Chapter 7
“That’s true.”
That was exactly why Yuri had run away from the Magic Tower in the first place—he was sick and tired of people casually asking favors of him as if it were nothing.
As Yuri nodded, Titianna added with a gentle smile,
“And besides, it feels rewarding when you make something yourself.”
“Rewarding?”
“Isn’t that why you brew your own coffee?”
“…”
Come to think of it, he did make his coffee himself.
It was an observation he hadn’t expected.
For some reason, Yuri felt as though something inside his chest had been cleared away.
In any case, the two of them returned to the shop carrying the blue dye together.
And that was only the beginning of their work.
To properly create blue roses, they continuously mixed the dye into water. The blue pigment, made from ground minerals, didn’t dissolve as easily as they had expected.
Since the material was extremely expensive, Titianna moved carefully, making sure not to spill even a drop.
Yuri quietly watched her face as she focused entirely on the dye.
Rewarding.
It was a word he knew.
And yet somehow, it felt strangely unfamiliar.
As Yuri sat there absentmindedly, Titianna tilted her head at him.
“What’s wrong? Want me to help?”
“No.”
At that moment, Yuri noticed a bit of blue dye powder on the tip of her nose.
“You got paint on you.”
He reached out.
Normally, Titianna would complain even if he brushed against her slightly, but this time she obediently leaned closer.
Yuri’s fingertips trembled briefly.
Biting his lower lip, he gently rubbed the tip of her nose.
But there was a problem.
Without realizing it, dye powder had already gotten on his fingers.
Instead of wiping it away, he only smeared it across her nose.
Unaware that things had gotten worse, Titianna asked brightly,
“Did it come off?”
“No.”
At his answer, she frowned and rubbed her nose with her sleeve.
That only spread the stain all over her face.
“Then what exactly did you do?”
Titianna grumbled.
Yuri stared at her face for a moment before bursting into quiet laughter.
“You’re cute.”
“What? That’s a weird answer.”
The reward of making things yourself.
If I get to see something like this… maybe it really is rewarding.
Yuri wanted to keep staring at her face a little longer, but he figured she’d get angry, so he hurried back to work.
Maybe it was because they made it themselves.
Or maybe it was simply beautiful by nature.
The completed blue roses were breathtakingly gorgeous.
“…I’ll give this first bouquet to you, Yuri.”
Perhaps it was because Titianna’s face had turned bright red as she shyly handed him the bouquet.
✦ ✦ ✦
“I heard that new flower shop is selling blue roses?”
“I saw them myself—they’re so mysterious.”
“I’m definitely buying some to decorate my house soon.”
Conversations like that could easily be heard just by walking through the streets.
The Empire was currently thriving.
Not only nobles but even commoners had enough money to host frequent parties.
As a result, the ladies of the capital were highly sensitive to trends.
And blue roses perfectly satisfied their desire for something new and extravagant.
“Please sell us just one thousand roses for our estate.”
“Hey, I was here first!”
“My master will scold me if I go back without blue roses again today!”
Every morning, servants from noble households lined up outside to buy them.
No matter how many white roses they prepared and dyed, they sold out instantly.
More and more often, they had to close the shop before lunchtime.
Naturally, I was thrilled.
Closing because everything sold out before noon?
I’m extremely satisfied. This is a huge success.
Work hard in the morning.
Rest in the afternoon.
And still gain both wealth and fame.
This is perfect. Absolutely perfect.
I was smiling happily at our smooth success when Yuri, who had just hung the Closed sign on the door, asked worriedly,
“But… are you sure this is okay? Other shops will probably figure out how to make blue roses soon.”
I blinked in surprise.
He always complained about waking up early and constantly tried to nap when customers weren’t looking.
I didn’t expect him to seriously worry about our business.
What a good kid.
Going from lazing around all day like a cocooned caterpillar to suddenly working this hard couldn’t be easy.
Seeing him put in so much effort made me oddly proud.
I nodded.
“It’s fine. I expected someone else to start selling blue roses within a month anyway. The method isn’t that difficult.”
“But our profits will drop.”
“I’ve already thought about that.”
There was another rose I planned to introduce after the blue ones.
A very special rose made using a technique that won’t be discovered until much, much later.
Once blue roses became common enough, I planned to release it and create another sensation.
Success is practically guaranteed.
As I smiled at the golden future ahead of me, Yuri tilted his head.
“What is it? You’re not telling me?”
“I’ll tell you when the time comes.”
“Tch.”
Pouting, Yuri leaned closer and whispered,
“I overheard some servants earlier. Apparently even Her Majesty the Empress personally mentioned the blue roses.”
“The Empress?”
My eyes widened in shock.
“Yeah. I think the imperial palace will contact us soon.”
“I… didn’t expect things to get that successful…”
My blue roses were going all the way to the imperial palace?
Success was definitely a good thing.
But only to a certain extent.
This level of success was making me nervous.
I rested my chin on my hand and frowned seriously.
What if thieves or robbers target us? It’s dangerous for a shop run by a young woman to become too famous.
And if palace orders were confirmed, how would we divide the inventory?
As I sank into thought, Yuri suddenly let out a deep sigh.
“Ah… business doing well is nice, but selling too well is exhausting. My shoulders hurt, and my back aches after working for only a little while.”
“That’s what people call a happy complaint.”
It’s ridiculously easy for small businesses to fail.
It’s far better to complain because business is too good than because no one comes at all.
Yuri chuckled and brushed his bangs back.
“It feels a little wasteful too. We could sell even more, but there’s a limit to how many blue roses just the two of us can produce.”
“That can’t be helped.”
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed.
But people have limits, no matter how hard they work.
Fidgeting with his fingers, Yuri asked,
“So what are you going to do with the money we earned this time?”
“I haven’t really thought about it.”
I’d been so focused on making money that I hadn’t thought about spending it.
Maybe I should buy clean aprons?
It might be nice if we had matching aprons embroidered with our flower shop’s name.
As I thought about that, Yuri unexpectedly asked,
“You’re not planning to expand the shop?”
Expand?
I firmly shook my head.
“No. I like it here.”
“You’re such a strange boss.”
Yuri giggled.
I stood up from my seat.
We had sold thousands of blue roses that morning, and my shoulders ached, but I couldn’t rest.
It was my turn to make lunch.
“It’s hot today. How about cold pasta?”
Summer had already begun in the capital.
I tied my hair up into a high ponytail.
Ugh, having my neck covered feels so hot.
As I fanned the back of my exposed neck with my hand—
Yuri suddenly reached toward me.
His long fingers lightly brushed the back of my neck.
“Ah!”
My eyes widened at the sudden contact.
For a brief moment, I met Yuri’s blue eyes—
Stars?
Something like sparkling stardust flickered wildly in them before disappearing.
As if by magic.
What was that?
I blinked in confusion.
But before I could examine it further, the light vanished from his eyes.
His clear blue eyes, like a shallow sea, curved slightly as he looked directly at me.
“…My apologies. I thought I saw a bug.”
As his hand moved away, goosebumps rose on the back of my neck.
I instinctively covered it with my hand.
“Really? Well, I don’t hate bugs that much, so you don’t need to worry about that next time.”
Honestly, the sudden touch bothered me more than any bug would.
At my response, Yuri’s round, glass-like eyes sparkled.
“You’re not scared of bugs?”
“How could I run a flower shop if I were scared of bugs? Insects love flowers.”
Most people think of bees and butterflies when they think about pollinating flowers.
But surprisingly, mosquitoes contribute a lot to flower pollination too.
Even annoying insects can be helpful when growing flowers.
So being scared of bugs would make no sense.
Yuri stared at me with wide eyes.
Then he tilted his head and muttered,
“Titi… I think you’re a pretty unusual person.”
