As the second chest was placed in front of her, she gazed at it for a few moments before slowly opening it, anticipation building for the treasure awaiting inside.
Within the chest rested a triangular, crystal-clear vial filled with a pale golden liquid.
"And what is this?" she asked.
"Try applying it to your hand, then inhale," he said, his eyes fixed intently on her.
Hearing his words, she picked up the vial and poured a small amount onto her hand. Despite protests from her advisor and bodyguards, she raised her hand and inhaled deeply. Her instincts told her it was safe.
A sharp note of citrus peel touched her senses first. It faded smoothly, giving way to the calm, deliberate scent of lavender and rosemary—cool and restrained, yet carrying an unmistakable sense of order. Then that too receded, leaving behind something warmer. Pine resin and smoke lingered faintly but persistently, clinging to her skin.
"Is this…?" she murmured, surprise flashing across her face.
"Yes, my lady. It's a perfume," he answered with a smile.
"Can you mass-produce it? Like the soap?" she asked, her expression now tinged with almost childlike anticipation.
"Yes, of course," he replied warmly.
"Then half your debt is gone," she declared.
He met her gaze without hesitation."Could you make it all of my debt instead? The potential of this knowledge is quite valuable—and it comes entirely from my own invention, not from any teacher or tome." He said with a grin.
Her advisor, Serafino, cut sharply into the conversation."That is too much—for a lowly noble like you to ask of my liege!"
"Enough," she declared with a simple hand gesture, signaling him to calm down. She then turned her attention back to him.
"He may be rude, but he is not wrong," she said coolly. "I cannot simply erase the debt of an entire family over a business prospect, even if it is a good one."
She spoke as though delivering an ultimatum.
And that was the moment he revealed his trump card—his absolute ace in hand.
"I anticipated this," he said, his voice steady with confidence. "So I prepared something even better in advance. Daisy! Bring out the third product!"
Within moments, a small wooden chest—so light it could be lifted with one hand—was placed before her.
"What's inside the chest this time?" she asked, a faint smile touching her lips.
"On my honor again, my lady, please open it," he replied.
She swallowed. Her instincts whispered that if she opened this box, her destiny would quietly shift course. Slowly, carefully, she lifted the lid.
Inside lay yet another simple glass vial—so clear that its contents were impossible to mistake.
Powdered pigment. A dye.
Her breath caught, her composure cracking as her lips parted in shock.
For the color within was unmistakable.
Purple.
---
Purple.
According to the books on law and court customs I had studied, purple was a color reserved for royal blood and high nobility even in this world, for the same reason it had been in my past life: scarcity.
From the intelligence gathered by my advisor, Nikos, the purple dye of this world came from only two sources. One required the crushing of massive quantities of sea snails to extract a single drop of pigment, mirroring the ancient methods of my former world. The other came from a far more dangerous source—a giant insect monster dwelling in the swamps of the kingdom's southern reaches. New to me, but no less costly.
Different origins, identical outcome.
Purple dye was unimaginably expensive.
What I presented to Lady Valeria today was an alternate source for the dye.
Synthesis.
What I had created was not true tyrian purple, but a chemically mixed version of red and blue.
From simple woad I gathered, I produced blue dye. From madder root I purchased, I produced red dye.
I then applied a bit of chemistry, dissolving the blue dye powder in an alkaline solution and the red dye in an acidic one.
Both were then added into a simple carrier, ground chalk, and stirred carefully like a witch brewing a potion, before being left to dry under the sunshine.
Lastly, and most importantly, I added a tiny amount of metallic salt as a stabilizer to lock the color into a shade of purple.
And voilà. Purple.
I was quite proud of myself for these simple innovations, but it was even better to see people's reactions. I found it genuinely amusing to watch their eyes widen in amazement over something as simple as a vial of dye.
So I just stood there, smiling, while my current negotiation opponent was quietly losing her mind.
"Do… do you also know how to mass-produce this?" she asked in a trembling voice, while her advisor, who had been haughty just moments ago, was also clearly in shock.
"Yes! And to be exact… I do!" I said in a cheerful voice as I pulled something out from beneath the table. It was a simple wool scarf, made specifically to provide warmth against the cold weather, yet its color was a deep purple, standing as proof of my claim.
I then stood up and walked around the table, handing it to her myself.
"As a gift to protect you from the weather. This place is rather cold, isn't it?" I said jokingly with a smile on my face.
Her reaction was blank for a moment. Then she suddenly turned serious.
"You know people would kill for the secrets behind creating these items, right?" she asked in a grave tone, her eyes so cold they could kill.
"Yes," I answered.
"Then why show them to me? Couldn't you just produce them in secret and sell them to pay off your debt in gold?" she asked.
"Because I want something worth more than gold!" I replied.
"Something more?" she asked, her face confused.
"A friend!"
"A friend?!?!" she shouted in disbelief.
"Aren't we in the same position? Our families are dead, we're the last of our bloodlines, and we bear the responsibility of ruling our fiefdoms and all that. So why don't we become friends?" I said with a smile, extending the scarf with my right hand as a token of friendship.
"A friend, huh…" she murmured thoughtfully.
"Besides, if you killed me and stole the secrets, it would all amount to nothing, since they exist only in my head and nowhere else, and all my future pro—"
I couldn't even finish my sentence before she reached out and grabbed the scarf, and in the process, my hand.
"A friend! How could I not predict this?! How wonderful, a business 'friend,' huh? Hahahaha!" she said, laughing maniacally like some sort of mad villainess. After a while, she calmed down and wrapped the scarf around her neck.
"Very well then, my dear friend. I abolish all your debt!" she declared proudly. "And by my honor, I swear that our friendship will be a profitable and long-lasting one. Am I right, everyone?!"
"Yes, my lady!" all her bodyguards, and even her advisor, replied in unison.
At this point, even her advisor was too afraid to oppose her.
"Yes… but other than that, I have one extra demand," I said calmly.
Everyone in the room fell silent, mouths shut in anticipation.
"I want some animal manure!" I declared proudly.