“Uh, Father…”
“How have you been?”
“Right, well, as you can see, I’ve been doing well. But um, Father…”
Seeing Zester standing there awkwardly bothered her so she pushed Count Ruberno away and as she was doing that, the Countess and her siblings rushed over to greet her.
Everyone was overjoyed to see Cassia again after such a long time.
“How can you say you’ve been doing well when you’ve grown so thin? Have you been eating properly?”
The Countess pouted and pulled Cassia into a warm hug. Surrounded by her family, Cassia looked flustered glanced toward Zester.
“Big sis, why are you wearing a straw mat?”
Estella, the second eldest, fiddled with Cassia’s coat with a sullen look on her face.
Straw mat, seriously? The giver of that ‘straw mat’ would be embarrassed if they heard that.
Feeling flustered, Cassia tried to stop Estella from speaking while her youngest brother, Allen, who had grown quite a bit since she last saw him, hugged her gently around the waist.
“Elder sister, I missed you.”(1)
“Ohh, me too. But listen, this is…”
“Have you had breakfast? I told them to prepare all your favorite dishes for lunch. You must be starving, let’s hurry inside.”
It felt like her words were deliberately cut off and Cassia frowned, displeasure flickering across her face.
She had imagined the meeting between her family and Zester several times, but never in her dreams did she think it would go like this. What kind of rudeness was this?
When the Count grabbed her hand and tried to lead her into the castle without even giving a proper greeting to Zester, Cassia planted a bright smile on her face and pointed to Zester.
“Father, this is my husband. Have you greeted him yet?”
The Count didn’t answer right away. He blinked slowly instead, and Cassia felt her anger grow. What kind of hospitality was this?
With such a blatant cue, the Count had no choice but to step towards Zester. The Countess and her two children followed behind, but it was clear they were also moving reluctantly.
“It’s nice to finally meet you.”
“Y-yes! The honor is mine, Count Ruberno.”
Zester put down the luggage he was carrying in both hands and flinched as the count casually held out his hand. After rubbing his palms against his thighs, he reached out, only for the Count to let go almost immediately.
Watching the entire scene, Cassia felt a headache coming on. She hadn’t expected warmth, but she hadn’t imagined he would treat Zester like this either. This was the same father of hers who treated Zester like a dog then tossed him a useless rock when he was done so she shouldn’t be surprised.
They were supposed to stay for four days, but it already felt exhausting from the first meeting.
The moment he turned around, the Count’s expression softened dramatically, and he spoke to Cassia again in a warm voice.
“Well then, let’s head inside.”
***
Since there was still some time left before lunch was ready, Cassia and Zester were escorted to the reception room on the second floor. There, Zester finally unpacked the many gifts he had carefully prepared.
Before departure, he had prepared them ambitiously with Paul and showed them to Cassia, but she had scolded him, saying, ‘Isn’t this too much?’. To Zester, that was the ultimate praise. Because only gifts seriously excessive by his standards would barely satisfy the tastes of the Ruberno House.
For Count Ruberno, he brought an expensive health tonic filled with rare ingredients such as northern snow deer antlers and snow bear gallbladder. For the Countess and Estella, he brought each a necklace and bracelet set made with ‘Ayla’, a mineral first mined last year in Axios territory. For Allen, he brought a mountain goat fur coat and a cloak made from Barmant leather.
Of course, their reactions were nothing like what Zester had hoped. Cassia had expected as much. No matter how hard Zester tried, he couldn’t match their standards. This was why she needed to step in with some accessorizing words.
“I’ve never seen this jewel before… this isn’t diamond, right?”
Estella, a jewel lover with an eye sharper than most professionals, frowned as she examined the Ayla bracelet.
“Ah, no, it’s not diamond. It’s, um, a mineral called Ayla, from Axios mines…”
“Oh my, Estella. You’ve really never seen this before?”
Cassia, seated beside Zester, tilted her head in mock surprise. Estella’s eyes widened and she nodded.
“I thought you would surely know with how much you love jewels. This was first mined last year in Axios territory. It is similar to diamond but not as hard so it is easier to shape. Just look at the carving. It’s such an intricate design.”
“Ohh, you’re right.”
“That’s why accessories made with Ayla are all the rage in the north these days. And you know how northern trends eventually come down south.”
Since the Imperial capital was located close the north, trends typically started there and trickled gradually to the North. It wasn’t uncommon for things unknown in the South to already be popular up North.
Of course, the Ayla gems weren’t exactly trending in the North. It had only been discovered less than a year ago and was still in an experimental stage for accessories. But it wasn’t an outright lie. Because it was going to become popular someday.
‘In about ten years, I think?’
Acting like a northerner who frequently went to the capital, Cassia easily convinced Estella. As always, Estella was quick to believe whatever her older sister said and sure enough, she exclaimed in admiration and immediately tried on the bracelet. The Countess was no different.
“Thank you, Baron Greze.”
“Thank you from me as well. I’ll use it well.”
“Not at all. Thank you for receiving it gladly.”
Zester nodded, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards. Seeing him satisfied, Cassia inwardly sighed with relief.
“I have plenty of clothes already. You didn’t need to go out of your way to give me all this, but I’ll accept it since you brought it. Though I don’t wear thick overcoats like this.”
“A-ah, I see. I didn’t think that far.”
The warm mood was quickly interrupted by Allen’s blunt comment, and Cassia tensed.
Allen Ruberno.
After the Countess had been diagnosed with infertility, she struggled to have another child but even that second child was a daughter. After halfway giving up, they started raising Cassia as the successor when this youngest son arrived, so needless to say, his position in the Ruberno household was unmatched.
Setting aside the fact that he had been spoiled growing up, he was unusually sharp for his age so Cassia was always on edge whenever they met and now was no different.
“Allen, I guess you don’t know because you’re still young.”
“Hm?”
Allen tilted his head at Cassia’s words.
Sharp or not, a child is still a child. And like Estella, Allen adored his Cassia so it was obvious who would win this delicate battle of nerves.
“You’ve only experienced the warmth in the South so you can’t imagine how hard it is to adapt to northern weather. I know you’ve never been out of Ruberno so let me tell you, up north, if you dressed like you are right now, you would freeze to death. You’ll be ten next year and with Father’s permission, you should start traveling to broaden your horizons. Eventually, you’ll visit the capital or even the north. If you go around unprepared, you’ll be seen as a clueless noble. Your brother-in-law has given you a very thoughtful and valuable gift so if you go to the north, make sure to bring it with you.”
“Ah, really? I understand, Elder Sister. I didn’t realize.”
After a rapid-fire explanation, Cassia felt drained. She wiped the cold sweat from her brow and finally relaxed a bit.
Watching all of this, Count Ruberno gave a small chuckle. He always felt it, but his eldest daughter was surprisingly quick-witted and clever. She was a child who could have easily brought him pride.
If only she hadn’t been sold off to some worthless commoner…
Lost in thought, the Count’s gaze drifted back to Zester with growing dissatisfaction. The man was grinning, clearly pleased that even Allen was satisfied.
The only thing decent about him was his sturdy body, perhaps from rolling around on the battlefield. He had no money, a meager title, and a barren, impoverished territory. Worse, he was a lowborn. The joy of meeting his daughter again was doused like cold water each time his eyes landed on his son-in-law’s face.
“By the way, Big sis, what’s that? You’ve been holding it so tightly since you came in.”
Estella said, pointing to a box about the size of a handkerchief on Cassia’s lap.
“Oh, this?”
The time had come. Cassia moved the box onto the reception room table and carefully opened the lid. Inside were several wigs. At the sudden display of hair, the entire Ruberno family flinched slightly.
“This is a new product we’re launching from our territory. It’s called a wig. We implant human hair into a base molded from Rugla leather then it’s dyed and styled into various looks that can be worn on the head. I think it’ll appeal to nobles who like to dress up their style. There are quite a few nobles tired of maintaining formal hairstyles. I’m one too.”
When she held up a cute brown bob-cut wig, Estella, who had initially flinched, leaned forward with sparkling eyes, just as Cassia had predicted. Cassia smiled, satisfied.
“Lyla! Lyla, are you there? Bring me a hand mirror, quick!”
Estella, suddenly eager, called for a maid. As the maid entered the reception room, Kasia, smiled softly and handed over the wig in her hands. The maid helped Estella put it on right there and all eyes turned to her.
“Oh my, my daughter, you look so pretty.”
The Countess clapped with delight as Estella’s cheeks turned red as she looked at herself this way and that in the hand mirror.
“Father, how do I look?”
“You look very nice.”
“Hehe, Baron, what do you think?”
Clearly not expecting to be asked, Zester was caught off guard but quickly nodded like a bobblehead.
“Beautiful. The young lady resembles my wife greatly, ahem. You were lovely even before the wig, but with the short hair, it brings out a whole new charm.”
“Oh please, Big Sis is way prettier. What resemblance? I don’t believe it.”
“What are you talking about, Estella? Haven’t you heard all the nobles down south are getting ready to line up with marriage proposals for you?”
“Not you too, Sis…”
Everything was going exactly as expected, and Cassia couldn’t have been more pleased. She inwardly smirked and kept complimenting Estella.
“This seems like a promising business. But Rugla leather is pricey. Is this what you were requesting funding for?”
The Count looked at her with interest.
“Well, partly. Since the target is nobles, we can’t ignore quality of the material. I’m prepared to invest heavily, even if the initial costs are steep.”
“Hmm, that makes sense. But why bother going through the trouble of starting it in Greze with your tight finances?”
“Sorry?”
“I could just finance it fully and you can have the business start in Ruberno. There are plenty of wealthy residents here, so the target distribution wouldn’t have to strictly be nobles.”
Oho. In other words, this looks like a promising business so let me pay you a suitable price and Ruberno can take all the profits?
Blood ties or not didn’t matter apparently. It was clear as day that the savvy, wealthy businessman had smelled money in the air, and his mind was turning.
But Cassia wasn’t one to fall for it.
She smiled brightly, not flustered at all and opened her mouth.
TL Corner:
1) For context, Estella calls Cassia ‘Unni’ while Allen calls Cassia ‘Noonim’. The honorific ‘-nim’ elevates the address to a respectful/formal tone so I translated Allen’s title for Cassia to ‘Elder Sister/Sister’ while Estella’s title for Cassia is ‘Big Sis/Sis’ to keep the tone.
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