At his words, Cloe understood the brief words Kun muttered. It was a title that everyone, if a citizen, had to call him.

“You may not have the qualification to be called differently yet, but we have become quite close, haven’t we?”

“…”

“In terms of heart and body.”

Cloe blushed at the considerably softened accent. Scenes from the bright noon until last night replayed in her mind, making her feel awkward.

“W-Well…”

However, the other person seemed oblivious, pressing closer with an expansive chest. Through the neatly arranged shirt, the deep lines of the neck and collarbone were distinctly revealed.
“To say it’s difficult for me, even a friend who played letter games a few times without seeing each other often called my name casually.”

“No, well…”

“I should call you affectionately too.”

“…”

“Cloe.”

Even though the distance between them wasn’t that close, his voice penetrated deep into her ears.

‘So…’

‘Yeah, what should I do?’

‘Just a little more…’

‘Tell me what you want, Cloe.’

Gradually, the conversation from last night, which she had forcibly tried to forget, came to her mind. His breath, mixed with hers, felt like his voice was once again tapping her eardrums.

Instinctively, Cloe pushed him away. It must have been a considerable force, but fortunately, he stepped back willingly.

“Kun… I’ll call you that.”

Cloe, unable to meet his gaze, called him while looking elsewhere.

“Kun.”

As if making a resolution, she repeated his name once more.

“Yeah, Cloe. It’s natural for lovers to call each other by their names; it’s good to get used to it.”

Finally, he seemed satisfied.

“By the way, from now on, we’ll be spending time together. I’ve decided to move your residence here.”

As if explaining to the absent-minded Cloe, he added.

“Sleeping and waking up together as lovers is natural.”

“…Being lovers is quite a challenging relationship. There’s a lot to protect.”

Whether it was a way of expressing dissatisfaction or a realization of something she didn’t know.
Since there was no change in either case, Khun smiled subtly. It was the arrogant compassion of a predator sympathizing with its prey.

As he said, the maids moved Cloe’s belongings to Khun’s residence. Perhaps because the room was so spacious, there was no sense of discomfort even with her belongings scattered around.

A separate personal study space was also arranged for Cloe. Her place was on the opposite side of Khun’s desk, and not only the table but even the small interior decorations were identical to his.

On Cloe’s table, there was also a seal engraved with the crest of the Freeid Imperial family. According to Khun, it couldn’t be exactly the same as the emperor’s, but it held a similar power.

Cloe vaguely guessed that it represented the empress’s authority.

‘I don’t know if I’ll ever have to use that frightening thing.’

On the opposite side, Cloe’s notebook was placed.

When she unfolded the notebook, she saw things she had cut out from newspapers or magazines. Next to them were essays written by Cloe, expressing her thoughts.

A confidential notebook containing information about the storage jar. Initially, the disadvantages of the storage jar were written.

“The food storage jar breaks entirely during ship movement… a whopping loss of 10,000 gold!”

As it was made of glass, the storage jar could easily break. Mistakes were common during the procurement of goods.

‘I need to make the wrapping more durable…’
Cloe turned the notebook to the next page. Along with a paragraph from a newspaper she had cut out and attached, a chart drawn by Cloe caught her attention.

“The food storage jar is filled with dissatisfaction due to the limited variety of foods!”

Since the food storage jar was a product that used the shape of a wine bottle, it had limitations on the types of food it could contain.

Mostly focusing on grated or finely chopped foods. Examples included tomato paste and minced beef that could be added to various dishes.

Not only were there limitations on the ingredients that could be added, but also the factory-made foods were not very diverse. This dissatisfaction led to complaints from those who had no choice but to use the articles as a meal substitute.

Nevertheless, the reason Calis did not pay attention to public dissatisfaction was that there was no competition that could replace his product.

“To put various foods, the lid needs to be large.”

Calis initially listened to their opinions and changed the bottle. It was a commonly seen glass bottle, with a larger lid that could hold a greater variety of ingredients.

However, it was extremely heavy, and the cost of the bottle was very high, so the profit was not substantial. He gave up and returned to the original version.

Cloe drew what she thought was a more perfect storage jar.

It had to be larger than Calis’s, but not as huge as a glass bottle. The jar’s material needed to be sturdy like glass and less prone to breakage.
At first, Cloe considered using aluminum for production. However, aluminum was too expensive to compete with gems, so it was not a suitable material for her business.

‘Lighter than glass, much cheaper than aluminum…’

Cloe sighed quietly.

‘How about iron?’

While it couldn’t be considered completely weightless, it would definitely be less heavy than glass. Moreover, it wouldn’t easily break, and there should be no problem in procuring large quantities at once.

She promptly commissioned the royal blacksmith with the task after considering these factors.

Having seen Cloe’s design, the blacksmith quickly brought the item to life. Since she had also prepared food, she filled the container the blacksmith made for her to confirm.

The weight, resistance to breakage, and other factors matched exactly as she had envisioned. Now, the only thing left to check was the preservation of the food.

About a day later, Cloe opened the lid. Despite being stored in a cool place to avoid spoilage, the food showed no signs of deterioration.

Cloe immediately informed Liam of the good news. She wrote a brief letter and sent it, and soon received Liam’s reply.

“It’s great news. I’ll arrange to meet you.

Can I treat the Lady to tea and pastries tomorrow?”