Thanks to the convenient transportation nowadays, Marie arrived from Paris to Sofia by plane around 2 PM today and then took a vehicle dispatched by the manor to meet Liang En.
"You want to create a Versailles series of perfumes? That's indeed a good idea. Back in the day, the Palace of Versailles was home to the works of France's top perfume masters, though unfortunately, at least one-third of them have been lost."
Marie Antoinette, weary from travel, agreed with Liang En's idea after hearing it. Although she wasn't a competent queen back then, she was definitely at the pinnacle of luxury and enjoyment.
"Of course, most of these lost perfumes were of a secondary level with obvious flaws and not worth much to recreate. But some of the masterpieces, I hope to improve and revive."
"I thought you would want me to recreate those things exactly as they were," Liang En asked curiously after Marie made her assessment and set the tone.
"After all, I think that period of life at the Palace of Versailles should be very important to you, so I thought you might want to relive some of the elements from that palace."
"You're right, but ever since talking with Miss Jeanne, I realized my past mistakes. So, I no longer miss the life at Versailles as much as before." Marie shook her head and raised her eyebrows.
"More importantly, I wasn't the type to stick to old ways even in Versailles. In my eyes, whether traditional, modern, or futuristic, it doesn't matter as long as the quality is good."
"Therefore, even in my time, I wouldn't choose those old but unfashionable spices. Let alone now. So as long as your changes are good, I'll gladly accept them."
"That's good to hear. I think the next work should be quite easy," Liang En said with a smile, taking out a large variety of materials from a nearby cabinet.
These materials were a bunch of raw perfume ingredients Liang En had previously taken. As an alchemist, he had the right to take any unused raw materials as payment, and the people inviting the alchemist usually prepared several sets of materials.
"These materials are excellent, even better than those I encountered back then." After carefully examining them, Marie gave Liang En an affirmative answer.
"Of course, in your time, the available materials were limited, and after long transportation, many medicinal ingredients would deteriorate." Liang En placed the herbs on the lab table and said.
Technological advancements change many things. For example, in ancient times, even emperors couldn't eat watermelon in winter, but today, an ordinary person can.
The same goes for transportation. In ancient times, it was extremely difficult for people to obtain raw materials from far away, and for most organic materials, long-distance transport would damage the ingredients themselves.
So today, Marie was very appreciative of these modern methods. From her perspective, these fresher ingredients would produce better perfumes.
Some things are standard: difficult for the unskilled but easy for the skilled. So, in just two days, they created a perfume using the ancient Versailles formulas.
"Let me smell it." At the first sight of the finished product, Marie used a dropper to place a drop of perfume on the back of her hand, blew on it gently, waited for the alcohol to dry, then lifted her hand to her nose and sniffed.
"Very nice perfume. The top notes include rosemary, orange blossom, mandarin, currant leaves, jasmine, rose, neroli, bergamot, rose, and lemon." After smelling for several seconds, Marie stated confidently.
"The middle notes should contain sandalwood, patchouli, lilac, orris root, vetiver, ylang-ylang, and lily of the valley. The base notes include balsam, amber, musk, benzoin, civet, vanilla, cedar, and resin."
"Very impressive, you got them all right." Liang En nodded in approval after Marie identified the final note. "What do you think of this product?"
"Very good. At least from my perspective, it indeed conveys a sense of Versailles grandeur." After a few moments of thought, Marie gave a very positive answer.
"If such a perfume existed back then, I would have certainly chosen it as my daily favorite. But none could reach this level back then."
"Of course, I know that wasn't because the perfumers weren't skilled enough, but because the era's limitations meant neither the raw materials nor the historical accumulation could compare to today."
"Yes, times are progressing." Looking at the golden bottle of perfume in front of him, Liang En nodded. "I think we can go talk to Mr. Guerlain now."
"You are indeed a historian, not just a perfumer." After smelling the perfume on the back of his hand, Mr. Guerlain looked up in surprise at Liang En across from him.
"I'm 100% certain of that, and I can proudly say that from a purely archaeological discovery standpoint, no one alive today is better than me."
"Of course, I don't doubt that, and that's what amazes me the most." Mr. Guerlain put the perfume bottle aside and said.
"I've met many geniuses spanning multiple fields, but there are very few who can reach your level. The most famous among them is Leonardo da Vinci."
"I certainly don't compare to that master. I just learned many techniques from historical research." Liang En placed his right hand on his left chest, bowed slightly, and said in an exaggerated tone.
Then he returned to his usual demeanor and seriously looked at Mr. Guerlain. "Now, let's discuss the most important question. What do you think of this new perfume?"
"Theoretically, at this point, I should devalue your perfume to negotiate a lower price. But I can't bring myself to do that because your perfume is much better than I imagined."
Mr. Guerlain took up the dropper again, took a drop of perfume from the bottle, smelled it, and then showed a somewhat playful smile.
"At least in my opinion, this perfume is much more mature than most first-time designs and could even go directly into production."
"And both the name you've given this perfume and the bottle you've prepared for it are very fitting. At least from my perspective, I'm very happy to collaborate with you in this area."
After solving the critical technical issues, Elizabeth and the legal team brought by Mr. Guerlain discussed the details of their collaboration.
Fortunately, with their previous discussions, everyone roughly knew the other's bottom line. So, in just half a day, they reached an agreement.
"Let's hope our future collaboration goes smoothly." At dinner, Mr. Guerlain raised his glass.
"Yes, to a successful collaboration," Liang En also raised his glass. "May everyone enjoy this perfume."
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