Chapter 7:
The White Powder Incident
ONE QUIET SUNDAY, I FOUND MYSELF MISSING my family, so I returned home for the first time in a while.
“I’m home!” I called out when I got to the foyer. Sebastian and the other house staff came to greet me as I stepped inside. Mother and my sister, Dahlia, were in the parlor with their backs turned to me, deep in conversation.
“Hello, Mother and Dahlia!” I said.
When they turned around, their faces were…white. They had painted themselves a stark white from their hairlines down to the edges of their dresses. Their cheeks were bright pink, and their lips were outlined in vivid red.
What is this, some kind of costume party?
“Oh, Daisy! Welcome home!” Mother smiled at me; her bright red mouth curled into an unsettling grin against the white canvas of her face. Honestly, it was a little frightening.
“Lately, it’s fashionable to wear this white powder from abroad!” Mother said. “I thought I’d better practice with Dahlia in case I need to attend any parties.” She smiled again, the harsh contrast between the white paint and her lip color making her expression even more unsettling.
“That’s right! Daisy, you’re at that age now yourself,” said Dahlia. “You can’t spend all your time on Alchemy experiments; you should be paying attention to fashion and beauty trends too! Look, we even drew beauty marks. Aren’t they cute?” She proudly pointed to her cheek, where I saw a black heart-shaped mark.
I’d never seen a real beauty mark that was heart-shaped before. I didn’t understand it. What was going on here?!
I had the urge to laugh until I fell over, but I knew if I did, the two of them would never forgive me.
Makeup had never been a big part of our kingdom’s culture. People believed it was indecent and that only the morally corrupt painted their faces, so no one encouraged it. But apparently, those values were fading away and makeup was starting to become trendy among high society.
It was a strange trend, to say the least. Still, I wanted to see what this so-called white powder was that they were using.
White Powder (Lead-based)
Classification: Cosmetic
Quality: Normal
Status: Makes a woman’s skin look paler.
Feeling: I’ll give you fair skin, but if you keep using me, you’ll get dark spots all over your face. Heh heh heh.
White Powder (Mercury-based)
Classification: Cosmetic
Quality: Normal
Status: Makes a woman’s skin look paler.
Feeling: I’ll give you fair skin, but if you keep using me, your gums will turn black and your teeth will fall out. Blech!
H-hang on, what is this?!
“Mother, Dahlia! Please stop putting that on your skin at once!” I exclaimed. I rushed over to snatch the powder. But they weren’t so keen to let it go, and we got into a minor struggle.
“What in the world is all this commotion?” Father finally emerged from his study and stepped into the sitting room.
“Darling!” said Mother.
“Father!” said Dahlia.
He took one look at the two of them and froze. “Um, are you going to a costume party?”
Uh-oh, he’d said probably the worst possible thing he could say.
“Daaaarling?” said Mother.
“Faaaather?” said Dahlia.
The two white-painted women slowly advanced on him.
I have a feeling he wouldn’t be able to hold it in.
And just as I thought, Father’s face crumpled as Mother and Dahlia closed in on him.
He burst into laughter. “I mean, your faces are white as ghosts! Then you had to paint on your cheeks and lips just so you could see them! Dahlia, why in the world did you draw a heart on your face?”
“You don’t understand a woman’s heart!” Mother huffed. “This style of makeup has become an essential part of etiquette in high society!”
“Isn’t it important that your daughter be fashionable, Father?!” Dahlia protested.
Father was caught between the two of them, the object of both their scolding.
“Let’s just put aside a woman’s feelings for a moment,” I said, as calmly and seriously as I could. “If you two keep using that stuff, you’re going to get spots all over your face. And if you use that one, it’ll turn your gums black and your teeth will fall out.”
“Wh-what?!”
They both froze, their hands hovering in midair.
“Daisy, is that really true?” Father slipped between them and came over to me, placing his hands on my shoulders and looking solemn.
“Yes, I saw it myself,” I said. “Maybe the guardian rings can block the effects, but I can’t be sure.”
The moment he heard that, Father moved quicker than I’d ever seen. “Rose, Dahlia, until we can confirm these products are safe, I forbid you from using them. Go wash everything off your skin immediately. I don’t want either of you to lose the natural beauty you already have.”
Mother and Dahlia knew he meant business, so they rushed out of the parlor to wash their faces.
“Daisy, would you consider this poison?” Father asked, guiding me over to the sofa.
“Generally, yes,” I said. “Poison is anything that damages the body. But these don’t show strong toxicity in small amounts; it’s the cumulative effect with long-term use that makes it harmful. That’s probably why my Appraisal didn’t outright call them poison.”
Father nodded thoughtfully. “In that case, it must’ve slipped past Heinrich’s Appraisal as well. It could be serious if the queen has also been using this product, and I’m worried about the ordinary citizens who don’t have guardian rings. Daisy, sorry to ask you this, but would you come to the castle with me tomorrow?”
“Of course, Father.”
And that was how I found myself agreeing to an urgent audience at the castle regarding the white powder.
The next morning, I rode in our family’s carriage with Father, just as we’d planned. We stopped by the workshop so Miina could help me change into a formal dress, and I asked her to mind the shop while I was gone.
“Of course. Leave everything to us! Good luck,” Miina said with a smile. Her soft pink hair shifted slightly as she tipped her head. She’d affixed the pendant of fortune to a red ribbon like a choker, with the pendant nestled in the bow at her throat.
She was so cute, and those little white kitty ears peeking through her hair made her even cuter. I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her tight.
“Huh?” She didn’t seem to understand why she was being hugged so hard, but she allowed it without complaint, although she did look quite baffled.
After that comforting moment, I left for the castle with Father.
We were shown to the throne room where the king, queen, prime minister, and Heinrich were waiting. The queen was wearing a loose dress that flowed over her waist, which was unusual for her. Oliver, the commerce guildmaster, and his daughter, Katya, were there as well.
Wait, why is Katya here?
“I have been informed that the powder imported by the Katya Trading Company, run by the daughter of the commerce guildmaster, has been discovered to have potentially harmful effects on the human body,” the king began. Then I understood why the two of them had been summoned.
“We’re truly sorry for importing such items.” Oliver and Katya bowed so low, their heads nearly touched the floor. “We had no idea it was poisonous!”
“I also conducted Appraisals on the items that the queen had planned to use. I failed to detect the poison and put Her Majesty’s health at risk. I deeply regret my negligence.” Heinrich bowed just as deeply, his voice filled with remorse.
“Lift your heads, all of you,” said the king. “Now take a seat. None of you have been called here to be punished. We must decide now how to proceed.”
The three of them slowly lifted their heads and returned to their seats.
“What did your investigation discover, Prime Minister?” the king prompted.
“Upon your orders, I dispatched Shadow and Bird, two of our covert agents, to gather information about the country of origin,” the prime minister responded.
It seemed like Father had filed his report immediately after our conversation yesterday. The prime minister was truly incredible to have made so much progress in the investigation already. But “Shadow” and “Bird” sounded like characters out of an adventure story; I couldn’t help but be curious, even though I knew it wasn’t appropriate. Really, I was still just a kid. What would anyone expect?
“And what did you find out?”
The prime minister flipped through a stack of papers and began to read out loud from them. “First, regarding the lead-based powder, prolonged use will cause dark spots on the skin, thus encouraging more pronounced application. Painting on beauty marks to hide the spots has become fashionable.”
He flipped to the next page.
“As for the mercury-based powder, prolonged use blackens the gums and causes the teeth to fall out. It has become customary to conceal this with a fan. There is even a practice of forcing the impoverished to sell their healthy teeth, which are then turned into dentures for the noble class.”
“How terrible!” The queen gasped and covered her mouth with her hand at the prospect.
The prime minister continued, “Finally, this is only a hypothesis, but rates of fetal and infant mortality are shockingly high in the country of origin compared to our kingdom. It seems something very troubling is happening there indeed.”
The king and queen both went pale as they listened.
“Darling, until this powder’s safety is proven beyond a doubt, I forbid you to wear it,” the king said softly. “And if you find yourself in any social function where this makeup is expected, you may excuse yourself on the grounds of health. Do you understand?”
“Yes. Thank you for your consideration.” The queen bowed her head.
“And until I give explicit orders otherwise, the Katya Trading Company is prohibited from importing or selling this powder,” the king continued.
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Oliver and Katya replied, bowing low once again.
“However, once a woman’s desire for beauty has been sparked, can it be snuffed so easily?” the prime minister mused, pressing his fingers to his temple. “Many purchases have already been made. Recalling them all will be difficult. And even if we ban them, there will still be consumers for them on the black market.”
“Daisy, Oliver, Katya,” the king said, looking at the three of us. “Be it through Alchemy, or with ores and pigments you can obtain through the commerce guild, I want you to develop a similar cosmetic that will pose no danger to our people.”
I knew Oliver and Katya couldn’t refuse after everything that happened; they were already nodding their heads. Katya was an important friend to me, so I had to help her. I stepped forward and bowed my head as well.