chapter 6
“So… this is soap?”
“Yes, my lord. It’s a newly developed product.”
“Ohh…”
A month after Hestia visited the soap workshop, Isaac and Jerome came to the Frost estate together.
In their hands was a successfully scented soap.
“It smells even better than olive soap.”
“You’re right. I’ve never seen soap with such a pleasant fragrance before.”
Derek and Anna reacted positively. The subtle scent spreading through the room was so nice that it could even pass as an air freshener.
“How does it feel when used?”
“The cleansing power is similar to before, but the dryness on the skin has improved somewhat. Besides masking unpleasant odors with Black Herb… what was it again?”
“It helps moisturize the skin.”
“So he says.”
Jerome smoothly supplemented Isaac’s lacking explanation.
At first, Jerome had merely assisted Isaac, but before long he had begun taking the lead, offering all kinds of ideas regarding the future soap business.
“To be honest, this new product was created by my son. About a month ago, he suddenly insisted we absolutely had to make this and shoved a prototype at me.”
“Ohh, it seems you’ve got yourself a very clever son. It must be reassuring to have such an excellent successor.”
“Hahaha! He takes completely after me! Isn’t that right, Jerome?”
Grinning from ear to ear, Isaac heartily slapped Jerome on the back. Jerome twisted awkwardly and forced a smile.
Hestia quietly sipped her tea while glancing sideways at Jerome.
‘He exceeded my expectations. Truly the Father of Soap.’
Ever since the day she visited the soap workshop, Hestia had waited every single day for good news.
And finally, today the two had come to visit.
Hestia examined the new products they had brought once more.
‘Scented soap really is the best.’
It smelled far better than ordinary soap. Moreover, perhaps because they had conducted several experiments, there were no less than three different fragrances.
Seeing an item she had only known from the distant future appear before her eyes felt strangely emotional.
‘At this rate, maybe other products can be developed too?’
Jerome was famous as the Father of Soap, but scented soap wasn’t the only thing he created.
‘He invented all sorts of moisturizers, scented oils, and various other products.’
Scented soap was only the foundation.
If she continued dropping little good ideas here and there like this, Jerome would surely…
Tap—
The moment Hestia lifted her head, her eyes met Jerome’s.
In truth, he had been staring at her the entire time.
Seeing the trace of excitement and delight in his eyes, Hestia suddenly felt uneasy.
‘Don’t tell me…’
“There is something I wish to tell the baron.”
Jerome turned toward Derek with a faint smile.
“Yes? What is it?”
“It is true that I developed this product, but the origin of it was actually the young lady.”
While the adults tilted their heads, unable to understand his meaning, Hestia shot Jerome a horrified glare.
“Would you take a look at this?”
Jerome pulled out a bar of soap from his bag. Compared to the earlier samples, it was blotchy and crude-looking, but the scent was incomparably superior.
“Hm? This smells familiar somehow…”
Anna tilted her head at the recognizable scent.
“About a month ago, Lady Hestia visited the workshop. Since she said she wanted to look around, I gave her a tour and presented her with a bar of soap as a souvenir.”
Jerome recalled the events of that day and carefully explained how Black Herb had entered the picture.
As the story continued, Hestia lowered her head to avoid everyone’s gaze, but the looks directed at her only became more obvious.
When Jerome finally finished, Derek stared at the soap Hestia had made with astonishment.
“…Goodness. Then this means our Tia made this?”
“Tia, how did you even come up with such an idea?”
Unable to withstand her parents’ amazement, Hestia fidgeted nervously.
“W-Well, it smelled bad, so I just thought maybe adding Black Herb would help…”
‘Why did he have to say unnecessary things?!’
Hestia shot Jerome a resentful look, but instead he looked back as though expecting praise for a job well done.
From the beginning, she had never intended to reveal her involvement to others.
‘An eight-year-old acting like she knows everything is weird to begin with.’
Since the “Father of Soap” was already here, she only wanted to give him some suitable hints so he could develop scented soap and help the Frost family. She never wanted attention like this.
Receiving the attention of adults while trapped in a child’s body was far more pressuring than she had imagined.
Just as she worried they might start thinking she was strange—
“Our Tia is a genius!”
Derek suddenly lifted Hestia high into the air and burst into hearty laughter.
“Who did you take after to become this smart, hmm?”
“Maybe it’s because she’s a child? Her way of thinking is so creative. She really is my daughter.”
Seeing her parents overjoyed, Hestia blinked her wide eyes in confusion.
‘They don’t think I’m strange?’
Even if she had contributed an idea for a new product, she thought she would be scolded for meddling recklessly as a child…
“Tia, thanks to you we were able to develop an excellent product. Thank you.”
Hearing Derek’s sincere gratitude, Hestia felt warmth swell inside her chest.
“H-Hehe… I’m glad I could help!”
While Derek hugged Hestia tightly and proudly called her a genius, Anna—who had continued sniffing the soap’s scent—suddenly raised her head as though realizing something.
“Wait… this is my perfume scent, isn’t it?”
Hestia and Jerome both flinched.
“Elvin said you played around with my perfume before. Don’t tell me you…!”
As Anna’s eyebrows slowly rose, Hestia hurriedly sent Jerome an SOS glance.
“T-That’s a fragrance I added separately. Since there happened to be perfume around, I thought it might work…”
Anna alternated suspicious looks between Hestia and Jerome before finally lowering the soap.
“…I see. It seems I misunderstood.”
Fortunately, she accepted the explanation. Hestia and Jerome secretly sighed in relief.
“But adding perfume like this would be rather difficult.”
“Because of the cost, I presume.”
“Yes. Perfume is expensive.”
Even so, the other prototypes without perfume still carried quite luxurious scents.
“What’s inside these samples?”
“We used inexpensive herbs like Black Herb.”
“You seem knowledgeable about herbs.”
“I studied them during this opportunity and sought advice from a herbalist. Since fragrances are made mainly from herbs, flowers, and fruits anyway, I thought using the raw ingredients directly would work just fine.”
“It certainly doesn’t feel cheap. And herbs on the level of Black Herb wouldn’t raise production costs much either.”
“That is why I ask… my lord, what do you think of this prototype?”
Isaac and Jerome swallowed nervously as they looked at Derek.
Derek smiled while inhaling the subtle fragrance lingering on his hands from the soap.
“I believe this is a revolutionary product capable of turning the Empire upside down.”
Isaac and Jerome brightened instantly, while Hestia secretly clenched her fist.
“I’ll support it fully.”
“Thank you! Thank you very much, my lord!”
‘Everything’s going smoothly.’
Thankfully, Derek properly understood the commercial value of scented soap.
The reason he went bankrupt in the future was because of endless schemes and traps laid against him, not because he lacked business sense altogether.
Although Isaac was the owner of the soap workshop, the Frost family provided all the funding and handled distribution and sales.
Thus, the workshop’s profits were divided according to the contract ratio between Isaac and the Frost family.
The growth of the soap workshop meant the growth of Frost itself.
This would become the foundation of the Frost family’s future prosperity.
‘But we need a bigger investor.’
Even if Frost gave the soap workshop its full support, there were limits.
The Frost family wasn’t particularly wealthy. To expand the workshop further, they needed a new investor.
If they asked the Harver family or other branch families for help, the scented soap recipe could be stolen. So if there was a place that could provide massive investment while also protecting the workshop…
‘I really don’t want to go there.’
Still, considering the future, that place was the best option.
After organizing her thoughts, Hestia licked her lips.
“Father, is this better than the soap nobles normally use?”
“Yes. In my opinion, it is.”
“Then it must be even better than what the Duke uses, right?”
“You mean Duke Winston?”
“Yes. You said Frost is a branch family of Winston. If this is better than what the Duke uses, then why don’t we present it to him as a gift?”
“…A gift.”
Derek’s eyes gleamed.
Apparently, he too realized his finances alone weren’t enough for full-scale support.
“That would certainly give us an opportunity. I was planning to visit the ducal house soon anyway… Tia, that’s an excellent idea.”
Hestia gave Derek an innocent smile as he patted her head.
“Until the finished product is ready, continue supplying only the existing soaps. We may need to produce larger quantities than before.”
“You plan to market aggressively from the start?”
“No. I have a feeling people may soon begin searching for soap more frequently. In that case, it would be best to complete and sell the final product quickly.”
Hestia tilted her head at his meaningful words.
“People are going to use a lot of soap? Why?”
“Do you remember the cosmetics you were playing with last time?”
The toxic face powder!
“It turns out the poison in that product is also present in many other cosmetics.”
“Eek! Then isn’t that dangerous? …People can’t be put in danger.”
“We’re already looking for a solution. For now, the only option is to stop using them completely and wash thoroughly. Just like you did before, Tia, I suspect many people will start searching for soap to wash off their cosmetics.”
‘Half right, half wrong.’
It was true that the cosmetic poisoning incident initially caused a shortage of soap, but it didn’t last long.
Soap alone couldn’t completely remove the toxins from the cosmetics.
“In any case, we’ll discuss this matter in more detail later—”
“Baron Frost! What nonsense is this about ending our partnership?!”
At that moment, an unwelcome guest burst into the office.
“How dare you behave so rudely!”
The intruder was Victor Harver.
Derek shouted furiously at the man’s complete lack of manners, but Victor merely flushed red and snapped back indignantly.
“That’s what I should be saying! You think I’d quietly accept a single letter saying you’re withdrawing from all our business dealings?!”
‘Withdrawing from all business?’
Hestia had thought Derek only rejected the cosmetics partnership proposal, but apparently that wasn’t the case.
The branch families’ businesses were all intricately intertwined, so unless one intended to sever ties completely, it wasn’t possible to withdraw unilaterally.
Yet Derek had done exactly that.
‘Father, what are you thinking…?!’
Of course, the Harver family eventually needed to be completely crushed and cut off—but this was far too early.
Hestia looked anxiously between Victor and Derek.
“I meant exactly what I wrote. From now on, Frost has no intention of conducting any business whatsoever related to Harver.”
“Frost and Harver are family! We are both branches of Winston! How can you act so unilaterally?! Do you truly think you’ll be fine after doing this?!”
As the agitated Victor stepped forward threateningly, Derek’s eyebrows twitched.
“Family… Ha. It seems your definition of family refers to people constantly aiming for your back.”
“What nonsense are you suddenly talking about?!”
“Did you know that the cosmetics you proposed for our partnership a few days ago contained poison?”
“W-What?!”
Victor staggered backward in shock, but to Hestia, he looked like someone panicking because his secret had been exposed.
However, Victor quickly regained himself and wore a bewildered expression, pretending to know nothing.