Kusuriya no Hitorigoto Chapter 18

As there was still a short time before the Garden Party begins, Consort Gyokuyou and the maids went to pass the time at the garden's gazebo.

Rainbow carp splashed in the lake, and the few remaining autumn leaves dyed in red scattered through the air.

"All this was thanks to you."

Though there was enough sunlight, the winds were cold and drying. Normally, they would be shivering in cold, but because of the underwear with the pocket warmers, no one suffered to that extent.
Even Princess Rinrii, who everyone was worried about, was curled up in a ball inside the basket. There were pocket warmers just like the ones they had inside the basket with her.

"As you can get low temperature burns, when you remove the Princess' warmer occasionally, please wrap it with a cloth when you replace it. Also, please take note of any stinging in the mouth if you eat too much of the candy."

Maomao placed the replacement pocket warmer inside the hand-basket. The princess' diapers and change of clothes were also inside. The brazier to warm the pocket warmer was already requested and brought in by a eunuch.

"I understand. That saying,"

An impish giggle leaked out. The other maids were also smiling wryly.

"You are my maid after all."

Saying that, she pointed at the jade necklace.

"That is certainly true."

Maomao decided to capture the moment of those words.

Gaoshun gazed at his master who was inquiring about the Virtuous Consort's mood.

Jishin, who had heavenly nectar and a celestial maiden's smile, was more bewitching that the admired Virtuous Consort, who was a beauty in spite of being young.
The consort, clad in luxurious and gorgeous clothing and her hair decorated with a silver kanzashi, could only be overshadowed before the ordinary plain official robes with some embroidery added.

Having come this far, he was a disagreeable existence, but seeing how the overshadowed consort herself was entranced, her eyes glazed, it didn't seem to be an issue.

What a sinful human.

After visiting the three consorts, they headed towards Consort Gyokuyou's place next.
They found them at the gazebo in the direction of the lake.

Though Jishin had equal contact with the Four Consorts, nothing could be done lately about Consort Gyokuyou's strong backing. Well, as far as she was called the Emperor's Beloved Consort, it shouldn't be viewed as a problem, but it was clear that there were other reasons to it too.

He bowed to the consort. Praised her well-fitting red outfit.
Certainly, she was fittingly beautiful. The barbarian princess' mysteriousness and her natural fascinating elegance was saturated in the air about her as well.

It was likely that, in regard to the brilliance inside the Inner Palace, the person who would be favourably compared to Jishin would be Consort Gyokuyou.

While it may be true, it wasn't that the court ladies around him were not beautiful. It's just that each one of them paled in comparison to his personal charm.

Everyone had parts of themselves they were pleased with that they want to be admired by others. That was aptly reached.

Jishin does not lie.
It's just that he doesn't speak the truth.

He feigned serenity, but the left corner of his lips were slightly raised. As his attendant, who served him for many years, he understood. It was an expression a child would make in front of toy. How troubling.

Pretending to look at princess' face, he approached the short maid.

But.

Standing there with expressionlessly, looking down somewhere while making an excessively disrespectful face, was an unfamiliar maid.

"How do you do, Jishin-sama." [T/N: Should I just leave it as Gokigenyou instead? It's very formal greeting. And 'salutations' just sounds weird lol]

She was careful to not let her 'Here again, you leisurely rascal?' expression come out.
As Gaoshun was watching, she wanted to be gentle as much as she could.

"Are you wearing make-up?"

"No, I'm not."

She wasn't wearing any make-up aside from the rouge on her lips and the corner of her eyes.
There were still some light spots around her nose, but she didn't mind it.

"Your freckles are erased."

"Indeed, because I erased them."

What remained was a tattoo she gave herself by stabbing with a needle a long time ago. Without stabbing deeply, the pale dye will disappear within a year.
Although, as the act was the same as a criminal's punishment, even if it does disappear, her dad had indicated his disapproval.

"You erased it with make-up, didn't you?"

"I erased it when I removed the make-up."

(Ahh, I should've just said 'yes yes' at the right time…)

Maomao was already too late to notice that she made a mistake in her reply.

"What you said is strange. There's a contradiction."

"No. There is no such thing."

Make-up isn't just used to make anything beautiful. There were also cases where middle-aged women specially used make-up to make themselves look unattractive.

The thing made up of dried clay and mixed with dye, Maomao applied around her nose every day. She skillfully obscured the tattooed freckles by making it into spots. What she did was by no means unintentional; it was that no one noticed it.

A woman with freckles and spots, a face that doesn't particularly stand out.
That was why she was called a plain-looking woman.

To say it another way, if she didn't have the freckles and spots, her face would just be said as uncharacteristic, in other words, an average, neat face.
Even with a little bit of rouge, she can change the atmosphere. The ordinary looking Maomao can look completely different.

Jishin clutched his head at Maomao's explanation, as though he somehow couldn't understand.

"Why do you do that kind of make-up? Is there any meaning to it?"

"Yes. It is so I won't be taken into the back of the alleyways."

The prostitution quarter, being what it is, had those who hungered for women. Most of those guys don't have money, are violent, and mental illness were common among them.
Of course, she would want to be excused from that.

The flabbergasted Jishin, for some reason, timidly asked her.

"Have you ever been taken?""

"They tried."

So he could understand what she said, she glared at him with a half-opened eye.

"Instead I have been kidnapped by human traffickers."

It was better for the women disposed at the Inner Palace to have good looks. At that time, she would go out to harvest medicinal herbs, for the dyes of her faded tattoo, accidentally forgetting her make-up.

"I'm sorry. The management wasn't thorough."

"It's fine. There isn't much distinction between selling someone as kidnappers and selling someone to reduce the number of mouths to feed. It's all the same."

The former was criminal, the latter was legal. Even a kidnapper couldn't be punished if the person they bought didn't know about that distinction.

Right now, the reason to her using this sort of make-up in the Inner Palace was the same as her hiding her ability to write. Although it now no longer mattered, her sudden no make-up face was only just a matter of not knowing the timing.

"Ahh. I'm sorry."

(He's unusually meek.)

As he was looking up, he stuck quickly something on her head.

"That hurts."

"Does it, have this."

He wasn't smiling his usual saccharine smile. His face was also mixed with embarrassment and gloominess at something.

When she touched her head, she felt something cold and metallic in her hair even though she wasn't wearing anything.

"Well then, I'll see you at the assembly place."

Jishin turned his back and left the gazebo just like that.

Stuck in her hair was a man's silver kanzashi.

"Ahh, how nice."

Maomao thought to give it to Infa who looked like she really wanted it, but the other two had the same expressions so she had no choice but to draw in her hands.
Honnyan made a wry smile.

"Aw, he broke the promise so quickly."

Consort Gyokuyou looked peevish.
She took the kanzashi from Maomao's hand and neatly fastened it in her tied-up hair.

"It looks like you're not just my maid now."

For good or evil, Maomao was especially estranged from the talk of the upper echelons of the Imperial Court.
She didn't know about the significance it represented.

Chapter end