The Villainess Builds a Department Store - Chapter 13

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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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The Villainess Establishes a Department Store

Chapter 13

The 10 francs Guillaume proposed had a value of roughly 100,000 won.

It wasn’t exactly pocket change, but it also wasn’t a fortune that could buy something to fill this spacious room.

The children each sighed or frowned as they fell into deep thought.

“What can we possibly buy with just 10 francs!”

Felix grumbled.

What do you mean there’s nothing you can buy with 10 francs? If my past self, who nearly got evicted in the middle of winter for lack of those 10 francs, had heard that, I would have punched him.

The other children just kept their mouths shut, but they seemed to inwardly agree with Felix’s words.

“This is why people need to experience many things.”

“What?”

“Just go to the market and you can buy a whole basket of flowers, no. An entire cart full!”

“The market? Why would I go to such a filthy place?”

At Felix’s behavior that made me sigh involuntarily, I looked at Guillaume with a brief pitying gaze.

The very Guillaume Hedebeau who was Felix’s father was making high profits by bringing goods from that exact filthy market across the sea.

Guillaume also seemed not to have expected such words to come from his own son’s mouth, as his expression had stiffened.

“Then what are you going to do, Felix?”

“Hmph! Well, naturally… they’ll bring things over themselves!”

“What?”

He was confident, no. So arrogant that I wondered if he had suddenly developed some prophetic ability.

“Why are you so surprised? You must be familiar with it too. Merchants coming to us first, begging us to please buy their goods.”

“…”

“The ‘discernment’ to choose the most appropriate item from what they bring is the ability a merchant needs. Isn’t that right, Father?”

Good grief. When will this fool ever become a proper person?

I was momentarily speechless at the words of someone calling himself a merchant’s son, saying he’d just wiggle his fingers and choose rather than actually putting in the legwork.

Instead of immediately responding, Guillaume stared intently at his son with unreadable eyes, then changed his expression in an instant and answered slyly.

“I wonder?”

The moment Guillaume hesitated was a brief instant that others wouldn’t have noticed, but I, who was right beside the father and son, could see it clearly.

The disappointment toward his son that couldn’t be completely hidden by the short silence, and even the despair and resentment toward a father who wouldn’t praise him.

…Perhaps there was a separate reason why Felix had become like this?

After that, the children began putting their heads together and pondering.

But there was no way some 10-franc worth of miscellaneous junk that a child bought after racking their brains would be the correct answer to the problem.

When I actually tried to think about it, I couldn’t come up with any particularly good ideas that made me think ‘This is it!’

“Haha. Well then, see you at the next meeting. I’m looking forward to seeing what everyone will buy?”

And so Guillaume Hedebeau left us with homework and departed with light steps, feeling relieved all by himself.

* * *

After the Madame Severin incident, my parents created a new playroom for Antoine and me at the estate.

The playroom was spacious enough for us to run around freely and had soft carpets so we wouldn’t get hurt if we fell, naturally becoming the space where we spent most of our day.

I had laid out plenty of cushions by the sunny window, and while rolling around on them with Antoine, I hugged any random cushion within reach and agonized.

“Hmm… I can’t think of anything suitable…”

What exactly was the answer Guillaume wanted? It couldn’t simply be to develop an eye for goods as a merchant.

It also couldn’t mean to invest 10 francs and multiply it enough to fill the room with money. That would be difficult even for adults.

Then what really? Was he just planning to laugh at whatever the kids bought and call it a day?

At this point, I was even beginning to suspect that Guillaume might have just said whatever came to mind.

Letting go of the cushion I had been hugging tightly, I lay back down on the floor listlessly.

A pleasant breeze came through the half-open window, tickling Antoine’s and my bangs.

Having circled the garden, the wind carried the scent of flowers. The large room was instantly filled with sweet fragrance.

‘The fragrance filling the room?’

Oh, wait a minute.

This is it!

Flash. My eyes opened wide and my tangled thoughts cleared up in an instant.

There’s no need to fill the room with things that are visible and tangible, right?

“Antoine! Want to go to the market with your sister? Let’s go do the homework Guillaume gave me!”

* * *

Buyers trying to haggle down every penny, sellers who absolutely refuse to budge.

Between the two who were on the verge of a scuffle, a fishmonger calmly passed by pulling a cart reeking of fishy smell.

“Ick!”

“You crazy bastard! Can’t you open your eyes properly?”

Meanwhile, across the street, a flower-selling girl and a pickpocket were exchanging glances, eyeing their prey.

Hmm, the usual scene at the market.

“Sister… can’t we go somewhere else? It smells weird here.”

Antoine, who had firmly blocked his nose with his small hands, clung to me while speaking in a nasal voice.

The windows were tightly shut, but an indescribable smell was gradually seeping in through the gaps.

Camille, who had accompanied us as a guardian, also pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket with an uncomfortable expression.

“Let’s hurry.”

Only after crossing a bridge could Antoine finally uncover his nose.

“Phew!”

Antoine, whose nose had turned bright red, seemed to have been suffocated as he threw open the window wide and took a deep breath.

With just a river between them, the terrible stench had changed to the savory smell of bread.

Unlike the market that tormented our ears, eyes, and nose, entering Riere Street where guilds and workshops lined up side by side made me feel as if I had come to the Royal Palace.

Through the spotlessly clean glass windows of each shop, employees wearing black satin vests over white shirts were explaining things to customers.

The employees’ elegant and courteous demeanor could be seen from afar as something not accomplished overnight.

After passing several such shops, the carriage finally stopped in front of a workshop.

【Tonnelle Workshop: Home of 3rd Generation Clockmakers】

Among all the shops we had passed, the particularly large glass window and the brass decorations on the sign that gleamed from afar showed how prestigious this shop was.

“Sister, what is this place?”

“A clock workshop. It’s a workshop that makes clocks and machines.”

Before I knew it, Antoine had scurried over to the glass window and began looking around as if he might actually go inside.

“Wow. There are so many amazing things.”

“Everything here is a work of art that craftsmen have put great care into making, so you mustn’t touch anything carelessly. Promise to only look with your eyes?”

“Yes!”

Well, at least he gives good answers.

As we entered the shop, a receptionist wearing a black apron over a shirt with rolled-up sleeves greeted us.

“Welcome!”

The receptionist, who smiled warmly through round glasses, had a name tag that read Emilie Tonnelle on her chest.

Emilie Tonnelle.

She was the most outstanding mechanical engineer in Loire’s history and a genius inventor who would later become the first woman to enter the Hall of Fame at the Royal Academy of Sciences.

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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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