The Ugly Wife of the Shady Duke - Chapter 72.1
“Welcome, dear customer~. Anything you’re curious about?”
Spotting Grace who kept glancing around his shop, the merchant smiled widely, much like someone who’s just seen a fish bite a bait.
“What’s this fruit?”
“Ah, that? It’s from the Kingdom of Arsia. It’s called the Scarsander fruit.”
“From the Arsia Kingdom? You must have traveled a long way.”
“Well, it’s also in the south, so it’s not too far! I plan to head west next!”
“Wasn’t the West recently troubled with contamination?”
Grace inquired while gently feeling a Scarsander fruit in her hand, studying the merchant intently.
The eyes of a merchant were often insightful about the public opinion of the empire.
The merchant laughed heartily in response.
“Isn’t it common knowledge now, even outside of merchant circles, that the Saintess has headed to the west?”
‘…Huh?’
While that might be true, the progress of purification and the state of the lands were still not widely known.
‘It seems the news has already spread among the roaming merchants.’
Although the purification was complete, the lands were still in dire shape, requiring a lot of resources. This seemed to be the talk among the merchants.
Otherwise, why would they bother going west when there were other fertile territories available?
‘Or maybe, it’s a rumor only among the merchants.’
Trade was all about buying cheap and selling high. And to do that, exclusive information unknown to others was vital.
“May I taste one?”
“M-My Lady!”
She pointed to the Scarsander and asked.
“Of course! It’s definitely not poisonous, so no worries. How about you try this one?”
What the merchant handed her wasn’t the dried fruit, but a fresh piece. It looked like a vine plant that had been uprooted and preserved with some kind of magical tool.
‘It’s kind of like a mini greenhouse….’
Pushing aside Benjamin’s concerns, Grace popped the fresh Scarsander into her mouth, and a peculiar taste spread across her palate.
“Huh…”
“M-My Lady, are you okay? Is there something off about it? Or…”
It was a bit sweet, slightly salty, but mostly sour. As she chewed on its seeds, it wasn’t bitter but left a tingling tartness on her tongue.
Grace recognized this taste.
‘This is like the Five-flavor berry.’
Why is this suddenly here? For a moment, she felt like she had drifted out of the genre.
“No, I actually like it.”
Given that she liked it, she continued to chew and savor it in her mouth.
‘Should I buy this?’
The original Grace used to buy various things on a whim when she was younger.
‘Which is why her Dad would tease her about wasting her allowance on random things she didn’t even know about.’
Because of that memory, Grace who like the taste of the fruit, found herself hesitating about whether to buy the fruit or not. Benjamin, noticing her indecision, turned to the merchant and said,
“We’ll take all these fruits.”
“…What?!”
“All of the saplings as well.”
“Y-Your Excellency?”
“Is there a specific way to grow them? If you know, instruct the man following behind.”
Benjamin gestured for Abel, who was trailing behind them, to come closer. Then, he and Grace began to move away from the stall.
“Are you going to buy everything, Your Excellency?”
“We should use a different title here. That one stands out too much.”
“In that case, Ben… Benny?”
Benjamin responded with a satisfied smile as Grace changed her way of addressing him, making him recall the masked festival from before.
“Yes, I was thinking of distributing them between the orphanage’s tea plantation and the Ardel territory. I’m not sure which will be best suited for growing, but we’ll see.”
‘Isn’t this a bit excessive?’
From her perspective, it felt as if the chairman of a major corporation they were sponsoring had suddenly handed over something perplexing, telling them to grow something difficult. She felt a bit apologetic.
“I figured this could serve as a form of sponsorship funding. If it does well, it might even turn into business capital.”
“Ah…”
Benjamin tried to offer some justification, sensing Grace’s discomfort, but she wasn’t particularly satisfied.
‘I wonder if people in this world would even like this.’
Grace, holding a bag of dried Scarsander – or rather, Five Flavored berries, wore a bewildered expression.
“My Lady, is there something bothering you?”
“No… Not at all.”
⋆★⋆
“Welcome… Oh, my.”
Preparing to greet guests at Linden Manor, the Lady of Linden was first startled by the guests who appeared on foot instead of a carriage, and then even more so by the multitude of items they were carrying.
“It looks like you had a pleasant time. I’m glad you returned before sunset.”
“The night scenery would have been beautiful. It’s a shame we missed it.”
“…”
“You’ll have plenty of time to enjoy it later.”
Grace glanced around, clutching a bouquet she was holding.
The Lady of Linden exchanged greetings with Benjamin and then turned to Grace with a warm smile.
“It seems you had a good time. Your love for flowers remains unchanged.”
“…Yes.”
