“Are the peaches sufficiently infused with mana now?” Lady Opera asked later on.
“Yes, they are.”
“Then let us begin steeping them in alcohol.”
Lady Opera’s serene attitude from earlier had completely vanished. Now, she was very excited about making the mountain peach wine.
Was her apology just something to stave off the boredom while waiting for the peaches to take in the mana? Even though that thought came to mind, I immediately shook my head and dismissed it.
The maids took us to the stillroom—a room for preparing foods such as jams and preserves. The ingredients and containers for the medicinal wine had already been prepared for us.
“Rock sugar, distilled wine, bottles... Is that everything?” Lady Opera inquired.
“Yes, that should be all. Making the wine is quite simple,” I began. The mountain peaches were to be steeped in bottles sterilized with steam. We would pack rock sugar on top of them, and then the bottle would be filled with distilled wine.
“I see. It truly is quite simple. And how long will it be until it is ready?”
“About four months or so,” I replied.
Lady Opera, who had been all smiles until now, suddenly looked displeased. “Huh? Not three days, not a week, but four months?!”
“Of course. Making wine takes time.”
“I cannot wait that long!” Lady Opera then began casting a spell on the bottles of wine. “Enhance. Aging!”
A bottle of mountain peach wine began to glow. Once the light subsided, the wine’s appearance was surprising—lo and behold, it was now fully matured.
“I see. You sped up the wine’s maturation,” I said.
“Indeed, I did! It should be ready to drink now, should it not?”
While the liquid was still cloudy, the wine certainly appeared fully mature. I hadn’t even thought of using magic to make it immediately drinkable. That was just how adept Lady Opera was at magic.
“The color looks a bit off. Fruit wines are usually clear, are they not?” Lady Opera asked.
“The fruit can cause some clouding if they stay in the bottle. Usually, they are removed right before the wine is completely mature,” I explained.
“I see. For the first bottle, I matured it while the fruit stayed inside. To make the next bottles more appealing, I shall remove the fruit before fully maturing them.”
“That should work.”
“Then I shall test it out on yours and Madeleine’s bottles.”
Lady Opera seemed to be quite motivated today. She went ahead and cast maturation spells on our wine bottles. The second and third bottles were a huge success. I went ahead and tested mine—the mountain peach wine that was poured into a glass was clear and amber.
“That is quite the pleasant smell,” Lady Opera remarked.
“It does smell very nice.”
I tried to take a sip first on the pretext of testing for poison, but Lady Opera snatched my glass and drank first. She downed it in a manner ill-befitting that of a royal princess.
“I-It’s delicious! What is this?!” she cried. “It has a slight hint of sourness wrapped in an elegant sweetness while the refreshing scent of mountain peaches tickles my nose! It has a novel taste that other wines don’t possess! What a beautiful, wonderful glass of wine!”
I was happy to see her enjoying it so much.
“Ahh, I feel so energized right now. Having my mana fully refreshed feels quite pleasant,” Lady Opera said with a blissful expression on her face. She seemed to have quite a lot to say about the mountain peach wine, and it didn’t sound like it was because she was drunk.
I took a sip of the fruit wine myself. It had a gentle mix of sweet and sour flavors and was rather pleasant. I was sure that even those who didn’t drink much wine would enjoy its flavor. I had once mentioned that Madeleine was not much of a drinker, but she seemed to enjoy drinking this. Her cheeks were turning a pale pink as she sipped hers.
The mountain peach wine was a huge success thanks to the maturation spell that Lady Opera had cast.
“Oh, why don’t we hold a party for all the dragonkin women on the night of the Founding Anniversary?” Lady Opera suggested.
Upon hearing that, I couldn’t help but smile wryly.
“What is with that reaction?” Lady Opera prodded.
“Oh, I was just reminded of that party you held for hunting the witch herbalist,” I replied.
“A-About that... I-I regret ever having held it. I apologize for my actions.”
I couldn’t just say that it was all water under the bridge. My mother had cornered me with a terrifying look on her face because of that party. I preferred that Lady Opera reflect on her actions for a while longer.
“Isn’t there a dragon parade on the day of the Founding Anniversary?” I recalled.
“Yes, there is. After the parade, all the women will have to use Suppression Magic, will they not? I was thinking of replenishing their mana with this wine,” explained Lady Opera.
“Oh, I see! What a wonderful idea!”
“Right? Right?!”
Only men were able to enjoy the annual Founding Anniversary celebrations to the fullest. The women would be exhausted both from the preparations and from using Suppression Magic afterward. It was that kind of event. But this year, we would hold a women-only event to relieve the exhaustion of all dragonkin women.
How exciting! I thought. Slowly but surely, dragonkin society was changing. I hoped that in the future, we would no longer have to restrict our actions based on being male or female. I wanted us to all live happy and peaceful lives without caring about gender.