I Became the Maid of the Lout Prince - Chapter 261 [Suspicious Tea (1)]

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The reunion between Cat and Miss Cassimily wasn’t as dramatic as one might have imagined.

This was because Cat had already suspected to some extent that her grandmother was a werewolf.

Indeed, if you go to your grandmother’s room and find a wolf instead of your grandmother, it’s the most logical conclusion to reach. From the moment her grandmother disappeared, leaving only her clothes behind, it was practically a hint for Cat to openly suspect.

When I asked why she had explained it to Ethan and me as if she hadn’t even considered it, her answer was this:

<…I thought if Grandma wasn’t telling me, there must be a reason. So I just pretended the idea that Grandma might be a werewolf never occurred to me… I’m, I’m sorry for deceiving you, Big Sister, and Handsome Big Brother…>

<……>

It wasn’t possible to question a child who spoke like this about why she did such an unnecessary thing to confuse people, so we had no choice but to let it slide.

Well, in the end, everything worked out fine, so it didn’t matter. If we were to be precise, the conflict started because I mistakenly turned Miss Cassimily into her wolf form.

Anyway, looking at the result, Miss Cassimily had been cautious around Cat in her own way, and Cat had tried to listen to Miss Cassimily in her own way, which led to this situation.

I had imagined scenes of a rebellious granddaughter and a troubled werewolf grandmother, but fortunately, nothing like that happened. [Only on DarkStar Translations / Axiomatic]

In any case, after Cat and Miss Cassimily’s dramatic reunion, the next day…

Ethan and I walked together to the mountain store called ‘Wolf’s Scent’ to meet Miss Cassimily from the morning.

It wasn’t exactly a date or anything, just that yesterday Miss Cassimily had mentioned wanting to do something like a thank you for Ethan and me.

I had also heard yesterday that her store sold the item I wanted to buy.

Creeak.

“Welcome~. Miss Lilith, Mr. Ethan.”

“…Hello, Miss Cassimily.”

“You look better than yesterday.”

As Ethan said, she definitely looked better than yesterday. Probably because she no longer needed to hide her secret from her granddaughter, Cat.

Perhaps because she hadn’t fully returned to her human form yet, traces of her werewolf form still remained on her face. Like the ears on top of her head, or the tail behind her.

The gray fur that had been on her face and hands seemed to have almost disappeared.

“You still haven’t returned to your original form?”

“I did return to human form this morning, but since I don’t need to hide from Cat anymore, I slightly reverted. Most customers say they prefer me like this.”

“…What?”

I decided to pretend I hadn’t heard that. It wasn’t an area I particularly wanted to explore deeply anyway.

“Ah, it’s Big Sister and Handsome Big Brother!”

“…Miss Cat?”

“……”

Meanwhile, Cat, who had been sitting at a table in the store, suddenly ran over as soon as she saw Ethan and me and threw herself into Ethan’s arms without hesitation.

Watching her shamelessly nestled in Ethan’s arms using the advantage of being a child, I felt somewhat conflicted. A nine-year-old child already being so brazen…

“Hmm, so you ended up bringing Cat to this store, too?”

“Since I don’t need to hide the fact that I’m a werewolf anymore, there’s no need to leave her alone at home now. I felt guilty about making her stay home alone every day; if I had known it would turn out like this, I should have revealed it sooner.” [Only on DarkStar Translations / Axiomatic]

“So this store wasn’t just used to avoid Cat’s eyes, but a store you regularly operated?”

“That’s right. To be honest, if it were just me alone, I could probably make ends meet somehow without a store like this, but I needed a means of livelihood to feed two people.”

“But are there people who come to a store in the mountains like this?”

“Surprisingly, we have many regular customers. And as I mentioned earlier, there are many customers who like me in this form, so it gets quite busy the day after a full moon.”

I decided to pretend I hadn’t heard that either. No matter how I thought about it, this field was beyond my area of expertise.

Ears and tail were just barely acceptable, but fur on the face was a bit too much.

…By the way, why has that little kid been clinging to Ethan without any intention of letting go since earlier…

“Cat, come here. Stop bothering our guests.”

“Yes, Grandma~!”

“……”

Before I could say anything, Cat let go of Ethan at her grandmother’s words.

Maybe the child was just starved for affection. Well, if she lost her parents at a young age and lived alone with her grandmother for three years, she might be very needy for affection.

I suddenly felt embarrassed, as if I had become jealous of a child. It wasn’t really jealousy, but still.

Feeling awkward, I looked around half the wall of the store and noticed several potion bottles and display cases filled with colorful liquids.

I roughly knew from yesterday when we came down the mountain path, but now, I could see that the store Miss Cassimily ran was indeed a perfume store.

‘Just looking at the store name, ‘Wolf’s Scent’, I initially thought it was that kind of store.’

Her job was to use a wolf’s sensitive sense of smell to combine scents and make and sell perfumes. Compared to modern professions, it would probably be equivalent to a perfumer.

Given the location, it seemed like a store only known to those who knew about it (in fact, it seemed more like people came for other purposes), but originally in this world, perfume was a kind of luxury item. [Only on DarkStar Translations / Axiomatic]

In this medieval fantasy setting, selling just ten bottles a month would be enough to live comfortably. It means if ten of her fans visit once a month, she could earn enough to raise one child.

…And now that she doesn’t need to hide that she’s a werewolf, her sales might even increase.

Normally, Ethan and I wouldn’t have any reason to visit a niche place like a perfume store, but this time was an exception.

We need to prepare to leave for the Witch’s Forest tomorrow, and the only thing we haven’t gotten yet is bug-repellent perfume. Since I really wanted to get this before going, we had no choice.

The bug-repellent perfume was something that couldn’t be found in general stores or potion shops unless they were quite large.

Of course, since the Imperial Capital is such a big city, there might be two or three general stores or potion shops that sell insect repellent perfume, but there are also many stores that don’t carry it in the Imperial Capital.

It was enough of a gain just to avoid the hassle of going around to every store and asking, “Do you have insect repellent perfume?” At least a perfume store wouldn’t not sell insect repellent perfume.

“Here you go, Miss Lilith.”

“Yes?”

“This is a gift from Cat and me. Regardless of how it happened, thanks to your help, Miss Lilith, I was able to honestly confess the truth to Cat.”

“Ah, thank you…”

I thought about declining once, but if I was going to decline, coming back to this store in the first place would have been a transparently insincere act.

I just accepted it, afraid that rejecting it once might seem hypocritical in a strange way.

Originally, if she’s old enough to be called ‘Grandma’, she might be much older than she looks. It might be more impolite to refuse a gift from an elder.

“It’s a tea with a special scent. Make sure to drink it together when you’re alone with your lover.”

“…Uh, Ethan and I aren’t lovers or anything…”

“You call each other by nicknames, but you’re not lovers? Then what kind of relationship do you have? Fiancés?”

“Uh, definitely not fiancés…”

“And I didn’t specifically ask if that handsome young man over there was your lover, did I? But seeing how his name immediately came to your mind, don’t you have feelings for him, too?”

“……”

“It’s fine, take it. It will probably help improve your relationship.”

“…Yes, thank you.”

If we’re being precise, our relationship wasn’t particularly bad even now, regardless of whether it needed improvement or not.

Rather, I felt like we shouldn’t get any closer than we are now. If we got any closer than our current friends-with-benefits relationship, I felt like I wouldn’t be able to handle it at all.

But since I had already agreed to accept the gift, there was no need to return it saying I didn’t need it. I accepted it for now, even if I might hold off on actually drinking it with Ethan.

“When you say a special scent, what kind of scent is it?”

“Hmm… let’s say it’s a scent that allows lovers to confess their honest feelings a bit more easily?”

“……”

“By the way, it’s not very effective on someone who doesn’t have feelings for you, so I don’t recommend using it to cheat.”

“I-I’m not cheating or anything!”

“Yes, I didn’t think you would do such a thing, Miss Lilith.”

“……”

Wondering if he might have overheard my conversation with Cassimily, I turned around to find Ethan looking at me with a reddened face. [Only on DarkStar Translations / Axiomatic]

It wasn’t that I meant to say I was completely devoted to Ethan. Originally, dating Ethan was the only exceptional case for me when it came to men, other men were out of the question from the start, so I just reacted sensitively to the word ‘cheating’.

Of course, there was no point in explaining this as Ethan wouldn’t understand anyway, so I decided to leave him with his misunderstanding.

…I should just do what I came to do and leave quickly. After all, the reason we came back to this store wasn’t to chat while receiving gifts.

“…Do you happen to sell bug-repellent perfume?”

“Of course. We’re a perfume store, so, naturally, we sell it. How many do you need, Miss Lilith?”

“Two, no, three if you have three…”

After purchasing the bug-repellent perfume, the last item prepared for heading to the Witch’s Forest, I quickly left the store.

‘Make sure to drink it together when you’re alone with your lover.’

…Holding Miss Cassimily’s gift with its meaningful words close to my chest.