The Ugly Wife of the Shady Duke - Chapter 121.2

“I once received a cream from that merchant guild and tried it, the effect was quite good. So I was thinking of looking into them further, but I felt awkward asking people I met recently in high society.”

Of course, that wasn’t true at all. Grace had never even opened the container after receiving the cream.

“I’m not asking you to introduce me to them, so don’t worry. It’s just that, even to someone inexperienced like me, this seems like the kind of product only very high-ranking members would receive. That’s why I was curious.”

“Oh, it wasn’t anything significant. They came to ask for advice on beauty tools they wanted to develop themselves. Since most artificers belong to our Association, you see.”

“Most of them?”

“Yes. There are artificers who aren’t affiliated with us, but their skills aren’t guaranteed, so they usually can’t produce reliable items.”

The artificer spoke with an expression that bordered somewhere between pride and arrogance.

Benjamin looked like he wasn’t unaware of this fact, but it also seemed to be a topic he found mildly uncomfortable.

‘Well, there are probably more artificers than mages.’

Artificers were often people whose magical power fell into an ambiguous range—neither strong enough to be mages nor completely powerless. Because of that, the profession used to carry a certain stigma. That stigma only began to fade when the Felton Ducal House founded the Magic Tools Association.

As countless tools that advanced the Empire were invented by gathered artificers, the profession gained recognition.

‘Still, there’s no way the Association could accept every artificer. That makes sense.’

“Then why didn’t they simply collaborate with the Association to make their products?”

“They brought everything already made. They only wanted consultation. Requests like that aren’t uncommon, I’m sure Your Grace is aware.”

“…Mm.”

When Grace looked at Benjamin, he sensed her gaze and nodded slowly.

“Yes, that does happen fairly often. Whether or not an item receives the Association’s certification makes a considerable difference in credibility.”

“Does that get reported to you, Your Grace?”

“No. If certification is granted, a report always comes in. After all, it carries the Association’s name.”

“Then the reason you weren’t informed this time is because certification wasn’t approved.”

The artificer nodded calmly as he listened.

“It hasn’t been fully verified yet. They said they’d bring new items next time and left us with a few of their products. The commercial potential doesn’t seem bad. If you change your mind later, Duchess, feel free to let us know, we have plenty.”

“No, that’s all right.”

‘Is this appetite suppressant one of those? Then isn’t that basically a bribe?’

Grace glanced at the container with mixed feelings.

Decorated in white and gold, it was beautifully designed and somehow reminded her of someone.

“….”

After staring at it for a moment, Grace lifted her head.

“Would it be all right if we looked around elsewhere now? If that’s acceptable. We don’t have much time, and I’d like to see as much as possible.”

She felt like continuing to look at the pills would only make her uneasy.

“Of course. This visit was at my wife’s request, after all.”

Benjamin readily agreed and stood up. The artificer hosting them looked flustered as both of them rose.

“You’re already going to look around? Perhaps you’d like to rest a little longer?”

“…?”

“Well, it’s just that things are a bit messy around here. We haven’t had time to properly tidy the laboratories.”

“That’s fine. You shouldn’t neglect your actual work just because we’ve come.”

Benjamin responded gently but firmly, turning away from the clearly rattled artificer.

‘Now that I think about it, it makes sense he’s nervous.’

Having the Association’s largest patrons inspect the interior without proper preparation would be a nightmare. They’d tried to buy time to straighten things up, but Grace had stood sooner than expected.

‘Should I suggest sitting back down?’

The thought was pointless. Benjamin was already opening the door ahead of her, looking back as if to say, Aren’t you coming, wife?

‘Well… the die’s already cast.’

Grace lifted the corner of her lips just slightly and stepped outside.

“Where would you like to start?”

“You’re guiding me yourself, Your Grace?”

Usually, someone else would handle this. In fact, the artificer assigned to host them was trailing behind with an awkward expression.

Even so, Benjamin stepping forward so naturally as their guide didn’t feel unpleasant at all. Until he added,

“Yes. I studied for it, so I could show you around.”

“….”

Hadn’t she heard that line before? About flowers.

Grace’s expression stiffened slightly, a thought flashing through her mind. Don’t tell me this too…

Seeing her reaction, Benjamin looked at her in confusion for a moment before realizing—

“No! This time I really studied just recently!”

“Oh, ah… I see.”

“I’m already closely involved with this place. If I pay a bit of attention, memorizing locations is easy.”

“I-I see…”

“Please rest assured, Wife. There was absolutely nothing like that!”

‘I don’t know what ‘that’ even refers to, but… all right.’

It seemed that what Grace had said while recovering her memories had left quite an impression on Benjamin. Worried she might misunderstand, he turned bright red and kept denying things repeatedly in the middle of the Association’s corridor.

Watching Benjamin continue to fuss over her without caring who was watching, Grace grew so embarrassed she wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear.