The Abandoned Duchess Seems to Want a Peaceful Life - Chapter 49

Chapter 49: Sauna and White Bread

In the Enkar region, where the building rush continues, there was a need to expand several parts of the lord’s mansion.

Firstly, because the mansion itself is quite small, it was decided to build a residence for the servants near the estate.

Currently, male servants hired from the local area—Rad, Cliff, and Ed—are handling most tasks from caring for the horses to miscellaneous chores. They had been living in the third-floor servants’ quarters but were now being moved to the new servants’ residence.

In the main mansion, there have been expansions, including a sizable underground storage room and, connected to the original structure, a new hall on the first floor that doubles as a room for guests on the second floor.

The lord’s residence had been nearly abandoned until Melfina arrived, reflecting how little traffic there is in the remote northern edge of Enkar. While it’s rare for nobility to visit here, there was a precedent when Alexis had visited in the past.

Since it’s the lord’s residence, both Marie and Cedric agreed it would be prudent to have at least a hall for entertaining guests and rooms for accommodation.

Among the female staff, only Marie, who now works as the secretary, lives in the mansion like in her days as a lady-in-waiting, in a room on the second floor of the main house, just like Melfina. Aside from her, there’s Nid’s wife, Eli, and a maid who visits from Enkar village.

—Eli is likely to be busy with childbirth through winter and will probably be occupied with the baby come spring, so it might be a good idea to find a live-in maid.

Even in the city, wealthy commoners hire live-in maids for menial tasks, so having only two maids who commute to the lord’s mansion is quite unusual.

However, Marie or Ed can brew tea if needed, and cleaning is managed when Rudd or Cliff have free time alongside the maids. While a large household would require a dedicated housekeeper, they are not currently in dire need of additional help.

After all, there are only about eight people, including the lord, the knights, and the servants, who come and go in the mansion.

They can cross that bridge when they come to it.

For now, the immediate issue was Cedric’s quarters.

Cedric was approached about moving to the new residence, but he promptly declined.
If he’s been told that being in a separate building during an emergency might mean not noticing anything unusual, it’s hard to argue strongly against it, having once been caught off guard.

But leaving him, a nobleman, indefinitely housed in the former storage could also trouble his conscience.

Given these circumstances, it was decided to undergo a substantial renovation of the first floor of the lord’s mansion, separate from the expansion.

Several private rooms were added protruding from the current building, and near the kitchen, an additional facility was constructed.

Completion was just yesterday. Today, part of that facility was used to prepare lunch.

Preparation was completed in the morning, and the craftsmen involved in the construction were invited to lunch. Everyone crowded into the kitchen, eager to see the results.

“…It’s a bit cramped in here.”

The kitchen of the lord’s mansion was reasonably spacious, but with Melfina, Cedric, Marie, the trio of former laborers, Eli, the master carpenter Ricardo, his apprentice Eddie, and the blacksmiths Roy and Carl, it was indeed overcrowded.

The kitchen was already filled with the sweet aroma of freshly baked bread. Everyone watched as Cedric, radiating heat, opened the iron door.

“Be careful, it’s hot.”

“Yes… Where should I place this iron plate?”

“I’ve placed bricks on the table, so you can set it down there.”

Following instructions, Cedric slowly lowered the tabletop with its special tools from the stone oven.

“…It really is white bread.”

“Let’s slice it up. Everyone, have a taste and let me know what you think.”

“My lord, let me do it. I’m fine with heat.”

Taking up a knife, Ricardo, the master carpenter, began slicing briskly, unfazed by the high temperature as he guided his fingers.

Marie quickly placed the bite-sized pieces of bread on plates for tasting. Each person picked up a piece.

“Ouch, hot! Wow, this is delicious!”

“This is my first time having white bread, but the crust is crispy, and the inside is fluffy. It’s definitely tastier than black bread!”

“It’s so soft. This… is really delicious.”

The trio of former laborers praised enthusiastically. Marie and Cedric, accustomed to noble meals, also looked delighted as they chewed.

“This might be tastier than the bread served at the Duke’s estate.”

“Yeah, it’s much softer than the bread we get at home for supper.”

It seemed to be generally well-received.

White bread recipes are closely guarded by each cook, so variations in taste and texture are common among households. According to Marie and Cedric, the bread at the Carlisle family in the capital has a softer crust, while the bread from the Oldrand family in the north is denser.

This variation is likely due to differences in fermentation temperatures.

“When they said they were building a bathhouse, I was surprised, but I never expected they could bake bread with the same equipment. Truly surprising.”

Indeed, the new facility built at the lord’s mansion includes a bathhouse, to be more precise, a sauna bath.

A stone oven capable of withstanding high temperatures was built in the kitchen, adjacent to which a sauna bath was installed. By incorporating pipes with magical stones for water circulation, it becomes easy to generate hot water through heat recovery.

The challenge, however, lies in the fact that if you want to bathe daily, you need to bake bread. Timing for baking bread also needs to align with bathing times, so it’s not possible to bathe anytime you like. Still, having a bath at the lord’s mansion was a source of great joy for Melfina.

In this world, baths are found only in royal palaces or the mansions of the wealthiest nobles, and hot water is heated by multiple maids and stored in the tubs for bathing.

For longer baths, additional hot water needs to be brought in.

Because of its labor-intensive nature, not only commoners but even nobles had not adopted the habit of bathing daily. Unlike in the history of her previous life, there wasn’t a misconception that bathing was harmful to the body, but this daily routine was quite challenging for Melfina, who retained memories from her past life.

…That said, it felt unfair to Marie and Eli to have them carry hot water just for her bath, so she had been content with just wiping her body and washing her hair.

Still, in winter, she wanted to bathe. Ideally, she wanted the servants to enjoy it too. It took some effort to convince Ricardo of the sauna’s system and its necessity, but after trying the sauna last night and now the oven, both were satisfactorily completed.

This was a masterpiece that the blacksmiths Roy and Carl had put a lot of effort into.

Originally, there was a magic stone oven in the lord’s mansion, but Melfina was considering further refining the bath and stone oven system, aiming to eventually build public baths in the village.

Since there were few sources of heat available in the village, she definitely wanted to include a communal bread oven alongside.

“Which do you prefer, the round ones made with whole wheat or the long ones made with regular flour?”

“They have slightly different tastes, but I think both are delicious. If I had to choose, the long ones have less moisture, so they would go well with soup, whereas the round ones have more soft parts, making them suitable for salads or meat dishes.”

“I remember at the Duke’s party, they served a similar bread sliced thin with cheese and ham on top. It seems like it could be served that way too.”

“Then perhaps we should decide on a recipe using inexpensive flour and measurements for each village. It might be difficult this year, but by next year, we could install one public bath and oven in each village.”

With that plan in mind, she anticipated completing the cycle where people would buy bread on their way home after bathing, but Rad looked concerned and raised his hand.

“However, is it really okay? I think the Guild won’t stay silent about installing ovens for baking bread in communal kitchens.”

“Whether to allow Guild involvement is the Lord’s prerogative. The reason we’ve issued a monopoly license to the Guild is merely for the ease of tax collection, not because a Guild is essential wherever people live.”

“So, Lady Melfina, you don’t intend to impose taxes on baking bread?”

At Cedric’s inquiry, she fell silent for a moment.

“…Not just bread, but I want to keep taxes on food and drink lighter than other levies. Even as a commoner, continuing to pioneer in these borderlands, I feel a responsibility to ensure at least the essentials of sustenance are never in short supply.”

However, missteps here could easily lead to what’s known as the bread and circuses phenomenon.

Throughout history, it’s been proven through various examples and thought experiments that when rulers continue to provide food and entertainment, their subjects tend to become decadent.

…In her previous life, there was the example of the Republic of Naurl, where mimicking policies that caused people to lose sight of labor and its value proved disastrous for leaders.

Following the discovery of abundant resources, along with exemptions from taxes and the free provision of public works, even the introduction of a basic income, the concept of labor disappeared among the entire population. Unable to return to a time of working and living after exhausting resources, the nation faced bankruptcy after thirty years. Its unemployment rate exceeded ninety percent, leading to various illegal measures to maintain the country. Once known as the world’s wealthiest paradise, it swiftly fell into being called a beggar state within just a few decades.

…Wealth and prosperity are not the same. Too much of a sweet sugar can become a poison that erodes the body.

This delicate balance lies at the fingertips of herself, the lord.

“For now, the settlement has slightly improved, but I must avoid creating too great a disparity between neighboring territories, for it could lead to friction. As for taxes, I plan to adjust them to a level that aligns with the surrounding areas before winter ends.”

“I see… Probably by then, the Guild will be suggesting entry into the village. Development in the Enkar region is becoming common knowledge among those who keep their ears to the ground.”

Roy nodded in agreement with Carl, both wearing solemn expressions.

For them, who had nearly lost their livelihoods due to the Guild’s mandatory travel system for artisans, this was not a pleasant topic.

“When it comes to the Guild, we’ll have to negotiate with each one that seeks entry. While mutual aid organizations are invaluable, some Guilds may need to be refused entry based on their conditions.”

For Melfina, who aimed to ensure people wouldn’t go hungry, guilds like the Flour Millers’ Guild and the Bakers’ Guild would find no room to enter.

“Furthermore, whether the Guild enters or not, I have no intention of neglecting the artisans. They are all comrades working hard together. I want to cherish them and support them.”

“…That sounds like Lady Melfina.”

“Yes, indeed.”

A small laugh broke out and quickly grew louder.

Caught up in it, Melfina also laughed.

“Now, let’s start serving lunch. Today, we have chicken and pumpkin stew, bean and vegetable quiche, freshly baked bread, and the lord’s estate-brewed ale.”

Eating delicious food uplifted the spirits. While they weren’t being starved, they had been eating mostly corn-derived products for the past few months, so everyone seemed excited about the bread after a long time.

Even after sitting down at the table, lively conversations continued. Lips broke into smiles at the faint scent of wheat, accompanied by sips of the somewhat young ale.

“Actually, I can bake much whiter, fluffier, and tastier bread, but it’s challenging with this oven.”

“Even fluffier?”

“Fluffier?”

“Lord, does that mean you need a more specialized oven?”

At Ricardo’s question, she placed a hand on her cheek and tilted her head.

“No, it’s that the bread we baked today is called hard bread. It’s suited for baking in ovens that can reach high temperatures like stone ovens, as it doesn’t burn easily. But to bake fluffy bread that stays light in color, we need to maintain a slightly lower, consistent temperature. Otherwise, it quickly turns completely black.”

“The main ingredients for hard bread are generally wheat flour, salt, and water fermented with naturally occurring yeast from soaked fruit.”

To enhance the fluffiness, malt powder made from sprouted barley dried and crushed, and malt syrup boiled and strained, can also be added. Since these are also used in brewing ale, they are readily available materials.

The resulting bread is akin to what was known in her previous life as French bread or ciabatta.

On the other hand, bread with a soft crust like sandwich bread or dinner rolls, commonly eaten in her previous life, is made with added fats, sugars, milk, and such. These ingredients all tend to cause burning if exposed to high temperatures, so they must be baked at a temperature about 50 degrees lower than hard bread.

“Hmm, lowering the internal temperature of the oven and maintaining it consistently, huh?”

“The oven itself retains heat well, so first, raise the temperature inside the oven. Once it’s sufficiently warm, can’t we manage by reducing the fuel by half?”

“We’ll need a safe method to handle the fuel removal. Should we consider making a separate box for inserting and removing fuel?”

“When making ‘fluffier bread,’ instead of baking the dough rounded on a baking sheet, how about placing it in a specialized case? Using copper sheets would improve thermal conductivity and may be suitable for conducting heat through residual warmth.”

“It’s worth a try. If we stick to making round bread, creating a round mold with copper might work well for making madeleines, financiers, or even thick pancakes.”

As artisans continued to propose ideas one after another, Melfina found herself increasingly excited.

Placing the dough in a copper mold could indeed yield sandwich bread, and adjusting the mold shape could allow for madeleines, financiers, or thick pancakes. If sandwich bread could be consistently produced, it would make difficult-to-create sandwiches possible. Also, successfully stabilizing the oven temperature at relatively low levels would enable making buttery croissants or pies.

“Lady Melfina, you seem to be thinking of delicious things.”

“Yes, I’ve come to understand it recently.”

“I’m looking forward to seeing what delicious creations you come up with.”

“We mustn’t rush the oven improvements.”

“…Ahem.”

When Melfina deliberately cleared her throat, everyone instinctively averted their gazes.

It was disheartening to think she might be seen as the only glutton. Melfina knew that everyone here shared the same sentiment.

Above all, meals were meant to be enjoyed more deliciously when shared with many companions.