Chapter 82
Crash!
It was rare for her to get this agitated, but the Grand Duchess Christina could not control her anger.
She only calmed down slightly after throwing everything off the desk in her study.
“So, Roen. You’re saying the director and all the researchers have disappeared?”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“How is that possible? Are you saying someone helped them?”
“It seems the director planned this. He was more cunning than we thought.”
“True, he wasn’t an ordinary man. That’s why I assigned Hena to watch him… Where is Hena now?”
“Our searchers found her in the forest near the research lab. We have her in custody.”
“Bring her here.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
A little while later, Roen returned with Hena, who had been captured in the woods.
Hena was practically crawling on the floor before Grand Duchess Christina.
The Grand Duchess looked down at her with sharp, cold eyes.
“Explain what happened.”
With a trembling voice, Hena recounted everything that had occurred with the director.
“So, you’re saying the director relied on some group, and they interfered and helped him smuggle out the researchers.”
“Yes, yes.”
According to Hena, they were so skilled that the searchers couldn’t do a thing.
“Roen.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“Search the entire capital if you must and find them. They couldn’t have gone far.”
Then, with a wave of her hand, she gestured for them to take Hena away.
Hena was no longer useful.
And once someone had outlived their usefulness, discarding them was only natural.
Hena looked at Roen with fearful eyes.
“L-Lady Roen, what’s going to happen to me?”
Dragged out by the maids, Hena clasped her hands and gave Roen a desperate, pleading look, but Roen replied with an icy expression.
“You have served your purpose.”
At those words, terror overtook Hena.
“N-No! Please don’t abandon me! I did my best, you know I did!”
Roen, clearly uninterested in hearing any more, signaled the maids, who gagged Hena.
“Dispose of her.”
At that single word, the maids began dragging Hena away.
She struggled and kicked, but it was useless.
Roen watched her fade into the distance before turning away. There was work to do.
No matter what it took, they had to find the hidden researchers. If they vanished for good, Queens Cosmetics would collapse.
And Grand Duchess Christina wasn’t the type to let such a thing slide—someone else would surely be made to pay the price again.
Zirk and Elia were conducting experiments in Elia’s lab.
“How fascinating.”
“Right?”
Elia smiled brightly and showed him a piece of artificially made skin tissue.
“This was made by processing Lamia skin. It’s very similar to human skin, which makes it perfect for testing.”
Not long ago, Alexis had hunted a Lamia at Elia’s request.
A Lamia was a magical creature with the upper body of a human and the lower body of a snake. Its claws were coated in venom that paralyzed the body upon attack.
“This is an anesthetic made using Lamia venom. It allows treatment of deep wounds without pain.”
The anesthetic had already been tested on the synthetic skin—no allergic reactions and a successful outcome.
Elia applied a burn to the artificial skin, then treated it with burn ointment. The ointment was absorbed into the burned area.
After about an hour, the burn had noticeably improved.
“This seems to be working well. No allergic reactions either.”
The burn ointment Zirk had brought tested successfully.
“My Lady, you keep surprising me in so many ways.”
Zirk said, touching the synthetic skin.
“I never would’ve thought of this.”
Why hadn’t anyone thought to use magical creatures with human-like skin for testing?
“Well, because magical creatures haven’t really been deeply studied.”
They were seen as nothing more than dangerous beings to be slain on sight.
Researching magical creatures or using them for products was frowned upon.
Even high-ranking mages shared this mindset.
They considered such creatures filthy and didn’t even want to touch them.
You could say they had extreme obsessive-compulsive disorder.
When storing items, they layered two or three preservation spells to keep them absolutely dust-free.
Same for Austin, Zirk, and every other mage in the Tower—not a single speck of dust could be found in their rooms.
According to Zirk, mages were obsessive clean freaks.
“This is good enough to sell. Please deliver it to Uncle Felix.”
“Understood.”
“And soon, the researchers from Queens Cosmetics will be joining us. Would the Mage Tower be able to accommodate them?”
“Those researchers?”
“Yeah. I’m thinking of building a lab near the Tower and hiring them.”
The White Mage Tower was on an island surrounded by sea on all sides.
Its location was known only to the Tower’s mages.
Even Elia didn’t know the exact location since she traveled there using Zirk and Austin’s teleportation magic.
Felix, who lived at the Tower, didn’t know either.
“I’ll talk to the Tower Master and see if there’s a good location nearby for a lab.”
“Thanks. I’ll make sure you’re well paid.”
“Thanks to you, My Lady, the mages are finally excited about their research again. We’ve always been low on funds.”
Mages weren’t good with business.
They could create brilliant things through research, but they had no clue how to sell them for profit.
So how did they fund their research?
By selling their services.
Around the world, there were always places that needed the help of mages, and they earned money by using their talents.
Putting out fires with water magic, hunting magical beasts or monsters, and even participating in wars.
Especially in regional wars, the outcome could be determined by whether a mage was present or not. Their role was vital.
They poured their earnings back into research.
And strangely enough, mages weren’t interested in personal gain.
All they cared about was research.
That’s why they were so reclusive.
“Zirk, we’re planning a festival in the Blessed Land for Prince Noah’s birthday. It’d be nice if you and the other mages could come.”
“A festival? That sounds fun.”
“I’m going to prepare it really well, so make sure to come.”
“Don’t forget you promised me a picnic too.”
“Of course.”
“Well then, I’ll be off.”
After seeing Zirk off, Elia left the lab and headed back to the mansion. On the way, she ran into Noah.
He had just finished a round of training and was drenched in sweat.
“Your Highness, you’re purposely keeping your distance while walking, right?”
“Yeah. I smell like sweat.”
“Since when do you care about that?”
“I’ve always cared.”
Elia walked right up next to him on purpose.
“Eh, it’s not that bad.”
Noah gave a slightly exasperated smile.
“Your Highness, do you know what smells worse than sweat?”
“What?”
“Perfume.”
“Perfume?”
“Yeah, it’s the strongest smell of all. So your sweat? Not a big deal.”
“True. Some perfumes are overpowering.”
“Have you smelled one?”
“Yeah. The Grand Duchess always wears a strong one when she comes to see me. It’s like my nose is rotting.”
Noah shook his head just thinking about it. Elia agreed.
The Grand Duchess, who loved roses, also loved perfumes made from them. The scent was so strong, Elia sometimes got headaches from it.
She couldn’t openly complain, but that rose perfume was truly unbearable.
Worse yet, the noble ladies of high society also copied her, wearing the same perfume.
Everything the Grand Duchess used became a trend in the capital’s social scene.
Elia had also been forced to wear it.
The Grand Duchess had practically demanded it—saying no wasn’t an option. Elia had really endured a lot back then.
Thinking back now, it’s hard to believe she put up with it for so long.
