‘Come to think of it, last time when it seemed like he wanted herbs, I gave him herbs and it was resolved.’

Serena thought.

Then if I say I’ll go back, wouldn’t that resolve things for now?

Serena’s reasoning was quite logical.

She knew that well herself.

Nevertheless, she hesitated.

Because the moment she re-entered the Lavernia mansion, her plan for an easy life would be disrupted.

Of course, Serena didn’t know that part of that life plan had already been disrupted before.

“…Actually, what I said earlier was a joke.”

So Serena decided to treat this whole situation as a joke.

Marquis Lavernia raised his head at Serena’s words.

She picked up the bouquet that had fallen to the ground and the expensive jewelry rolling in the dirt, whose value she couldn’t even guess.

“If you’ve realized your mistake, that’s enough.”

She said,

And she knelt in front of him, meeting his gaze and grasping his two dirt-covered hands.

“I want to spend my life with you too, Father.”

She had decided.

“Will you let me stay by your side from now on if I come back?”

To jump into this soap opera, that is.

“…The world is ending, truly ending…”

It was the moment when an excellent soap opera became a fait accompli.

“…Serena. I’ll do better from now on.”

Marquis Lavernia embraced Serena with a face that looked like he might cry.

He seemed truly moved.

‘Ah…’

And she was moved too.

Because she realized how a person’s life could unfold in such a shitty way.

“…Yes.”

Serena hugged Marquis Lavernia back.

Behind Marquis Lavernia, Nyx raised its thumb and waved its notebook.

[Another case brilliantly resolved today…! But this man’s source of evil hasn’t completely disappeared! Let’s keep up the good work!]

It was a moment of reunion achieved through dramatic reconciliation on the brink of catastrophe.

‘Will my life become happy?’

She now had to add one more item to the very end of her to-do list.

[Seventh, save the Marchioness.]

…That one sentence, that is.

For reference, the fifth item was the unwantedly expanded business with Magnus, and the sixth was somehow sending Drukan back to the crown princess who is the saintess.

‘I don’t want to die, but I want to live an easy life and roll Lemerun and Kim Chul-soo around.’

Serena once again steadied her heart that was shaking with anger towards Lemerun and Kim Chul-soo.

It was truly a tiring life.

* * *

“I can’t believe it, this seems really groundbreaking, Serena.”

The man with long blue hair said with a bright smile, without any malice.

His hair, loosely tied in a single ponytail, looked somewhat like a horse’s tail at first glance.

His vivid blue eyes curved and scattered into tiny pieces.

“Especially this faintly spreading rose scent makes me feel unbelievably good. Are there any other scents by any chance?”

“I haven’t made other scents, but I can make them. If you want, I’ll make some.”

“Then, if you don’t mind, I’d like to request that. The scent is so good that I can’t help but look forward to other scents, so I apologize for being so shameless. As a merchant, I just can’t help being curious about such things…”

Bartolin said, seemingly embarrassed.

“…No, it’s fine.”

While answering, Serena was a bit surprised for the first time in a while. Because there was no malice at all in the other person’s words.

Although it’s possible that she just couldn’t perceive it.

“Then should we proceed with this for now?”

Serena asked, thinking it was unexpected but not showing it on her face.

“Yes, we’ll think about marketing and product development. Could you help us by making several of these samples so we can try promoting them?”

The blue-haired man, Bartolin, said.

He looks so young that it’s hard to believe he’s the president of the Imperial Merchants Association.

‘I was a bit surprised at first.’

Serena thought.

Actually, when the deal with the information guild she had planned fell through, and she went to ask for a conversation out of the blue, she thought she might be getting scammed.

“Of course, that’s possible. Just let me know the dates and quantities. The schedule might be adjusted depending on the quantity.”

Serena answered, recalling the recent events.

* * *

“I heard you were looking for me, Miss Serena.”

Serena, who had abruptly said she had a deal she wanted to make and asked to meet the association president, saw the person who appeared.

“Or would you prefer to be called Duchess Serena Kelahinum?”

He deliberately spoke in an even colder and more hostile voice.

Bartolin didn’t like Serena, who had done something rude and made him and his employees uncomfortable.

What did it matter if she was a villainess who shook the world or if her personality was fierce?

In any case, the world runs on money.

No matter how high and mighty a noble is, if you stuff them with money, they end up being nothing more than commoners dancing in the palm of his hand.

In that sense, Bartolin wasn’t particularly afraid of anything.

He had a lot of money, which meant he had various ways to escape if necessary.

He was confident he could resolve any issue, even if it meant being rude to and fighting with the duchess who was hated everywhere.

Therefore, Bartolin didn’t bother to hide his emotions.

“No, Serena is fine.”

Of course, Serena didn’t think deeply about the other person’s words.

It was natural for ‘Serena Lavernia’ to be hated, and by now Serena had become immune to most things.

It was also because she knew how important a poker face is in negotiations.

Serena was stronger than anyone else at the negotiating table, at least.

“Is that so…?”

The one who was surprised was Bartolin.

Bartolin had heard many different rumors about her.

Naturally, they weren’t good rumors.

So he thought she would get angry even with just this much provocation.

But contrary to Bartolin’s expectations, Serena didn’t get angry.

In fact, for her, it wasn’t even worth getting angry about.

“I heard you wanted to make a deal with me.”

“That’s right.”

“What kind of deal does the noble duchess want to make, coming personally to us lowly merchants?”

Bartolin said.

Of course, it was meant to mock her. But Serena didn’t know that.

‘Quite humble, isn’t he?’

In the original story, the association president was arrogant but had a touch of innocence.

Since his age was never mentioned, she didn’t know he was such a young person.

Serena simply admired him.

“It’s polite to come in person when you want to make a deal.”

“Ah, politeness.”

Bartolin barely managed to suppress the urge to snort by gathering all his reason.

‘…Why is he smiling?’

Of course, Serena, who was a seasoned hunter at least at the negotiating table, easily picked up on that smile.

“How about a skin beauty medicine?”

Serena said.

“Skin, beauty… medicine? What kind of strange thing is that? If you mean something like a lotion, it’s already being distributed in the market.”

It’s called lotion, but in fact, they were thinking of removing it from the shelves soon due to poor sales.

The current lotion on sale has a low preference because of its strange smell.

Although it’s said to have effects of protecting the skin and slightly calming facial troubles, sales are poor because it leaves a strange smell on the face after application.

They tried to tackle the smell issue.

They even asked various researchers who had deals with the IMA.

However, the problem is that the medicinal ingredients that are always included in lotions contain that strange smell.

Because of this, they couldn’t prevent all lotion-related products from having a fishy metallic smell.

“If you’re talking about something like lotion, we don’t need it. Not only are there already products being sold, but the preference is not very high, to the point where we’re considering removing them from the shelves.”

Bartolin said coldly, but with a hint of mockery.

‘Well, that’s how most nobles think.’

He shook his head.

It wasn’t worth continuing the conversation.

“There are lotions too, of course, but I’m talking about skin beauty medicine.”

It was that indifferent voice that stopped Bartolin as he was about to get up from his seat.