Lu Xia really couldn't stand hearing the word "serve" right now. She quickly said, "I don't need that. Go do your own thing. You don't have to follow me all the time. If I need you, I'll come find you."
She really wasn't a slave owner; she didn't need to have someone trailing her every step.
She just wanted some peace and quiet right now.
Graces looked at the serious expression on the young female's face and understood that Lu Xia truly didn't require his service. This should have been a happy thing, but for some reason, deep down—though he was unwilling to admit it—he felt an indescribable sense of disappointment.
"I understand." As Graces said this, he clearly saw the young female before him let out a sigh of relief. It was obvious she really didn't want him to follow.
Lu Xia waved at him and turned to head to her room. Finally, she could get some peace.
As she turned, she completely missed the fleeting look of dejection in his eyes.
Back in her room, Lu Xia flopped onto the bed again. Having just eaten, she was starting to feel drowsy, prompting her to once more silently complain, 'This body is so useless.'
She raised her wrist, intending to browse the lightnet for information on pharmaceutical R&D, but she noticed a light on her wrist terminal flashing frequently.
'What's going on?'
'Is the battery dead?'
Lu Xia fiddled with it for a long time, but she didn't see any low-battery warning on the terminal. In the end, she figured it must be malfunctioning.
Just as she was thinking of having the butler take it for repairs tomorrow, she noticed the light had stopped flashing.
'How strange.'
Not giving it much more thought, Lu Xia opened the lightnet and started looking up information regarding pharmaceutical R&D in the Empire.
Currently, in the Empire, the market demand for the gene fusion agent and Genet Stabilizer was enormous. For one, the agents were scarce, and for another, the prices were so high that ordinary people couldn't afford them at all.
But in reality, their effectiveness was mediocre at best. The gene fusion agent only had a 25% success rate. In other words, if someone wanted a successful fusion, they would need at least four vials to reach a 100% probability—and that was assuming the highest probability was triggered.
And a single vial started at ten million.
The Genet Stabilizer was a supplementary agent used to stabilize genes after a successful fusion. It was cheaper, but each vial still started at 100,000, and it required long-term use to be effective.
In Lu Xia's opinion, the information on the lightnet about these products was pure hyperbole. No matter how well they were described, what was the use if most people couldn't afford them? It was just written for people to look at, nothing more.
'Totally useless!'
Lu Xia switched off the lightnet, pulled the blanket over herself, and closed her eyes to sleep. But her mind was racing. 'Once the R&D at my No. 1 Institute is up and running, I'll start producing gene-based agents myself. I want to see just how much the R&D for these agents actually costs to make them sell for so much!'
*
It had to be said, the butler was highly efficient. Early the next morning, Lu Xia received the applicants' résumés at the breakfast table.
It was a thick stack, enough to keep her busy screening for a while.
"Has the payment from Duke Lan Ya arrived?" Lu Xia asked while flipping through the résumés, concerned about whether the 5 million investment had been deposited.
"It has been deposited. I checked this morning," the butler replied softly, standing to the side. It was only at this moment that he truly realized Duke Lu Xia seemed to be serious this time, not just all talk.
Lu Xia, unaware of the butler's thoughts, quickly selected ten researchers' résumés and handed them to him. "Schedule interviews with these people for this afternoon. If they're suitable, we'll hire them."
Now that the money had arrived, they could start work as soon as the staff was assembled. Oh, right. "Have you found the celebrity spokesperson I asked you to look for?"
"I have a few suitable candidates, but I was thinking of finding a few more for you to choose from."
"Don't find too many. Just show me the suitable ones you have now."
Lu Xia and the butler's exchange was not made in private, openly taking place in front of Graces at the dining table.
The man watched the young female's focused expression as she worked, and a sense of stunned disbelief welled up in him again. Rumor had it that Duke Lu Xia was an ignorant hedonist who cared only for pleasure. But what was he seeing and hearing now?
'So the rumors really can't be trusted?'
Just as he was thinking this, he suddenly heard Lu Xia say, "Graces, when are you going home? I'll go with you to visit Duke Leslie."
The unexpected words made Graces's heart tighten. "You want to go back with me?"
This was a privilege enjoyed only by a male Beastman who was a main husband. And now, Lu Xia was willing to extend it to him, a mere husband.
Even the sheep ears on the nearby butler's head perked up!
Lu Xia raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong? What's so surprising? I can't go with you?"
"No, of course not. I just never expected you would be willing to go back with me to see my mother. It is my honor."
Hearing this, Lu Xia instantly understood. 'This is probably another one of those "feudal" rules, similar to "males can't eat at the main table."'
"Well, keep it in mind. Once things have settled down on my end, I'll go with you," Lu Xia said, standing up. "Take your time eating."
Then she left the house with the butler.
It seemed she was even busier than Graces, the male Beastman who actually had to go out to work.
「That afternoon.」
Lu Xia selected eight of the final ten researchers to hire, forming two separate research teams.
Immediately after hiring them, she assigned the research projects. One could say she was racing against the clock.
The butler watched from behind the glass as Duke Lu Xia, dressed in a white lab coat, discussed the projects with the eight researchers inside the laboratory.
He felt like he was dreaming at what he saw. No, even in his wildest dreams, he wouldn't have dared to hope for this.
Duke Lu Xia had actually changed her ways and started working seriously. It was unbelievable. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, who would have believed it?
Even seeing it with his own eyes, the butler felt he hadn't fully accepted it. It all felt as unreal as a dream.
However, Lu Xia didn't care what he was thinking. She very quickly finalized two projects: one was a beauty cream for enhancing looks and removing scars, and the other was a hair growth liquid that could regenerate follicles.
She had researched it; these two issues were also major concerns for the majority of the Empire's population.
So, it seemed that in any era, for any species, the problem of losing hair and fur was universal.
In fact, many similar products for these two issues had already appeared on the market in the Empire, but none of them were very effective.
Most scars still had to be removed with lasers, but laser removal still left marks and didn't make them vanish completely. Thus, it was far from achieving a true beautifying effect.
As for the hair growth liquid, many were all for show, with very little real effect. For the most part, it was just a placebo.
But what Lu Xia wanted to develop was a genuinely good product that could truly remove scars and regenerate follicles.
However, although the projects were set and the eight researchers before her had all confirmed their roles, Lu Xia could tell that these people didn't believe she could develop a truly effective beauty cream and hair growth liquid.
Lu Xia didn't mind. It was normal for them not to believe her now. Once the products were made and received positive feedback, they would naturally come to believe.
Words were cheap; producing something that actually worked was the only way to earn their trust.
"Alright, that's all for today. You can all go home. We officially start tomorrow, and I expect everyone to be on time." Lu Xia finished speaking and raised her wrist to check the time on her terminal.
It was this very action that allowed everyone present to see the green light flashing on her terminal. Someone couldn't help but gasp in astonishment, "Ah, Your Grace, are you pregnant?"