“Is divine power also scented?”
Despite frequently visiting the holy kingdom, Morgana had never actually smelled it before.
‘If it’s because of divine power, then Sir Lancelot’s words do make sense.’
Bedivere had also once been a holy knight, meaning he had lived in close proximity to divine power.
Whether she had been talking to herself or not, Lune, startled by Morgana’s question, fidgeted uncomfortably and mumbled.
“W-well, no… I mean, what I just said was…”
Flustered by the fact that she had spoken her thoughts aloud, she hesitantly stepped back.
In the already cramped house, her movement caused a cabinet to bump against her shoulder and let out a faint rattling sound.
At that moment, a sample bottle came rolling out from under the cabinet with a creaking sound across the floor.
With its cap open, its contents spilled out completely, leaving a trail wherever it rolled.
Only then did Morgana realize that the scent which had been tickling her nose since she entered was coming from that bottle.
“Gasp…”
Lune instantly clamped her mouth shut. She seemed completely unaware that she had spilled the scent.
Having lost her sense of smell, she likely hadn’t even realized it had spilled.
‘So she really can’t smell it.’
As Morgana’s gaze turned toward the bottle, a brief silence fell between them.
Someone like Lune, who knew scents well, would understand just how potent the fragrance from a sample of that size could be.
Pretending not to know would have been even more awkward.
Morgana carefully chose her words and spoke.
“It smells… very fresh?”
The bottle, which had been rolling, caught on the edge of Morgana’s dress with a soft thud and stopped.
Lune, who had been looking at the bottle, wore an expression that seemed on the verge of tears.
The scent was intense, but since it was essentially one used for perfume, it wasn’t unpleasant. It was just overwhelmingly strong, enough to make one dizzy.
Lune’s complicated gaze fixed intently on the bottle.
After a long while, she finally spoke, “…I’m sorry. The truth is, I’ve completely lost my sense of smell.”
It was a confession. She hated this moment, loathed having to tell Morgana—who had gone to the trouble of buying an expensive cake out of courtesy and even provided precious herbs free of charge—that she was such a useless person.
It was the scent of divine power. Her past act of finding another guest’s herb bottle in Tir na Nog wasn’t merely a coincidence.
It was because she had such a keen interest in scents—it was just knowledge she possessed from before she lost her sense of smell.
Now, she could no longer smell them herself and had to rely on memories of the past.
“I’m sorry for all the concern you’ve shown…”
Lune bowed her head even lower. She felt uncomfortable, as if she had been deceitful.
“It wasn’t a lie… It’s not really my place to say, having lost my sense of smell… but a divine power scent truly can give that feeling. Please believe me.”
With her head bowed, Lune clenched her hands tightly. Her earnestness reminded one of a very early childhood.
In her childhood, to earn money, she had relied on her modest talents and found work in a sewing room.
There, designing and sewing dresses, young Lune dreamed.
She liked pretty things.
It made her so happy to see someone wearing a dress she had made, standing there with a perfume that suited it perfectly.
It was a little different from playing with dolls.
People had their own scent that expressed who they were, and when it mixed with perfume, that enchantment was multiplied.
Fortunately, Lune was talented, and she had a teacher and colleagues who recognized that talent.
‘Lune is quite good. She could easily open her own salon one day.’
‘Wow, Lune. Let’s definitely open a shop together later.’
She and Oted dreamed of the future together while studying under their teacher.
‘Let’s sell perfumes that match our dresses, too. Then the customers will definitely like it even more. They say people’s memories are tied more strongly to smell and sound, you know!’
‘Good idea. Oted knows aristocratic designs well and is great at accessorizing, so I think we’d do pretty well, don’t you?’
‘Right! Isn’t it perfect how our strengths are divided? We absolutely have to open a shop under our own names!’
‘Yes. Absolutely.’
They promised each other they would open a shop together later.
And so, Salon Lu, started with every bit of money they could scrape together, became explosively popular.
It seemed like everything would be happy.
Until the day she lost her sense of smell. The terrible news had arrived so suddenly.
Lune, who had dropped the perfume, clutched her nose tightly with one hand.
‘The scent… I can’t smell it.’
For a few days before she felt the symptoms, she had thought her body felt heavy. She assumed it was just a mild cold and let it be, but even after several days, it didn’t get better.
And then, suddenly, she couldn’t smell any scent at all.
Frantically, Lune began opening every perfume sample she could get her hands on to smell them.
‘No… It can’t be. It must be a temporary problem.’
Could a simple cold really make it so she couldn’t smell anything?
Oted, hearing the news, held her shoulders to calm her down.
‘What’s wrong, Lune? Are you okay?’
‘What do I do, Oted? I can’t smell anything. What do I do…?’
Without the ability to smell, she couldn’t taste anything either, and her daily life became bland.
Just like that, Lune could no longer create perfumes. The world she had dreamed of her entire life crumbled away in a single moment.
The life and future she had worked so hard to build were now invisible to her.
A sense of loss, as if she had lost her very life, enveloped her.
So she lived quietly, in seclusion. She didn’t want anyone to discover her shameful secret.
People sought out Lune’s next perfume because of her past glory, but what good was knowing something in your head?
Who would ever call a perfume beautiful if they couldn’t personally smell it themselves?
Lune’s body trembled, thinking she had disappointed Morgana, who had come to her with expectations after so long.
Tears fell drop by drop. She didn’t know if it was out of guilt, or because she felt so insignificant and useless.
“I’m sorry, truly…”
Suddenly, a pale hand appeared in her tear-blurred vision and grasped hers.
A gentle voice spread above her head.
“Why are you apologizing like that? You said it wasn’t a lie.”
“But I acted like I knew about perfumes without even telling you…”
As Lune raised her head, her tear-filled eyes were tinged with guilt.
Had her self-esteem disappeared along with her sense of smell?
Morgana squeezed her hand tightly.
“Even so, everything Lune has built up until now isn’t a lie.”
It was the first she’d heard of a ‘scent of divine power,’ but it didn’t seem to be a lie.
Since Mordred had sensed the scent, it was clearly the fragrance lingering on Morgana, who had just returned from the temple.
Still holding Lune’s hand tightly, she smiled gently.
“It’s all your effort and your ability. Experience is also a very important asset.”
“But I can’t smell anything now? I can no longer learn new scents. I have no choice but to keep recalling the old ones.”
“You just need to smell new scents.”
A soft light spread out from their clasped hands.
A warm energy flowed between the two. Lune stared at Morgana’s hand holding hers, her eyes wide with surprise.
“Wh-what is this?”
“While it’s not divine power, I do have the ability to heal.”
The white light spread from Lune’s hand to her arm, shoulder, and then throughout her entire body.
Just before the flowing power ceased, Lune’s pupils sparkled. Her moist eyes blinked as she looked around the empty space.
“I, I can smell! Hey, the scent of herbs…!”
Her head whipped around at the long-forgotten scent. She dashed to the cupboard, grabbed a random bottle, and popped the lid open.
“This one has a scent too! The scent…”
“Calm down, Lune.”
“It’s unbelievable. I can smell!”
She scurried around the small house, exploring every nook and cranny. She even opened a cake she had bought and smelled it, then began to cry.
Drip, drip—
Her tears fell onto the table as she sobbed.
“The scent… I can smell it. It’s really come back…”
Sniffling, she swallowed her bursting tears, lifted her tear-stained face, and stared at Morgana.
With a brave, smiling face, she continued, her voice faint.
“Thank you, thank you so much. I never thought a day like this would come in my life.”
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