ladyjlb's manga / #reincarnation(76)

Ch 143 as of 20/02/23 (ch 144, 144.5 duplicates of the start) - FL was a 28yo corporate doormat always seeking others’ approval. She swore she would stop doing things for the sake of others just before she was reborn. - FL is now Duchess Chloe Vandenberg, an even worse doormat w/ very low self esteem. She has been in a loveless arranged marriage for 13mths. FL still retains her old memories: she was bullied, mocked, isolated, hated and ridiculed by society and servants alike. FL stands up against maids 1st, including some discipline. Only 1 maid on her side, Ellie. - Drinking tea gives FL much solace and pleasure. FL asks Duke Alphonse for tea, her 1st ever request. He provides a huge quantity to her surprise. FL gradually wins over hearts and minds of the knights and servants with her different teas. - Coffee is preferred beverage in society and tea is seen as a barbaric drink. FL shares her love, knowledge and appreciation of tea to a wider circle - incl the Duke, sharing tea daily. - After buying up on tea ware, the Duke offers to build an extra warehouse for tea storage (later expanded to include a tea room). - FL hosts her 1st social gathering as Chloe and successfully had an introductory tea session. She becomes friends w/ Lady Fortnum (wife of Viscount). She proposes going into business w/ FL selling her tea products, ie milk jam, milk tea. The Duke and FL get closer as they discuss business together. - Cale the butler is impressed by the social event budget plan and business proposal written by FL. He asks her to write the household budget plan, check the garden budget, and manage the kitchen budget (cheese lottery idea) as final tests before handing back over full account management rights and overseeing employees to her. - Head Maid Mrs Collins bullied and harassed FL since they were children. She paid the messenger to deliver the wrong order list and she recommended for FL to go to the dangerous northern forest. - The Duke and FL attend a ball together. - Mrs Mason (a Countess related to the Duke) visits at short notice. Tells FL about Duke’s childhood and upbringing. - 10yo Duke was locked in a closet for 11mths after he questioned his father about his strict education. His father died in an accident when he was 14yo. FL cries when she sees the Duke, said she was crying in his stead and that he was beautiful for all he’d endured. - 1st night together since FL was Chloe: goes very well. Only monthly as per their marriage contract. Dr advised FL to do more regular exercise to cope! - Prince Arthur Vladimir visits and is impressed by FL and her tea. (Few yrs ago FL confessed to Prince). Next she brews tea at the Emperor’s gathering. - Mrs Collin tries to humiliate FL at a ball she’s hosting by having her dressed like the Duke’s ex-girlfriend. Lady Fortnum saves her in time. Mrs Collin for this and other crimes is sentenced to death by hanging. - Duke kisses FL at the theatre. - Meet Prince and his date at the On restaurant. FL proposes idea to use Prince to promote drinking jasmine tea. - FL collapses from exhaustion and overwork. She hires a new financial advisor to help, Yeojin. They bond over tea. - The Duke shows FL that they have an imperial contract to teach the royal servants how to brew tea. - FL aggressive marketing strategy has tea trending across other classes not just nobility. - The busier FL gets, the more possessive the Duke feels - The case of fake tea sold is resolved by FL. - Duke and FL go to their villa for a holiday. They go over revisions to their marriage contract. The Duke also showed his secret place w/ a special view of the village to her. - FL proposes rosehip farming business for village area as a high source of vitamin C to cure scurvy (the duchy look after sales and distribution). Later FL receives Silver Eagle medal for finding cure, a great contribution to the Empire. - FL worries about why she isn’t pregnant yet - Meanwhile Lady Fortnum tells FL that she’s pregnant - To squash rumours of their divorce because FL is infertile, the Duke punishes those who started the rumours and holds a party where he announces his love for the FL. In private, FL says she loves him too (ch 70) - FL has her 1st tea class for a gathering of noblewomen - FL creates tea bags for sale which are very popular - FL oversees winter preparations at the estate - FL improves the image and popularity of sweet potatoes for nobility, thru flowers then food. - FL refurbishing 2nd floor of her shop to become a tea house where noblewomen may gather and socialise. - For the Eastern delegation to the palace, FL oversaw the order of teas and meals they were paired with. She popularised opinion among nobility to stop smuggling opium to the East. This greatly improved relations, trade and ultimately lowered the cost of tea. - FL parents came to visit for the 1st time in 2 yrs but it was only to ask for money. The Duke threw them out and later confiscated all their land and property. - FL helps w/ invention of bone china - FL introduces afternoon tea at her tea house - FL popularises releasing corsets that leads to no corsets at all. - Warned by an ex-friend of the culprit, FL catches a burglar in the act of sabotaging her store goods w/ dead rats. He confessed he was paid by Lady Barnett, a woman obsessed w/ the Duke and full of hatred for FL. They were arrested and the lady’s family stripped of their nobility. - FL meets a man who was also reborn into this world. He says there are others like them. They cannot return but might be able to see how their old world is doing through a saint. - The Prince is losing interest in playing around with women and after getting dumped by one lady, he wants to make FL fall in love with him again. - FL sends letter to meet with the Saint. ML finds out from the extra security he has shadowing her. - FL helps her friend Lady Ronnefeldt (Marquis) serve tea to the Queen of Flanders, an important potential business partner. The Queen is so impressed by the special custom flower opening tea made by FL that she offers FL to come work for her. Women have more opportunities and less discrimination in Flanders. - The Prince challenges ML to a duel at the Emperor’s bday ball. ML defeats him in 3 strikes with a dessert fork. - FL tells ML that she is from another world. They go together to see the Saint and make contact with Chloe in the other world. Both Chloe and FL had found happiness in the worlds they came to. They also felt guilty and feared the other would demand their original body back. They wish eachother the best and achieve closure. - FL introduces a tea warming urn from Russia and it soon becomes a trend for winter. Meanwhile tea prices have dropped a lot thanks to the reduction in scurvy. - The Emperor appoints both the Prince and ML to handle the issue of gin poisoning among commoners. - ML sees achieving 2 goals in 1 by promoting alcohol free, tasty drink options for commoners and reducing gin poisoning while also allowing tea to be more widely available to commoners as hoped for by FL. - ML helps FL to find the right experts to build a machine to mass produce tea. FL then opens a tea shop for commoners and attracts them by free tastings and special discounts. - In his jealousy, the Prince tries to slander FL by claiming the commoner tea store setup under the name Smith is illegal. The Emperor himself gave permission for the business license. The store itself is to provide a study on the effects of black tea as a replacement for gin among commoners. - As punishment the Prince is sent into exile to the East. - The Prince sent a letter of apology to FL. She graciously forgave him. - For their wedding anniversary, they have a small 2nd wedding. They later have a daughter.

Read ch 5.5 as of 9/6/20