Chapter 106 Chapter 106
The next morning, the sun had barely begun to warm the courtyard when Jessica came downstairs. Her head throbbed as if there were a drum inside her skull, a consequence of the previous night's drinking. But as she looked out the large French windows, her confusion vanished instantly.
Outside, Katherine was performing a deadly dance.
She was practicing fencing. But it wasn't the stiff Olympic sport; it was something ancient and fierce.
Wearing loose linen pants and a short blouse that revealed the agile strength of her body, Katherine wielded a wooden sword carved with absolute precision. She somersaulted through the air, touched the ground with her fingertips, and leaped with the lightness of a cat. Each movement was a spectacle of elegance and power, reminiscent of the most epic martial arts scenes from television series.
Jessica, who had grown up in martial arts schools and prided herself on her raw technique, felt like an amateur. Even from a distance, she could hear the whistling sound of wood cutting through the air, a high-pitched whistle that suggested that if it were steel, the wind itself would be split in two.
Katherine sheathed her sword with a sharp movement. Her black hair was damp with sweat, sticking to her cheeks, which were flushed from the effort.
“What time is it?” she asked, approaching with controlled breathing.
Jessica checked her wristwatch, still mesmerized. “Ten past seven. Katherine... where did you learn that? It was incredible.”
“I'm going to take a shower,” Katherine ignored the compliment with her usual coldness. “When breakfast arrives, please receive it for me.”
Jessica raised an eyebrow, confused. “With so much food in the fridge, you ordered delivery?”
“I don't know how to cook,” Katherine blurted out, already climbing the stairs.
Jessica laughed to herself, feeling a strange relief. So she is human after all. There is something the great Katherine Lutz cannot do.
Ten minutes later, the doorbell echoed through the house. Jessica, her face freshly washed, went to open the door expecting a bag of warm bread. But what she found left her paralyzed.
It wasn't food. It was boxes. Lots of boxes.
“Hello, I'm looking for Miss Katherine Lutz,” said the delivery man, pointing to the load behind him.
“She's busy. I'll sign for her,” replied Jessica, examining the piles of merchandise. “What's all this?”
The delivery man smiled professionally. “Nine boxes of aged vinegar from the best harvest, sent by Mr. Arbex to Miss Lutz. Please sign here.”
“Nine boxes... of vinegar?” Jessica felt her jaw drop.
In Chinese dialect and in many Asian webnovel metaphors, “drinking vinegar” is the same as being dead with jealousy. Jessica clicked her tongue, impressed. How much envy and possessiveness must a man feel to send an entire shipment of vinegar at once?
She signed for the delivery and helped stack the goods into the room.
Soon after, the royal breakfast arrived. When Katherine came downstairs, her hair still damp and smelling of fresh soap, she stopped abruptly in front of the wall of boxes.
“Why are there so many boxes in my hallway?” she asked, frowning.
Jessica crossed her arms, a mischievous smile playing on her lips.
“Didn't you know? They just arrived. Courtesy of a certain ‘Mr. Arbex.’ There are nine boxes, Katherine. All filled with the purest vinegar. Do you happen to have a secret addiction to sour things?” Katherine froze. A rare sign of distress and shock crossed her usually indifferent face.
His words from the night before echoed in her mind like thunder:
“Think about it. Am I angry, or is it something else?”
Jessica, sensing the heavy silence, quickly connected the dots. “From the look on your face, you already know exactly what this means, don't you?”
Katherine walked over to the boxes, feeling her chest tighten. João Arbex's jealousy wasn't just a silent emotion; it was a force of nature that now occupied half of her living room. She took a deep breath, trying to regain her composure, but the invisible aroma of that “vinegar” seemed to suffocate her more than the alcohol from the night before.
“This Mr. Arbex... is João, isn't he?” Jessica laughed, her eyes sparkling with amusement. "I saw him hanging around here last night. Let me guess: he saw you surrounded by that bunch of grown men and jealousy got the better of him. Nine boxes of vinegar, Katherine... and there were exactly nine men here yesterday. What a calculating and terrible man!
Katherine felt a weight in her stomach, but kept up her icy facade. She sat down at the table, opening the breakfast package with mechanical precision.
“Don't mind him,” she replied curtly, though the coffee suddenly tasted more bitter.
Meanwhile, at the Lutz residence, the mood was one of quiet ambition.
Nísia had been immersed for hours in Josiane Kamikado's fragrance manual. The content was valuable, a gold mine that solved puzzles that had haunted her for years. However, as she turned another page that morning, her pen stopped in midair. Something was wrong.
Josiane's fluid and elegant handwriting had disappeared. In its place, the letters had become rigid, almost immature, as if someone else had taken over the record. Even stranger were the formulas: combinations that defied the laws of classic perfumery, proportions that seemed like crass mistakes made by a beginner.
Intrigued and suspicious, Nísia took the notebook to Rosana.
“Mom, look at this. The formulas have changed completely from here on. The handwriting is also different.”
Rosana didn't even look up from her book on prenatal education. Her voice was an echo of indifference.
“Josiane has always been unconventional, Nísia. You can't judge her genius based on your limited knowledge. Just study and memorize. If it's in the book, it's correct.”
“But what about the handwriting, Mom? It's clearly someone else's.”
“Nonsense. She wrote with both hands so she wouldn't get tired. Stop looking for problems where there aren't any.”
Nísia realized she would get no answers there. She returned to her room, but the seed of doubt blossomed into something more daring. If these formulas are so strange, perhaps they are the secret to a scent never before experienced. She decided: she would use one of those bizarre recipes for the next banquet. She would not just participate; she would shock Sasha with an impossible fragrance.