Drop!! ～A Tale of the Fragrance Princess～

Volume 6, Act 54: At the Royal Capital for the First Time in Ages Part 02

Translator: Blushy

Editor: delishnoodles

After a long period of time, she collected the essential oils from the petal and a drop finally appeared.

Yes, it was just a drop of essential oil, but this was a crystal of hope for Cordelia.

Cordelia smiled.

“You’re forcing the essential oils to collect… Ojou-sama, are you developing an underhanded trick with that?”

“Underhanded trick, hmm. You certainly don’t need tools for this, but it’s not suited for mass production.”

Cordelia wiped the sweat from her forehead, just collecting enough essential oils for my personal use would require a tremendous amount of magic and physical strength, but she also felt a sense of accomplishment.

Ronnie shrugged at her gesture.

“Well, that’s right. In order to make the essential oils easier to collect, you’ll have to continue looking for medicine and making them.”

“Yes.”

“Still, I think it’s amazing. Your magic goes well with plants, but you need a lot of control to do what you just did. This is the result of Ojou-sama’s diligence towards magic training.”

“Thanks. But, don’t praise me too much. I don’t know what expression to make.”

“I think it’s fine to express your joy as you want. For now, I’ll prepare the glass container to store the essential oil. It’s still a prototype, but there are some good ones, so please use them.”

“Thanks. That’s helpful.”

“It’s alright. When Ojou-sama went to Nirupama’s place, I said that I received an order from you and didn’t get much work from the magician wing. It’s give-and-take.”

Is it really alright to call that give-and-take?

One way or another, Ronnie is soft-hearted, so I think he would do his job at the magician wing if they asked him to… As usual, he’s still an honest person who says what he wants to say without hiding anything.

(It’s nice for me, but Ronnie should become a little more streetwise.)

Cordelia stared at Ronnie as he left the room and couldn’t help but be a little disappointed.

(Leaving Ronnie’s matter aside for the time being, I can barely make it in time for the evening party if I think about my magic consumption, recovery and how much essential oils I can draw from the flowers.)

In any case, Cordelia got the rose essential oils that she had hoped for.

She understood the mood from the previous challenge, so she decided to take a rest before refining essential oils again and stared at the essential oil that she had just made.

“I don’t know if the fragrance will reach him…”

Cordelia took a plain piece of paper out of the cupboard and pushed the essential oil against the edge of the paper.

“I hope that it will become a pleasant fragrance by the time it reaches him.”

She said as she ran her pen on the paper.

『I have returned to the royal capital. I also made the essential oils. I will contact you again. 』

I want to deliver this scent to Gille-sama as soon as possible since he gave me the rose. I want him to think it smells good, and I want him to be surprised by the rose aroma that was obtained with the steam distillation method ――― a fragrance that is different from rose otto.

She thought this and put the blank piece of paper into an envelope so that the scent wouldn’t evaporate. She will seal it after writing her letter tonight.

And, there are also other people who she had to inform about her return.

“Ah, come to think of it, Ojou-sama. Master will be back by the time the sun sets.”

Ronnie reappeared again with a glass container and Cordelia thanked him for informing her.

Yes, first, I must report Otou-sama since he had let me go to Weltoria.

???????

Cordelia repeatedly looked out the window from her room as Elvis’s scheduled time to arrive home approached. She understood that someone would inform her when he got home, but she felt tensed and was worried about what was happening outside.

(Don’t, stop looking. Calm down.)

This behaviour is not befitting for an ideal lady who I’m aiming to be. She took a deep breath and cleared her head.

However, she noticed a problem when she calmed down.

“What should I talk to him about after I welcome him home…?”

She wanted to report on her training period after she had finished getting the materials ready, but she hadn’t unpacked yet and a part of her luggage hadn’t arrived at the royal capital. Elvis will probably give her a chance to report later.

So she thought she should start with something fun, but it was hard to choose a topic that Elvis would enjoy.

Cordelia was hesitating and Lara laughed at her.

“Ojou-sama, shall I prepare some tea for you to calm down?”

“Thanks, but I’m not in the mood for tea.”

“Then, shall I re-do your hair? It might distract you a little.”

“It’s a shame since you spent such a long time getting my hair done this morning.”

Lara, who had been doing Cordelia’s hair every day in Weltoria, and had gotten good at it because Nirupama suddenly said, “Why don’t you try this hairstyle on Cordelia today?”

“Then shall I prepare hot chocolate? The temperature will rise soon, and you won’t be able to enjoy it anymore.”

Lara said before lightly leaving the room.

Cordelia didn’t mean that she wanted to drink something other than tea, and it was getting hot already. She smiled wryly since she didn’t even have time to stop Lara. Maybe hot chocolate was something that Lara enjoyed drinking. However, she felt a little relieved to see Lara acting like her usual self.

When the cup that Lara had prepared for her became empty, Cordelia was told that Elvis had returned home.

She headed to the entrance while feeling nervous, and Elvis was acting the same as usual as he gave Hans some orders.

Even so, he noticed that she had appeared. Hans seemed to have noticed the change in Elvis’s attitude and stepped back while smiling.

Apparently the matter wasn’t urgent, and Elvis had already told Hans everything he needed to.

“Welcome home, Otou-sama.”

Cordelia said and suddenly noticed.

He had just come back, but would it have been better if I informed him that I had returned first?

Elvis had widened his eyes for a second and didn’t seem to mind.

“… Yeah.”

Cordelia was relieved by his brief reply. Apparently, the words she had said to him hadn’t been wrong.

However, she was surprised by what Elvis said next.

“You seem well like always.”

“Th-thank you very much.”

She knew that he cared about her from long ago, but it was rare for him to tell her this directly. Cordelia’s expression cracked and she laughed. Hans smiled widely when he saw her.

“Master, shall I prepare some tea?”

“Yeah, in the sunroom.”

Elvis replied briefly and returned to his room. Apparently, he was indicating that she should go and wait for him there.

The Pameradia mansion’s sunroom, which was rarely used to host tea parties, was used less frequently than in other mansions. Thus, there were a lot of potted plants in the room instead of already cut flowers.

Cordelia waited while looking at the plants and Elvis finally appeared with Hans. Elvis sat down and so did Cordelia. Hans prepared the tea and then left.

“Otou-sama. This gift is for you.”

Cordelia held out a box that was decorated with five rock glasses.

There were a lot of coloured glass products in Weltoria that were manufactured with sandblasting. There was also a lot of cider there as well since the climate was warm and they could harvest a lot of different types of fruits, and so glass production is also prosperous there.

“Please use it if you don’t mind.”

“… Ah.”

Elvis didn’t immediately take the glass out of the box to look at it, but Cordelia didn’t miss him saying, “With this we can drink the promised alcohol…”

It seemed like he was speaking to himself, and he hadn’t noticed that he had done so. However, Cordelia was happy since he had remembered that she had asked him to choose an alcohol for them to drink once she reached adulthood.

“It seems like you’ve learnt a lot under Countess Weltoria.”

Elvis muttered while picking up the cup and continued.

“It seemed like she wanted to keep you by her side for a little longer. A while ago, Bruno-dono sent me a grievance letter saying, 『I’m losing an excellent secretary』.”

“Did Nirupama-obasama and Bruno-ojisama praise me that much?”

“Yeah. The Weltorias said that they will welcome you anytime. If you want to visit them again, then you can. They’ll also welcome you for long visits as well.”

Cordelia wondered if this was about what they have been telling her since she was younger; about how they wanted to adopt her and teach her how to manage the fief, but Elvis’s attitude gave her the impression that they were forced to make a decision.

“You can just do what you want. It is evident that your ideas are wanted from your evaluation at the competition show. Countess Weltoria also said it was too early.”

Elvis continued since he had guessed what Cordelia was thinking.

“Thank you very much, Otou-sama.”

Cordelia also reached for her cup. There was hibiscus tea, which Cordelia had brought back as a gift, in the cup. Originally, there was no custom of using roselle flowers in tea at Weltoria fief, but the acidity of the flower suited those in Weltoria, so making tea leaves from the flower’s calyx quickly spread throughout the fief. Hibiscus contains a lot of citric acid and malic acid, so it can be expected to improve blood flow, prevent lifestyle diseases, recover fatigue and lower cholesterol levels. What was poured in the cup right now was blended with rosehip and tasted much more mellow.

“However, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t rush. If you want to be a feudal lord, then you should hurry up and make your decision. This will also be connected to your marriage.”

Cordelia answered, “Yes,” and froze half-way.

(Ma-marriage…?)

Cordelia needed a few seconds to understand what he had meant.

(That’s right, I…!!)

Having spent her time being busy in Weltoria, Cordelia forgot that she was also at the age where she had to take that seriously.

(I thought that I would have more encounters with men now that I’m able to go to the Big Bookcase…)

Was what she had thought, but in the end, she went to Weltoria to study, so nothing would have changed even if she hadn’t forgotten.

However, this was the first time since she was four years old that Elvis clearly mentioned her marriage. He had basically stated 『The plan to marry you into the royal family has been scrapped』.

(So, there is still a lot of freedom for me to choose who I want to marry…? If so, then I might be able to experience my first love!)

When she thought that, her cheeks naturally got hotter.

She thought that she had to remain calm in front of Elvis, but she naturally relaxed when he informed her clearly that she didn’t need to marry into the royal family.

However, in contrast to Cordelia, the glare in Elvis’s eyes sharpened.

“… Otou-sama?”

“… Anyway, it’s still too early to think about this. At least, wait until you’re an adult.”

“Huh? Y-yes.”

But she would become an adult in one month. She felt like it wasn’t too early to talk about this.

“The first person who will dance with you at your coming of age ceremony is Isma.”

It wasn’t particularly weird for Cordelia to dance with her family members first since she didn’t have a fiancée, but she was a bit disappointed that Elvis wouldn’t be the one who was dancing with her.

“And, this is from Marquis Flantheim.”

“From Marquis Flantheim? It’s rare for him to write me a letter.”

“… It’s not like he will write anything decent anyway, but I’ll give it to you.”

“Yes, I’ve received it properly.”

“I happened to meet him on my way home. He knew you were back for some reason and said he would come over, but I didn’t listen to him. I managed to leave him behind, but I was home late because of him.”

Of course, Cordelia hadn’t told the Marquis that she was back in the royal capital and she hadn’t even told Vernoux. Did he perhaps guess that I was back because Otou-sama went home from the castle earlier than usual?

Cordelia couldn’t open the letter in front of Elvis, who seemed dissatisfied, and talked about the water technology that she had studied in Weltoria and about the personal connections she had made while there. She didn’t delve much into the details since Elvis had told her to tell him later, but it became dark before she realised, so she returned to her room until dinner time.