"Ah, you're here!"
Sir Jamie's greeting sounded deliberately loud.
But the more he did that, the more I felt... complicated.
Pitiful, perhaps?
His voice was so thin...
And look closely, will you?
That bushy beard...
It's fake.
"Your Grace! Long time no see! Rumors truly are unreliable. You still look so robust!"
Up close, it was obvious at a glance.
And of all things, I happen to be an observant person.
Plus, I know very well the changes that can occur when the testicles are gone—that is, when male hormones disappear.
'His shoulders have narrowed... He's losing muscle. In contrast, fat is increasing...'
His voice thinning or his beard falling out are, in a way, just secondary issues.
They don't hinder daily life.
But...
Losing muscle, especially when it naturally decreases with age, accelerating that process is hardly a good thing, no matter how you look at it.
'Should I try to extract some from my own small balls and give them to him?'
I had a brief, absurd thought.
It probably wouldn't work.
Or maybe it would?
I should experiment later.
Doing it all at once on a high-ranking noble like this is a bit much...
Yeah, I should try persuading that old man, whatever his name was—Hugh or something—that I brought here before.
"Haha,果然, the renowned famous doctor is different!"
Sir Jamie laughed heartily, genuinely pleased by my flattery, which was completely opposite to my inner thoughts.
In doing so, he forgot to keep his voice deep, and a shrill sound briefly escaped.
I almost let my expression change but barely held it back.
Even Lister was clenching his lips, holding it in. My sole thought was that I couldn't possibly mess this up.
"But what are all these things?"
Neither Lister nor I had the mental bandwidth to do anything but stay silent, as we lacked the composure for anything else.
Naturally, it was Superintendent Damien who spoke now.
He just seemed to be in a good mood.
After all, he had also suffered from prostate hypertrophy.
But one met an incompetent doctor and lost his balls, while the other only got a hole drilled, so it made sense.
"Ah, this."
In contrast, Sir Jamie was, should I say, putting on a bravado?
He was desperately trying to hide his depression.
"It's all the rage in France, you see."
"It must be incredibly expensive, then?"
Isn't there a saying?
If you suddenly make an unplanned extravagant purchase, you should first check your emotions.
At this time, the word 'depression' didn't even exist, so what would Sir Jamie know?
Perhaps because he was wealthy, it seemed he spent a huge amount of money as a way to cope.
It's not untrue; anything French was expensive.
Coming from a time when using English was the norm, it's surprising to me, but the center of the world was still France, to the extent that the common language in Europe was still French.
"Expensive... but look. This intriguing color tone."
"I'm looking, and it truly is intriguing. Those French... Say what you will, but they really know how to make such things well."
Especially culturally, calling it the center was almost a cliché.
In terms of soft power, Britain was no match for France.
Was that why?
Despite being bitter rivals, even sworn enemies, they went crazy for anything labeled "French" deep down.
Just look at the conversation between these two nobles right now.
No, it's not just them.
Everyone nearby started perking up their ears at the mention of something popular in France.
'Well... it is stylish...'
A green carpet—no, a luxurious green carpet like this—even I, who lived in the 21st century, am seeing it for the first time.
Actually...
Even though green is a color observed so often in nature, isn't it somewhat less used in fashion?
It also gives a slightly ominous feeling.
Goblins and orcs all have green skin, right?
Is that all?
Poison is usually green, too.
'Poison...?'
Why is poison green?
I felt a brief curiosity, but it soon subsided.
Truthfully, I also have a yearning for expensive and stylish goods, so that played a part.
Of course, that wasn't the only reason I stopped pondering.
"Stop being so noisy and stay still."
"Brother?"
"I'm rich now, aren't I? I should start thinking about marriage soon. What if I gifted a green carpet like that to a woman I like? Wouldn't anyone be swayed? Especially if it's a proposal from none other than Lister."
"Ah... that's true."
Lister was completely captivated.
Well, yeah...
If Lister proposed, it would be really hard to refuse.
Your entire family could end up dead, you know.
No, death would be a mercy.
You could have your limbs chopped off first, and after death, your body might end up in an anatomy lab.
'He's... he's not that bad a guy, really.'
My thoughts went off track for a moment, but anyway.
We quietly listened to the two nobles talk.
"Look closely. This color. It's called 'Scheele's Green.'"
"Scheele's Green...?"
"It's a bit different from previous greens, right? It has a mysterious beauty... Now, look at my wife's dress here."
"Pleased to meet you, Your Grace."
"Haha, you look beautiful. The dress suits you very well."
The conversation moved from the carpet to the dress.
The dress was also a peculiar green.
It had a different kind of luxury compared to the carpet.
Although Sir Jamie's wife was unfortunately not a face one could even politely call beautiful, at a glance, she gave off a truly elegant impression.
"This is Emerald Green."
"Emerald? Don't tell me they crushed gemstones?"
"Hahaha! No matter how rich, one can't do that. I don't know the details, but they say it's made by mixing unusual materials."
"Aha... I see. But it really is mysteriously like an emerald. The color tones are varied too..."
One thing became certain.
Superintendent Damien would acquire one soon too.
No, not just him; starting today, it was obvious that everyone who was anyone in London high society would buy that green dress and carpet.
When I lived in Korea, I thought only our country was so sensitive to trends, but coming here, I see it's all the same.
Especially here, the higher the social class, the worse it is.
If others are doing something, they feel they must do it too unconditionally.
Otherwise, they feel left behind, or something like that.
"I should get a dress too."
Ah, it wasn't just the upper class.
Then and now, the upper class is both an object of envy and, generally, an object of aspiration, isn't it?
Whatever they are doing, it always seems more impressive.
It was no coincidence that Lister wanted to emulate them.
"The pinnacle is this wallpaper."
"I was just about to ask. Is this... also imported from France?"
"Haha. I commissioned a French painter directly. He painted these flower designs, and they were all printed. Right now, it's only in this one place, but just you wait. Soon, my entire estate will be filled with this vibrant green."
"That's truly enviable. Could you introduce me to that painter?"
I wonder who the painter was.
The flower designs were quite elegant.
'I'm tempted by this too...'
Green is a natural color.
It's already theoretically proven that looking at it is good for mental health.
Lately, I've been feeling particularly stressed and tired...
I wondered what it would be like to decorate my walls with that color.
"How much was it?"
"Expensive."
"How much?"
"Around this much...?"
"Hey, you..."
"Haha. I spent quite a bit. Well, it's like this because it's the first time. If you plan to do it later, it should get cheaper."
"Later? I have my pride; how could I do that?"
Later.
I'll do it later.
It's not like I can't do it if I push myself...
But I'm not foolish enough to overextend myself for wallpaper.
There are a thousand things to spend money on in this world; who would spend that much on wallpaper?
"Did you enjoy yourself?"
"It was good. Well... nothing was as memorable as the green, though."
"Really? It was so pleasing to the eye. I must go out first thing tomorrow morning to see if I can get some."
"Can I just come along to look?"
"What kind of question is that? You're my brother. Of course, yes!"
"Oh."
Looking at this conversation now, you can tell...
Sadly, the most memorable thing from the quite lengthy banquet was the color green.
Others probably found the green quite memorable too...
But if there had been a chance to dance with a likable member of the opposite sex, or at least just any member of the opposite sex, there would have been a few more memorable events.
But for me and Lister, appealing to the ladies was a bit of a stretch.
No, actually, Lister is quite popular, but he was an exception among the noblewomen.
I don't know about their true feelings, but outwardly, they only showed interest in polite and gentlemanly men.
To those people, how should I describe Lister?
He'd come across as a barbaric warrior.
"How was it?"
After agreeing to meet Lister tomorrow and returning home, Alfred and Joseph greeted me.
"Well... it was a party for important people, so the food hardly went down. Get me some food."
"Does free food at someone else's house go down easily?"
"I'll pay you back later with interest."
"Forget that... Just please stop urinating on my chili plants..."
He was apologizing profusely, so I apologized too.
Of course, I was eating while doing so.
Thinking about it, our senior Alfred...
He's a bit of a pushover.
"Huh?"
While eating with that thought, something caught my eye.
It was a piece of paper about the size of a coloring sheet, and it was green.
"What?"
"This... there was something similar over there."
"Ah... Father brought it. He said he was checking its commercial potential. It's causing a huge stir in France, apparently."
"Wow... The man's taste is truly something else. Does he have more? I doubt they'll be able to keep it in stock?"
"Really?"
"Yeah, it was the talk of the party all night. Everyone seems ready to go buy wallpaper first thing tomorrow."
"Oh. Then I should go tell my dad."
Alfred ran off excitedly.
Joseph hadn't shown much interest until then, but upon hearing it was the party's talk, he started fiddling with the wallpaper sample.
But something was strange.
His expression wasn't very good.
"What's wrong?"
"The smell..."
"Smell?"
I couldn't smell it there.
Actually, with food scattered everywhere, only the smell of food was noticeable.
Besides, what kind of food was it? British food.
It doesn't look good, it doesn't smell good, and if you taste it?
Indeed, it's tasteless.
"Give it here."
"Uh, ah... It smells weird."
"Hmm. Ew."
Anyway, I asked for the wallpaper and smelled it. Sure enough, it had a musty smell, should I say?
Or a moldy smell?
A strange odor wafted from it.
"Hey, this is rotten. Go wash your hands quickly."
"Huh? Does rotten wallpaper have miasma too?"
"Of course it would, man. Would something that smells like this be ordinary miasma?"
"Ah, crap."
As soon as Joseph thought the smell might be caused by miasma, he, true to form, bolted out.
And so, I was left alone with the green wallpaper.
A foul smell continuously emanated from it.
Somehow...
It felt ominous.