The Villainess Builds a Department Store - Chapter 42

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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 42

“All done!”

Shaking my wrist that had gone numb from holding the pen for so long, I looked down proudly at the completed proposal.

Then I despaired at the handwriting that looked like earthworms crawling across the page.

Just like the dance lessons that wouldn’t go my way, the writing done with my still-immature hands was crooked and wobbly, as if it would collapse at any moment.

Ugh, even notes from a first-period class on Monday morning would be more legible than this.

“I’m all done drawing too!”

Antoine, who had been sitting across from me at the desk drowning a large sheet of drawing paper in paint, also raised his brush-holding hand triumphantly. Good heavens, look at that paper. It’s beyond crying and on the verge of getting holes in it.

“Antoine. You need to be careful not to splatter paint.”

“Yees.”

“What did you draw?”

“Our family!”

Antoine proudly presented his masterpiece. Hmm… Aha! Our family turned into puppies, I see?

“Wow! You drew it well! Where is your older sister?”

“Here!”

I hurriedly caught his small finger as it tried to point at the painting that wasn’t even dry yet. Thanks to that, my hand also got covered in paint and became a mess.

“Gasp! Antoine, are you actually a genius artist?”

The reason the eyes, nose, and mouth were all in different positions was clearly evidence of an attempt at three-dimensional expression. And this bold use of color! It contained the instructive message that if you mix everything you like together, you’ll ruin it and end up with neither this nor that.

He was born about two hundred years too early for his time, but that’s how all geniuses born in the wrong era are. I should frame this and preserve it well.

“What did you draw, older sister?”

“What do you think it is?”

“A swarm of ants! Hehe…”

“Wrong! The white is paper and the black is writing. Antoine, you should start learning how to read and write soon, shouldn’t you?”

“I hate studying.”

Antoine stuck out his lips like a duck’s bill and grumbled. Belatedly remembering Madame Severin, I quickly tried to appease my younger sibling.

“Should we study together with older sister? Yes! Then studying will be fun too. Okay?”

“Hiiing…”

But Antoine’s expression showed no signs of brightening. Could it be that the influence of Madame Severin’s harsh early education still remains? Instead of pressuring Antoine, I changed my approach and gently coaxed him.

“Antoine, do you like it when older sister reads books to you?”

“Yes! Older sister’s voice goes jingle-jangle.”

“Jingle-jangle? Then what about other people?”

“Camille is slippery-smooth, and Mother is tickly-tickly! Father is… oh, Father hugs me tight like this.”

To a child’s ears, Camille’s pronunciation, blooming with liaison and nasal sounds like flowers, must feel smooth beyond soft, like oil sliding around.

“I think it would be nice if Antoine read books to older sister too.”

“Antoine?”

“Yes. Will you read to me?”

“Yes!”

Antoine nodded so vigorously that his whole body swayed back and forth. Oh my, how precious.

“Then you’ll have to study letters with older sister, right?”

“Really?”

The world is originally this unfair, you see. If you want to do something you like, you have to do something you dislike as the price.

Having informed my young sibling of the cold truth of the world, I took the proposal and headed to the study where Father would be.

“Father, are you there?”

Knock knock, when I tapped on the door, a deep voice from beyond told me to come in.

“Are you busy?”

The desk was full of books, papers, and miscellaneous items as usual.

Could he be looking at maps again?

My heart sank for a moment. But when I checked up close, Father was reading a book, not a map.

Secretly relieved, I quickly climbed up onto Father’s lap. I can only do this for a few more years.

“What are you thinking about?”

“I’m thinking that people are really fickle. Just a moment ago, seeing my crooked handwriting made me want to become an adult quickly, but now I don’t want to grow up because I want to stay like this with Father for a long, long time.”

A large, gentle hand let out a quiet laugh and then softly stroked my head.

Father no longer smelled of salt or unfamiliar earth.

Instead, from his embrace as wide as a field came the same scent as Mother’s. It was the smell of flowers blooming in our garden.

“I came because there’s something I want to show Father.”

When I spread out what I had brought, Father began to examine it carefully with a puzzled expression.

“What is this?”

“I want to open a shop for Mother.”

“For… Mother?”

Father wasn’t asking because he truly didn’t understand. He was just asking for confirmation since the shop I wanted to open was in a format that had never existed before.

The shop I had planned was, so to speak, a kind of curated boutique.

The products it would handle were pretty, expensive, and rare things brought from the distant Eastern Lands that noblewomen like Mother would be interested in.

That place, where we would take and sell only items that Mother personally selected from among the treasures that merchants brought by the shipload, would become not just a simple shop but a space where Mother’s discernment and refinement could be known to everyone.

“Yes. Mother gets bored just staying at home. Since she likes pretty and curious things, I think she would definitely enjoy it.”

“But Adelaide, your mother is the most beautiful and elegant noblewoman in all of Loire. Are you telling such a noblewoman to tout for customers and haggle like a fish vendor at the market?”

“Of course not. When I saw her last time, Mother had absolutely no talent for haggling.”

“That’s… true…”

Haggling, indeed. The actual experience of ‘everything from here to there’ was heart-pounding in many ways.

“When Mother selects items at the estate, the staff will take care of everything else. Display, calculation, dealing with difficult customers.”

“Then wouldn’t there be no point in opening a shop under Mother’s name?”

“If customers satisfied with Mother’s discernment spread word, Mother’s reputation in social circles would rise even higher. A noblewoman well-versed in foreign knowledge – all the ladies of Loire would compete to beg her to become their party chaperone, wouldn’t they?”

“Hmm…”

Father remained silent, lost in thought for a while. I swung my legs on Father’s lap and sneakily peeked at the book he had been reading.

‘Gawri Etiquette?’

It strangely felt like a mix of Three Kingdoms period and Joseon Dynasty etiquette and customs. I wonder if there’s anything I could help with?

The fundamental reason I wanted to open Mother’s shop was to help Bastian.

Bastian was originally supposed to start at a junk shop and suffer plenty while freeloading at all sorts of stores.

Of course, that suffering would become an asset to him later, but if he had to suffer anyway, my wish was for him to do it in a slightly better environment.

‘If you’re going to get the same minimum wage while being tormented by difficult customers, at least a place with good air conditioning and heating is better. Of course it is.’

“Looking at what’s written here, it would feel more like a salon than a shop. It would certainly be a new type of store suitable for a new kind of space.”

“When necessary, I’d like it to be usable as a space where Mother can comfortably chat with her acquaintances.”

Father was silent again. But he stared intently into my eyes, then,

“How kind you are.”

Saying that, he pulled me into a tight embrace.

I felt like I understood what kind of feeling Antoine meant by Father’s voice that hugs you tight.

“What can Father do to help?”

I did it!

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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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