I Thought It Was a Common Transmigration - Chapter 15

“Miss, we are almost out of your perfume and rouge, would you like me to call a perfumer and a cosmetics merchant?”

“Oh, yes! Good!”

After all, Anna is an essential character in the story!

‘I’ll try some luxury cosmetics!’

I remember my coworkers from my past life who wore niche perfumes or expensive imported cosmetics.

Trying to look like them, I never touched up my makeup in public.

I wasn’t ashamed of my road-shop makeup, but I was embarrassed to admit that I was scraping the bottom of my compacts with all the transferred text and stickers peeling off.

‘I used to put my lipstick on in the bathroom stall…… but now that I think about it, I don’t know why I was so ashamed of it.’

Maybe I was subconsciously thinking that it would show that I was unloved.

A person with high self-esteem would have been rather proud, saying, “I’m this frugal.”

I smiled bitterly and waited for the people Anna would call.

First, she called in the perfumer.

He carefully sniffed the scent of my old perfume and nodded. “It’s a fine rose perfume with Ashley roses, shall I make it like this again this time?”

“Do you have more than one type of rose perfume?”

“Of course, but the most common is the one with Titania roses. It’s rich, heavy, and the first thing that comes to mind when you think of rose perfume, but it’s a little too heavy for young people.”

“How much does that cost?”

“It’s relatively cheap, about 20,000 sena for a small bottle.”

Huh? Wait a minute. Doesn’t 20,000 sena mean 200,000 won?

I think that small bottle is less than 50ml, but that’s 200,000 won?

That’s my entire month’s transportation, communication, and utility bills!

“Ha, haha, I see…… what about the others?”

“There’s a type of rose that a lot of young people are looking for, the Ashley rose. It’s a light, fresh rose scent with a hint of grass, and the one you’ve been wearing is a very fine perfume made with Ashley roses, a type of wild raspberry, and a hint of longan incense.”

It sounds expensive just from the description.

“How much does this cost?”

“Well, it depends on the proportions, but if I were to make it similar to your old perfume, it would probably cost between 50,000 and 70,000 sennas for a small bottle of……”

What? Why did the price suddenly double or triple?

Half a million won is way more than my food budget for a month in my previous life……

“The most expensive perfumes are those that use Tess roses or Nathaniel roses[1], which cost over 100,000 sennas for a small bottle.”

[1] If you’re wondering what kind of rose Nathaniel rose is, it doesn’t exist in the world, I think it’s just the author’s fantasy.

So, a 50ml bottle of perfume costs over a million won?

……am I miscalculating the exchange rate between the won and the senna? Why is it so expensive?

As I clench my molars to keep my mouth from gaping, the perfumer spoke again, “Why don’t you try the Nathaniel rose this time, it has a slightly deeper scent than the Ashley rose.”

“Oh, no, no! I’ll stick with my old one. I don’t want a sudden change in scent……”

“Hahaha. Well, you’re still at the age where you like light, fresh scents, so I’ll make it similar to your old one.”

Anna advised from the side, “How about a little bit of Nathaniel rose mixed in with the Ashley rose?”

“Huh……?”

“You may like the scent you’re familiar with, but since you’re married, I think it would be better to have a deeper scent.”

I agree with Anna, but I’m nervous about how expensive it will be. As the daughter-in-law of the Ludwig family, I can’t say no just because it’s expensive……

“Well, I suppose so, but mix a little bit of that expensive rose, just a little bit.”

“That’s a good compromise, then. It’s about 80,000 sennas for a small bottle.”

“Eighty thousand sennas?”

My hands tremble in disbelief.

I have five million sennas in my pocket, but I feel like I’m sinning against Choi Soo-na from my previous life by paying 800,000 won for a small perfume.

As if sensing my frustration, Anna advised me again, “Since you’ve been wearing a similar perfume anyway, why don’t you order a larger bottle, and the price will be much lower.”

“That’s right. If you make it in a big bottle, it’ll be, um…… 130,000 sennas.”

A large bottle looks to be roughly 100 ml, so that’s 65,000 sennas for 50 ml.

“Can’t you do it for 120,000 sennas?”

“What? That would leave me with nothing!”

“Ahem! Then…… 125,000 sennas.”

Is there a law that says aristocrats shouldn’t haggle over prices? So that merchants can rob them as much as they want?

Trying to maintain my regal demeanor, I smiled softly at the perfumer.

I even added an excuse, “It’s just that I don’t want to hear that I am a bad daughter-in-law who spent too much money as soon as I got married. On the contrary, I will definitely call you again next time.”

“Hahaha, that’s a pretty good deal with the frugal daughter-in-law of the Ludwig family. I can’t win, so I’ll take your word for it and give it to you for 125,000 sennas.”

“Thank you!”

For the first time in my life, I had successfully negotiated a price! I felt a surge of confidence.

But the ordeal was not over.

After the perfumer left, a cosmetics merchant came by.

“I need a rouge for my lady, do you have a color similar to this one?” Anna asked, opening the jar of rouge I was using and showing it to him.

The cosmetics merchant took a closer look and opened the bag he had brought with him.

“Oh, it’s from Melrose, and that’s a good product, but there are also new products from Lance that are all the rage.”

He pulled out a few porcelain jars. The jade-colored ones from Melrose were pretty, but the pink ones from Lance were even prettier. It even has a ribbon on the lid.

“The colors are similar, but I’ve heard that the Lance ones are more pigmented. I think you’ll like these in addition to the colors you already have.”

“They’re all really pretty. By the way, how much do these cost?”

“8,000 sennas for the Melrose one and 10,000 sennas for the Lance one.”

……I think I can bring the price down further if I subtract the cost of the porcelain jars.

The pink rouge jar was really, really pretty, but I turned my head away with tears in my eyes.

“Umm…… I’ll just stick with what I have.”

“I see. Do you need a puff? There are also hand mirrors and hairbrushes.”

I tried to wave away the need, but Anna insisted that I needed a brush to apply the rouge.

I ended up paying 8,000 sena for it.

‘The prices…… are too high.’

I had just spent 141,000 sennas on perfume, a bottle of rouge, and a rouge brush.

My hands kept shaking as I felt like I was losing my sense of money.

‘Enjoying what you have isn’t easy either.’

I had to admit that I was too frugal for such luxuries, as I kept track of my money in a small notebook like an account book.

But I had no choice.

Even though my brother often ripped off my paltry salary, I was so desperate to live a life that didn’t make me look dirty to others.

‘I need to get used to the luxury of spending money slowly. Let’s start with other luxuries first.’

I decided to indulge in a luxury that didn’t cost money.

Enjoying the arts and culture would be a luxury that even my poor soul could fully afford.

‘First up, Sistine Hall!’

It is the room I’ve wanted to see the most since Philip took me on a tour of the mansion, and it’s full of art.

I always liked to appreciate art even in my previous life, but the opportunity to see an actual artwork in person didn’t happen often to me.

It’s unlikely that any of the artists or works I knew in my previous life are here, but it’s fun to see works that have the spirit of art in them, even if they don’t belong to an artist you recognize.

I left Anna with a quick note to tell her I’d be back in a few minutes and headed to Sistine Hall.

As I stood in front of the hall’s heavy doors, I took a deep breath and pushed them open, and the smell of the air that had been submerged in silence welcomed me.

“Wow……!”

I was as awestruck as I had been the first time.

The walls of the hall, larger than most galleries, are lined with artworks ranging from those as small as the palm of your hand to those so large you can only take in a glance from a distance.

I admired the works in a relaxed manner, as if I had the gallery to myself.

It was a luxury even greater than buying an expensive perfume.

“Oh my God, how did they paint this?”

I stood in front of the work, which was so exquisite I wondered if it had been photographed, and leaned in close to examine the fine brushstrokes.

“This reminds me of Monet’s. It’s beautiful.”

Like Monet’s work, the feast of light and color made me stare at it in awe.

“Oh, this is so cute!”

I couldn’t help but smile at the expectant look on the puppy’s face in the painting of a girl playing with her dog.

Then I noticed an enormous piece of artwork.

I couldn’t really take it all in at once, so I walked over to the opposite wall and crouched down on the floor to look up at it.