Around a week later, Emilie visited Triste again. Gabriel, my mother-in-law, and I went to welcome her together.
“First, please look at this,” Emilie said, placing a thick tome on the table and pushing it towards us. “This book details how the aurora pearls are cultivated.”
Gabriel opened it, revealing the words “Confidential—Internal Use Only” in bright-red letters. He immediately asked, “Aren’t we forbidden from reading this?”
“It’s fine. If my family had their way, their obstinacy in protecting our secrets would result in us losing the aurora pearls forever. So, could you please analyze this book and restore our prized pearls?”
Gabriel replied calmly, “First of all, it would be difficult for me to go to the ogre duke’s territory and investigate the cause of the problem. In addition to my regular duties, I need to prepare for my wedding coming up in spring, and the corresponding village events must go through me for approval. I will not be able to leave Triste.”
“I’m sorry for making an unreasonable request when you’re so busy,” said Emilie.
“There’s no need to apologize. I’m sure I’ll be able to think of a strategy for you in my spare time. The environmental deterioration is most likely the issue. Triste has a similarly poor environment due to the slimes, so if we can succeed in cultivating aurora pearls here, it should be possible to resume production in your territory as well. If that is acceptable to you, please let me help with the restoration.”
Emilie’s face lit up. She seemed ready to agree right away, but Gabriel interrupted her.
“However, if I am to research pearl cultivation here in Triste, it raises a number of issues.”
The most important one is probably remuneration, I mused.
“Your Grace, have you considered what the compensation will be in the event that we do restore the aurora pearls?” Gabriel asked.
“Yes, of course,” said Emilie. “If you can purify the lake and produce beautiful aurora pearls, I would like you to share the methods you used with the ogre duke family. I also ask that you stagger your production season with ours.”
She showed Gabriel a contract that spanned multiple pages. She had already thought out the details, evidently.
“How long does it take to produce the pearls?” I asked.
“In the wild, it would normally take six to twelve months,” said Emilie. “But the ogre duke family’s cultivation method feeds the oysters with magicite, allowing them to develop pearls in about three to seven days.”
She added that she would lend Gabriel the book free of charge.
“Mother, what is your opinion?” Gabriel asked.
“My input hardly matters,” my mother-in-law said. “It’s your wedding, so the two of you should ponder it together.”
Hearing those words, Gabriel looked at me with a determined expression. “Fran, let’s try to make aurora pearls.”
“Are you sure about adding to your workload?”
“Of course. We’ll do our best together.”
That’s right—if we need to accomplish something, we should all work together and share both the hardships and the joys.
Gabriel held out his hand, and I took it in mine and nodded.
“Let’s work with Lady Emilie to make aurora pearls,” I declared.
“Yes!”
And so, we decided to try our hand at developing aurora pearls.
In the afternoon, I had a tea party with Emilie since it wasn’t too busy of a day. It was just the two of us, and she had brought tea and sweets from her territory. I was curious about the food culture there after hearing about it in her letters.
“This is called butter tea,” Emilie explained. “It’s popular with the locals.”
It was my first time having tea with butter in it. Apparently it was made by boiling milk and tea leaves, then adding butter, cinnamon, and a small pinch of salt.
“And these sweets are fried bread dipped in honey,” she added.
I’d never had that before either. I excitedly began with the butter tea. “It’s...rich with a strong cinnamon aroma. And slightly salty... What an unusual flavor.” The taste surprised me at first, but it grew on me as I drank it.
I bit into the fried bread, and honey oozed out. My only impression was that it was sweet.
“It’s tooth-rottingly sweet,” I remarked.
“Yes,” said Emilie. “Isn’t it ridiculous? I love your pastries because they don’t go overboard with the sweetness. In my territory, it doesn’t snow in winter, but it’s bitterly cold. People eat lots of sweet foods to get by, and that’s why all of our pastries are too sweet.”
“I-I see.”
“I’d love to live here so that I could eat more of your sweets.”
“I’ll be sure to send you more.”
“Thank you, Miss Francette!”
After a pause in the conversation, we started talking about my wedding ceremony.
“Lady Emilie, will you accept this invitation to our wedding?” I asked. I had actually planned on giving it to her last time, but since her mind had been occupied by the aurora pearl issue, I had decided to wait for a better opportunity.
“Oh, gladly! I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Let me know if you need any help.”
“May I ask you to be a bridesmaid, then?”
“It would be my honor. Please let me be your bridesmaid!”
I was very grateful for her eagerness to assist me on my special day.