Hannah was from a well-to-do family, and her father ran a midsized business that sold basically most of the things that money could buy. They had three shops in their town, and they even had dealings with neighboring towns. So it was safe to say that they were quite wealthy.
In Vultari, the elegance and architectural marvel of the house reflected the family social status. Hannah lived on the richer side of the town, where most of the houses were big and elegant in design. The interiors were spacious and carefully curated spaces designed for both daily living and entertaining guests.
She had three other siblings. All of them had their own room, except Hannah and her elder sister. They lived together in the same room and shared the same bed.
"Oh my god, this thing really does make me look prettier. My skin looks so much better now!" Hannah exclaimed in astonishment as she looked into her metal mirror. She hadn't expected it to work so well.
After washing her face again with water, she went back to her room in high spirits. Her sister, Lyva, was also in the room, reading a book, and she couldn't help but notice the change in Hannah. She was in a very jolly mood today for some reason.
"Hannah, did something happen today? You look very happy." Lyva asked. She was very curious as to why Hannah was in such a happy mood today—usually she looked depressed and gloomy. Her gloominess started to become even more noticeable after getting lost in a fair one time.
Hannah giggled, surprising Lyva again. "Sis, did you notice any difference in my skin?" She replied back with a question.
Lyva raised an eyebrow and looked at Hannah. "Your skin looks a lot nicer today; what did you do?"
Hannah covered her mouth with her hand and giggled again. "I have a thing called 'soap' that a friend gave me. It makes me look prettier, hehe!"
"What thing?" Lyva asked, intrigued. She didn't expect someone to gift Hannah anything because of her character. Not me mention something so miraculous that can change how your skin looks. It was almost magical. Her reserved and quiet character always made her the least favorite person of the friend group, so Hannah being gifted with such a precious gift left Lyva in quite a stupor.
Because of her age gap, she didn't have much of a connection with Hannah, and because of her, she couldn't have her own personal room. Although petty, she held a bit of resentment towards her only sister because of this.
"Who gifted you this?" Lyva asked. She was quite curious to know who had gifted such a precious gift to her sister.
She took the slight wet soap out of her pocket and handed it to her. Lyva curiously observed it but didn't find it to be anything special. "How do you use this?" She asked, skeptical if it even worked.
Hannah then proceeded to explain how to use the soap just like Orin had taught her to. They then both proceeded to go out to wash their faces with the soap. Lyva used the soap as told, and although it didn't produce foam and lather like modern soap, the effects were pretty similar.
After cleaning her face, she immediately noticed the difference. Her skin felt rejuvenated and fresh, as if all her pores had opened up. She also noticed her hand, which she used to rub the soap on her face, became fairer. She then took out her own small metal mirror and saw her reflection. Although it was slightly blurry and distorted, she could still notice the changes in her skin tone. Her skin had become fairer!
"This..this is amazing!" She exclaimed excitedly. Hannah looked at her sister with a smug expression that clearly said, "Told you so."
"Hannah, who gave you this? If it is possible, can we buy some more from them?" Lyva asked eagerly. Hannah shook her head firmly, refusing to tell who gave this to her. Although she was just a small kid, she understood the contempt most people of her status held for people from the slums. Even though she knew her family wasn't the same as others who treated people from the slum like they were inferior, she still didn't want to take chances.
"I can't tell you the name because it's a secret, and I am not sure if he has more of these soaps. He said his father had given him the soap, which he then gifted to me because I'm his best friend." Hannah said proudly.
"Okay, okay, you cheeky brat. Since you are not sure, can you at least ask 'him' if he has some more? If he does, tell him that I'm willing to buy it for a good price," Lyva said with a teasing tone.
"Hehe okay! I'll ask him about this when I meet him again later," Hannah replied and then entered her room, clearly happy and proud that she managed to impress her cold sister with the gift that her best friend gave.
Lyva was still outside; her eyes shone with a hint of malice but mainly curiosity as to who that 'man' she called best friend was. She had never seen or heard of this kind of magical thing that can clean the skin to such an extent. Not even from the books she read, so her curiosity was natural.
Their main shop was connected directly to their house. It was quite spacious and had a lot of things. Inside the shop was their father, who managed the operation of the main shop—observing his two daughters. He noticed them using some sort of object and rubbing them to their faces and washing their faces with water. Because of the distance and the bustling customers inside, he couldn't really discern what the object was, and he couldn't really care enough to ask them. He disregarded their action as one of their shenanigans and continued to interact with the customers.
"Your daughters are quite lively." One of the customers remarked, "One of your daughters seems to be of age. What do you think of my son? I think they would be a perfect match."
"Haha..I'll consider it," Phil laughed lightly as he returned some copper coins to the man.
Little did he know that the seemingly trivial thing that he disregarded would be the stepping stone that would make him the richest person in his bloodline and create wealth beyond his imagination.