Drop!! ～A Tale of the Fragrance Princess～

Volume 06; Act 54: At the Royal Capital for the First Time in Ages Part 01

Translator: Blushy

Editor: delishnoodles

On the day Cordelia was returning to the royal capital, Nirupama looked disappointed.

“I don’t mind if you come here anytime you want. Will you come back when your coming of age banquet is over?”

“Thank you very much. But first, I’d like to use the things that I’ve learnt here in the royal capital.”

“I see, that’s a shame. But, the preparations of the shop seemed to finally be going well… If that’s the case, then should I come visit with my husband for a while? Bruno also feels very sad that you’re leaving.”

Cordelia bowed deeply at Nirupama who said what she wanted even though she knew Cordelia’s reply.

“Thank you for looking after me for two years. Please give my regards to Bruno-ojisama too.”

“Okay, you’ve been great. But promise me that you’ll come visit after everything has settled down, alright? I’m looking forward to your coming of age too.”

Then Cordelia said goodbye to her days in Weltoria and boarded the carriage to the royal capital with Lara.

???????

When the mansion came into view, Cordelia informed the coachman that she would get off the carriage and slowly walked through the colourful flower garden in her home. She thought it would be more surprising and nostalgic because she was away for a long time, but all she felt was ‘calm’.

“I’m back.”

Cordelia talked to the flowers from time to time as she walked and quickly reached the entrance. A lot of servants were waiting for her there.

“Welcome home, Ojou-sama.”

“Welcome back from your trip.”

Cordelia smiled while receiving greetings from everyone.

“I’m back. I’m glad everyone seems well.”

Then, she asked Emina to distribute the gifts to the servants and went to her room by herself first.

She was somewhat happy that her room hadn’t changed since she left, and her cheeks naturally loosened. She liked her room in Weltoria, but she could relax more in a room that she was familiar with.

“Then, I’ll take a nap to heal my fatigue from travelling… What am I saying? I don’t have the time for that.”

I can’t take things slowly. I have to quickly make gifts for people who will be coming to celebrate my coming of age party.

Cordelia changed into her research clothes then headed to the laboratory. Then, she opened the door and saw that Ronnie was holding a wooden box and putting it away.

“Ah, welcome back. Ojou-sama.”

“I’m back. You seem well.”

It wasn’t a moving reunion and Ronnie seemed as carefree as before. The inside of the laboratory was also the same and it felt as if she had only been gone for a day. However, there were more sweets on the table than before, and there were some which had come from Weltoria.

“Lara must have already popped by since those sweets are on the table.”

“She did. She said, 『I have to make sure the greenhouse is alright before Ojou-sama comes! 』and left. She doesn’t seem to trust my management.”

“It’s been a while, so she probably didn’t know what to say to you.”

“Is it like that? It’s been a long time for you too, Ojou-sama, but you don’t seem perplexed at all.”

Ronnie shrugged and Cordelia smiled in amazement. Ronnie’s thick-headedness hasn’t improved at all in these last two years.

“Come to think about it, your coming of age ceremony will be celebrated as a dance ball?”

“Yes.”

The young nobles in this kingdom often celebrated their coming of age ceremonies at dinner parties in the past. However, more nobles have been celebrating it in a showy manner recently, and she heard that a ball was also held for Vernoux’s coming of age ceremony.

“I’m looking forward to it. Does the Master dance as well?”

“I… guess so.”

Ronnie seemed amused, but Cordelia tilted her head since she couldn’t imagine Elvis dancing.

(Ronnie is the same and doesn’t even hold back against his Master.)

But I heard that Cecily, the head magician, doesn’t raise her eyebrows a lot anymore, Cordelia sighed lightly.

“And, did you hear? The Madam wrote the invitations.”

“Huh? Okaa-sama did?”

“Yes. But she won’t attend the evening party herself. I heard that the invitation was very courteous and befitting of a daughter of the Pameradia House.”

“… That’s… nice.”

I still haven’t been able to meet with Okaa-sama, but at least she’s worried about me now. Cordelia smiled a little.

“By the way, since you came here as soon as you came home, what are you going to do?”

“I want to prepare gifts for the people who are coming to the evening party.”

“Eh, gifts? And since you’re preparing them here, are you going to be making essential oils?”

Cordelia smiled at Ronnie’s question.

“I have to greet them at the evening party, don’t I? If I glance at their magic wavelengths, then I can choose which essential oils will suit them. I can roughly guess their favourite fragrance from their magic wavelength.”

“Which means, you’ll have to make a lot of different types so that you’ll have the scent you need.”

“That’s right.”

Cordelia had already started mass-producing essential oils that were ready to be put up for sale.

For sweet and sour citrus aromas, she had orange, grapefruit, lemon, bergamot, lemon grass and melissa. Floral aromas include geranium, neroli (orange flower), roman camomile, German chamomile, and lavender. The refreshing aromas include peppermint, spearmint, rosemary, basil, clary sage and angelica. Woody aromas include tea tree, eucalyptus, juniper, myrtle, and so on. These aromas will be transported from Ertiga on a case-by-case basis.

“You have more variety now. How are you going to distribute them?”

“I plan to put the aroma stones and essential oils in these jewellery boxes, but I feel like it won’t make much of an impact, so I’m thinking of adding a small amount of balms and lotions in there as well.”

“Eh… Doesn’t this jewellery box have a cameo of a rose relief on the lid? Ojou-sama, are you serious?”

Ronnie looked impressed as he stared at the gorgeous jewellery box.

“First impressions are important, aren’t they?”

“Well, you can probably think of it as advertising expenses.”

“That’s right. I can’t read a person’s magic unless I see them in person, so it’s going to be a little tough on the day, but I plan on asking Emina to help me.”

“So, you’re preparing the essential oils now? You’re also going to make different balms, aren’t you?”

Ronnie said and Cordelia laughed.

“I’ll do that tomorrow. Apart from that, there’s something I want to try. Can you get me some jasmine flowers? Get all the ones I have.”

“Jasmine? By any chance, have you finally found a solvent that can be used for roses? The hard work of repeatedly experimenting has finally paid off.”

To extract jasmine oil, I use the same solvent method that is used to extract rose absolute oil.

The solvent extraction process uses organic solvent such as hexane to extract essential oils and is used for plants which have a poor extraction rate with the steam distillation method or when the components in the plant are altered by heat.

“No, I still haven’t gotten to that point yet.”

Cordelia has also tried magic medicine to replace hexane, but she still hasn’t found the best solvent yet. However, even without that medicine, she had obtained a magic medicine that was similar to pure ethanol, so she could also use the enfleurage method.

“Then, how?”

“I had another refining process. So, I wanted to try it with jasmine first.”

She hasn’t come up with this method because she had memories of her previous life, but she has strong magic that specialises in plants which she hadn’t had in her previous world. And, it was possible for her to directly obtain the essential oil from the plant if she grasps her magic analysis training.

(With the solvent extraction method, a little bit of the solvent remains in the essential oil. But if this goes well, then I can gain pure essential oils.)

However, the essential oil content in roses and jasmine is extremely small. I’m worried about whether I can really extract essential oil from them with magic when the oils can’t even be seen with the eye. But since I haven’t found a magic medicine to use, it would be better to bet on this method rather than use the enfleurage method.

“But, Ojou-sama. There are more roses than jasmine in stock right now…”

“Huh?”

“You always use jasmine when you try out whatever medicine you get your hands on, so there’s only a little bit of stock left. So, isn’t it better to use roses for your experiment? If needed, I can prepare a variety of roses other than Ojou-sama’s rose.”

The rose that Ronnie had referred to as 『Ojou-sama’s rose』is the『Cordelia』that she had received from Gille.

She had collected other fragrant roses in addition to 『Cordelia』, but she liked 『Cordelia』the most. Her favourite scent after the roses have been extracted into rose absolutes won’t necessarily be 『Cordelia』, but she thought that it would be her favourite anyway.

(But if there’s a lot, then I’ll like to try this method with roses.)

The flowers were perfectly preserved thanks to magic tools.

“What do you want to do? I’m fine either way.”

“Alright. Prepare them for me. Bring a bag of roses back with you.”

Ronnie casually went down to the underground warehouse. He didn’t care about Cordelia’s momentous decision at all.

Cordelia relaxed a little from his attitude.

(I can’t help but be nervous since I feel more stronger towards it than the other varieties.)

The roses in the vase were probably put there by Emina before Cordelia returned. She pulled a flower out from the case, concentrated magic into her eyes and searched for information on the rose.

The magic circuit that continued into the veins of the leaf, and a little… she confirmed the presence of a little bit of essential oil.

(I will need fifty roses to get one drop of essential oil from them. So, it’s invisible to the eye.)

Still, Cordelia understood.

Thanks to the magic given to me by the Pameradia House, I can see the magic in the roses and the essential oils that it holds.

“Ojou-sama, I have them.”

“Thanks. Put it here.”

When Ronnie came back from the warehouse, he transferred the roses from the big bag he brought into the glass containers. Cordelia closed her eyes and took a deep breath in front of the roses. Then, she put both hands on top of the flowers and concentrated magic into them.

(Come on, essential oils. Gather in one place…!!)

She slowly opened her eyes which were the same colour as the roses and spoke to them. The speed at which the essential oils were moving through the petals was slower than she thought.

(Rather than slow, it’s heavy…!)

I don’t know if that’s the right word to use, but I wanted to pull the essential oils with my magic, however my magic is being pulled into the essential oils instead. I only concentrated enough to search the roses, but it was stealing my physical strength and magic.

But I won’t give up.

The essential oils are invisible, but my magic and the essential oils are connected and they’re moving. This is an endurance test.