The Abandoned Duchess Seems to Want a Peaceful Life - Chapter 66

Chapter 66: The Secret of the Lord’s Manor’s Underground

A little while back.

One day as autumn was nearing its end, Marie was the first to notice something unusual about Melfina when she returned to the lord’s manor after her inspection.

“Lady Melfina, are you tired? Shall I prepare some tea?”

“No, tea can wait. Rather, could both of you please sit down?”

Seeing Melfina’s tense expression, the two of them took their usual seats with a slight sense of apprehension. Without rushing her, they quietly waited for her to speak.

Though Melfina had thought extensively about how to explain it, when the moment came to speak, her tongue felt heavy with nervousness. Noticing Melfina’s unusual behavior, Marie and Cedric also had tense expressions.

“You both know about sugar, right?”

“Yes, the medicine that comes through the Romana Republic. I tasted it when I was a child.”

“I had the opportunity to taste it a few times when I lived in the capital. My mother managed to get some when I was unwell.”

In this world, sugar is used as a kind of tonic. It is that rare, precious, and expensive.

Even for the daughter of a marquis living in the capital, it was not something she could have regularly.

“What do you think would happen if sugar could be produced in the Enkar region?”

Their eyes widened, and they fell silent for a moment. Marie touched her finger to her lips, while Cedric folded his arms and frowned, deep in thought.

“To be honest, I can’t even begin to predict. But I can only say that this land would change completely.”

Cedric nodded gravely at Marie’s words.

“The amount produced would be a factor, but sugar is extremely valuable—it’s worth as much as gold of the same weight. In a way, it would be like discovering a gold mine. Merchants and investors would flock here.”

Currently, because the Enkar region is almost a landlocked island, Melfina could act as she pleased to some extent without much leaking to the outside.

But if a gold mine were discovered, that would be a different story.

In the history of her previous life, when a gold mine was found in California and the Gold Rush happened, people bravely embarked on a five-month journey by wagon from the eastern to the western United States. Despite many tragedies during the journey, the hope of seizing their dreams fueled their march forward.

Compared to that, the Enkar region is just a three-day journey by wagon from Soarasonne. First from Soarasonne, then from the entire northern region, and eventually from all over the country, people will undoubtedly flock here in search of the literally sweet nectar.

Simply going with the flow could potentially affect the social hierarchy of this country. Successful individuals would gain capital, and that capital would then influence rulers to change the system.

In the history of her previous life as well, new technology or resources would first lead to the separation of capital and labor, and then politics would be influenced, changing social systems.

Such is the value of sugar—it is immensely precious and irresistibly attractive to people.

…Perhaps I should just pretend not to have noticed it.

If sugar could be obtained without difficulty, it would widen the scope of possibilities. One option is to produce only what’s needed domestically and continue to use it secretly.

…No, that’s impossible. The sweetness of sugar is so unique in this world; it would definitely attract attention.

It’s too valuable a discovery to completely conceal, yet too overwhelming for just one person to control. For now, sugar held that kind of existence.

“…Maybe I should try making it once.”

“Lady Melfina?”

“I don’t know if it can really be done, and if it can’t, it’s just a disappointment. Deciding what to do after trying it might be a good idea.”

Even though the name is the same, in her previous life, sugar beets were improved through breeding over time. It’s not guaranteed that sugar can be made with the same method, and worrying too much is pointless.

“Yes, I think it’s best to try anything. A worried expression doesn’t suit you, Lady Melfina.”

Apparently, it was showing on her face. Pressing her cheeks with both hands, she exhaled deeply.

“I’m no good. I was really shaken.”

“If you don’t rely on us occasionally, Cedric and I would have no purpose being by your side.”

“I rely on you all the time, really.”

“If that’s the case, it’s an honor.”

Though she has knowledge from her previous life, Melfina herself is just a powerless daughter of a noble. She is aware that she can’t do anything alone without the support of those beside her.

The three of them shared a slightly embarrassed atmosphere, and thus, secretly began sugar production in the lord’s manor.

＊　＊　＊

Due to a construction boom from late summer to early autumn, a fairly large underground storage has been built at the lord’s manor.

Following Ricardo’s advice that a single space would have structural issues, the basement was divided into three rooms. In the innermost room, Melfina, Marie, and Cedric gathered.

They purchased well-washed sugar beets from the lord’s manor, peeled them, and cut them into thin slices. Since there were so many, they boiled them in water, strained the liquid through cloth, and boiled it down to some extent with Ed and Anna’s help.

They then placed the still-runny liquid into pots and continued to boil it down in the basement. Since the process would likely produce an overwhelmingly sweet smell, it was anticipated to fill the basement with a sweet aroma, which confirmed they made the right decision.

Next, they added a mixture of slaked lime—one part quicklime to ten parts water—and let it sit for a while. The slaked lime bonded with impurities and settled at the bottom, so they carefully scooped off the clear liquid on top.

After that, Marie and Cedric took turns boiling it down until it reached a syrupy consistency, then they added a very small amount of finely crushed sugar from Romana to encourage crystallization. As they simmered it over low heat, the dark brown syrup gradually changed to a soil-like color.

Finally, the molasses was completed.

Tasting it, it closely resembled the brown sugar Melfina had tasted in her previous life, but compared to that, it had a vegetal bitterness.

They poured the molasses into a filtering device crafted by the ceramic artisan, Louis.

It was a cone-shaped unglazed vessel turned upside down, with a jar placed underneath to stabilize it. Its appearance was akin to a coffee dripper from her previous life, and it served a similar purpose.

When the molasses was poured in, the liquid containing non-crystallizing pigments, known as waste molasses, permeated and dripped down from the bottom of the unglazed cone-shaped container.

They weighted it down and let it steep for about two weeks until the first infiltration was complete, resulting in somewhat brownish loaf sugar.

They dissolved this in hot water and further poured it into a pot for refining, where impurities were removed, enhancing its whiteness.

In this world, sugar had not yet proliferated to the extent where its value was measured by how white it was. Even when lightly bleached and tinged with brown, it was considered adequate.

After thorough drying, Cedric carefully lifted the cone-shaped container and turned it over, making a heavy “thud” as the solid sugar released from the mold—a completed form known as loaf sugar, which had been the predominant form of sugar circulating until the Victorian era in her previous life.

“It’s done.”

“It really is… done.”

Loaf sugar was extremely hard, so she placed a chip in her mouth, and her heart skipped a beat at its sweetness.

Without a doubt, it was sugar. Though not as finely granulated as what was available in the capital, its taste was impeccable.

“Be careful, it’s very sweet.”

She said with a smile as she offered pieces to Marie and Cedric, who promptly picked them up and tasted.

“Wow!”

“This is… amazing!”

“How is it? Pretty impressive, right?”

“It’s amazing. But seriously, this lump is all sugar?”

“With this lump, you could exchange it for an equal weight in gold.”

Cedric’s words were not at all exaggerated.

There’s a saying about trading by weight, like with gold, which is inherently one of the heaviest metals among all substances. The weight being traded would actually be much larger.

However, if this size of sugar lump were used to decorate at a party, where a dedicated attendant could shave off pieces as guests desired, the prestige of that household would immediately be the talk of the town.

Just like jewels, the larger it is, the more attention it attracts.

Truly, edible treasure like gold and silver. That’s what sugar represents.

“It feels like we’ve created something quite extraordinary.”

Even if it hadn’t been completed, she had thought she could just deal with it later if it was, but now that there was a lump of sugar in front of her, various desires arose.

From secret ingredients in cooking to sweets and beverages, the demand for sugar was substantial.

“Now that it’s done, we should start thinking about how to use it, but well, that can wait for now.”

After all, this world was in the midst of famine.

Until the saint could calm the situation, it would be best to keep the secret of the underground cellar of the lord’s manor.

“Melfina, can we no longer use this black liquid that’s accumulated in the jar?”

“No, that’ll be used as an accelerator to make fertilizer.”

The accumulated black liquid, waste molasses, or what’s known as molasses, is a faintly sweet liquid richer in vitamins and minerals than sugar itself.

If the raw material were sugarcane instead of sugar beets, this could have been used for consumption, but since slaked lime was used to separate the bitterness, it couldn’t be used for food.

“After extracting the sweetness, we can use the pressed white beet as feed for cows or pigs, so there’s basically nothing to waste.”

Even in the underground room lit only by magic stones, Cedric’s excitement was palpable.

“After trying various things, I’m starting to understand, but Cedric is probably quite fond of sweets.”

“Since the amount of sugar we can extract from white beets is limited, unless we succeed in large-scale production, it will remain a luxury item for the foreseeable future due to the famine across the country. Fortunately, sugar can last a very long time. Let’s continue making it little by little, and once the famine passes, we can think about how to use it and where to sell it.”

Refined white sugar is said to not decay even if stored alone for decades.

While the sugar lumps, the rod-shaped sugar, may contain some moisture and impurities, it’s unlikely to degrade over the course of several years.

Especially in the cool and moderately dry underground environment, any remaining moisture will gradually evaporate, making the sugar even harder and maintaining its high preservation and portability.

“With the new ale and cheese, the underground workshop of the lord’s manor is finally filled with sugar.”

“We’ll need to have Ricardo build a new underground chamber when he comes next year.”

Marie continued, prompting Melfina to smile wryly.

“I don’t think we can add any more secrets to the underground of the lord’s manor.”

Neither of them responded to these words.

It’s likely due to their everyday actions that there isn’t much trust in this matter.