The Party

The next day, Josette and Elnette were to travel to the town in the Marquisate where the party venue was located. The journey took half a day by carriage.

“Sister, are you ready?”

“I am. But it has been a long time since I wore an outfit like this.”

“Pfft. As expected of you, Sister. It suits you.”

“Josette, you just laughed, did you not?”

“No, I did not laugh.”

Josette and Elnette had finished preparing to depart, but when Josette saw Elnette dressed like a noble young lady, unlike her usual swordswoman-style clothing, she found it amusing and ended up laughing.

“My Lady, the carriage is ready.”

“Understood. Thank you for your work. Then, Sister, shall we go?”

“Yes… Let us go.”

After being told by the maid, Josette, who had finished preparing, and Elnette, who was not very enthusiastic, boarded a carriage bearing the Duke’s Household crest. It was the beginning of a long journey. The carriage carrying the two daughters of the Duke’s Household, accompanied by ten escort knights, began moving toward the Marquisate.

In the past, there had been many siblings, and their ages had been far apart, so the two sisters had not talked much with each other. However, after they began seeing each other at Marie’s bakery, they gradually opened up, and their relationship as sisters had improved. Now, they could casually talk about all sorts of things, and though the journey was long, they were not bored, nor did it feel difficult for either of them.

Then, after spending half a day, the group arrived in the Marquisate, stayed one night in rooms prepared by the Marquis Household, and attended the party the next day. After receiving sufficient hospitality, the day of the party arrived, and the two, clad in luxurious dresses, entered the building where the venue was located and were guided to the waiting room.

“It has been a long time since I was in a place like this, so I am nervous.”

“You attended before I was born, did you not?”

“As if. Just how old do you think I am?”

“Ouch!”

Elnette retorted to Josette, who said something that clearly did not add up no matter how one calculated it.

“Kent-san instructed us that simply attending while using the shop’s products would be enough, but will it really be all right?”

“Well, if Kent said so, then it should be all right.”

“Oh? It is unusual for you, Sister, who does not trust people very much, to trust Kent-san.”

Ever since her engagement had been broken off by the prince, Elnette had not trusted people very much.

“Well, yes. He is the person I fell in love with.”

“I envy you for being able to say that so openly, Sister.”

“No, I do not want to hear that from Josette, who ate Kent first.”

“T-that is… not something you should say in a place like this.”

Josette refuted her with her face bright red.

“Even so, there is a nice scent coming from you, Sister.”

“The same goes for you, Josette.”

They checked each other’s scents. The items Kent had given them were rose-scented ones for Josette and citrus-scented ones for Elnette. According to Kent, he had chosen items with especially distinctive fragrances among the best-selling products. They used shampoo, conditioner, and body soap, and lightly scented themselves with perfume of the same type. Though they were not sold at the shop, they were also using cosmetics prepared by Kent.

“The maid in charge of makeup was surprised.”

“The things Kent prepares are amazing as always.”

After confirming that each other’s makeup had turned out better than expected, smiles naturally appeared on both of their faces.

“Now then, Sister, shall we go?”

“Yes. Let us do our best with publicity activities for Kent’s sake.”

After the maid called them, the two said that and left the waiting room, stepping into the party venue.

“Welcome from so far away. Lady Josette and Lady Elnette? Is that not Lady Elnette?”

Because Elnette had appeared in an official setting for the first time in a long while, the daughter of the Marquis Household, who was handling guests at the entrance, raised her voice in surprise. Then the gazes of those in the venue gathered all at once.

“Lady Elnette has come.”

“How beautiful.”

“To think two young ladies from the Duke’s Household would come…”

Voices of surprise rose from the participants in the venue when they saw the two of them.

Many noblewomen had gathered inside the luxuriously decorated venue, chatting as they pleased and having food and drinks. Since it was a midsummer party venue with no air conditioning, it was quite hot. Even though everyone was sweating to some degree, Josette and Elnette did not have a single drop of sweat on them, and they wore cool expressions that could not be explained by graceful movements alone. The participants found those expressions strange. In truth, the two dresses had been modified, and cooling packs had been placed inside the back, so they could endure the heat to a certain extent.

“But Sister, did you not put too many cooling packs in those two places?”

“What is wrong with that? Since our sizes will be compared as sisters, do you not think it would be pitiful if you did not let me pad them a little?”

“…”

Elnette had placed many cooling packs especially in her chest. Because of that, from the outside, her chest looked about the same size as Josette’s.

Then, while still attracting attention, they proceeded into the venue.

“Good day, Lady Elnette, Lady Josette. It is an honor to meet you.”

“The honor is ours.”

Lower- and middle-ranking noble daughters gathered around the two daughters of the Duke’s Household one after another to greet them. Since they were packed closely together, the distinctive sweaty smell of women hung in the air. However, as if to erase that, a citrus scent drifted from Elnette, and a rose scent drifted from Josette.

“Sister, then let us proceed according to the plan.”

“Understood.”

Once the greetings from the lower- and middle-ranking nobles ended, the two acted separately and walked around the venue, spreading their fragrances. Perhaps out of restraint, the daughters and wives of lower- and middle-ranking nobles did not bring up the source of the scents that interested them, but the daughters and wives of high-ranking nobles asked without hesitation. Incidentally, even if they were called high-ranking nobles, the Duke’s Household was second only to the royal family, so unless royalty was present, Elnette and Josette held the highest status.

“Lady Josette. If you do not mind, could you tell me the secret behind that rose fragrance?”

(Good, here it comes. This is where the sales pitch begins.)

“The secret of this scent is… something sold at a certain shop.”

“If you do not mind, could you tell me what shop that is?”

“In Tior’s commercial district, a shop called Marie’s Bakery Second Shop opened yesterday.”

“A second shop has opened in the commercial district. Speaking of Marie’s Bakery, that is the bakery that has recently become famous for selling fluffy bread, is it not?”

“It is something sold at that shop.”

“Pardon?”

The noble daughter who asked was surprised by Josette’s answer. She had never imagined that such a thing would be sold at a bakery, and furthermore, that showed that it was not aimed at commoners, but had enough quality for a duke’s daughter to use. The contents of that conversation were also being listened to by the surrounding lower- and middle-ranking noble daughters, and information about the products sold at Marie’s Bakery Second Shop spread among the nobles all at once.

Likewise, Elnette also carried out similar sales activities, attempting to expand the sales channels.

The two spread their scents to every corner of the venue, and when asked, they told people the name of the shop. Thus, the party ended safely. As a result, although the party had been opened to show off their own financial power, it ended with Elnette and Josette taking everything away. Of course, if only the two of them stood out, it would not give a good impression to the Marquis Household hosting the party, so they handled that area skillfully and also gave the Marquis Household due respect.

The next day, just as when they had come, the two boarded the carriage bearing the Duke’s Household crest and left the Marquisate while being escorted by ten knights.

“Sister, it ended safely.”

“Yes. I hope Kent will be pleased with this.”

“Yes, indeed.”

Having successfully carried out the mission given to them by Kent, the two set out on the return journey with satisfied expressions.