My Fiancé's Scandals Never End, So I Married His Uncle Instead-Chapter 31: Body Code
Celia Sterling keenly sensed that Silas Norwood’s gaze had deepened.
It took her a moment to realize. "Did I touch on something private?"
Silas Norwood sighed softly. "It’s not that it’s private, but what you said, Cece, has touched upon a blind spot in my knowledge. I have no dealings with the perfumery houses, I don’t know any female Fragrance Masters, and I certainly don’t know anything about perfume."
Celia Sterling held out her hand to him. "Silas, give me your hand."
Silas Norwood complied, placing his large, cool, and elegant hand in hers.
Celia Sterling grasped it with both hands, lowered her head, and sniffed gently and meticulously at his wrist. "It’s a very high-end fragrance. It seems like a base of ambergris and agarwood, but the aroma is slightly different..."
She released his hand and fell into thought. "A top-tier scent like this is definitely gold-award level. If it had ever been on the market, I’d know about it. I’ve worked with all the award-winning fragrances from the major brands in recent years. Ruling those out, it can only be from one of the legacy perfumery houses. They only create custom scents for the rich and famous, and their products usually aren’t circulated publicly."
Silas Norwood slowly pulled his hand back. His wrist still held the residual warmth of her breath from when she had sniffed it. He leisurely stroked the spot on his wrist, his expression inscrutable.
"Is there really a scent?"
"Yes! It’s crisp and cool like snow, yet with a faint, almost imperceptible fragrance. Every time I see you, Silas, I catch a faint whiff of it. That night at the club, when we were so close, it was the most distinct I’ve ever smelled it."
As Celia spoke, the image of her and Silas pressed together, their breaths mingling, flashed through her mind. She paused for a moment. "Silas, would you mind if I got a little closer to experience it again?"
Silas Norwood looked at her for a few seconds, then nodded in compliance. "Cece, be my guest." 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞
Celia Sterling got up, walked around to face him, then leaned in slightly, her nose hovering near his neck for several seconds.
Silas Norwood’s heart stopped for several seconds as well.
’It was different from how it felt at the club. Her breath was on his neck again, but this time, the clear-headed girl lacked the willful, clinging charm she had before. Her almond eyes were clear, her expression serious, yet there was a sense of lucid indulgence—even if she was indulging in the fragrance, not him.’
Silas Norwood’s body tensed. He subtly shifted to the side, hiding everything below his waist from her line of sight.
"This way, it’s much clearer..." Celia’s voice was very soft. She closed her eyes to concentrate on the sensation. "Amber, agarwood, orris root... Tsk, no, that’s not quite right either. It’s similar, but not... this is giving me a headache..."
Silas Norwood sat there quietly, his gaze lowered as he fiddled with his thumb ring. He appeared languid and casual, but the veins on his knuckles were faintly visible.
「Several minutes later.」
Celia Sterling stood up, her eyes shining, and immediately reached for her bag. "Silas, the Perfumer who created this is on another level, but it’s given me so much inspiration. I have to rush to The Perfumery Lab, so I’ll head out."
She was gone just like that, catching even Silas Norwood off guard.
The eager, ready-to-go look on her face was too obvious. Silas Norwood knew he couldn’t convince her to stay.
He didn’t try to stop her. When she opened the door to the private room, he instructed Theo Chambers, who was waiting by the door, "See Cece out."
’Theo Chambers was slightly surprised. With the boss’s impeccable manners, why wasn’t he personally escorting his fiancée home?’
But his years of ingrained, absolute efficiency took over. The moment he received Silas Norwood’s order, he was already following behind Celia Sterling. Escorted by a group of bodyguards, he saw her safely out of the concert stadium to where she could meet up with her own security detail.
"Chief Assistant Chambers, this is far enough." Celia Sterling opened the door of the Big Lizard and, escorted by several bodyguard vehicles, sped off into the night.
A few minutes later, Theo Chambers returned to the private room.
Silas Norwood was still maintaining his stiff, formal posture, adding ice cubes to his drink.
"Boss, are we leaving now?" Theo Chambers glanced at the roaring concert outside. He knew Silas Norwood disliked such events and figured he must be getting impatient.
Silas Norwood didn’t answer.
He downed three iced drinks in a row, quelling an indescribable agitation in his body. Only then did his usual elegant and noble demeanor return, and he finally looked genuinely relaxed.
"Theo Chambers." He looked at his assistant. "Do I smell of perfume?"
"How could that be? Boss, you never wear perfume." Theo Chambers was baffled. "And your clothes are never treated with any kind of fragrance."
"Come closer, then answer my question again."
Theo Chambers hesitated for a moment before moving closer to Silas Norwood. After a good while, he shook his head, still baffled. "I can’t smell anything."
Silas Norwood grunted in acknowledgment and finally stood up. "Let’s go."
For his date tonight, Silas Norwood hadn’t taken the very business-like Guster, but a Wraith, which was superior in both comfort and aesthetics.
「In the back seat of the car.」
The driver slid the partition down.
Silas Norwood picked up his phone, slowly switched to his alternate WeChat account, and tossed a question into a perfumer chat group:
Rivermoon: [I never use perfume, but my girlfriend says she can smell a fragrance on me. Can anyone explain this?]
The moment the big shot appeared, a flood of replies appeared to welcome him with great fanfare:
[How long has it been since the great Rivermoon posted in the group? A year? Two? Damn, I’m actually seeing him live!]
[Daddy, you never use perfume? The big-shot daddy who has the most perfumery resources in the world doesn’t use perfume himself!!]
[The fragrance, what kind of fragrance is it? Can you describe it briefly, big shot?]
[Big shot, could you send me your address? I’m an expert at analyzing fragrances. Why don’t you let me have a close-up exchange with you?]
[Daddy, do you have any hundred-year-old Mysore sandalwood? I’ve looked for several suppliers who provide for the legacy houses, but none of it is old enough...]
[The person above doesn’t get it. Our Daddy Rivermoon is the real deal. The perfumery resources he holds are the best in the world. If he doesn’t have it, no one else will.]
...
There was teasing, brown-nosing, worship, and people taking the opportunity to shout out for collaborations.
After several hundred messages flooded the screen, Silas Norwood finally tossed out a second sentence:
Rivermoon: [I can’t smell it. But my girlfriend says it smells very good.]
A second wave of dense replies once again flooded the screen:
[A scent you can’t even smell yourself? I’ve been a Perfumer for fifteen years and have never encountered that.]
[Could it be a sachet in the big shot’s clothes? Or maybe some calming incense burning indoors that got onto you?]
Rivermoon: [No.]
Rivermoon: [I never use those things.]
[Damn! You never use those things? Big shot, what on earth motivated you to monopolize perfumery ingredients then?]
[Could it be the so-called ’body code’? But that’s super rare, right?]
[No way, something that mysterious?]
Rivermoon: [Body code? What is that?]
[There’s a saying in The Perfumery Guild that some couples have a ’body code’ between them, a recognition based on scent. Big shot, have you heard of physiological infatuation? It’s kind of like that. It’s a unique aura emitted by the body that subconsciously attracts the other person. What you’re talking about, big shot, is probably a body code similar to a natural body scent, but if only your girlfriend can smell it, then you two are truly a match made in heaven.]
[Big shot, your experience in *that* department must be absolutely sublime.]
...
