I’m Quitting Everything and Selling Cola

Chapter 145

Chapter 145. The Party

The truth was, Jurgen had quite a few rough edges when it came to matters like this. But the last time he had seen Penelope, she had looked tired somehow.

And so rather than racking his brain alone, he decided to ask someone who knew better. Serena, whose intuition was razor-sharp — and Brigitte, who had no intuition whatsoever but was always glued to Serena's side.

"How Lady Penelope has been lately, you ask?"

"As Miss Serena knows, today's opening of Royal Kitchen was quite a success, was it not?"

"Yes, yes, it was."

"And yet she seemed somehow deflated — which is why I ask."

Serena, who had been designing a better smoke extraction system, chewed on the end of her fan and gave it some thought.

How has Penelope been lately? For starters, she didn't seem to have been going around putting on airs as though she were already about to become Penelope Ainsworth.

"Come to think of it, I haven't seen what Lady Penelope has been up to lately either!"

Brigitte chimed in. That was true, now that she thought about it.

These past few days, Y&P had been completely scattered, each person absorbed in their own tasks.

Aiden and Jurgen had been busy cooperating with the investigators dispatched from the capital to track down the Order. The rest of the staff had been running around busily for the successful launch of Royal Kitchen.

Serena had even been out of contact to the point where she barely knew how the Order matter had been resolved. Well, rumour had it that the Royal investigators had shown their brilliance and the Order's Northern branch had been uprooted in one fell swoop……

"……."

Serena did not believe that story. Obviously Hanbin had taken care of it all himself — wasn't that plain as day?

What clinched it was that Serena had not heard a word about Branch Manager Belheim being executed. She was fairly sure she had heard somewhere that he might have been a mole.

And yet Branch Manager Belheim had simply vanished without a trace from Devon Trust.

From that, Serena had been quietly surmising:

'Hmm, Hanbin certainly took care of everyone himself, but perhaps through some sort of arrangement he prevented Branch Manager Belheim from going to the Scaffold?'

It was too heavy a topic to ask about directly, and Hanbin was someone Serena found a little difficult to approach, so she had never asked outright……

"But, Hanbin sir. Was Branch Manager Belheim truly a lackey of the Order?"

Well done, Brigitte! Serena silently cheered Brigitte on for her blissfully oblivious question.

"Well, something along those lines."

"I knew it! I had a feeling something was off about him the moment I read his face."

Serena herself had found Branch Manager Belheim quite intimidating, in truth.

He was certainly very gentlemanly, and kind — but she had sensed an indescribable discomfort about him.

"Ahem, I will tell you both about this matter once it is properly settled."

At the sight of Serena pressing him so eagerly, Jurgen gave a forced cough. It was nothing to speak of proudly, and it was classified information at that. Nothing good would come of the two knowing about it.

"But isn't it because of that?"

Brigitte, cutting in again at just the right moment.

"Because of that?"

"Yes, the fact that Branch Manager Belheim was actually a lackey of the Order."

"Hmm?"

In Jurgen's view, that wasn't it. Naturally it had not been an insignificant event. But Penelope was fairly quick and clear-headed when it came to reading a situation.

What was more, unlike Serena and Brigitte, she also knew that Belheim had arrived at something of a best-case outcome.

Although he had been forced to give up his career, he had saved his fiancée. He no longer had to cooperate with the Order. He would be ground down under Lily going forward — but either way, it was better than mounting the Scaffold.

"Hmm, admittedly. That could be part of it."

"Exactly. That's what I'm saying."

"Is that truly the case?"

Was this not the same Penelope who, even upon discovering that the elder sister she had spent her whole life trying to reconcile with was in fact the very person who had ruined her life, had picked herself back up with speed?

By comparison, while Belheim had been an early collaborator who had contributed greatly to Y&P, he was ultimately a business partner and nothing more.

"Oh, no, of c-course…… there's absolutely! Absolutely no suggestion that Lady Penelope had any romantic feelings for Belheim or anything like that."

Serena found herself making a strangely defensive case.

"But, w-well, she does have an unexpectedly delicate side to her, you know. Lady Penelope."

"Penelope does?"

At Jurgen's response, Serena and Brigitte turned to each other with wide eyes.

"Good heavens…… this is a disaster. A disaster."

"A disaster. Truly."

Brigitte shot a look of mild reproach at the bewildered, uncomprehending Jurgen.

"Wh-why? Why do you say that?"

"She is incredibly, incredibly sensitive! Put less kindly, she's high-maintenance!"

Serena had begun to feel genuinely concerned about Penelope's future married life.

"As I think it through, I realise it myself. Look. Lady Penelope has already lost her original goal, hasn't she?"

"That's true."

"If it were me, honestly, I'd have sat right down and given up. For instance…… if Renoir received a verdict that they could never escape the Viscountcy for the rest of their lives, there'd be no need to keep working so hard."

Motivation is important to a person. When there is motivation, any hardship can be overcome — but when that motivation is diluted, even the lightest hardship can bring a person to their knees.

What Penelope had experienced was precisely that kind of loss of motivation.

"In that situation, the reason Lady Penelope was able to return so quickly — I believe that reason is Y&P Trading Company."

Because there was still something to protect. Penelope had returned to her place swiftly.

"Pouring so much energy into Royal Kitchen this time was part of the same thing, I think. It's a new venture, after all."

"That's right, that's right. I saw her working through nearly the whole night."

Even Brigitte chimed in to corroborate.

"But…… a goal she had found after all that effort has cracked again. However shady a character Belheim may be, he was still an early member."

"You've taken to speaking ill of others rather naturally, I notice……"

"An O-Order lackey deserves some criticism! We all nearly came to terrible grief because of him!"

Her face flushed, Serena summed things up.

"Anyway, the one thing keeping Lady Penelope holding together through all that chaos was the opening of Royal Kitchen. But now that the situation has settled, Burnout has set in and disillusionment piled on top. That is my analysis."

"Wow! As expected of Viscountess Serena!"

Brigitte clapped.

"You've quite a talent for counselling as well."

Jurgen clapped along from beside her.

And so the analysis of the cause was complete. The remaining question was what to do about it.

"……So, is there anything good? Something to lift her spirits a bit."

Jurgen asked again, a touch awkwardly. The cause was now clear, but the solution still seemed elusive.

"How about a trip? Something like, hmm…… the Soltera Protectorate."

"……Were you not kidnapped there?"

"W-well, that's exactly why I never got to enjoy it properly……"

"That won't do. Royal Kitchen still needs to be managed, and the vacation season is still far off."

Serena had tried to slip in a personal wish but was promptly rebuffed.

"Hmmmm…… in my case, having something delicious to eat lifts my spirits! Or discovering a new ingredient! So if we piled up lots of delicious food and invited Lady Penelope over, wouldn't that put her in a better mood?"

Next came Brigitte's characteristically simple and clear-cut solution.

"Well…… I also think of Lady Penelope as a friend. So if we could remind her of that, if we could let her know that even if Y&P Trading Company changes a little, we are still together — perhaps that might help her get back on her feet……"

Even as she said it, Serena felt her face flush at the cringe-worthy sentiment.

She had firmly believed all her life that true friends simply didn't exist in this world.

To think she would be saying something like this from her own lips.

"But even so, doing it without any context would be a bit odd……"

"Lady Penelope's birthday is coming up soon — how about that?"

Brigitte pointed at the calendar and called out.

Only then did Jurgen remember as well. Penelope's birthday. He had completely forgotten about it. Britannia didn't particularly have a birthday party culture, and up until now it had always passed with nothing more than a special meal — which was why.

"Oh, that's not bad at all!"

"How wonderful! Celebrating both her success and her birthday! Let's give her a chance to forget work for a little while and rest properly!"

Jurgen thought it over for a moment. The weight of the emotions Penelope was feeling was not something that could be resolved with a single party.

But. As Serena had said, giving her a chance to pause for a moment and experience a different kind of joy would surely help.

"If we make it too grand she'll dislike it, so let's keep it modest. How do you think it should be done?"

The moment their leader Jurgen gave the go-ahead, Brigitte and Serena's eyes lit up.

"Me! Me! I'll make the cake! I've wanted to try making a strawberry cake for ages now."

Brigitte's eyes were already full of blissful imaginings, clearly sketching out the recipe in her head.

"Hmm, then I suppose I'll decorate this house's kitchen in a party style."

Serena felt reasonably confident about her end as well. Special experiences come from special spaces, after all.

The kitchen of this Townhouse was magnificent, but the cooking area was a touch dull — and she had every intention of transforming it into a party venue fit for Penelope. She was already excited.

"Then I will prepare a gift."

"……."

"……."

At Jurgen's words, Serena and Brigitte exchanged a subtly anxious glance.

'It'll be fine…… right?'

'I-it will. It's Hanbin, after all……'

Was it really all right to leave it to him? It felt like it might not be, but then again, second-guessing him to that extent felt a little too rude.

"We'll contact Baron Keystone and Bel…… I mean, Sir Aiden as well!"

"Keep your lips sealed tight!"

And so, like that. Preparations for Penelope's birthday party got underway.

First, Brigitte dashed off to the kitchen.

She was a fish back in water. Truth be told, Brigitte had never made a cake before.

Y&P Trading Company's main products had no overlap with bakery goods, and before she joined Y&P Trading Company, the ingredients had been too expensive for her to even contemplate.

In other words, this was……

"A legitimate opportunity to mass-produce cake……!"

The finest flour, fresh eggs, and even the large strawberries harvested from the Demon Realm. Brigitte baked and baked cake layers, again and again.

"Hmm, the fluffiness is lacking…… This one — the sweetness of the fresh cream is too strong, drowning out the strawberry flavour…… Oh! What if I macerated the strawberries in sugar instead……? But then the texture goes soft and it loses its appeal……"

Jurgen's suggestion to keep things modest had been completely forgotten.

And around that same time, Serena was bustling diligently over design sketches in front of a shelf in her Workshop.

Where does the success or failure of a party hinge? The more lively, vibrant, and energetic it is, the more successful the party.

For music, she could bring along the gramophone she treasured…… Arranging multi-coloured lights like a rainbow didn't sound bad either. What if she set up a party machine that could burst with confetti and firecrackers as well?

"Sparkling and beautiful, that's the way to go."

Serena clenched her fist and steeled her resolve.