TGPFC 07

The Genius Perfumer of the Fallen Order – Chapter 7

While Baron Corvas and his wife briefly disappeared to speak with Priest Marceria, the children chattered noisily among themselves.

The main topic was, of course, the violet candy that the Baron and Baroness Corvas had given to Prim as a gift.

“Hey, Prim. Can we at least smell it?”

The children gathered around her, swallowing nervously as they spoke.

Prim almost told them that it actually wasn’t anything special and that nobles didn’t even eat things like this, but she decided against it and simply opened the lid of the box to show them.

“Waaaah…”

“The purple color is so pretty.”

“I bet it’s really sweet.”

“It smells nice.”

“It looks really delicious.”

“I can’t even imagine what it tastes like.”

As they spoke, they kept glancing at Prim.

She knew exactly what those looks meant.

They wanted to eat it, but they couldn’t bring themselves to ask for it. Instead, they were desperately hoping Prim would offer it first.

Prim spoke up readily.

“Let’s share it together.”

The children were completely overwhelmed by the rare sweetness they were tasting for the first time.

There were many children in the orphanage, and the candy was only a small palm-sized box, so it disappeared in no time.

The children tried their best to savor the lingering taste in their mouths.

Prim looked down at the empty box.

If I pass the perfumer exam, there will be prize money… I should buy really good candy then.

Luxury, after all, was her specialty.

Just then she raised her head and saw Rosien staring at her with a frown and pursed lips.

“Oh, Rosien. You…”

Come to think of it, she had been so busy handing one piece to each child who asked that she hadn’t even shown Rosien the candy.

Prim’s heart dropped.

But then Rosien suddenly snatched the empty box from Prim’s hand and shouted at the other children.

“Hey, you brats! Even if it’s something rare, how could you eat all of hers?!”

“I-I only had one…”

“Me too, just one…”

“And how many of you had one each?! She didn’t even get a single one!”

The children could only mumble helplessly. Someone finally apologized.

“I’m sorry…”

“No, it’s okay,” Prim said quickly. “I didn’t really want to eat it that badly. Really.”

But no one looked like they believed her.

Rosien crossed his arms and addressed the children again.

“So what are you going to do about it?”

“W-we’re really sorry…”

“Sorry? If you’re sorry, let’s go pick wild raspberries.”

Rosien had been scolding them harshly, but suddenly he flashed a mischievous grin.

The children instantly clung to him the way they had clung to the candy.

“Ra-raspberries?”

“Where are there raspberries?”

“I saw some in that forest. Red and shiny.”

“Really? There were some?”

“Of course there were. Since you ate all her candy, we’ll pick raspberries for Prim. You’re all going too, right?”

“Yeah! Prim, wait here! We’ll bring some right away!”

Despite Rosien’s half-forceful suggestion, the children looked as if they had found a lifeline and ran toward the forest.

Rosien quickly tidied up the messy items on Prim’s desk that the children had knocked over.

Then he whispered to her with a slightly annoyed expression.

“Idiot. Why’d you give everything away just because they asked? You should’ve eaten some first.”

Prim only moved her lips slightly.

And yet he himself hadn’t eaten even one.

“…I really was fine.”

“Yeah, yeah. Sure you were. I’ll go pick raspberries, so you can eat a lot of those at least.”

Rosien smiled brightly, his deep green eyes curving warmly.

As he turned to leave, Prim grabbed his wrist and said hurriedly,

“Let’s eat the raspberries together.”

“Of course I’ll eat them too!”

Rosien laughed cheerfully and headed outside.

But Prim knew.

Even though he said they would eat a lot and that he would eat too, Rosien would give all the raspberries to her.

He wouldn’t eat a single one himself.

When the noisy crowd of children disappeared, the orphanage suddenly fell silent.

In that chilly quiet, a shadow fell in front of Prim.

The shadow shoved the empty box off the table so it clattered onto the floor.

“Is it fun? Playing the saint?”

Prim looked up.

“Vianna.”

Vianna’s pretty face was twisted coldly as she glared at her.

Prim thought she finally understood why Vianna was acting like this.

How many people could remain sane after having something they believed was theirs suddenly taken away?

When Rosien died, when death took him from her, Prim had wanted to die too. She had run straight toward death.

And now Vianna was simply rushing at the person she believed had stolen something from her.

In the past, Prim hadn’t understood Vianna at all and had just treated her indifferently until the matter ended when Vianna was adopted.

“So what, you share everything like you’re so kind, and then guilt people afterward? Is that fun?”

“Did it look fun? Then you should try sharing what you have too.”

Prim’s calm reply made Vianna tremble.

“Th-that candy wasn’t even yours!”

Prim tilted her head.

“They gave it to me, and I received it. So it’s mine. Whose else would it be?”

“Hey!”

Unable to control her temper, Vianna shoved Prim hard.

Prim, who had been sitting on a chair, tumbled off.

Crash!

The loud noise made Vianna flinch as she hurriedly looked around.

The other children had gone to pick raspberries, and Baron Corvas and his wife were far away speaking with Priest Marceria.

Everything around them was quiet.

Prim lay on the floor for a moment, frowning slightly.

When she had fallen, her hand had slipped on the wooden floor, and a splinter had lodged into her palm, stinging sharply.

When she looked up, Vianna’s face was flushed red—whether from anger or anxiety, it was hard to tell—and her hands trembled.

Vianna pointed a finger at her.

“You think you can get adopted looking like that?! Wh-who would like a girl who can’t even walk properly? Everyone hates it! Everyone hates someone like you!”

“Really? Then if I get adopted, that means you’re worse than someone who can’t even walk.”

Vianna’s face instantly turned pale.

But after coming this far, she couldn’t choose to run away.

“Refuse!”

Vianna shouted.

Prim’s eyes widened at the sudden, strange demand.

“Even if Baron Corvas says he wants to adopt you, you have to refuse!”

It would have been stranger if Vianna didn’t know.

Until right before Prim appeared, the Baron and Baroness Corvas had treated Vianna like they had found their long-lost daughter.

But the moment they saw Prim, their attitude changed completely, and now they treated Prim as if she were that lost daughter instead.

Prim personally believed that changing one’s attitude so suddenly was proof they weren’t good people—but she didn’t say that out loud.

In her previous life, she would have easily agreed to Vianna’s demand.

It hadn’t been something she wanted either.

But now she couldn’t.

For Vianna’s sake—and for her own wishes as well.

Vianna read the determination on Prim’s face and shouted tearfully,

“A mean girl like you will be punished by heaven!”

“The one who pushed someone and threw things is meaner. So does that mean you’ll get punished twice?”

Tears welled up in Vianna’s eyes.

Her face, glaring with venom, was already cracking apart.

“Um, Vianna. I said that, but I don’t really think you’ll get punished twice. If we calculate it… maybe 1.2 times? Since you’re still young, I’ll give you a discount.”

“You… someone like you… you don’t understand my feelings. Not at all!”

“You don’t understand mine either.”

“I do! I know everything! You… you…”

Vianna’s blue eyes suddenly gleamed sharply.

It was hostility sharpened to stab someone.

She sneered as she whispered,

“You’re going to abandon Rosien.”

For a moment, Prim’s expression froze.