Ahwin muttered under his breath, almost as if talking to himself, "When will those two ever learn to be decent mages...?"
Kaseren felt even more miserable at his words.
The truth was, Kaseren and Rube were among the most promising mages of the Tower—prodigies destined to lead the next generation. Without their exceptional talent, they wouldn’t even have been granted the privilege of stepping into the Tower Master’s home.
But compared to Ahwin, their skills were like specks of dust clinging to his shoes.
They wanted to protest, “Creating a cure in a day? That’s only possible because the Tower Master is a once-in-a-century genius!” But how could they argue with their idol?
At that moment, Ahwin glanced toward them, and they instinctively flinched. His gaze soon moved past them, his golden irises shimmering briefly before the strange energy dissipated.
Penelope, sensing the subtle change in his demeanor, asked curiously, "Is something the matter?"
"Someone’s coming," Ahwin replied. "From the palace, by the looks of it."
"The palace?"
The palace? And how could he possibly know that from inside the sitting room?
Penelope hesitated to question him further, knowing Ahwin would likely respond with a cryptic shrug. Instead, she walked over to the window.
"I don’t hear a carriage... How do you know—"
She squinted down the main road and paused mid-sentence.
"Surely you don’t mean that, do you?"
Far in the distance, a tiny dot was approaching. Ten minutes later, she realized it was indeed a carriage.
Another twenty minutes passed before the golden carriage finally stopped in front of Ahwin’s residence.
A royal messenger stepped out, rang the doorbell, and strode confidently inside once the door was opened. The butler greeted him courteously at the entrance.
"By the Emperor’s command, I am here to see Baroness Halo," the messenger announced.
"This way, please," the butler replied, guiding him to the sitting room.
As the messenger entered, he hesitated for a moment, startled to see Penelope already waiting, her posture slumped from the long wait.
Penelope was equally shocked—though for a very different reason. She hadn’t expected the royal messenger to be Empress Elizabeth herself.
"Elizabeth?"
"Penelope! How have you been?"
"I’ve been well... But what brings you here?"
"I did tell you a messenger would come from the palace," Elizabeth replied with a mischievous smile.
Still, Penelope hadn’t expected the Empress herself to show up as the messenger.
Elizabeth scanned Penelope’s face, her brows furrowing slightly. "You say you’ve been well, but you look absolutely exhausted. I take it you’ve been busy?"
"A bit, yes," Penelope admitted.
"I saw the advertisement you placed in the newspaper. Very clever."
Before their conversation could continue, Ahwin interrupted with a cold tone, "Spare us the small talk. Why are you here?"
Elizabeth, unfazed, waved a hand at him with a smile—or so it seemed. The faint jingling of metal caught everyone’s attention.
What’s that? Penelope wondered as she spotted the keys dangling from Elizabeth’s fingers.
Elizabeth spoke up before Penelope could ask, "I’m here to fulfill my promise. I’ve brought you your townhouse."
"Ha..."
"Really?!"
My own house? My own house?!
Penelope’s eyes sparkled as she stared at the keys.
Elizabeth couldn’t help but laugh at her reaction, finding it utterly adorable. She walked over and placed the keys directly into Penelope’s hands.
The cool weight of the metal left Penelope momentarily speechless, her jaw hanging open.
"The deed and registration are here," Elizabeth added, setting a paper envelope on the table. "The address is written in the documents."
Typically, a royal messenger would present such a gift with solemn formality. But Elizabeth acted more like a friend handing over a surprise present.
Penelope preferred it this way.
"The townhouse is in decent condition, but you’ll want to hire staff as soon as possible," Elizabeth advised.
"I’ll make sure to do that," Penelope replied.
"When will you move in?"
"As soon as I’ve hired staff—hopefully very soon."
Immersed in the joy of finally having her own house, Penelope immediately replied.
No matter how considerate a landlord might be, living in someone else’s house was never entirely comfortable.
‘At last, my dream of owning a home has come true!’
Day by day, she was inching closer to the title of Young and Rich. By now, she could even call herself Super Young and Rich.
Whether or not Ahwin was aware of her elated mood, his brow furrowed slightly, just enough to notice.
Th𝓮 most uptodate nov𝑒ls are publish𝒆d on ƒreewebηoveℓ.com.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth, who had come all the way to Ahwin’s residence to witness this moment firsthand, wore a satisfied smile.
‘I knew she would love it.’
Seeing Penelope so excited, almost like a child, lifted Elizabeth’s spirits as well.
Life at the imperial palace was usually annoying and dreary, but Penelope’s radiant smile seemed to wash away all her worries in an instant.
‘This must be why people seek power,’ Elizabeth thought with amusement.
‘I’m glad I came all the way here.’
***
The Next Day.
As promised, Ahwin completed the remedy. The medicine came in the form of an ointment.
Penelope carefully packaged the ointment, attaching a card, and sent it to Violet Dot through a messenger.
[Please cleanse your face thoroughly three times a day, then apply this ointment evenly. Don’t forget to gently tap it in so it absorbs deeply into the skin.
– Penelope Ash Halo –]
‘If Ahwin made it, it’s bound to work.’
It was a certified Made by the Tower Master product. Whether a potion or an ointment, the effectiveness was guaranteed.
Finally relieved of the weight on her mind, Penelope let out a sigh of relief.
“Thank you so much for helping me. You must not have gotten much sleep...”
“I finished that and also completed this,” Ahwin said abruptly.
Penelope stared, captivated by the strange, tong-like object Ahwin held out. Her jaw dropped.
“W-wait, is that... a hair iron?!”
“Yes, that torture device for hair.”
“Wow, I can’t believe it!”
Unable to hide her excitement, Penelope gazed at the hair iron with an expression even more thrilled than when she first saw the hairdryer.
Ahwin cleared his throat with a small “Ahem” and explained, “It can be charged with a low-grade mana stone. Using the same materials as the hairdryer, I ensured that the handle doesn’t conduct heat. You can adjust the temperature with this switch. Want to try it out?”
“Of course!”
Penelope looked around and fixed her gaze on Giselle, who stared back with a puzzled expression.
‘Giselle doesn’t know how to use it yet, so she’s out. Plus, I can’t just test it on her hair. She needs to learn the technique first.’
Thinking quickly, Penelope turned her head sharply toward Ahwin. His lush golden hair, now long enough to touch his neck, caught her attention since he hadn’t trimmed it recently.
Ahwin raised an eyebrow. “What’s with that look?”
“I’m confident I can do a great job.”
“...Doing what?”
Ahwin gave her a wary look, clearly hesitant about her intentions. Penelope playfully wiggled her index finger.
“Just this once, I promise. It won’t hurt at all. Please?”
“...”
Before he knew it, Ahwin found himself sitting in front of a vanity.
‘Why am I sitting here?’
That idle thought quickly evaporated when Penelope ran her fingers through his hair. As her hand brushed his earlobe, Ahwin’s breath caught.
“...!”
He barely managed to stifle a cough, but his pounding heartbeat was unmistakable.
Completely oblivious to Ahwin’s flustered state, Penelope focused intently on his hair.
‘His hair is so silky. It might even be better than mine.’
Though she hated to admit it, Penelope felt like she had already lost this competition. Her face suddenly turned serious as a new thought struck her.
‘What if I tried applying the green herb product to hair?’
She answered herself almost immediately.
‘It should be fine, right?’
After all, if it could be used on the face, why not on hair?
Penelope’s adrenaline surged as an idea formed.
In other words, the time had come to invent hair essence.
If the hairdryer and hair iron were already in use, then hair essence was a natural next step. After all, the former tools could damage hair without providing protection.
“What are you thinking about for so long?” Ahwin interrupted her musings.
Snapping out of it, Penelope raised the iron’s temperature. “How do you know when it’s heated?”
“What do you mean? It’s ready to use as soon as you flip the switch.”
“So, no need to preheat the metal?”
“The metal has extremely high thermal conductivity.”
Penelope couldn’t hide her amazement. No preheating? Magical engineering truly was remarkable.