Outside the bedroom, the angry voice of a man echoed through the hallway.
“What on earth is going on here?! A servant dared to swap out their master’s belongings and buy counterfeits?!”
“Master, I was wrong! Please forgive me just this once!”
“You must think nobles are a joke! Drag this wretch outside immediately! I’ll make an example of him myself!”
With a loud crash that sounded like furniture breaking, the servant was forcibly dragged out of the house.
“Sniff... sob...”
Violet silently shed tears, each drop falling with a sense of utter despair and helplessness.
‘She’s crying so miserably, I can’t even think of what to say to comfort her.’
Penelope let out a deep sigh inwardly.
Because of a servant’s greed, Violet’s skin had been ruined to the point where she couldn’t even step outside. Her heart must have been completely shattered.
No matter what Penelope said, it likely wouldn’t reach Violet right now.
Shortly afterward, Emily quietly opened the bedroom door and entered. Her face was just as pale as her sister’s, drained of all color.
The moment Emily saw Penelope, she lowered her head deeply.
“I truly apologize. Without properly investigating, I’ve committed an unforgivable rudeness against you, Baroness. I don’t even know how to atone for this... You can report me to the magistrate and have me imprisoned if you wish. I have no excuses.”
Penelope widened her eyes in surprise. Prison seemed like a drastic step.
Emily, her eyes welling with tears, did her best to convey her apology to Penelope.
“If you would give me the chance, I’ll personally visit everyone who attended today’s banquet and explain everything. I’ll also kneel before Lady Corindel and beg for her forgiveness. Furthermore, I’ll do whatever else I can to make amends.”
“An apology of that extent should suffice. I can already imagine how much courage it must have taken for you to come to the imperial banquet, given the circumstances.”
“But... Oh, if it’s compensation you’re speaking of, I have some savings in the imperial bank. If I need to, I’ll sell all my jewelry and dresses to cover the damages you’ve suffered from today.”
Already calculating damages—she was indeed a thorough woman.
Penelope swallowed a sigh and turned to Ahwin, who was examining the cosmetics Penelope had brought.
“Do you think it’s possible to treat Lady Dot’s face?”
“That, I can’t say. I’d need to analyze the ingredients in the cosmetics first.”
“Hmm, that makes sense.”
Even as the Master of the Tower, there were limits to what he could resolve with ease.
Penelope looked back at Emily and spoke.
“If you don’t mind, may we take these cosmetics with us? I’d like to examine their ingredients. If it’s possible to create a potion to treat Lady Dot, I’d be more than happy to help.”
“...Truly?”
Emily looked at Penelope with an expression of disbelief.
Violet, who had been silently crying all this time, finally raised her head. Her eyes were so swollen from weeping that they were nearly unrecognizable.
“...”
Emily pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket and handed it to Violet. After glancing nervously at Penelope and Ahwin, Violet blew her nose forcefully into the handkerchief.
In a nasal tone, Violet asked, “But who... are you?”
“I told you earlier, she’s Baroness Halo,” Emily explained. “You’ve always said you wanted to meet her, didn’t you? And the person beside her is the Master of the Tower.”
“No way...!”
At Emily’s introduction, Violet’s mouth fell open in shock. It was clear she hadn’t been listening earlier, too overwhelmed by her emotions to process her sister’s words.
Violet’s face quickly flushed bright red.
‘Getting worked up like that won’t be good for her skin.’
With an awkward expression, Penelope held up the cosmetics.
“Well then, we’ll be on our way.”
“I’ll see you out.”
As Emily stepped forward, Penelope waved her off with a gesture.
“No need. Just take care of your sister. Try to keep her from crying too much, and tell her not to touch her face. There can be harmful bacteria on your hands that might infect her wounds. When washing her face, use only soap and make sure your hands are clean. Oh, and always use lukewarm water for cleansing.”
“Oh, yes! I’ll do exactly as you say.”
Emily nodded fervently in agreement. Violet, too, appeared more composed than before.
Finally, Penelope and Ahwin left Violet’s bedroom.
Turning to Ahwin, Penelope said, “Shall we head out?”
“To where? Home?”
Ahwin asked as if he had been waiting for this moment, his tone carrying a hint of annoyance. He was clearly growing tired of the situation.
‘I was planning to dance with Penelope, so how did it end up like this?’
From the beginning, his goal had been to share a dance with Penelope at the imperial banquet. That was the sole reason he had reluctantly attended his first imperial event in years, enduring the inconvenience.
But at the banquet, a royal court mage suddenly appeared to interfere with him, followed by an unrelated noblewoman who caused even more trouble.
‘They dare to copy my masterpiece and create this mess?’
Ahwin could feel his anger boiling, but he suppressed it with effort. Deep down, he wanted nothing more than to round up everyone disrupting his work and turn them into frogs or donkeys.
At that moment, Penelope spoke up.
“Let’s head to the market first.”
Ahwin blinked and asked, almost involuntarily, “Where?”
“The market.”
Ahwin was at a loss for words.
***
In the back alleys of the largest street in the capital, after haggling with street vendors, Penelope managed to purchase green herb cosmetics and soap.
The problem was that all of them were counterfeit—poor imitations of Halo’s cosmetics and soap.
‘In other words, knock-offs.’
“There are more than twenty different types.”
“...Truly an impressive level of dedication,” Ahwin muttered sarcastically, clicking his tongue.
Penelope stared at the counterfeit products laid out neatly on the table and shook her head.
‘If they’re going to copy it, they might as well do it properly.’
The packaging was somewhat similar, but the ingredients were entirely different. This meant that adverse reactions, like the one that had occurred today, could easily happen again.
Just then, a loud commotion came from outside, and moments later, Pablo entered the shop, followed closely by Lucas. Both of them were gasping for breath, having run all the way here without stopping.
“I heard you faced sudden trouble at the imperial palace. What exactly happened—huh!”
Pablo froze in shock, his eyes widening at the sight of the table crowded with green herb cosmetics and soap.
Lucas was the first to ask, “What are all these?”
“These are counterfeit products being distributed in the back alleys of the capital,” Penelope explained. “They mimic Halo’s soaps and cosmetics quite closely, but their effectiveness is completely unverified.”
Pablo’s face turned pale at her words.
“Then the rumors about a noble lady using Halo’s cosmetics and suffering such severe side effects that her face became unrecognizable...”
“That’s because she used one of these counterfeit products.”
“....”
Realizing the gravity of the situation, Pablo rubbed his face with his hands in frustration, while Lucas picked up the counterfeit products one by one, inspecting them closely.
“They’ve done a remarkable job copying Halo’s soap and cosmetics. But upon closer inspection, the quality is lacking. The colors, shapes, and sizes are inconsistent.”
“Hmm, that’s true. Still, they’re being sold at half the price.”
Lucas’s expression darkened immediately.
“Such unethical business practices.”
“When a product becomes popular in the market, it’s only natural for imitations to appear.”
“I should have investigated sooner before it came to this. I’m truly sorry.”
Pablo wiped the sweat from his forehead as he apologized, but Penelope shook her head.
“There’s no need to apologize. I know you’ve been busy expanding the workshop in Halo’s territory. Now that we understand the situation, just focus on cleaning it up.”
“...Understood. I’ll do my best.”
Pablo answered with a determined expression. He was once again reminded of how compassionate and understanding Penelope was as a noble. Any other aristocrat would have immediately held their merchant guild leader accountable and dismissed him over such a scandal.
‘Serving such a remarkable person means I must ensure I never make a mistake again.’
Pablo felt a pang of guilt as he resolved to work even harder.
At that moment, Lucas cleared his throat and joined the conversation again.
“You’re planning to file a lawsuit against those infringing on your patents and trademarks, correct?”
“Of course.”
This 𝓬ontent is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.
“I’ll handle the consultation with the lawyer.”
“Thank you.”
At Penelope’s response, Lucas bowed his head and stepped out of the room to meet with the legal advisor.
“Pablo, could you contact the newspapers? I’d like to publish an article warning people to be cautious about counterfeit soaps and cosmetics, as unverified products can cause severe side effects.”
“That’s a brilliant idea! I’ll get in touch with them right away.”
Pablo’s eyes sparkled, and he quickly left the room.
Ahwin, who had observed the entire scene, finally asked, “Is your work for today finished now?”