The Villainess Builds a Department Store - Chapter 26

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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 26

“Antoine!”

My heart sank. He was just here a moment ago, wasn’t he? What if the tiny child got kicked by an adult’s foot and flew off somewhere?

Just as my heart was pounding in my ears and my mind went blank, someone grabbed my arm firmly.

“O… Older Sister…”

“Antoine…”

Camille, whose face was as pale as mine, was holding Antoine tightly in her arms.

“Wh, where’s Mother? Where’s Father? Older Sister, let’s go find Mother…”

When did he say he wanted to live here with such a bright smile? Now that he couldn’t see our parents, Antoine seemed anxious and looked like he was about to burst into tears.

“It’s okay. Older Sister will protect you. Hold Older Sister’s hand tight.”

I unconsciously put strength into the hand holding his small one.

First, I had to get to a place with fewer people. Obviously, not everyone at the exhibition was drawing people’s attention.

Fortunately, as soon as we moved away from the steam engine booth, a quiet space appeared instantly.

“The smell of wood?”

My gaze naturally turned toward the scent of wood that didn’t suit this age of iron and coal.

Unlike other booths that were decorated with great effort, that place had more of a woodworking shop atmosphere.

Even the invention on display didn’t look particularly impressive at first glance.

A strange invention that was nothing more than a long pole with handles and a saddle, with wheels and pedals attached front and back.

Except for the three of us, it was safe to say no one was paying attention to such a thing.

But I knew the identity of this invention. I also knew the future where it would become a huge hit, even though people weren’t even glancing at it now.

‘So this was also participating in the exhibition.’

Bicycles wouldn’t be commercialized for at least another 10 years. That meant that from now, more than 10 years earlier, primitive forms of bicycles were being born somewhere in Loire.

I had been troubled not knowing exactly where or when, but to encounter it like this!

“Would you like to try riding it?”

As we lingered near the booth, the participant who had been sitting with a gloomy expression suddenly jumped up from his seat.

“My name is Pierre Michaud. This is my masterpiece! I call it the new concept transportation device, the velocipede!”

“Velo-velo?”

“Velocipede, Young Master. A new concept one dimension ahead of the celerifere! Innovation! Cutting-edge! The very revolution of transportation!”

In summary, he was talking about the first bicycle.

However, despite Monsieur Michaux’s passionate explanation, people still didn’t even glance his way.

“Older Sister! I want to ride this! I want to ride it! Can I?”

Instead, Antoine showed curiosity, not even scared of the giant bicycle with wheels as tall as he was.

Monsieur Michaux burst into hearty laughter and lifted Antoine by the waist to seat him on the saddle.

Antoine’s eyes widened as his view suddenly became much higher.

“Now. If you press the pedals, it will move forward on its own.”

Since Antoine’s legs were still too short, Mr. Michaux lightly pressed the pedal with his foot, and the front wheel actually rotated and moved forward.

Antoine made sounds of pure delight while I watched and fell into thought.

‘A bicycle…’

There’s no exercise as good as bicycling. You can tell just by looking at the sales figures for indoor bicycles.

Although there’s the trap that those same sales figures apply equally to the used market, our house has plenty of space to hang laundry even without needing an indoor bicycle, so it should be fine.

Wouldn’t Mother feel refreshed seeing the garden she only walks through daily from a new perspective on a bicycle? Not to mention it would be good for her health.

It was certain that bicycles would be a huge hit. There was no reason for me not to invest.

“Monsieur Michaux. May I have your business card?”

Instead of dismissing me as just a child, Monsieur Michaux brightened up and gladly handed me a crisp piece of paper.

It wasn’t a bad first harvest from the exhibition.

Just as I was about to put the business card in my pocket, I made eye contact with a particularly urgent-looking face among the crowd moving slowly to view the inventions.

“Mother!”

“Children! Oh, dear God… Are you all safe?”

Mother, who had run over and embraced Antoine, immediately began gently patting Antoine’s bottom.

“Mother was so worried thinking she had lost you!”

“Hic… waaaaah…! I’m, sorry… Mommy, Mommy…”

As Antoine, with his tension released, burst into tears in Mother’s arms, people’s attention naturally focused on us.

“Adelaide. Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. Camille was with me too. Rather than moving around carelessly, we were waiting for Father and Mother to come find us.”

“…I see. Camille. Thank you so much. By the way, what were you doing here?”

This was a good opportunity. I turned around and introduced Mr. Michaux.

“Monsieur Michaux. Could you explain what a velocipede is again?”

Ten years is too long. I’ll make sure you hit it big within five years.

* * *

In the end, I couldn’t meet Emily that day.

It was partly because we got separated from our parents, but even if we had gone to the booth, my parents comforted my disappointment by saying we probably wouldn’t have seen Emily’s face anyway.

According to Father, more people gathered than expected when they heard about the first female apprentice from a prestigious workshop.

Moreover, the items that female apprentice brought were all mysterious things whose principles couldn’t even be guessed.

Unlike the steam engine, Emily didn’t have the kind of appearance that would make people scared and run away.

“I rushed over thinking you children might have gone there first, but we could barely catch a glimpse of Emily’s hair before we had to leave immediately.”

“That much?”

Then there’s no need to worry about Academy admission.

“How was Emil?”

Instead of answering, Father just grinned with a mischievous smile.

That alone made me imagine how miserable Emil must have been, and I felt warm inside.

“Emily will surely do well. Was there anything else interesting?”

“Interesting? We were so busy looking for you children that we couldn’t see what was in front of us.”

“There were widespread rumors about major urban development coming soon. You know, they’ve started the railway construction in earnest this time, right?”

“You… had the leisure to listen to rumors in that situation?”

“No, well. I was wondering if there might be any talk about children wandering around together or something…”

Father realized his mistake and began appeasing Mother, who was exasperated.

‘Urban development…’

I knew better than anyone how Loire would change.

Large stations would be built in Loire’s center and in the north, south, east, and west, new roads would be built to match those stations, houses would be constructed for people who came up looking for work, and markets would be created to feed them.

Finally, Sebastian would establish the first department store in the high-end shopping district.

“Father. We don’t happen to have any mines at home, do we?”

Just selling the iron needed to lay the rails would guarantee billionaire status.

“We do. Why? Should Father invest in the railway industry too?”

“It wouldn’t be bad, would it? If we can’t make the rails, we could at least make train and rail models to sell as souvenirs at the station.”

I guarantee they’ll sell very well.

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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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