“I-if that happens, you won’t stay here either! Master Philip hates such interference!”

“I don’t care.”

Radilt coldly snorted. Like Merdea, she tilted her chin slightly and raised her eye corners fiercely and haughtily.

“I’ll simply find a new amusement. With Sir Duston’s sponsorship, what can’t I do? But you.”

Radilt slowly rose from the floor. Deliberately slowly, she straightened her shoulders and back, standing tall to make the filthy man before her feel intimidated.

“You’ll find nowhere to set foot. What workshop would accept an apprentice who harassed Sir Duston’s lover? Would any master in this Empire take you in, risking conflict with House Duston?”

Her cold voice fell softly. Water droplets dripped from her golden hair tips and drooping sleeves. A quiet silence settled, where even those small sounds could be clearly heard, until.

“S-sorry……”

Saldat’s frightened voice broke it.

“No, I was just, as a fellow apprentice, playing a little joke.”

Saldat laughed nervously with a pale face. Radilt’s piercing gaze whipped him, and the pathetic man staggered backward again.

“A joke, just a joke. So…… Ah!”

Just then, footsteps approached the warehouse. Philip appeared with two apprentices carrying loads and looked at the water-soaked Radilt and Saldat.

“What happened here?”

Radilt quickly bowed to Philip.

“I was fetching water on Senior Apprentice Saldat’s orders but spilled it. I apologize.”

“What? Saldat, you fool!”

“Y-yes!”

“You made her carry a water yoke when we have a pump!”

Philip raised his white eyebrows and scolded Saldat. Saldat shrank his shoulders and shook his head.

“N-no! I just forgot! I forgot that the newcomer wouldn’t know about the pump, so……”

“Quiet, you rascal! Go finish the cleaning!”

“Yes, sir!”

Saldat fled the scene. Philip clicked his tongue and examined the half-filled jar.

“You filled this much alone? Not easy with a woman’s strength.”

“No. It was fine.”

“More importantly, you look terrible. You need to change clothes.”

“I brought work clothes. I’ll change right away.”

“Good, there’s a reception room next to the living room. Change there. The sunshine is strong, so your wet clothes will dry quickly. Hang them in the yard.”

Radilt bowed to Philip and the other apprentices before heading to the reception room. Her hand trembled as she grabbed the bag from the table. Once inside the empty reception room with the door closed, her legs gave out and she collapsed.

‘I’m, I’m okay……’

I did well. It ended well. Radilt’s chest heaved, and her breathing turned rough.

She had never confronted someone so fiercely before. She never dreamed of speaking sharply and imperiously while looking down on others with contempt.

Radilt struggled to calm her breathing.

‘……How did Mother-in-law speak like that so easily?’

Merely imitating it exhausted her.

She wanted to rest longer but couldn’t delay. Radilt quickly stood again and changed clothes. Though she kept the same shoes, removing the heavy dress made things somewhat bearable.

After hanging the dress outside, Radilt returned to the warehouse. Philip had left, and only one of the two apprentices remained, looking at her stoically.

“I’m Ger Casto. Call me Senior Ger.”

“Yes, Senior Ger. I’m Radilt Brill. Please take care of me.”

“Master Philip has seven apprentices excluding you. Two are traveling for the perfumer exam this year. Whether they pass or fail, they’ll soon become independent, so you won’t see them much.”

Passing the perfumer exam held every three years allowed one to register as a master. The pass rate remained extremely low, so most young perfumers opened their workshops based on apprentice experience.

“The other two mainly manage the shop and only oversee the main workshop when the master rests. You’ll regularly interact with three apprentices. You’ve already met Saldat, and the remaining one is Slord Jeneda.”

“Senior Slord, I see.”

Radilt nodded, engraving the new name in her mind. Then Ger taught her how to use the pump. She simply needed to place one end of the long pipe in the jar, fix the other end to the pump inlet by the well, and pump.

“After filling the jars with water, wash those cotton cloths over there. They wrap aromatic materials, so don’t use anything scented like soap.”

After assigning her work, Ger left the warehouse. Radilt exhaled deeply and rolled up her sleeves.

“Alright.”

Pumping and washing proved easy enough. She welcomed having little need to walk. Radilt approached the well and began pumping vigorously.

She received only various chores like fetching water and doing laundry. Though she never entered the perfumery room, that seemed fine. Even in just one day of observation, she learned quite a bit about preparing materials, storage methods, and cleaning various tools.

‘So this explains why people want to become apprentices in famous workshops.’

She thought she had learned all the basics while working as an assistant in her husband’s workshop. Yet here at Langfiel’s workshop, she saw several tools for the first time. The quality and quantity of information clearly differed.

‘……Lushen would have loved this place.’

Her departed lover inevitably came to mind whenever she absorbed new knowledge.

The afternoon arrived, and Philip and two apprentices left the workshop first.

Radilt and Saldat remained to clean up. Saldat kept his mouth shut and avoided eye contact with Radilt. However, his occasional secret glares suggested he hadn’t completely lost his nerve.

“……Newcomers typically handle all the cleanup.”

Sure enough, Saldat abruptly spoke gruffly. When Radilt offered no rebuttal, he grew bolder and widened his eyes.

“Besides, you arrived after me. So you should finish the cleanup.”

“Yes. I’ll do that.”

Radilt answered calmly. She couldn’t say Saldat’s words were completely wrong, so she could accommodate that much. Besides, examining the workshop carefully while cleaning seemed worthwhile.

Saldat’s expression brightened completely at Radilt’s compliant attitude. He turned toward the door triumphantly.

“Clean it properly!”

As Saldat tried to leave with this parting remark.

“Eek!”

He suddenly jumped back in surprise. A tall, handsome man who had chased Saldat away strode into the workshop with long legs. He looked at Radilt with a gaze that seemed to bind her tightly.

“In such a state again, I see.”

Radilt’s hand gripping a dry towel tensed at that low voice that resonated in her chest. This time, instead of bowing her head, she boldly countered.

“Nobody wears flowing dresses in a workshop. Even Her Majesty the Empress, the most noble woman in the world, wears a rough leather apron before the pottery kiln and gets clay on her white hands.”

The Empress’s pottery hobby was well-known. They said imperial trading ships crossing the sea always carried precious soil bought from foreign countries for the Empress.

Even the woman standing above countless nobles sometimes dresses humbly. Radilt argued thus. Simultaneously, she mentioned Sir Duston’s dignity.

“Of course, I wore the dress you gifted me on my way here. I wore new shoes, a matching hat, and carried a bright parasol.”

She had perfectly pretended to be an elegant noblewoman, exactly as he wanted. Radilt quietly gazed into those calm blue-gray eyes. In the old workshop where stone walls faintly held various scents, the air settled as if only the two of them remained. The unwelcome intruder between them could only sweat nervously without making a sound.

Through the awkward silence, Pendlore slowly moved his lips.

“Should I praise you, Mrs. Brill?”

“I merely did what I should.”

For our contract. Radilt raised the cloth piece in her hand.

“And this too is my duty. Sir Duston, I will wash instruments, organize them, sweep the floor, and polish the workshop furniture. Afterward, I’ll change into a dress suitable to stand by your side and proudly walk out that door.”

All these tasks belonged to Radilt Brill, the new apprentice. Obligations given solely to her, not to Count Duston’s temporary lover. Though Pendlore had created that position too, Radilt refused to compromise on her apprentice duties.

This represented her own life, independent of him, which would continue after her role as his lover ended.

“Then I shall gladly wait for my dear Mrs. Brill.”

Surprisingly, Pendlore answered without objection, even wearing a faint smile. He then looked at Saldat awkwardly standing in the corner.

“Are you the apprentice assigned to cleanup with Mrs. Brill?”

Saldat jumped as if stung by Pendlore’s casual question.

“No! I mean, yes! That is, well……”

Saldat checked Pendlore’s expression with a pale face. He had known for days that this woman was Count Duston’s lover. But he had thought she was just another nobleman’s mistress.

She was a widow, not even a virgin. He had assumed their relationship would be casual and temporary, soon to end. He had judged her barely better than a street pr*stitute and treated her accordingly.

“I-I was going to do it alone! I was about to tell Mrs. Brill to leave…… hahaha……”

But he never expected Count Duston to personally come to the workshop to pick up his lover.

Facing the man’s imposing physique, intimidating gaze, perfectly fitted coat, and naturally blended arrogance up close, Saldat’s heart shrank like a mouse’s. He desperately wanted to find a hole to hide in.

“You’ll do it alone.”

“Yes, yes! It’s her first day at the workshop, she’s probably not familiar with things yet and must be tired. Of course I should send her home early!”

Saldat nodded desperately. Pendlore leisurely shifted his gaze to look at Radilt.

“With such an offer, what do you think, Mrs. Brill?”

“……As a junior, I hardly dare refuse. I should thank my senior.”

Radilt spoke in a somewhat cold tone. Normally, she wouldn’t easily pass her work to others. But seeing Saldat, who had been so domineering, now cowering and fawning before a much more impressive man, she felt no desire to refuse.

In truth, compared to the humiliation she suffered, taking over the cleanup hardly counted as an apology. Though Radilt was gentle and kind, she wasn’t completely without pride.

Rather, the core deep in her heart remained firm and solid.

“Then I’ll change clothes.”

Radilt gave a light bow and turned. A sharp gaze followed her back.

Click, Radilt silently sighed as she opened and closed the reception room door.