CHAPTER 75……………………………………
. Trend
“How do you think it went? Our Marquess Crow’s young lady slipped away from the emperor’s sticky courtship like a fox again today, and the emperor could only drool after her. They say the emperor’s voice calling after Lady Crow as she left the room was so plaintive that the court ladies were busy wiping away tears.”
“Hmph.”
Ben’s reports were always good, but there was always some exaggeration mixed in. Taking his words at face value was a sure way to get burned.
The emperor, plaintive? That man?
The combination of such mismatched words made Duke Syde curl his lip in a faint smile.
Ben was talking about how the emperor hung on the marquess’s granddaughter despite having an empress and multiple consorts already—but thinking the duke was sneering at him, Ben bristled and snapped,
“I’m telling you the truth. The attendants who saw the opal jewelry the emperor gifted her were said to have been wide-eyed with shock.”
“Opal?”
Seeing he had finally caught the duke’s interest, Ben nodded vigorously.
“They say that’s the trend these days. It used to be considered inferior even to sapphire, but demand’s been rising for a while, and now the price has shot through the roof. And since opal rough is hard to get… Hm. Come to think of it, you’ll have a headache on your hands.”
The sudden claim that he would have trouble made the duke cast a puzzled look at Ben.
“Isn’t that so? The wedding’s soon. What could possibly satisfy a woman who’s been spoiled with expensive gifts from the emperor?”
“So she rejected all of the emperor’s courtship but still took every gift?”
Ben burst into hearty laughter at the duke’s pointed remark.
“Isn’t that obvious? You’d be a fool not to. The marquess, known for being a miser, is hardly the sort to approve pricey dresses and jewelry every time just because she’s his granddaughter. Who else do you think Lady Crow has to thank for her dazzling outfits?”
The duke wasn’t particularly surprised by the suspicious atmosphere between Hildegard and the emperor. He had more or less expected it.
Letting Ben’s chatter drift in one ear and out the other, the duke’s thoughts wandered to Ange.
If what Ben said was true, then was his aide—who simply piled up the dresses and jewelry given by his mother and sister—deficient as a woman somehow?
And lately she had supposedly been busy declining them, citing all sorts of reasons: her dressing room was too small, there were too many clothes she hadn’t yet tried on, and so on.
But it wasn’t as though Ange was some austere, money-hating sage. Far from it.
Ange, frugal?
There was no bigger nonsense. So why did she keep refusing gifts?
When he heard it from Elliott, he didn’t think much of it. But hearing about Hildegard now, Ange’s behavior made even less sense.
“When you get the chance, you take what you can. Naturally.”
Ben nodded earnestly.
“Does she not know what an opportunity is? She doesn’t seem that stupid.”
“Hm?” Ben frowned upon noticing the duke muttering to himself, lost in thought.
“What are you mumbling about? Are you listening to me?”
“Yeah.”
The duke nodded half-heartedly, then turned to Ben.
“So opal jewelry is the current trend?”
“That’s what I said. The major shareholder of a department store doesn’t even know that?”
“Well.”
Instead of pointing out that a major shareholder has no time to mind every item sold, the duke simply nodded and rose from his seat.
“Leaving already?”
“Something urgent came to mind. We’ll talk again.”
“When? At the wedding? Or after the honeymoon?”
The duke only waved dismissively at Ben’s question and quickly left the club.
Late in the evening, after his employees had gone home, Martel, the department store manager, was reviewing closing documents alone when he suddenly received a summons from Duke Syde. His mind nearly went blank.
He hurriedly reviewed every possible mistake he might have made, but nothing came to mind.
Did I make an error in the accounts?
The duke’s aides were notorious for being meticulous and competent. If they had found some unnoticed mistake and reported it to the duke—
Fear tightening his chest, the manager squeezed his eyes shut.
His children might not be very young anymore, but they were still enrolled in the prestigious, expensive academy, meaning years of heavy expenses still lay ahead. And then there was his extravagant wife, whose jar of pearl powder alone cost more than a normal salary-man could ever hope to afford.
By the time he reached the parlor where the duke waited, his back was damp with cold sweat.
“Sorry to call you at such a late hour.”
Duke Syde offered an apology as soon as the manager bowed politely.
“Not at all, Your Grace. But… may I ask what brings you here at this hour?”
“I need to buy a gift. Do you have any opal jewelry I could see?”
Apparently, this wasn’t a visit to fire him. The manager let out a silent sigh of relief.
“Whom will you be gifting it to?”
The duke’s cool, emotionless gaze fell on him.
Realizing his mistake too late, the manager quickly bowed his head.
“My apologies. I only asked in hopes it might help in choosing… This way, please.”
He led the duke to the central showroom and unlocked the safe beneath the display case, taking out several specially kept boxes.
“You mentioned opal, correct? These were crafted by artisans in Aeolian, with great care. They arrived only two days ago—fresh from the workshop. Aeolian has the empire’s largest opal mines, and naturally many opal craftsmen as well. Most of them have skills passed down through generations. Thanks to that, they produce pieces with an artistic sensibility incomparable to the little tricks used by the capital’s craftsmen.”
As he explained, the manager belatedly recalled the newspaper article about the duke’s upcoming wedding. Was this gift intended for the bride-to-be?
After some hesitation, he chose a box lined with red velvet and opened it.
“What do you think of this one? The opal isn’t very large, but the combination of its iridescent, shifting colors and the excellent craftsmanship created a remarkably beautiful piece. One would need great confidence to surround an opal with diamonds this expensive.”
He gestured at the small diamond petals encircling the round opal.
“Isn’t it delicate?”
“It’s beautiful, but…”
Considering Ange’s tastes, it was a bit too flashy.
Then the duke paused, realizing he now somehow knew Ange’s taste.
He, who had always grumbled about never understanding women’s preferences—not even his mother’s or Mariana’s… when had he come to know his aide’s?
“Nothing simpler?”
“Uh, Lady Crow was here just recently and she seemed to like this one quite a lot—”
The manager fell silent under the duke’s icy stare and hurriedly opened another box.
This time, he presented a necklace with a round, simple pendant reminiscent of the moon in a night sky.
Like the previous piece, it had diamonds, but not in petal shapes—rather scattered like tiny clouds drifting beneath the opal.
“This was made by the oldest artisan in Aeolian—a masterpiece. But the price is extremely high, and the design isn’t very popular with young ladies these days… It’s been here for quite a while, unsold. I only show it to you to let you know such pieces exist.”
Nerves jangling, the manager wiped cold sweat from his brow. Showing a pricey, unpopular piece—surely the duke wouldn’t be offended?
Sensing the duke’s reaction, the manager hurriedly moved to push the box aside and reach for another kind—
“Wait.”
Stopped by the duke’s voice, the manager blinked, then quickly composed himself and stepped back.
Despite its simplicity, the moon-themed necklace had a soft, understated beauty.
“I’ll take this one.”
“But, Your Grace… this piece is quite out of fashion.”
A merchant would usually rejoice at getting rid of such expensive inventory. But since the buyer was the duke, the manager could not help worrying.
If the recipient disliked it… that would spell trouble.
“Don’t worry. I know someone it will suit perfectly.”
