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While Letticia was thinking about the kinds of businesses that female leads in romance fantasy stories often get involved in, Ariette brought up a new topic about fruit-based desserts.
"And as for desserts made with fruit, pies and tarts are nice, of course, but do you think we could popularize a dessert made with fruit cream instead? I really love strawberries, so I asked our chef to replace the custard in eclairs with a strawberry-based cream. It turned out tangy and very delicious."
"Fruit cream, huh…"
Letticia pretended to ponder, lifting her teacup and subtly covering her mouth to mask her expression. In truth, Ariette’s words were giving her a slight headache, because they kept triggering memories of the original novel.
Her recollection of the original story didn’t come all at once. Rather, it returned in fragments whenever something triggered it. That’s why she couldn’t quite remember Ariette’s business ventures clearly, and she had ended up investing in whatever was trending or booming around the time Ariette made her debut, which, in the original story, had ultimately failed.
But perhaps because Ariette was speaking about it directly this time, the details that had eluded her began to slowly resurface.
'In the original storyline, the main businesses Ariette was involved in were perfumes, soaps, essential oils, and other beauty-related products.'
While attending the academy, Ariette had once wondered if there was a way to make use of her family’s specialty, fruit. That was when she realized that fruit-scented perfumes didn’t really exist.
At the time, perfumes popular among the women of the Ponteon Empire were mostly floral scents. Flowers were traditionally a favored ingredient, and it was technically difficult to replicate the scent of fruit accurately.
However, just as Ariette had that idea, there happened to be a magician at the Mage Tower researching technology related to that exact issue. With investment from her ducal house, they successfully developed the technology and commercialized it.
The fruit-scented perfumes initially struggled to gain traction, but starting that autumn, the same season Ariette made her debut, they began to trend. Eventually, a passionate fanbase developed that rivaled even those who preferred floral perfumes.
'She also found success developing soaps and essential oils... I remember that desserts were more useful for her standing in social circles than as a proper business venture. Still… Chelsea’s working with me now, yet she’s the one who came up with the fruit dessert idea?'
In the original story, Chelsea ended up working for the ducal house after being scammed and losing all her savings from selling her shop.
But in this reality, Chelsea had approached Letticia before falling victim to that scam, hoping to open a store in one of Letticia’s buildings. Letticia, recognizing her, quickly signed a contract with her and even provided a generous investment to cover Chelsea’s lack of starting capital.
Thanks to that, Chelsea was now successfully running the capital’s top dessert café as an owner-pâtissier, just as she’d dreamed. As long as Faymont didn’t collapse, she’d never need to seek employment under a noble house.
'Well, I don’t really feel guilty about that.'
For Chelsea to meet Ariette like in the original, Letticia would have had to stand by and knowingly let her get scammed, which felt far too heartless just to keep things 'on track.'
Besides, the recipe that Letticia and Chelsea had developed wasn’t something stolen or copied from Ariette, it was something Letticia had created using knowledge from the original novel and her past life.
Of course, Ariette’s influence wasn’t nonexistent, but it certainly wasn’t outright copying or theft.
So, as long as Ariette’s idea was treated as her own, Letticia felt that she was upholding her sense of business ethics. With that conclusion in mind, Letticia set down her teacup and gave her thoughts.
"That actually sounds quite good. If we use fruit preserves, we can offer berry varieties even out of season. Lemons are harvested year-round, so they could be a staple on the menu. People who prefer a refreshing flavor over chocolate or custard will really enjoy it."
"Ah, and when fruit is in season, we could decorate the desserts with the actual fruit! It tastes better that way, and it looks really pretty, too!"
Ariette beamed, and Letticia smiled back at her while her mind kept working in the background.
Letticia had always preferred pies and tarts, so she hadn’t really considered it before. But now that Ariette had brought it up, she remembered that fruit cream, based desserts also existed in her past life.
There were, of course, preservation issues and other practical concerns to think about, but it still seemed worth discussing with Chelsea.
"I’ll be meeting with the owner of Faymont soon, so I’ll bring this up then. If she thinks it’s a good idea, would you be willing to help develop the recipe?"
"W-Would I really be allowed to help with Faymont’s recipe development?"
Ariette looked at Letticia with disbelief, and Letticia casually shrugged, as if it was no big deal.
"Since it’s your idea, you’d be the best person to explain it, don’t you think? Honestly, I’m not a big fan of cream-based desserts, so I wouldn’t know where to begin with recipes like that anyway. Ah, and of course, you’ll get your fair share of the profits. I get a portion from the recipes I co-develop with Chelsea, too."
"Profits? You mean I’ll actually earn from it? Would it be… more than my salary?"
Ariette asked hopefully, but Letticia shook her head.
"We do share profits from menu items with the creators, but the percentage isn’t very high. And if you're just the idea provider, not the recipe developer, the share is even smaller. To earn the equivalent of a rookie civil officer’s monthly salary, you'd probably need to develop around ten successful menu items, ones that sell as well as something like the Tricolor Berry Tart."
The Tricolor Berry Tart was one of Faymont’s signature dishes. In other words, unless your dessert sells like that, the profit share won’t amount to much.
Also, that profit-sharing rule only existed because Letticia and Chelsea had co-developed quite a few of Faymont’s original menus during its early days. Other shops would probably only give a one-time bonus at best.
After hearing this explanation, Ariette looked down with a dispirited expression. Even a rookie officer’s salary wasn’t enough to buy gifts for her family, and if the reward for collaborating on a recipe didn’t even reach a tenth of that, she couldn’t even dream of quitting her current job.
"Faymont is already a thriving business, so I wouldn’t expect big profits there. You might actually earn more from the perfume business."
"Perfume…? Really, Lord Sharon?"
Ariette looked at Lenard Sharon, who answered without hesitation.
"I’m not very familiar with the perfume industry, so I can’t say for sure. But first, we’d need to check if it’s even technically possible to replicate fruit scents accurately. And even if that works, we’d need a way to make people want to use fruit-scented perfumes instead of floral ones."
"A way to make them want to use it…"
Ariette mulled over his words for a moment, then her eyes lit up with an idea.
"What if we use a concept?"
"A concept?"
"Yes! Remember when you told me about birthstones? What if we use that as a motif, create a perfume for each month using fruit that matches the color or image of its birthstone? Then, we could attach a birthstone charm, designed by Sharon Jewelry, to each perfume bottle. Wouldn’t that catch people’s attention?"
At that suggestion, Lenard’s expression shifted from one of polite listening to that of a businessman seriously evaluating a proposal.
Letticia, too, was impressed and turned to look at Ariette.
'That’s a solid idea. And it caught my brother’s interest right away.'
A birthstone-themed perfume, especially as a collaboration with Sharon Jewelry, was definitely something Lenard would take seriously. And since birthstones are a familiar and meaningful motif, it would likely have mass appeal.
Indeed, Lenard’s eyes moved as if he were calculating something, and then he smiled slightly.
"…There are things we’d need to refine, but the basic concept is good. If an existing perfume brand approached Sharon Jewelry with a proposal like this, we’d be open to seriously considering a partnership."
"Really?!"
Ariette’s eyes widened in surprise. Letticia also checked Lenard’s face and could tell he was being genuine.
"You really… think it’s a good idea?"
"Yes. But if we only focus on fruit-based perfumes, it might come across as too unconventional. We’d need to structure the product line to include floral scents as well. When everything is too unfamiliar, customers can become hesitant. It’s important to include familiar elements or products."
"I see… So if we blend fruit and floral scents together, would that make it feel more approachable?"
"That would be up to the perfumer, so I can’t say for sure. But if you’re curious, I could look into whether that kind of blend is technically possible."
Ariette beamed and nodded eagerly at Lenard’s suggestion.
"Thank you so much… That really means a lot. At work, no matter what ideas I offer, all I ever hear is how unrealistic they are."
"That’s because there are limits to what civil officials are allowed to do. Plus, state duties and business ventures differ greatly in scope and goals. In terms of ideas and innovation, business is much freer. Maybe this field would actually suit you better."
As a civil servant, following orders from above and carrying out assigned tasks is far more important than offering creative ideas. In that sense, there might not be a job less suited for Ariette.
Having grown up as a duke’s daughter, she likely found it difficult to simply accept 'because I said so' as a valid command, and the idea of keeping her opinions to herself probably never occurred to her.
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