chapter 5
“Miss, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Isaac, the manager of this soap workshop.”
“Hello. My name is Hystia Frost.”
Hystia politely greeted the middle-aged man standing before her.
“May I ask what brings you here?”
“I came looking for my dad. Has he come by here, by any chance?”
“No. The baron hasn’t visited today.”
“…I see.”
Seeing the little girl droop in disappointment, Isaac looked flustered.
“Then… would it be okay if I looked around the soap workshop?”
“Hm? But the baron isn’t here.”
“I’ve always been curious about how soap is made.”
“If that’s the case, I’ll guide you myself.”
Hystia shook her head.
“Aren’t you busy if you’re the manager? This mister is fine.”
“That may be true, but… this boy only recently joined the workshop. He’s still new. I’ll assign someone else to escort you.”
“It’s okay. I’m only going to look around for a little while. Does he not know much about the workshop?”
“No, that’s not it.”
“I’ll stay quiet and won’t bother anyone.”
Isaac and the young worker exchanged bewildered looks at Hystia’s cheerful smile.
“Make sure nothing dangerous happens to the young miss.”
“Yes, don’t worry.”
In the end, Isaac returned inside to handle his work, leaving only Hystia and the newcomer behind.
The young man awkwardly scratched his cheek before holding out his hand.
“Then… shall we go?”
“Okay!”
“This is where we cut the finished soap.”
“So it’s originally that huge.”
Following the young worker’s guidance, Hystia toured the workshop.
“After cutting it, we let it air-dry for a few more days. Otherwise it softens too quickly.”
What she was looking at now was nearly completed soap. But this wasn’t what she truly wanted.
“Um… what should I call you?”
“You mean my name? I’m Jerome.”
“Huh? Jerome?”
“Yes, that’s right. Please feel free to call me Jerome.”
Without realizing it, Hystia’s mouth fell open.
She knew scented soap had first appeared in the eastern region. Could he really be the same person?
“Jerome, are you from the East?”
“No. I was born and raised in Bayern. The owner you met earlier is my father.”
“Huh? But he said you were new…”
“My father told me I had to learn everything from the ground up. Ah, earlier you asked whether I was from the East, right? My mother is from there, so maybe I inherited some eastern features from her.”
‘Come to think of it…’
She had heard that after Frost’s business was stolen by Haber, some of the Frost businesses in Bayern were either converted into different ventures or pushed out and shut down by Haber’s company.
What if Jerome’s family had been forced to close their soap workshop under Haber’s pressure and moved east afterward?
‘Jerome might actually be the Father of Soap.’
She also remembered reading a newspaper interview with the “Father of Soap,” where he mentioned that someone had once stolen the soap workshop his father operated.
“So you’re the heir?”
“In a way, yes. But my father won’t hand over the workshop just because I’m his son. That’s why I’m trying my best in my own way.”
“That’s cool.”
“Haha, thank you.”
She had intentionally chosen him because, as a newcomer, there would likely be fewer watchful eyes on him. She never imagined she’d stumble upon such luck.
Still, she needed to confirm whether this Jerome was truly the “Father of Soap” she knew.
“Jerome, there’s something I’m curious about.”
“Yes? Go ahead.”
“The smell of soap is so awful that if I keep smelling it, I start feeling sick.”
“Oh dear. Then you should leave immediately—!”
“No, no. What I mean is… can’t you make soap that smells nice?”
“Ah…”
After letting out a sigh, Jerome glanced around cautiously before whispering to her.
“To be honest, I think that’s something that needs improvement too.”
As expected. All the clues pointed to him being the “Father of Soap.”
“But we still haven’t found a proper ingredient that can eliminate the unpleasant odor. Even if we add a nice fragrance, it can’t completely remove that unique smell, so it just becomes worse instead.”
“Hm… I see. Did you try experimenting on your own?”
“Yes. I’ve tried various things in my own way. But nothing’s worked out, so I’ve been struggling. My father says the soap is fine as it is… but I don’t intend to stay complacent.”
Jerome spoke passionately about how he would one day solve soap’s chronic odor problem.
‘But he only managed to create scented soap after being driven out of this place.’
Which meant it took him quite a long time to develop it.
“I want to see how soap is made from the beginning.”
“That’s a little dangerous for a young lady.”
“It’s okay. You’ll watch over me from nearby, right?”
“That’s true, but…”
After hesitating for a moment, Jerome finally led Hystia farther inside, unable to refuse such a well-behaved child.
Several enormous cauldrons filled the area, and the raw materials for the soap were scattered everywhere, making the smell even worse.
“This is where we mix the ingredients according to the formula and filter them once. There are too many impurities, so it’s difficult to make soap directly from them otherwise.”
Jerome diligently explained the process.
While half-listening to his explanation, Hystia fiddled with the pouch of black herbs in her pocket.
‘How am I supposed to give this to him…?’
She had rushed here with the ingredients after coming up with the brilliant idea of scented soap, but she still hadn’t figured out how to pass along the information.
After all, who would seriously listen to a child?
‘Even I wouldn’t believe it.’
As she agonized over what to do—
“Would you like to see it up close?”
Jerome poured a small amount of nearly finished soap liquid into an unused cup and handed it to her.
“After some time, a film will form on top and it’ll slowly harden. Take it home and use it. Since you came all the way here, it’d be nice to have a little souvenir.”
Hystia blankly stared at the soap liquid she’d received. But then her eyes suddenly gleamed.
“Hey, newbie! Come over here for a second!”
A worker called for Jerome from afar.
“Huh? Ah…”
Jerome glanced at Hystia worriedly, but she smiled brightly.
“I’ll stay here. Go ahead.”
“…It’s dangerous, so absolutely don’t touch anything. I’ll be right back.”
The moment Jerome left, Hystia hurriedly pulled out the pouch of black herbs. She grabbed a handful and tossed them into the cup of soap liquid.
When she stirred it roughly with a long stick nearby, the rancid smell slowly began to fade.
‘Now if I just add a little perfume…’
Hystia crouched down and secretly busied herself.
About ten minutes later, Jerome returned after finishing his errand.
“I’m sorry, miss. Did you wait long?”
But Hystia gave no answer.
Seeing her crouched on the floor with her back turned, Jerome tilted his head in confusion.
“Miss?”
“Jerome, look at this! I made it!”
Hystia turned around with a bright smile. Jerome froze when he saw the soap he’d given her completely transformed after only ten minutes.
“What in the world did you do?”
“You told me I could keep it. So I tried doing whatever I wanted with it. What do you think? Isn’t it nice?”
“Nice or not isn’t the issue here…”
Jerome stared speechlessly at the soap liquid, where mysterious black leaves floated around.
“You mustn’t play around like this. You didn’t touch anything else, did you?”
After glancing toward the large cauldrons and confirming they were untouched, Jerome finally sighed in relief.
Hystia puffed out her lips in protest.
“I’m not playing around. Look properly!”
“Miss, soap can’t have this many impurities in it. This has no product val—”
“That’s not it. Smell it.”
“…Smell it?”
Jerome wore a skeptical expression, but faced with the stubborn child, he reluctantly pretended to sniff it.
Then his eyes flew wide open.
“How is it? Smells good, right?”
“W-Wait a moment…!”
Jerome snatched the cup from Hystia’s hands and buried his nose in it.
Watching him repeatedly sniff the soap with a confused expression, Hystia secretly smiled.
“Miss! May I check this outside for a moment? There are too many smells mixed together in here!”
“Do whatever you want.”
The two stepped out of the suffocating workshop and inhaled the fresh air.
After taking several deep breaths to reset his sense of smell, Jerome sniffed the soap liquid again.
“…I wasn’t imagining it.”
The soap smelled fragrant. A pleasant floral scent, at that!
But there was something even more shocking to Jerome than the flower fragrance itself.
“Miss! Just how did you do this?!”
“What?”
“The rancid smell! How did you get rid of the rancid smell?!”
Ever since becoming a newcomer at the workshop to properly help his father, Jerome had tried countless methods.
The thing he most wanted to eliminate was soap’s chronic foul odor.
No matter how many fragrances he layered over it, the smell never disappeared. Yet this soap liquid had none of that odor at all—only a gentle, pleasant fragrance lingered in the air.
Hystia blinked before pulling something out of her pocket.
“That’s…?”
“Black herb.”
“…Black herb?”
“My mom uses it when she cooks. She said black herb gets rid of bad smells. I happened to have some because I was running an errand for her.”
“So you’re saying you added this to the soap?”
“Yeah. The soap smelled awful, so I thought maybe it’d get better if I added it.”
“Then what’s this nice fragrance?”
“Perfume. It smelled good, so I secretly brought some from my mom. This is a secret from her.”
Hystia smiled innocently, pretending to be a child who had simply mixed in all the things she liked.
The stunned Jerome slowly lost strength in his legs and collapsed to the ground, laughing helplessly.
“H-Haha… hahaha…!”
Soon his laughter filled with pure joy.
“Thank you, miss…!”
“For what?”
“Thanks to you, it feels like everything that had been blocking me has suddenly cleared up! Black herb! Right, why didn’t I think of this?”
Black herb was an herb commonly used by poor commoners.
As the son of a soap workshop owner, Jerome had lived more comfortably than most, so he’d never had much connection to black herb.
But in the distant future, after losing the workshop and being driven east, he would briefly live in poverty.
That was where he first encountered black herb—and it became the greatest turning point in earning him the title of the “Father of Soap.”
Of course, that was still a future that hadn’t happened yet… and perhaps never would.
“Miss, I’m sorry to ask this, but could you give me this soap?”
“You said I could have it.”
“I apologize for taking back my words. But if you give this to me now, I promise I’ll repay you with something much greater later.”
“…Hmm, then okay.”
“Thank you!”
Jerome repeatedly bowed at a perfect ninety degrees while thanking her over and over.
“In that case, let me continue showing you around the workshop.”
“No, it’s okay. I’ve seen enough.”
More importantly, she’d achieved far more than she hoped for.
She’d thought it would already be good enough if scented soap could be developed, but she had actually met the “Father of Soap.”
With just this hint, Jerome would surely create an excellent product in no time.
Besides, she had felt guilty about stealing someone else’s idea, but instead she’d helped the original creator discover it years earlier. Two birds with one stone.
Receiving Jerome’s farewell, Hystia left the workshop.
After returning to the mansion, she put back the perfume she had stolen.
“A little’s missing… but Mom probably won’t notice this much, right?”
After covering up the evidence and quietly closing the door, Hystia let out a tired sigh.
There had been a few twists and turns, but she had finally taken the first step.
“With this, if we support the soap workshop more and expand the factory, we’ll make a lot of money. And since Jerome is here, I’m sure we can branch into all sorts of businesses beyond just soap…”
“Sis! Sis!”
At that moment, Elvin came running toward the muttering Hystia.
Lost in thoughts about the future, she absentmindedly patted her younger brother’s head.
Then—
“Candy!”
“Ah…”
Only then did Hystia remember the promise she’d made to Elvin.
Looking at his sparkling eyes, she gave an awkward smile.
“…Sorry, Elvin. I forgot…”
The corners of his mouth slowly drooped, and tears began welling in his round eyes.
“Waaaah! Mom! Dad! Sis—!”
“H-Hold on, Elvin! I’ll buy it tomorrow—no, no, I’ll go right now! Elviiiin!”