Cassia snatched the wig from James’s hand and flipped it over for a closer look.
It looked like a thin sheet of animal skin was cut into a round dome, and individual human hair strands were sewed into it. It looked a little different from what Cassia remembered, but it was unmistakably a wig. The very kind that would become a massive hit in Viche Viscounty ten years from now.
‘Someone already came up with the idea for wigs ten years ago? This looks a little different from the wigs sold in Viche but it’s clearly an early version of the wig.’
Cassia was confused..
A product that wouldn’t trend for another decade had just appeared. But here in Greze, not Viche.
‘Maybe no one recognized the true value of these wigs that James made until ten years later. He has clearly been wandering since his exile, probably never settling long enough and then with luck, his wigs finally caught on in Viche.’
When she thought about it from that angle, it made sense that the wig business only became popular ten years later.
“Who do you think you’re shoving this hideous animal fur in front of?”
Zester, who had briefly stepped back when Cassia stopped him, got angry again when James presented another wig. He threw his arm protectively in front of Cassia.
It wasn’t a sword or a spear, but Zester acted as though James had just drawn a weapon on her.
“My lord, please hear me out. This isn’t animal hair, it’s human hair!”
“W-what?!”
He was saying it excitedly as if that made it better. It did look similar to human hair, but to think it was actual human hair instead of animal hair. Did he really scrape someone’s scalp?
Zester yelled without hesitation.
“Immediately, get—!”
“Honey!”
That bloody word, ‘honey’, seemed to contain some sort of magic spell, because every time Cassia called him that, Zester felt his body go stiff.
Cassia gently nudged Zester aside and took the wig from James’s hand. Unlike the short brown human hair wig she had taken earlier, this one was long and vibrantly red.
Cassia knew how wigs were worn. She gathered her own silver hair, which was braided into a single strand, and placed the red wig over her head. Though she had no pins to secure it, simply holding it in place was enough to demonstrate its purpose.
Everyone’s eyes went wide, including Zester’s.
“You can tell what this is, my Lady?!” James yelled excitedly.
“Mhm…I had a feeling it might used like this. What a brilliant idea.”
“Oh dear, thank you for noticing! And it suits you even better than I imagined…”
James wasn’t just trying to flatter her. Even Zester and Margaret stood dumbfounded, staring at Cassia’s fiery red hair.
They’d always thought her ethereal silver locks matched her pale skin best, like snow in the Greze winter. But that wasn’t entirely the case..
Cassia, who had always seemed like a graceful, pure angel, now looked like a captivating enchantress with the red wig on. Her features had always been elegant rather than sharp, and the new look brought out a different kind of beauty that no one had expected.
As Zester stood frozen, Cassia looked him in the eye and said,
“Noblewomen don’t have much freedom when it comes to styling our hair or deciding its length. We often have formal occasions, so we grow it out long and braid or decorate it. But sometimes, I’ve wanted to try a neat bob or dye it a unique color. I imagine many other women have thought the same. As this man says, there’s real potential in this product.”
With sparkling eyes, Cassia turned to James, who looked overwhelmed by her praise.
“Say, would you like to make a contract with me?”
***
After returning to the past, Cassia didn’t really think about reviving the territory. After all, she didn’t even plan to ‘try hard’ in this life.
She had died of illness at the age of 27.
Not from overwork, or from any specific illness but from an unknown disease with no known cure. Even if she knew that she would die, she had no way to prepare for it.
A second life with death already written ten years ahead.
She could act differently, make different choices, but the people around her would mostly remain the same. This wasn’t a second life with fresh new start but the same life on replay, with just a few detours.
Sure, there were things she regretted not doing and she was able to avoid doing those things again. For example, declaring a strike to Zester because she regretted working herself to death, or drawing a hard line to Vita because she didn’t want to be manipulated again…
But in the end, whether she worked hard or not, she was fated to die in ten years. Since she had only resolved to make sure Rael and Lucy were born safely before departing from this world, she never planned on using her past knowledge to do something big.
That is, until she met James, who seemed to be the originator of this idea of a ‘wig’.
‘Maybe James had visited Greze in my previous life too. But without any funds or support, he probably drifted away again. It’s a shame it took ten years before someone like Viscount Viche recognized the value of his wigs.’
Even if they had met ten years ago, Greze would’ve had no capacity to support his business. The territory was poor and it didn’t have the capacity to care for a foreigner that no one knew let alone provide business support.
Plus, without going back in time, Cassia might now have recognized the true value of the wigs either.
But now, things were different. Cassia knew that the wig industry would succeed and as if God had given her a chance, she just happened to meet James during the territory inspection. In that case, there was no reason to hesitate.
‘It would be great if I could improve the territory’s situation. And if the territory becomes prosperous…’
Her eldest son, Rael, would one day inherit Zester’s title. That means that Rael would rule this Greze territory someday after Cassia died. In that case, wouldn’t it be good for the people of the territory and for her son, Rael, to inherit a stronger Greze that was a little more prosperous?
‘That settles it. The wig business, it starts here in Greze.’
Cassia nodded with proud expression as she sat at her bedroom desk, translating the ancient language from the high-grade magic stone Drian had sent.
‘Wait a minute, I said I was going to laze around in this life but I’m working way too hard…’
She felt a little cheated. She went and boldly declared a strike yet she was still doing everything that needed to be done.
‘This ancient language translation too… ugh, it doesn’t even pay.’
But even if she told Drian it would pay out at all, he wouldn’t listen. Neither would her father, Count Ruberno.
Well, deciphering the ancient language wasn’t even that difficult, so she might as well finish it and send it back. Thinking that, she picked up her pen again.
“Bestow the pitiful one drenched in regret and remorse a chance to repent. The god of opportunity will receive his deserved price, and you shall build a new page of repentance.”
She recited the words she had interpreted earlier while walking with Drian and then fell into thought.
Unlike the lower-grade magic stones which were sealed with easy-to-interpret magic like the ‘granting light’ spell, the high-grade magic ones were cryptic and extremely difficult to understand.
“It sounds like it’s giving some kind of ‘chance’’ but what kind of magic could be sealed?”
High-grade magic stones were said to have great magic sealed within that was incomparable to anything seen in low-grade magic stones so it couldn’t be something simple like the one Drian gave her as a gift…
‘Come to think of it, what was written on that high-grade magic stone that Zester received as the territory war compensation?”
Cassia had fainted the moment she returned to her room after received a useless rock from Zester so she didn’t even think of deciphering what magic was sealed inside the stone.
And even if she had deciphered it, it wouldn’t have made sense because of these cryptic expressions.
“I wonder if the rock they gave him back then was one of these…”
Cassia sighed as she scanned the parchment full of ancient characters Drian had given her.
Knock, knock.
At that moment, someone came to her room.
“…It’s me.”
Cassia immediately frowned once she heard Zester’s voice. He did this yesterday and he was doing it again today. She simply couldn’t understand why he was coming at this late hour to bother someone.
Barely suppressing the disapproval on her face, Cassia got up and opened the bedroom door herself. Zester stood there, looking just as tense as yesterday.
“What is it this time…”
“May I come in?”
No. Cassia swallowed the refusal rising to her throat and forced a smile then stepped aside.
Zester walked in, holding a long gray fur coat over his arm. Cassia glanced at it and noticed it was a stylish winter cloak, clearly designed for a noble lady.
She doubted he brought it over here to brag while wearing it himself…
Just as that thought crossed her mind, Zester turned and gently draped the coat over her shoulders. Cassia’s eyes widened.
“What is this?”
“The coat you brought from Ruberno doesn’t seem appropriate for Greze’s winter. Ahem… I asked Paul to prepare a coat that might suit you better. It’s from the territory so it’s not as nice as the ones sold in the capital, but it should still be quite warm…”
Zester blushed and avoided her gaze.
“You’re…giving this to me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Cassia asked, because she really didn’t know the answer.
Of all people, Zester had asked the butler to find a coat for his wife and was now giving it to her himself. And he was implying that he got it out of concern that her current coat was too thin.
Zester, for his part, was taken aback by Cassia’s reaction. What was so surprising about a husband buying clothes for his wife? Obviously, she thought he was too dirt poor to afford such a thing.
Feeling upset and embarrassed for some reason, Zester look at her strongly and said.
“I can afford to buy a coat for my wife if she’s cold. Don’t look down on me like that.”
He uttered it like a child sulking and Cassia could only stare at him in bewilderment.
Ruby’s Corner:
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