Erne felt a pang of conscience when he looked at Judith's dark circles. It seemed as if more than half of the dark circles under Judith's eyes were due to him.
While he was sick because of the mummy, Judith stayed by her bedside, unable to rest properly.
Since she was working at the same time, there was no way Judith's health would recover.
“If it’s because of interest, I’ll try lending money to the Marquis of Mosley.”
“Isn’t that just borrowing money anyway, Erne?”
“When did I say I would borrow it? I will receive payment for the information I have provided to the Marquis so far.”
“...Erne, you’re a knight, not a thug. You haven’t forgotten, have you? I’m worried that you’ve forgotten your duty in the arena.”
“I told you not to talk about the arena.”
Erne's mouth trembled as he recalled the shameful scene from that day when he ran away from the arena in a panic and ran into Henry, who had come to check up on him.
As Erne tried to grab the sword he had placed on the floor, Henry coughed urgently and changed the subject.
“Anyway, I’m talking about a stopgap measure. How long are you going to keep extorting money from the Marquis?”
“Forever, forever.”
Erne answered shamelessly, but Judith agreed with Henry.
A stopgap measure. Yes, a stopgap measure. Neither receiving information from Marquis Mosley nor working like this while reducing sleep were solutions.
Is there no other way? Judith was pondering, and suddenly the inconveniences she had been hearing about for several days came to mind.
“I’m sorry to have made you come all the way here to buy one, Miss Harrington. Instead, give me Miss Harrington’s home address and I’ll send our son to you.”
“I think I’d better send a boy to buy it. That would be better than waiting for Miss Harrington to come to my house. Can’t you give me your home address? Why not?”
Because of the high price of incense, customers who bought small quantities, one or two at a time, were uncomfortable with Judith's sales method.
The only thing they wanted to do was wait for Judith all day, which was a hassle.
Of course, if they come to buy the candles themselves, they can save time on delivery. However, the Rhineland Mansion has not yet been able to shake off its bad reputation.
'... But do you have to sell incense at the mansion? You can make it at the mansion and sell it somewhere else, right?'
What if I open a store?
Judith felt like she had been hit in the back of the head. Why hadn't she thought of getting a shop!
Although you have to pay rent, if you open a store, you will spend less time on deliveries. If you make candles with the time you save, you will have some left over after paying your rent.
In addition, she can promote it to people passing by. However, she was a little worried that people would buy incense from other stores and copy it.
However, scented candles were more difficult to make than colored ones. They were so complicated that even Judith, who already knew how to make them, had to study them for several days, so it would not have been easy for other merchants to steal them.
Of course, eventually, there will be a place that follows suit, but before that, it was important to make it known as much as possible that the scented candle was the original Judith.
For that reason alone, it was advantageous to open a store. It would naturally become known as the first incense shop.
“I need to open a store.”
"Suddenly?"
Erne, who had been lying down exhausted by Judith's sudden declaration, got up. She explained the plan to Erne and Henry, who were bewildered.
“That doesn’t seem like a bad idea.”
Erne nodded seriously.
“I’ve already decided on the name of the store.”
“You are quick, Ma’am. What will you name it?”
“Judith Harrington’s beautiful and fragrant candle shop.”
Erne wiggled his fingers from side to side.
“It’s long and rustic.”
“Then, Judith Harrington’s fragrant moment.”
“I can’t tell what this store sells just by hearing its name.”
Henry objected in a voice that seemed to say, "That's not true."
“How about a fragrant oasis?”
Henry shook his head and Erne clicked his tongue.
“The Garden of Fragrance?”
“It looks like a flower shop.”
“A candle shop with scents and colors.”
“I don’t want to go in.”
After numerous suggestions and objections, the name was settled on 'Miss Harrington's Special Candle Shop', which was the most common and accepted name around here.
Once the name was decided, the rest was easy. I found a clean shop slightly off the center of the square.
There was a downside to having to pay a year's rent all at once, but it was a good deal because the rent was considerably cheaper than the market price.
The day the contract was signed and the balance was paid, I was so excited that I cleaned the store.
'I can't believe I have my own store!'
I've always had a vague idea of wanting to open a nice store someday, but I never thought I would achieve that dream so quickly.
Although I was covered in sweat from mopping every nook and cranny, I didn't even realize how hard it was. Cleaning was just fun.
Kneeling and scrubbing the floor, I dreamed of expanding the shop and eventually opening a second and third branch.
But things didn't go smoothly.
The next day, I and Erne stopped by the store to decorate the interior, and as soon as we opened the door, we covered our mouths at the foul smell that came out.
“Ugh.”
“What the heck, I can’t stay here.”
The inside of the store was filled with a foul smell as if the fish had rotted. I and Erne ran out of the store, feeling nauseous.
“It’s strange. It didn’t smell like this yesterday.”
“Then is that the smell coming from newly bought furniture?”
Since this smell didn't come out yesterday, on the day we signed the contract, or on the day we first came to see the store, Erne and I concluded that the problem was with the furniture we had purchased and brought in yesterday.
We dragged the furniture outside, cleaned it thoroughly, and boiled the tablecloths in boiling water.
But the next day, and the day after that,
“Ugh, I’m getting used to this smell. That makes it even more annoying!”
“I just can’t get used to it. I don’t understand it. Where on earth does that smell come from?”
The stench didn't go away.
No matter how thoroughly I cleaned and poured in perfume, the next day the store was filled with a foul odor.
By this time I could not help but realize.
“I was scammed.”
I went straight to the owner of the building.
“The store smells so bad. I can’t do business.”
“I guess the lady didn’t clean up properly.”
“I’ve done five deep cleanings. There’s something wrong with the building itself.”
The bad smell wasn't something that could be solved simply by cleaning hard and changing furniture.
“Either you fix the smell or cancel the contract.”
“Oh, Miss, our building is fine. That’s why you signed the contract. But now you’re suddenly asking me to cancel the contract because there’s a problem with my building?”
The building owner shook his head, saying it was ridiculous. When I signed the contract, I thought he was a handsome and kind-looking man, but what kind of man is he? When I looked at him again, he had an unpleasant expression.
“If you want, I can cancel the contract, but since it’s because you changed your mind, I’ll only refund half of the rent I received. Understand that.”
“What did you say?”
I and the landlord argued for over an hour. The building owner insisted that there had been no problems when the store was leased, so he did not have to return all the money he had received.
I was going crazy and jumping for joy, but unfortunately, his argument had a lot of truth to it.
I, who returned to the Rhineland mansion without any income, sighed deeply with a sullen face.
“That guy obviously knew it smelled.”
“Yeah, he wasn’t even surprised when I brought up the stench.”
A store where the stench never goes away. The building owner who received a year's worth of rent at once, and the low prices that lure me in.
The moment I realized this, I instinctively knew I had been deceived.
But just in case, the building owner might not have known about the stench, so I decided to meet him. The result was as expected.
“It seems to be a trick. Since they can’t sell anything in a place that smells bad, they probably just took half of the store’s profit and left.”
The amount of money I paid in rent for one year was a whopping 150 gold pieces, which was equivalent to the amount earned by selling about 7,500 incense sticks.
That's also based on sales alone, without taking into account the cost of raw materials and labor that went into making incense.
But do you want to eat half of it there? You didn't have any special signs of a thief.
“Why is it that there is no smell when signing a contract, but it starts to smell when you start doing business?”
I went to the stores next door and asked if they had ever smelled like that, but they said no. It was driving me crazy.
“Did the building owner do something?”
I clutched my pounding head. My mind was also suffocated. I couldn't tell if it was a disease caused by the stench I was exposed to every day, or if it was a disease of anger.
“Are you feeling unwell again?”
Erne, who had been quietly watching me rub the area around my pubic area, gently patted Judith's lower back.
Erne also suffered from headaches and indigestion due to the foul smell every day. If even he, who trained his body, was suffering from this, how much more so would I?
Erne couldn't feel a single bit of flesh on Judith's back against his palm.
“Erne, go and scold him.”
“Who’s the owner of the building? Let's go beat him up and get your money back.”
“...?”
My hand, which had been rubbing my pubic hair, suddenly stopped.
“Who are you, Erne Rhineland?”
I opened my eyes wide and looked up at Erne. If it was the Erne I knew, he would have said something like, 'Am I the kind of person who scolds people?'
“Even if you take my side, it’s chaos.”
'Judging by the reaction, it really is Erne.'
I tilted my head and muttered.
“I think I’ll go to the apothecary that Sir Henry introduced me to. Erne should go with me. I think the smell might be making you dizzy.”
While he was sick because of the mummy, Judith stayed by her bedside, unable to rest properly.
Since she was working at the same time, there was no way Judith's health would recover.
“If it’s because of interest, I’ll try lending money to the Marquis of Mosley.”
“Isn’t that just borrowing money anyway, Erne?”
“When did I say I would borrow it? I will receive payment for the information I have provided to the Marquis so far.”
“...Erne, you’re a knight, not a thug. You haven’t forgotten, have you? I’m worried that you’ve forgotten your duty in the arena.”
“I told you not to talk about the arena.”
Erne's mouth trembled as he recalled the shameful scene from that day when he ran away from the arena in a panic and ran into Henry, who had come to check up on him.
As Erne tried to grab the sword he had placed on the floor, Henry coughed urgently and changed the subject.
“Anyway, I’m talking about a stopgap measure. How long are you going to keep extorting money from the Marquis?”
“Forever, forever.”
Erne answered shamelessly, but Judith agreed with Henry.
A stopgap measure. Yes, a stopgap measure. Neither receiving information from Marquis Mosley nor working like this while reducing sleep were solutions.
Is there no other way? Judith was pondering, and suddenly the inconveniences she had been hearing about for several days came to mind.
“I’m sorry to have made you come all the way here to buy one, Miss Harrington. Instead, give me Miss Harrington’s home address and I’ll send our son to you.”
“I think I’d better send a boy to buy it. That would be better than waiting for Miss Harrington to come to my house. Can’t you give me your home address? Why not?”
Because of the high price of incense, customers who bought small quantities, one or two at a time, were uncomfortable with Judith's sales method.
The only thing they wanted to do was wait for Judith all day, which was a hassle.
Of course, if they come to buy the candles themselves, they can save time on delivery. However, the Rhineland Mansion has not yet been able to shake off its bad reputation.
'... But do you have to sell incense at the mansion? You can make it at the mansion and sell it somewhere else, right?'
What if I open a store?
Judith felt like she had been hit in the back of the head. Why hadn't she thought of getting a shop!
Although you have to pay rent, if you open a store, you will spend less time on deliveries. If you make candles with the time you save, you will have some left over after paying your rent.
In addition, she can promote it to people passing by. However, she was a little worried that people would buy incense from other stores and copy it.
However, scented candles were more difficult to make than colored ones. They were so complicated that even Judith, who already knew how to make them, had to study them for several days, so it would not have been easy for other merchants to steal them.
Of course, eventually, there will be a place that follows suit, but before that, it was important to make it known as much as possible that the scented candle was the original Judith.
For that reason alone, it was advantageous to open a store. It would naturally become known as the first incense shop.
“I need to open a store.”
"Suddenly?"
Erne, who had been lying down exhausted by Judith's sudden declaration, got up. She explained the plan to Erne and Henry, who were bewildered.
“That doesn’t seem like a bad idea.”
Erne nodded seriously.
“I’ve already decided on the name of the store.”
“You are quick, Ma’am. What will you name it?”
“Judith Harrington’s beautiful and fragrant candle shop.”
Erne wiggled his fingers from side to side.
“It’s long and rustic.”
“Then, Judith Harrington’s fragrant moment.”
“I can’t tell what this store sells just by hearing its name.”
Henry objected in a voice that seemed to say, "That's not true."
“How about a fragrant oasis?”
Henry shook his head and Erne clicked his tongue.
“The Garden of Fragrance?”
“It looks like a flower shop.”
“A candle shop with scents and colors.”
“I don’t want to go in.”
After numerous suggestions and objections, the name was settled on 'Miss Harrington's Special Candle Shop', which was the most common and accepted name around here.
***
Once the name was decided, the rest was easy. I found a clean shop slightly off the center of the square.
There was a downside to having to pay a year's rent all at once, but it was a good deal because the rent was considerably cheaper than the market price.
The day the contract was signed and the balance was paid, I was so excited that I cleaned the store.
'I can't believe I have my own store!'
I've always had a vague idea of wanting to open a nice store someday, but I never thought I would achieve that dream so quickly.
Although I was covered in sweat from mopping every nook and cranny, I didn't even realize how hard it was. Cleaning was just fun.
Kneeling and scrubbing the floor, I dreamed of expanding the shop and eventually opening a second and third branch.
But things didn't go smoothly.
The next day, I and Erne stopped by the store to decorate the interior, and as soon as we opened the door, we covered our mouths at the foul smell that came out.
“Ugh.”
“What the heck, I can’t stay here.”
The inside of the store was filled with a foul smell as if the fish had rotted. I and Erne ran out of the store, feeling nauseous.
“It’s strange. It didn’t smell like this yesterday.”
“Then is that the smell coming from newly bought furniture?”
Since this smell didn't come out yesterday, on the day we signed the contract, or on the day we first came to see the store, Erne and I concluded that the problem was with the furniture we had purchased and brought in yesterday.
We dragged the furniture outside, cleaned it thoroughly, and boiled the tablecloths in boiling water.
But the next day, and the day after that,
“Ugh, I’m getting used to this smell. That makes it even more annoying!”
“I just can’t get used to it. I don’t understand it. Where on earth does that smell come from?”
The stench didn't go away.
No matter how thoroughly I cleaned and poured in perfume, the next day the store was filled with a foul odor.
By this time I could not help but realize.
“I was scammed.”
***
I went straight to the owner of the building.
“The store smells so bad. I can’t do business.”
“I guess the lady didn’t clean up properly.”
“I’ve done five deep cleanings. There’s something wrong with the building itself.”
The bad smell wasn't something that could be solved simply by cleaning hard and changing furniture.
“Either you fix the smell or cancel the contract.”
“Oh, Miss, our building is fine. That’s why you signed the contract. But now you’re suddenly asking me to cancel the contract because there’s a problem with my building?”
The building owner shook his head, saying it was ridiculous. When I signed the contract, I thought he was a handsome and kind-looking man, but what kind of man is he? When I looked at him again, he had an unpleasant expression.
“If you want, I can cancel the contract, but since it’s because you changed your mind, I’ll only refund half of the rent I received. Understand that.”
“What did you say?”
I and the landlord argued for over an hour. The building owner insisted that there had been no problems when the store was leased, so he did not have to return all the money he had received.
I was going crazy and jumping for joy, but unfortunately, his argument had a lot of truth to it.
I, who returned to the Rhineland mansion without any income, sighed deeply with a sullen face.
“That guy obviously knew it smelled.”
“Yeah, he wasn’t even surprised when I brought up the stench.”
A store where the stench never goes away. The building owner who received a year's worth of rent at once, and the low prices that lure me in.
The moment I realized this, I instinctively knew I had been deceived.
But just in case, the building owner might not have known about the stench, so I decided to meet him. The result was as expected.
“It seems to be a trick. Since they can’t sell anything in a place that smells bad, they probably just took half of the store’s profit and left.”
The amount of money I paid in rent for one year was a whopping 150 gold pieces, which was equivalent to the amount earned by selling about 7,500 incense sticks.
That's also based on sales alone, without taking into account the cost of raw materials and labor that went into making incense.
But do you want to eat half of it there? You didn't have any special signs of a thief.
“Why is it that there is no smell when signing a contract, but it starts to smell when you start doing business?”
I went to the stores next door and asked if they had ever smelled like that, but they said no. It was driving me crazy.
“Did the building owner do something?”
I clutched my pounding head. My mind was also suffocated. I couldn't tell if it was a disease caused by the stench I was exposed to every day, or if it was a disease of anger.
“Are you feeling unwell again?”
Erne, who had been quietly watching me rub the area around my pubic area, gently patted Judith's lower back.
Erne also suffered from headaches and indigestion due to the foul smell every day. If even he, who trained his body, was suffering from this, how much more so would I?
Erne couldn't feel a single bit of flesh on Judith's back against his palm.
“Erne, go and scold him.”
“Who’s the owner of the building? Let's go beat him up and get your money back.”
“...?”
My hand, which had been rubbing my pubic hair, suddenly stopped.
“Who are you, Erne Rhineland?”
I opened my eyes wide and looked up at Erne. If it was the Erne I knew, he would have said something like, 'Am I the kind of person who scolds people?'
“Even if you take my side, it’s chaos.”
'Judging by the reaction, it really is Erne.'
I tilted my head and muttered.
“I think I’ll go to the apothecary that Sir Henry introduced me to. Erne should go with me. I think the smell might be making you dizzy.”
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