Chapter 97: A Sudden Invitation
by rosalie“Is this too little?”
“Not at all. Five milliliters of tears is quite a lot. It must not have been easy to collect this much.”
“I had some upsetting things happen because of someone. I cried a lot.”
“My… whoever made the Duchess cry must be quite the villain.”
Daniel’s sympathetic response made me feel relieved.
I glanced at Xavier. His eyebrows were raised so high they looked like they might fly off his forehead.
“What are you two talking about?”
Finally, he got up from his desk and walked toward where I was.
Daniel suddenly pulled over a cart loaded with experimental equipment, blocking the way.
“Doctor!”
“Your Grace, could you please keep quiet?”
“What?”
“You’re being quite disruptive to the research.”
Daniel firmly rebuked Xavier before turning back to explain to me, still keeping his back to Xavier.
“Now, this large glass contains what I’ve developed called ‘preservation liquid.’ It’s the key ingredient for the holy power absorption agent.”
Daniel pushed up his round glasses as he explained, looking very serious. I found myself focusing intently as well.
“We’ll dilute the tears in this and use it. That way, even a small amount can be transferred to many patches.”
“Wow! That’s amazing!”
Daniel blushed at my praise.
Oh my. He’s so innocent.
“B-but, we absolutely need the will of the Saintess, Your Grace.”
“Will?”
I blinked and looked straight into Daniel’s green eyes. His face reddened as he began to stutter again.
“Y-yes. I’ve done some separate research, and it seems that t-tears are affected by people’s emotions and thus affect the holy power as well.”
“Ah!”
When I clapped in surprise, Daniel avoided my eyes and kept stroking his neck. At that moment, Xavier sneered from behind the cart.
“Very interesting. Very interesting indeed. Noticing how pretty…”
“Xavier.”
When I glared at him, Xavier closed his mouth and shrugged.
“Ahem.”
Meanwhile, Daniel cleared his throat, composed himself, and returned to serious mode as he began explaining enthusiastically.
“Yes. According to the research, human emotions — that is, joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure — slightly change the properties of tears. Therefore, tears shed with a strong will to heal should show greater effects. Though it’s still just a hypothesis.”
Daniel’s previously innocent eyes sparkled.
“Here are flasks labeled with different emotions. Please collect a few drops of tears in these flasks according to your feelings.”
“Ah, I understand.”
I caught Xavier’s eye as he was leaning forward and perking up his ears to listen to our conversation from afar. He avoided my gaze with an awkward expression and started fiddling with a cylinder on the cart.
“Thank you for your hard work today. Please bring them back in four days.”
*
Even after leaving the laboratory, Xavier didn’t return to his office.
He started following me around like a cat following its owner. Though he wasn’t clinging to me like before, he followed me at a constant distance wherever I went. Maya even giggled and asked why the Duke was acting that way.
Eventually, he even accompanied me to the maid interviews. Knowing that Rosetta wasn’t coming back, he must have been quite concerned as he insisted on attending.
Ah, why is he like this? Lucas isn’t even here!
Naturally, the interview room had a tense atmosphere like walking on thin ice. With His Grace the Duke sitting at the head seat emanating a cold aura, it was no wonder the maid candidates were freezing up.
After an hour of interviews, we roughly sorted through the candidates and ended the session. Xavier followed behind me, holding documents with his bandaged hand. Unable to stand it anymore, I turned around abruptly and spoke to him.
“Xavier, are you free?”
“No, I’m busy.”
“Then please go back to your office.”
“That won’t do yet.”
“What?”
“Should I put these on the table in your room?”
“…Yes.”
Xavier went ahead first with the documents, wearing a refreshing smile.
What is he plotting?
I grumbled as I trudged along behind him.
*
Collecting tears was not easy.
‘I thought too lightly of this. How can anyone cry every day!’
Tears containing ‘joy, anger, sorrow, pleasure’ — it sounded good in theory, but the practice was hell.
“My lady, here’s an onion.”
“Thanks.”
“Yuria, here’s an onion.”
“Thank you.”
Maya handed me a raw onion that hadn’t been soaked in water, with a handkerchief wrapped around her nose and mouth and wearing glasses she didn’t even need. Xavier did the same.
I was peeling onions with just gloves on my bare face. As a result, I was a mess of tears and snot.
The room was filled with a pungent smell, and the basket on the table was piled with onions as tall as my sitting height.
“This is certainly effective for making tears flow, but what kind of tears would these be?”
“Suffering? Anger?”
Maya’s handkerchief fluttered up and down with her breath. I looked at her through bleary eyes.
“My personal maid certainly has strong self-love.”
“Of course. Why should I cry and get snotty for no reason?”
“Are the glasses helping?”
“Better than not wearing them.”
“Ugh.”
This time I glared at Xavier, who was wearing gold-rimmed glasses and a man’s handkerchief over his nose. Tears streamed from my bloodshot eyes.
“Hmm. I’m someone who needs to maintain my public image.”
“What about me! I’m a Saintess!”
“Oh, Yuria! Tears!”
I held the funnel end of the flask to my eyes to catch the flowing tears.
Xavier’s handkerchief fluttered greatly when he saw this.
“Are you laughing?”
“No. I just sighed because you look so pitiful.”
“Hmph!”
What am I even doing? How am I supposed to collect tears of joy? Of pleasure?
How often do things happen that make you cry from joy and pleasure! Tears of anger might be possible though.
“I really was a miserable character after all.”
I hung my head looking at the tears collected in the flask.
“My lady, you’re only realizing this now?”
I had kindly explained to Maya what ‘miserable character’ meant when she first asked, and now look at her. Far from comforting me, it feels like I’ve given her great entertainment material.
“What’s this ‘miserable character’ you keep talking about?”
Xavier asked while elegantly peeling onions.
“I’m absolutely not telling you.”
“Hmm. How cruel.”
“Your Grace, I’ll tell you everything later.”
“Oh, thank you.”
The two of them had been getting along quite well since the founding festival. I got up from my seat, feeling dejected looking at these two annoying people.
“I quit!”
“What?”
“What?”
The two looked up at me in surprise, but no matter how I thought about it, this was really an inefficient method.
There must be a better way! Even if we dilute it, this is too reckless!
I took off my gloves and pushed away the mountain of onions in the basket.
“My lady, how can you be so irresponsible?”
“I can’t do this anymore! There must be a way to solve this all at once!”
“Sigh. Then what should we do with all these onions?”
“Let’s give them to the kitchen.”
“We’ll be lucky if we don’t get cursed at. They gave me such weird looks when I brought these.”
“Tell them I ordered it. Say I wanted curry.”
“Cu…rry?”
Ah, right, they don’t have curry here. Or pickled onions either.
“Tell them to make fried onions.”
“…Yes.”
Xavier muttered that he didn’t like fried onions, but that wasn’t my problem.
Naturally, an enormous amount of fried onions appeared on the lunch table that day.
*
It was a leisurely 3 PM teatime, when the fried onions had mostly been digested. Despite the sweetness of the macarons, I had a bitter taste in my mouth.
It was because of the man in front of me making me feel unsettled again.
He said he wouldn’t be jealous, but why does he keep following only me around? When is he planning to do his work?
I had planned to enjoy a relaxing macaron time on my room’s terrace, but tsk.
I glared at Xavier sitting firmly across from me, fiddling with his teacup. However, he asked naturally,
“So, did you hire a maid?”
“Not yet. It’s hard to find someone as trustworthy as Maya.”
“True. There’s no maid quite like Maya. Mm, this has a nice fragrance. The onion smell was truly awful.”
He held the teacup handle and savored the tea aroma with his eyes closed.
“Xavier.”
“What is it?”
“Last time you said it was because of His Highness Lucas. What’s your reason this time?”
“Because of the magic engineer.”
He opened his eyes wide as if stating something obvious.
Is this man taking turns playing roles? Or does he have a split personality?
“I’m asking because I really don’t understand.”
“I’m listening.”
“I understand you’re anxious about me leaving, and I understand you want to recharge, but could you please stop confusing me?”
Regardless of my feelings for him, I don’t want to be strung along with false hope.
“Have I been confusing you?”
“Yes!”
“Hmm… I suppose I have.”
“I don’t want to waste emotions on a contract marriage.”
Ah, I went too far.
“Emotions?”
“Forget I said that. Anyway, I want to clearly define our relationship.”
Xavier asked while slowly putting down his empty teacup,
“What kind of relationship do we have?”
“A contractual one.”
“My thoughts have changed lately.”
“They’ve changed?”
“Yes. About that contract.”
Xavier’s Adam’s apple moved noticeably as he said this. The heat drained away. I was so tense I felt chills.
Why?
Why suddenly bring up the contract? Is he planning to break up once the holy power storage agent is made?
“Tell me.”
Just as Xavier was about to say something,
“My lady! Your Grace!”
Maya suddenly burst onto the terrace, out of breath.
“Maya, why are you so excited? Calm down.”
“I’m sorry. It’s urgent.”
In her hand, which was shaking from being out of breath, was what appeared to be a letter. It was a letter decorated with gold borders.
Xavier moved the empty teacup aside and asked Maya,
“Maya, what is it?”
“Yes! It, it, it’s from the Im-Imperial family!”
“The Imperial family?”
Xavier exchanged glances with me, looking somewhat surprised, then opened the envelope and took out its contents. He began reading in a low voice.
“An invitation to the Crown Prince’s consort appointment ceremony and wedding?!”
“What?”
I jumped up from my seat and went to Xavier’s side to read the emperor’s letter together.
“This isn’t a letter, it’s a wedding invitation!”
[Crown Prince Arthur de Fabian’s wedding ceremony will be held in one week at the Imperial Palace Grand Banquet Hall. We request your presence to grace the occasion. Emperor Charles de Fabian.]