I thought that the flower’s light would disappear once I touched it, but it didn’t. It continued to glow when I poked it, held it by its stalk, and even picked it.
“What a strange flower,” I muttered.
“They must have quite unique properties,” Van said. He picked a flower with his gigantic claws. I thought that he would bring it close to his face to examine it, but he gave it to me instead, tucking it behind my ear.
“Oh, did you want to make it an accessory for my hair?”
“I did. It suits you really well.”
“Th-Thanks.”
I was quite flustered by his gesture. To hide my embarrassment, I switched the topic back to the flowers.
“I wonder how long these will glow.”
“I think they will keep glowing as long as they’re under their light source—the moon.”
And if picked, they will keep glowing until their mana runs out.
“I heard that snow jewels can absorb and store a large amount of mana from the moon, and they reflect the light of the moon at night.”
“So it’s a magical flower.”
Snow jewels also bloomed year-round, not just during the winter. If that was the case, there should be no problem picking them to create the lotion.
A breeze blew by, bringing the scent of the flowers right to our nostrils. The scent was reminiscent of that of a rose, so even its fragrance was well suited for use in a lotion.
Van had already gotten permission to use the snow jewels as he pleased, so I picked some flowers to use in a sample batch of lotion. Van used his sharp claws to gently gather flowers as well. My white squirrels also pitched in.
“That should be enough,” I said.
“Let’s head back to the mansion.”
And with that, I obtained some snow jewels sooner than I had expected.
The next day, I went back to the stillroom to make the lotion. Parfeil and Madeleine were once again there as my assistants, both wearing their aprons.
First, we had to isolate the active ingredient from the snow jewels and make an extract out of it. The tools we needed were all available in the room, so I gathered them up to use.
I placed the flowers into a kettle-shaped glass container and heated it up. A tube was connected to the spout of the container. The liquid in the container evaporated and traveled through the tube into a small glass bottle. Though snow jewels seemed like normal flowers, they had a very high moisture content, so even a small number of them could produce a large amount of extract.
“Millefie, these snow jewels smell really nice,” Madeleine remarked.
“Don’t they?”
As we continued the extraction process, a fragrant scent began filling the stillroom. Heating up the flowers intensified the aroma further. Since Parfeil was a beastkin, her sense of smell was stronger than most and she had to cover her nose with a cloth. I told her that she could leave at any time, but she insisted that she was fine.
“If you don’t feel well at any time, just say so, okay?” I stressed.
“I can keep going. I stopped breathing through my nose, so I’ll be fine,” Parfeil replied.
I poured some hot spring water and a moisturizing agent into a bowl. Adding drops of the snow jewel extract came next. Then I used a spoon to mix the ingredients together, and after that, the lotion was finished.
“It’s done!”
My hands had been feeling quite dry as of late, perhaps due to the colder climate in Diamant compared to the capital. I immediately tested the lotion on my skin by putting some of it on my hands and spreading it over my skin.
“It’s not sticky at all, and it absorbed quickly.”
“Millefie, you’re right! This is amazing. My hands feel so smooth now!” Madeleine exclaimed.
Parfeil seemed to like the finished product too, saying that the smell was just right.
“Madeleine, what should we name the lotion?”
“Well, the lotion combines the skin-replenishing properties of the hot spring water and the snow jewel flowers, so how about ‘Jeweled Snow Hot Spring Lotion’?”
“That sounds great! Madeleine, you’re a great help!” I said.
“I’m glad you liked the name, Millefie.”
We took the finished product to Lady Opera for her to test. The moment she spread the lotion on her skin, her eyes went wide in surprise.
“What is this?! This lotion seeps into my skin so easily! And my skin looks so smooth and shiny after applying it! This gives you skin as white as snow and as brilliant as a jewel! How wonderful!”
Line after line of praise came out of Lady Opera’s mouth. A wave of relief washed over me as I saw the lotion was well received.
That afternoon, we began making the steamed cakes. Lady Opera traded places with Madeleine to help me prepare them. Once we headed to the kitchen, we were greeted by the kitchen cooks I was well acquainted with.
“Kitchen cook, I wish to be taught how to make these sweetened steamed cakes!” Lady Opera puffed out her chest as she spoke to one of the cooks.
Behind her, I bowed profusely to the cooks. I knew they must’ve been baffled at this attendant’s haughty attitude. However, if they were confused, they didn’t show it as they kindly obliged Lady Opera’s request.
The cook who was to teach us how to make the steamed cakes was a middle-aged woman who was the mansion’s head cook. During holidays, she would teach children how to cook, so she seemed to be quite used to mentoring.
“Okay, let’s begin. The ingredients are right here,” she said as she motioned to a number of items—wheat flour, baking powder, sugar, milk, canola oil, salt, and berry jam.
The recipe began by heating water in a steamer. The device was a specially made one with two compartments. The water would be heated in the lower compartment, and there was an upper compartment with small holes in it where you’d place the dough. Because the dough would be steamed, it would become soft and fluffy instead of solid and dense.