My Contract Husband Resembles the Male Protagonist - Chapter 56
“I have a gift for you, Countess.”
“From the young lady of Grunwald?”
Marianne’s eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected words.
Sophia handed her a neatly wrapped rectangular box. It was a fine velvet box.
At first glance, it looked like it might contain jewels, but they were not that close.
Moreover, it was too large for a piece of jewelry.
“This is…”
Marianne opened the box, her wide eyes filled with curiosity.
She thought she had seen everything the world had to offer, but here was an object she didn’t recognize.
“Is it a weapon?”
“This is called a ‘hoe’.”
“A hoe?”
Upon closer inspection, it did look somewhat like a weapon, or perhaps a pickaxe. Or maybe a shovel, but it was called a hoe?
“What is it used for, young lady?”
“I heard you love your greenhouse, Countess.”
“Oh, indeed…”
So this young lady had taken an interest in her?
Hosting salons was more for political purposes than for socializing. It was a battleground that only women could enter.
Marianne Clementine had retired from the active social scene.
However, she had no heir to continue the count’s lineage, which had become a matter of great interest among the nobility.
The reason Clementine held salons was partly to observe potential heirs.
She had to adopt one from outside the family, which meant bringing in a male relative or a second son as her heir.
Watching the intrigue and competition among the salon attendees vying for that position was a major source of amusement and sustenance for her otherwise dull life—a slightly twisted pleasure.
‘This young lady is different.’
Marianne was delighted by the young lady’s untainted innocence, still untouched by the social world.
But a gift…?
“And this is a guide on how to cultivate and care for plants. I asked my one and only friend to get this for you. I hope it will be helpful.”
Marianne looked at the book the young lady held out with such courage.
It was entirely handwritten.
“Is this flattery from your friend?”
“Oh, that’s…”
Marianne laughed as she saw Sophia’s flustered reaction.
“Is it the friend who made this?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Thank you, Miss Grunwald. I will gratefully accept this.”
She found the boldness of someone promoting their product quite intriguing.
If this could help recreate the greenhouse as it was during her husband’s time, it wouldn’t be so bad.
“Let’s see.”
* * *
The plan was a great success.
“Anne! Anne! Countess Clementine loved it!”
“Really?”
Two weeks later, Sophia excitedly told me.
“She rarely shows her greenhouse, but she opened it just for me. And when I saw it…”
“And?”
“It was a mess.”
Sophia whispered, almost apologetically.
With a bashful smile, she handed me a crumpled piece of paper.
“So, Anne, the Countess wants 100 more of these.”
“A hundred?”
“Is that too much?”
“…It should be fine, right?”
I wasn’t the one making them. The alchemist was the one doing the hard work.
Though he didn’t charge for the herbs, he was certainly working hard.
But he doesn’t have a hundred hands.
“Could you tell her that we can start with ten? And that we’d need the Countess’s influence to produce more?”
“Oh! Influence? Got it!”
“Just don’t say it so bluntly.”
“I know that now, Anne.”
Sophia smiled brightly.
“So, will you be going to the academy now?”
“Yes. The Countess is sponsoring me.”
Over the past two weeks, there had been changes for Sophia as well.
It seemed Countess Clementine liked her enough to offer to be her patron in the social world.
Sophia, being a count’s daughter, didn’t necessarily need a patron, but having the backing of the Clementine Count’s name was quite different.
The Countess had personally convinced the lord of Grunwald to provide Sophia with formal education.
“Anne, I’ve been thinking, what if we establish a trade connection with a merchant guild?”
“A merchant guild?”
“Yes. Countess Clementine showed interest, and I’m sure it will be successful for you, Anne.”
In fact, I had already considered a particular merchant guild.
The Kellefelt Guild.
The largest guild on the continent, renowned as the best in the empire, with branches everywhere.
Every road, even the smallest paths through gorges, had been traveled by the Kellefelt Guild.
They were known to find and sell profitable goods from the most treacherous places, earning the nickname “Money Dogs.”
After parting with Sophia and returning home, I kept thinking.
“Rozanna was well-acquainted with the Kellefelt Guild.”
She was the guild master’s daughter, after all.
From what I remembered, the guild master had about five children.
The guild master’s rule was clear.
“The child who brings in the most money will inherit the guild.”
