Chapter 65

"Ritren"

"Your Highness."

Ritren looked dejected, feeling he had shown a poor side to Aristine.

He still lacked discipline. No wonder Master sighed.

How would Your Highness see him?

"Shall I buy you some meat?"

But the words that came from Aristine's lips were completely different from what Ritren had expected.

"Excuse me?"

When he asked in confusion, Aristine smiled.

"Whenever you're down, you should go for meat."

After all, all worries and concerns melt away with carbohydrates, proteins, fats, and sugars.

At least, that's what the Koreans she saw through the Emperor's Eye said.

'I was one of them in my past life, too.'

"Where did you hear such a rule?"

Ritren shook his head and laughed.

"I'll buy you really delicious meat. I have a lot of money."

Aristine's words, said with utmost seriousness, made Ritren's smile deepen.

Somehow, the tension in his shoulders eased.

Seeing this, a faint smile appeared on Aristine's lips.

She felt bad for Ritren being stressed.

'Maybe he felt burdened by my words of trust?'

It was possible.

Ritren had made a firm resolve not to disappoint her.

Aristine picked up the stainless steel she had made, which had the best reviews.

"This should be good enough. It has good heat resistance, corrosion resistance, and high strength."

"No."

Ritren shook his head.

He was more resolute than usual.

"Just a little more, and we can find something even more perfect."

Ritren glared at the alloy.

Changing the ratio, additives, or processing methods could yield different results, so he couldn't give up.

Even a tiny difference was important for tools that handled human lives, like medical scalpels.

"We've already found something that can withstand higher temperatures. It will be much easier to sterilize in hospitals."

"The blade is disposable, but the handle is reused. If sterilization is less of a hassle, hygiene standards will improve."

Aristine nodded.

'So, craftsmen don't compromise, huh? Hmm, but I don't want Ritren to be too stressed.'

Aristine pondered.

Taking care of employee benefits was also the boss's job.

'Should I offer him more money?'

A raise.

Wasn't it a magical word that could instantly alleviate stress?

'No one dislikes money!'

As she thought this, Ritren looked at her with an incredibly earnest gaze.

"Your Highness is working so hard to save injured people, I can't make subpar tools."

"Huh?"

"I will definitely create a perfect scalpel for you."

"Hmm, okay..."

Aristine smiled awkwardly.

A conscience she didn't even know she had started to prick her.

'Letting him continue with this misunderstanding isn't right...'

She felt she should reveal the truth, even if Ritren might be disappointed.

"Ritren."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Seeing Aristine's serious face, Ritren straightened up and looked at her.

"You seem to have a misunderstanding. I'm not making scalpels to help suffering people at a loss."

"Huh? Then..."

"I'm doing it to make money!"

Aristine clenched her fist and said confidently.

What's wrong with working hard to make money?

"Money?"

"Yep! So, I have no intention of taking a loss or sacrificing my labor and funds."

Ritren's eyes widened.

'Now you understand!'

This would free him from the pressure of thinking it was a noble cause that required his utmost effort.

"I'm going to be rich!"

After blinking a few times, Ritren chuckled.

"Oh, I see. Hmm..."

Ritren looked at Aristine with a smile.

His slightly drooping eyes were gentle and affectionate.

"Your Highness is truly kind and considerate."

"Huh?"

Aristine was taken aback.

'What is he talking about?'

Didn't she just say she wasn't doing it for the sake of injured people but for money?

"You misunderstood me."

"No."

Ritren shook his head firmly.

His face was as resolute as when he said the alloy was good enough.

"I understand Your Highness's intentions."

"Your intentions?"

She meant to become a landlord.

"Because I was under pressure, you're saying this to ease my burden, right? Don't feel obligated."

"No? That's not it at all?"

While she did want to ease his burden, she felt guilty and decided to tell the truth.

"To think you would comfort me like this, even lowering yourself..."

Gulp, Ritren's eyes welled up.

"No, that's not it. I really started this to sit on a pile of money."

Aristine said sternly, but Ritren, seemingly moved, looked at her with tears in his eyes.

"Your Highness is truly..."

Ritren couldn't finish his sentence.

Aristine looked at him with a confused expression.

"I'm really a bad person. I was so anxious that I made you say such things."

His olive-green eyes, now brimming with tears, looked like transparent tourmalines.

Aristine realized something.

'Talking more will just hurt my mouth.'

It was a wise realization.

"Fine, just think what you want."

I don't know what to do anymore.

Aristine quickly gave up.

* * *

Time passed quickly as they researched the alloy.

Aristine almost spent every day in the forge, checking the differences between each sample with Ritren.

'If the employee is working hard, the boss can't just sit around!'

"Ugh, I'm tired."

But her body was honest, and the accumulated fatigue was catching up.

She thought she might take a break after lunch to digest her food.

Aristine stretched and lay down on the sofa.

'Fortunately, this place has chromium and nickel. And they were discovered a long time ago.'

When Aristine saw her past life through the Emperor's Eye, these two elements were discovered on Earth in the 18th century.

'It's hard to pinpoint exactly which era of Earth this place is in.'

The development of civilization is vastly different from her past life.

'Of course, with portals and mana, it can't be the same. The main energy source is different too.'

Looking at the chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, powered by mana, Aristine closed her eyes.

She planned to take a nap, putting work-related thoughts aside for a moment.

However, she sensed a faint presence.

Aristine opened her eyes slightly.

'Who's here?'

Thinking it was nothing, she turned her head while lying down and saw someone unexpected.

'Brodie?'

Brodie, one of Aristine's maids from Silvanus, was standing there.

"Princess."

Aristine sat up and frowned.

Brodie had never properly served her as a maid.

It was not a pleasant timing for her to come in when Aristine wanted to rest.

"I clearly told everyone to leave. I was going to sleep."

"I wanted to have a private talk with you, Princess."

Brodie took a step closer to Aristine.

Aristine sensed something off from her actions.

Brodie's eyes were more excited than usual.

No, they looked dazed.

But upon closer inspection, they were indeed excited.

A strange heat radiated from Brodie's entire body.

She seemed both excited and nervous.

Brodie licked her dry lips with her tongue.

'What is this?'

Aristine couldn't identify the strange feeling.

But it didn't feel good.

"Why a private talk?"

Brodie, who usually avoided confrontations and even argued with Aristine in front of others, made her intentions even more mysterious.

"Princess, why didn't you send a priest to me?"

"A priest?"

"I got burned in your place. You should take responsibility."

Brodie turned her face to show the burn marks.

The scars were white and mostly hidden by makeup, but there were still rough, shiny areas.

"You got burned in my place?"

"Yes, the one who should have been burned was you, not me."

'What is this?'

It wasn't just a strange feeling; Brodie's state was clearly abnormal.

Her actions, words, and eyes were unstable.

Her attitude was also very different from when they discussed this issue before.

Back then, Brodie avoided the conversation to avoid getting caught for bringing the boiling water.

'But now...'

Aristine tensed up.

"You should have begged for my forgiveness and called a priest to remove these hideous scars."

"Why should I?"

Aristine was not a pushover.

She knew Brodie had brought the boiling water with the intention of burning her.

She even knew it would have succeeded.

'If I hadn't seen it through the Emperor's Eye.'

Aristine would have suffered much worse burns than Brodie.

"Why should I take responsibility for something I didn't do?"

"So, you have no intention of taking responsibility."

"There's no reason for me to."

As she answered, Aristine carefully observed Brodie's movements.

Given Brodie's history of pretending to spill boiling water, she couldn't predict what she might do.

Aristine, who had been malnourished and confined during her growth period, couldn't physically overpower Brodie.

Just as Aristine was about to stand up from the sofa to create some distance,

"Then."

Brodie's lips curled into a strange smile. Her eyes glinted with madness.

"I'll make you take responsibility, even if I have to force you!"

As she said this, Brodie lunged forward, pulling out something from her robes.

It was too fast to identify what it was.

But a cold, silver glint caught Aristine's eye.

Aristine's eyes widened.

It happened so quickly.

Before Aristine could fully stand up from the sofa, a sharp, silver blade was rushing towards her.

Just as the blade was about to slash her delicate, unblemished skin,

Thud!

The blade stopped in front of her.

What caught Aristine's eye more than the blade was the man behind it, his eyes clearly visible.

Golden eyes that shone like the sun.

"Tarkan...?"

Tarkan's face was unusually expressionless.

Or rather, he often had a blank face.

But this was different. It was a completely emotionless, inorganic expression.

His face showed no anger, and Aristine involuntarily held her breath.

Clang!

The knife in Brodie's hand fell to the ground with a clear sound.

The grip on her wrist was so tight that it made her lose her grip on the knife.

Tarkan twisted Brodie's arm behind her back and pressed down.

"Ahh!"

Brodie let out a sharp scream.

She couldn't even struggle. The overwhelming force was pinning her down.

With just one arm.

Aristine, seeing this, took a deep breath.

She tried to calm down, but her heart was racing.

'It's okay. Tarkan is here.'

She tried to reassure herself and looked at the fallen knife.

'A scalpel?'

It was the scalpel Aristine had asked Ritren to make.

'The thief was Brodie?'

As a maid, Brodie had free access to the room and plenty of opportunities to steal.

"Let go of me! Right now...!"

On the ground, Brodie screamed in a desperate voice.

Her face, with veins popping out, was contorted and looked far from normal.

Tarkan, with his inorganic expression, slightly twisted Brodie's arm.

"Ugh!"

A gurgling sound came from Brodie's lips.

"Ahh, it hurts..."

Tarkan, annoyed, applied more pressure to the thumb holding Brodie's wrist.

"Aaaaaah!"

"Be quiet."

The moment their eyes met, Brodie's scream stopped as if by magic.

She stood there, mouth open, unable to breathe, trembling.

"How dare you."

Tarkan said in a low, grinding voice.

His wife, Aristine, had almost been hurt.

Forget being a husband, he was going to make money.