“It’s because of the cat.”
“A cat? Why a cat?”
“There is a noble lady named Lady Everdeen, Your Majesty’s nanny, who has reported to the police that her cat has been lost and is being looked for.”
Originally, the police did not look for lost animals, but they would sometimes do so when they had free time. However, now they were all on emergency duty. Even if they were the Emperor's wet nurse, they could not accept such a request.
“You should have said no.”
“I did, but every day, she comes and tells me to find the cat for two or three hours...”
They said that Cain, the chief of police, and everyone else had a lot of hardships because she was a person who couldn't be kicked out so easily.
“So I put up a reward of 20 gold, but I can’t see the cat, whether it rose to the sky or fell to the ground.”
“...Is that cat a white cat?”
“Oh, right. How did you know?”
Erne turned his head and looked at Judith. From the moment the story of the 20 gold coins came up, Judith's eyes had been sparkling.
“Is that the cat wearing a ruby necklace?”
“That’s right! It’s that cat. Where did you see it?”
Cain asked excitedly. And then.
Meow-
The cat that had been sleeping quietly in the box let out a loud cry as if it heard what she was saying.
Are you lucky by any chance? This is totally Lucky Kitty.
Judith smiled happily.
***
“I’ve never seen a cat with such a grand name in my life.”
The name of the cat that the Emperor's nanny cherishes and cherishes is Charlotte III. Judith and Erne tried to hide their surprised expressions when they heard the name while giving the cat to Lady Everdeen.
“I thought it was the name of a royal family from some kingdom.”
Who the hell gives a cat a name like Charlotte III? That's way less naming sense than naming a horse Gold.
“Thanks to that, I got 20 gold coins. They say good luck will come, and it was actually 20 gold coins.”
Judith was so happy that she felt like dancing. How sweet it was to receive 20 gold coins without doing anything. She was full even without eating.
“Don’t forget that one of those golds is for the saddle.”
“I won’t forget.”
On the way out of Lady Aberdeen's mansion, the belt holding the saddle snapped. It was an accident that had occurred because she had bought an old saddle to save money.
Erne could ride without a saddle, but it was dangerous for Judith, who was a novice at horseback riding, so they ended up walking.
When Cain came, it was already evening and the shops were closing, so it was now deep night and only a few houses had their lights on.
“Aren’t you cold?”
“I guess it’s because I have 20 gold, but I don’t feel the cold.”
Erne burst out laughing at Judith's words. Could it be that good? Erne walked slowly, matching Judith's pace.
Judith, feeling better, looked at the stars in the night sky and hummed a tune, saying that she liked the quiet streets at night. Erne also looked up at the night sky for the first time in a long time.
When was the last time I looked at the night sky? Oh yes, when I was in the palace. When the current Empress was not an Empress, and the Emperor was not an Emperor.
The two people who were passionately in love but were busy with their own circumstances were only able to meet this late at night.
Even though it was dark and they couldn't see much, they held each other's hands and walked. They walked around the pond in the palace and raved about how beautiful it was.
It was so dark that he couldn't see anything clearly, so what on earth was so beautiful about it? Erne also looked up at the night sky that they were looking at, but it was just an ordinary sky.
Erne couldn't understand the two people who were happy just by looking at each other's faces and the warmth of their hands holding each other.
But why do those two people from back then seem to overlap with us now?
“A shooting star, a shooting star fell. Wow. I have to make a wish when it falls again. Erne, watch carefully and when a shooting star falls, make a wish.”
Judith's dark eyes, looking up at the night sky, twinkled with starlight. So much so that she didn't even have to look up at the night sky.
“There, there, it’s falling. Erne, hurry up and pray, wish.”
Judith clasped her hands together and muttered something softly. Erne couldn't hear her, but he knew what she was wishing for. It must have been for her to make a lot of money.
And my wish is... Erne’s eyes, which resembled recordings, rested not on the stars falling from the sky, but on a woman who resembled the night sky.
Judith, who had made a wish, turned her head and looked at Erne. At that moment, something inside Erne collapsed. A sense of debt, responsibility, guilt. And through that collapsed crack, an emotion that was clearly different from the previous emotions dug in.
“I hope your wish comes true.”
“...The shooting star disappeared while you were saying ‘your wish’.”
Judith's lips pout out in needless anger.
“Anyway, Erne, what’s the point of ruining the mood? So, what did you wish for?”
“I didn’t make a wish.”
"Why?"
“You said you would grant my wish, don’t you remember?”
***
Meanwhile, the priest's hideout.
Inside the laboratory, where there was a large table, broken and shattered furniture was scattered about.
The priest boy sat down on a chair that was still relatively intact and ran his hand through his sweaty hair. His bright yellow eyes were sharp and bright.
“I told you to bring it on time. You can’t do anything because Burlan didn’t come on time.”
A short man stood in front of him, fidgeting and repeatedly nodding his head.
“That’s because the boss who brought the Burlan suddenly broke off business with us and gave all the burlan to that woman, so, I’m sorry.”
“Wouldn’t it have been possible to just go to that woman and buy it? If you gave her enough money, she would have sold it. I don’t think the Ouz side doesn’t have that much money.”
The man who had been trembling at the sound of the boy's cold voice slowly raised his head. It was the man who had a face that strangely resembled Ouz's upper class.
“So who is that woman?”
“This is Miss Harrington, who sells incense.”
If she's a lady selling incense, isn't that Erne's wife's name?
The boy burst out laughing in amazement. The names kept coming up. Erne and Judith. Judith and Erne.
“It’s a new feeling to hear that name again.”
To avoid sabotaging her cosmetics business, she created and marketed a candle made of marigold flowers.
But Judith's incense business was not hindered at all. The boy could not let this go. So he cast a small curse.
But this time, it didn't hurt Judith or Erne at all. Rather, it only made him suffer the side effects of the magic that came back to haunt him.
“By the way, please take a look at those two. It seems like they have someone helping them from behind.”
There was no way Judith and Erne could have broken the curse on their own. There must have been someone skilled in magic.
“Find out who her assistant is. If you do well in this task, I will push you hard so that you can become a top shareholder.”
The boy's confident voice made his small eyes sparkle with desire.
“Yes, I will definitely find out!”
“Go ahead, then.”
The boy was very curious about how the curse was broken. However, the task he was asked to do was much more important and urgent than finding out for himself.
As soon as the man left, the boy pushed aside the messy desk and started to work on something. Fatigue settled on his shoulders.
“It’s so damn hard to rise in status, whether there or here.”
***
The burlan monopoly had outlived its usefulness. He had received a sufficient amount of money and a memorandum from the Ouz upper house, so there was no need to monopolize burlan any longer.
Above all, it was a hassle to deal with both customers coming to buy incense and customers coming to buy firewood.
Just making incense to supply to the royal family was a lot of work. So Judith gave up her exclusive sales in burlan and devoted herself to making incense.
"How is it?"
“The effort paid off.”
A rose-scented candle decorated with dried Lisabelle roses. This was a special edition, supplied only to the imperial family, for the empress.
Judith finished delivering 400 candles in a box to the palace.
Just when she thought she could finally catch her breath, Lady Aberdeen invited Judith to her mansion to thank her for helping her find Charlotte III.
Judith gladly accepted the invitation. Judith's candles were now popular among young ladies and noblewomen.
By making customers like Lady Everdeen, who served as the Emperor's wet nurse, she could also attract older ladies as guests.
***
“I’m late in inviting you, Miss Harrington. After finding our Charlotte III, I must have let my guard down, because this old body of mine has been breaking down so quickly.”
“No, Ma’am.”
Lady Aberdeen's drawing room. Judith greeted her politely, handing her the gift of incense she had brought. Erne also came to Lady Aberdeen's mansion.
However, he did not want to be in a place where greetings and etiquette were required, so he waited outside the reception room pretending to be an escort.
It was thanks to the fact that Erne's resurrection and marriage were not officially announced for the sake of the incense business. When she explained the circumstances, the imperial family readily gave her permission to do so.
“By the way, this person....”
Judith glanced at the man sitting across from Mrs. Everdeen. He had tanned, copper-colored skin, chestnut-brown hair, and eyes that seemed to be filled with sorrow.
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