We waited for our delivery. However, what arrived by wyvern was not a shipment but Emilie herself.
“Lady Emilie? What brings you here?” I asked, noticing that she wasn’t her usual bubbly self. She seemed tired and listless.
“I’m sorry for visiting without advance notice,” she said.
“We’re friends, aren’t we? It’s no trouble at all.”
I decided to invite her to the parlor first before inquiring further. After a cup of warm tea and the Lakeside Duck Bakery’s new raspberry mille-feuille, she regained much of her energy.
“Your sweets are always so delicious, Lady Francette.”
“Thank you. It’s actually the first time we’ve served this to a guest.”
“Really?! That makes me feel special!”
It was a relief to see her back to her usual cheer. “So, did something happen?” I asked. I knew she wouldn’t have shown up here out of the blue for no reason.
Emilie’s expression darkened. She looked down and said, “Things have gotten complicated at home. My family started insisting that they want to sell the pearl-cultivation technique to someone else.”
Her family didn’t know that she was sharing the technique with the slime duke. It was a secret initiative she’d taken using her authority as the ogre duke.
“But one day, my uncle noticed the book on pearl cultivation was missing and kicked up a fuss. He started pointing fingers at family members, so I told him I’d changed the hiding place, but now he’s yelling that he wants to see the actual book. I couldn’t take it anymore, so when the wyvern courier came, I asked to hitch a ride.”
In other words, Emilie came to Triste because she was running away from her uncle.
“It sounds like they have a buyer in mind,” I said.
“I have no intention of selling it to someone I don’t know, but my uncle is being really persistent.”
“It must’ve been hard for you.”
“Yes...”
I suggested that she stay in Triste until things calmed down, but she shook her head.
“If I do that, my uncle will follow me here,” she said. “I can’t trouble you like that.”
“I’m worried about you, though.”
“I’ll be fine. I’m the ogre duke, after all!”
Gabriel had explained to me before how this young girl had become the ogre duke. Apparently, the title was only given to whoever in the ducal family could move an enormous rock in the ogre duke’s domain. After twenty years without a successful candidate, the beautiful Emilie had accomplished the feat and had become ogre duke despite her young age and delicate frame.
As an aside, in the case of multiple people being capable of moving the rock, the heir was decided by a contest of strength. The other family members had attempted it, thinking, “If Emilie can do it, surely I can too,” but none had succeeded. In other words, Emilie was the strongest member of the ogre duke family.
“Um, Lady Emilie, may I ask what you mean by being ‘fine’?”
“I’m only going easy on my uncle for the time being. If he persists in being stubborn, I’ll force him to listen to me. I’m giving him a chance to rethink the sale, but if he continues to defy me, I won’t show him mercy.”
“I-I see.” Where in that slender frame of hers did she hide the physical strength to move a huge boulder? It was truly a mystery. But at any rate, she seemed to have the power to solve this issue on her own, so I didn’t have to worry too much.
“Anyway, I brought some water from the lake,” she continued.
“Thank you.”
“The pearls weren’t successful, I heard.”
“Gabriel suspects it’s an issue with the water’s properties.”
“The water’s properties... Oh!” Emilie clapped her hands together. “The lakes in my territory are spring water! And the climate is very different from Triste’s. It could very well be a matter of water properties and environmental differences.”
Perhaps it would be best to have Gabriel sit in for the rest of the discussion. He’d asked me to let him know when the water sample arrived, so I had Constance call for him.
A few minutes later, Gabriel arrived.
“I apologize for the intrusion, Your Grace,” said Emilie.
“No worries,” Gabriel replied. “You’re always welcome here.”
“If we may get right down to business, I’ve brought the lake water as promised.”
“Ah, thank you. This will be a great help.” Gabriel showed Emilie the results of the initial experiment. “These are the pearls we made the other day. As you can see, they’re misshapen.”
“Oh my! I’ve never seen pearls shaped like this.”
The ogre duke’s territory also produced irregularly shaped pearls called “baroque pearls.” However, those were popular because they had the same luster and smoothness as other pearls—the distorted shapes instead gave each of them a coveted, unique appearance. On the other hand, Gabriel’s prototypes lacked that same distinctive, beautiful shine pearls were supposed to have.
“I can’t call it a success,” said Gabriel.
“Indeed,” said Emilie.
“I surmised that it was an issue with the water’s properties, but I haven’t been able to determine the specific cause.”
“We should figure it out as soon as possible.”
Gabriel had brought a water-testing kit that he’d invented, so he quickly began analyzing the provided sample. After he poured the water onto a thin piece of glass with a spell drawn on it, a magic circle appeared. Looking at it, he murmured, “So that’s what it was.” He didn’t seem surprised—it sounded more like he had confirmed an inner suspicion.
“It appears that the ogre duke’s lakes contain trace amounts of salt,” he explained.
“Does that mean it’s not fresh water?” I asked.
“No, it is definitely fresh water.”
Apparently the term “fresh water” applied to any water that was very low in salinity. It didn’t have to be completely pure.
“So you were right—it was an issue with the water’s properties,” I said.