait! We’ll pick them right away!”
Even with Rozien’s not-quite-coercion, the children’s faces brightened as if they had found a lifeline, and they ran off toward the forest.
Rozien simply organized the items on Prim’s desk that had been messed up by the children crowding around, then whispered to Prim with a needlessly sulky face.
“Dummy, what are you doing giving it all away just because the kids ask? You should eat some first.”
Prim only moved her lips slightly. He hadn’t eaten even one himself.
“…I really was fine with it.”
“Oh my, yes, yes. I understand. I’ll pick wild berries so at least eat lots of those.”
Rozien said this while smiling with his deep green eyes crinkled up. Prim grabbed Rozien’s wrist as he was about to leave and said urgently.
“Let’s eat the wild berries together.”
“Of course I’ll eat them together too!”
Rozien laughed cheerfully and went outside.
But Prim knew. Though he said to eat lots and that he would eat too, Rozien would give all those wild berries only to her. Without even touching them himself.
When the children who had been crowding around disappeared, the orphanage became quiet as if it had never been noisy.
In that cool silence, a shadow fell in front of Prim. The shadow pushed the empty container, making it fall to the floor, and said.
“Is it fun playing saint?”
Prim looked up.
“Bianna.”
Bianna’s pretty face was coldly distorted as she glared at her.
Prim thought she now understood why Bianna was suddenly acting this way.
How many people would be in their right mind after having something they believed was unshakably theirs taken away?
When Rozien died, when death stole him away, she had tried to die. She had run toward death. And Bianna was simply running toward the one she thought had stolen what was hers.
In the past, she hadn’t understood why Bianna was acting this way and had just acted distant until it ended. Because Bianna had been adopted.
“Is it fun pretending to be so kind, sharing everything, then making others feel guilty later?”
“Did it look fun? Then you can share what you have too.”
At Prim’s calm response, Bianna trembled and shouted.
“Th-that candy wasn’t even yours to begin with!”
Prim tilted her head.
“They gave it to me and I received it, so it’s mine. Whose would it be then?”
“Hey!”
Unable to control her temper, Bianna pushed Prim hard. Prim, who had been sitting in the chair, rolled off and fell.
Crash!
When a loud noise rang out, Bianna flinched and hurriedly looked around.
The other children had gone to pick wild berries, and Baron Corvus and his wife were far away talking with the Marseria Priest, so the surroundings were quiet.
Prim lay face down on the floor and briefly frowned. When she fell, her hand had slipped while catching herself on the wooden floor, and wood splinters had gotten stuck, making it sting.
When she looked up, Bianna’s face had turned bright red for reasons unknown—whether from anger or anxiety—and her hands were trembling. Bianna pointed at her.
“Do you think you can get adopted looking like that?! Wh-who would like a kid who can’t even walk properly? Everyone hates it! Everyone hates someone like you!”
“Really? Then if I get adopted, you’d be worse than a kid who can’t even walk, right?”
Bianna’s face instantly turned pale. However, Bianna couldn’t choose the option of running away after coming this far.
“Refuse!”
Bianna shouted. Prim’s eyes widened at the unexpected words. Bianna shouted again.
“Even if Baron Corvus says he’ll adopt you, refuse!”
It would be stranger if Bianna didn’t know. Right up until Prim appeared, Baron Corvus and his wife had treated Bianna as if they had found a lost daughter, but as soon as they saw Prim, they changed completely and now treated Prim as if she were their lost daughter.
Prim thought that changing attitudes so instantly was proof they weren’t good people, but she didn’t voice this thought.
In her past life, she would have simply agreed to Bianna’s request. Because it wasn’t something she had wanted either.
But now she couldn’t do that. Both to protect Bianna and for what Prim herself wanted.
Reading the determination in Prim’s face, Bianna burst out.
“A wicked kid like you will be punished by heaven!”
“A kid who pushes people and throws things is more wicked, right? So you’ll get double the heavenly punishment?”
Tears welled up in Bianna’s eyes.
Her face glaring while biting her lips hard was full of venom, but even that was shattered to pieces.
“Well, Bianna. Though I said it that way, I don’t really think you’ll get double the heavenly punishment. If we do the math, about 1.2 times? Since you’re still young, I’ll take that into consideration.”
“Someone like you doesn’t know my heart. You don’t know anything!”
“You don’t know my heart either.”
“I know everything! You, you are!”
In that instant, Bianna’s blue eyes flashed sharply. It was hostility honed to stab at others. Bianna whispered with a sneer.
“You’re going to abandon Rozien and leave.”
Prim’s expression hardened in an instant.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————