The Abandoned Duchess Seems to Want a Peaceful Life - Chapter 89

Chapter 89: Secret Talks and Midnight Pudding

When I went downstairs, the kitchen was already lit by the light of a magic stone lamp.

Peeking inside, Julius’s face brightened as he saw me.

“Lady! Good evening. I came to make some tea because I was thirsty, and what a coincidence!”

“Lord Julius, you too? I was just about to do the same. I apologize for my disheveled appearance.”

After this little play, we brewed some corn tea, shared it in cups, and then moved to the table in the dining room.

During winter, both residents and servants often gathered for meals, but with Ed, Cliff, and Rad returning to the servants’ quarters and Anna commuting from the village, it was very quiet now.

“By the way, while I was bedridden, how did you manage with your meals, Lord Julius?”

Now that Serleine and Simon also joined the meals, but since the lady of the lord’s residence, Melfina, was bedridden, there wouldn’t have been anyone to invite him to the dining room.

I had vaguely thought that Marie or Cedric might have taken care of it, but Julius said nonchalantly.

“I sleep most of the day, so my meal times don’t often match up with the others. Occasionally, the little head chef brought meals to my room, and I would have those.”

“? Was it perhaps the fatigue from traveling?”

It took two weeks by carriage from the royal capital to Soarasonne, and another three days even in summer to reach the Enkar region. Winter would have made the roads even worse and taken more time. It was only natural that it would have been a burden on his body.

“No, it’s more of a condition of my body. I have a significantly higher amount of magical power than others, so my body can’t handle being awake for long periods. When I was a child, I used to sleep all the time, so now that my body is larger, it’s much better. Recently, my sleep time has increased again, so I think there will come a day when I won’t wake up at all.”

Julius mentioned this as usual, with a bright tone and speaking as he pleased, as if he were casually saying it would be in a year or two.

“I knew it would come to this eventually, and strong magic users are generally short-lived. It’s not uncommon for children to either not develop properly due to too much magical power or to not be born at all. The issues of having a weak body and being constantly plagued by illness are mostly managed thanks to this sleep time. I rarely suffer from magical power poisoning, so I’m actually quite lucky, but I am dissatisfied with the lack of time. Oh, when it really comes to the point where I don’t wake up, I’ll make sure to ride a carriage to the royal capital so as not to inconvenience you, Lady. So please don’t worry.”

“…I’m not worried about that.”

Julius’s words were not just casual remarks; it was glaringly clear that he was truly facing a life-threatening situation.

Only Melfina knows at this point that Julius will be saved by meeting Maria in the summer of the year after next.

Hearing Julius speak so nonchalantly about his own death made Melfina feel uneasy.

“That’s why I want to do what I want to do and know what I want to know. Why is sunlight warm? Why is winter cold and summer hot? How many stars are scattered across the sky? How do monsters differ from other creatures? What is the true nature of the edge of the world? I’m desperate to know everything!”

“Even so, you shouldn’t sneak into someone’s bedroom.”

“I won’t do it again. It would make me very sad to be disliked by you, Lady, and I promised my friend that I would leave my treasures as mementos. When I made that promise, I was given a knuckle sandwich. That was the most painful moment for me.”

Julius smiled happily as he talked about the pain, which made Melfina’s heart ache.

“So, what were you doing when you collapsed? Please tell me, Lady!”

Julius maintained his usual tone and leaned forward as he asked. It was clear that he didn’t pity his own circumstances, and Melfina couldn’t understand how he could be so indifferent to his short lifespan.

She knew she should be frightened of this dangerous magician and that it would be better to keep her distance if possible.

—But for some reason, she couldn’t bring herself to dislike him.

It must be because Julius is someone who lives doing only what he wants.

It was a way of life Melfina herself had yearned for ever since she recalled her past life in this world.

This world operates on a rigid class system where women are expected to live in obedience to their fathers and, once married, to their husbands.

Lords fulfill their duties as lords, knights fight for their pride, farmers till the fields, and serfs are treated like tools attached to the land. Despite everything, everyone struggles to live their lives.

Melfina yearned to be free from the constraints of love and duty and to live life on her own terms.

Such a way of living is available only to a select few in this world. For Julius, it is possible due to his noble birth and high magical abilities.

Melfina understood that this was very difficult.

“Well then, we don’t have much time. Let’s talk, Lord Julius.”

“Yes, Lady!”

Even so, seeing someone living this way in front of her somehow gave Melfina a sense of hope.

—It also served as a reminder to be cautious not to overdo things.

Thinking this to herself, Melfina let out a soft sigh.

＊　＊　＊

“Synthesis, you say?”

“Yes. If it’s possible to separate the components of what’s in front of you, I thought it should be possible to do the reverse as well. Since I have no memory of the moments right after attempting this, I believe I must have collapsed then.”

“I see, I see… Lady, you come up with interesting ideas.”

“Do I? Mixing things together and causing reactions is a common technique in alchemy, isn’t it?”

Julius, unusually silent as he pondered, eventually spoke with a heavy tone.

“As Lady said, mixing various things together is the beginning of alchemy, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that primitive alchemy started from that. —You said the purpose of alchemy is divine analysis. However, for many vulgar alchemists, the ultimate goal is to ‘reconstruct the world on a smaller scale.”

After that, Julius spoke with a torrent of enthusiasm about the idea that the macrocosm (the great universe) and the microcosm (the small universe) are considered to be in a complete relationship of contrast. He elaborated that the macrocosm is the world itself, while the microcosm in alchemy refers to humans.

He talked at length about the belief that if the world is a perfect creation by the gods, then humans too are originally perfect beings. The goal of alchemy, therefore, is to reconstruct from an imperfect state to a perfect one.

In a perfect state, humans would not age, fall ill, or even die. Seeking the Philosopher’s Stone or Elixir in pursuit of this goal is the true calling of an alchemist.

However, Julius’s tone lacked fervor, suggesting that he himself might be skeptical of this viewpoint.

“So, alchemists believe that any imperfection in this world can be made perfect by removing impurities. Of course, mixing things together is also common, but in that case, increasing purity through reactions is the fundamental idea.”

“I see. So in the field of alchemy, saltwater, which is a mix of water and salt, represents an incomplete state of water and salt, and by ‘separating’ them, their respective completeness can be increased?”

“Exactly! That’s right! Therefore, an alchemist must be proficient in separation, and they will try to separate everything. Even the distillation you’re interested in is a form of separation. Alchemists use various methods like dissolution, decay, extraction, calcination, and reduction to concentrate and increase the purity of substances. So… yes, combining things intentionally is something I have rarely considered myself…”

After this burst of explanation, Julius fell silent again. Melfina could sense the whirlwind of hypotheses and thought experiments happening in his mind, so she decided to wait patiently for him to return to the conversation.

—I’m hungry.

She realized that since waking up, she had only had warm milk, tea, and a light porridge for dinner, leaving her quite peckish.

Since Julius would likely be lost in thought for a while, Melfina decided to prepare a light snack. She figured the bread was probably saved by Ed for breakfast the next morning, and eating meat at this hour didn’t quite appeal to her. After a moment’s thought, she took out eggs, milk, and a jar of sugar from the back of the pantry, and placed a frying pan on the magic stone stove.

Add the sugar, a bit of water, and heat it up. Once it starts to brown, adding more water will give you caramel. Heat the milk slightly, dissolve the sugar in it, and then mix in the beaten eggs. Strain the egg mixture through a coarse cloth and slowly pour it into a ceramic cup with caramel.

Next, place the cup in a large pot of water and steam it. To avoid a coarse texture, bring the water to a boil over medium heat, then reduce to low and steam slowly.

“…It smells delicious.”

Once it was steamed, lifting the lid filled the kitchen with a sweet aroma. Julius, unable to ignore it any longer, murmured.

“It’s better chilled, but it’s sweet and tasty even like this. Would you like to try some?”

In the northern winter, it would become cold quickly if left outside on a tray for even five minutes, but a warm pudding on a winter’s night is also quite delightful.

Handing him a cup and spoon, Julius, usually so cheerful, hesitated and poked at the pudding’s surface with the spoon.

“It’s rude to do that, Lord Julius.”

“Well, it’s something I’ve never eaten before.”

Although curious, it seemed he was showing signs of picky eating. As Melfina took a spoonful of her own and tasted it, the gentle aroma of milk and eggs combined with the sweetness of sugar wafted warmly through her nose.

—Why does something sweet in the middle of the night taste so good?

Though still hot and not sliding down smoothly, the creamy texture on her tongue, the caramel’s toasted flavor spreading throughout her mouth, and the indescribable happiness of swallowing were irresistible.

Julius, initially skeptical, widened his eyes in surprise after tasting a small spoonful.

“There’s sugar in it.”

“Yes, and also milk and eggs. Those are the only three ingredients.”

“It seems very nourishing. I like sugar, but I usually just lick the powdered kind. This is my first time trying it this way.”

“Don’t you put it in tea?”

“It’s sweeter when you just lick it. Cedric scolded me for it.”

Unconsciously, Julius was patting his head with the hand not holding the spoon. He must have received a lecture along with a punch.

“It seems Cedric has always been Cedric since childhood.”

“He did prepare it for me at home too. He’d sometimes bring me the sugar he got as medicine, though he said he didn’t like it himself.”

As far as Melfina knew, Cedric liked sweets. He had mentioned before that he had had sugar a few times, so he must have liked it since childhood.

“Sugar is a tonic, after all. He probably wanted you to feel a little better.”

Julius continued to eat the pudding slowly, gazing sadly at the now empty cup. He then glanced at the remaining cup.

“What did you think when Cedric brought you sugar as a child?”

“I was happy! I like sweets, and I was touched that my friend thought of me.”

“Even though I haven’t been with Cedric for a year yet, if he’s been like that since childhood, then secretly giving away expensive sugar prepared for himself to a friend must have taken courage. Don’t you think that’s the kind of person he is?”

Julius nodded earnestly, and Melfina couldn’t help but smile at his childlike manner.

“So, you understand why I’d want everyone to try the delicious thing we had in the middle of the night tomorrow, right?”

“Yes… I’m not saying I want more, Lady.”

The saying “the eyes speak louder than words” might not exist in this world, but some things are evident just by looking.

Melfina pictured the young Cedric handing sugar to Julius and scolding him for licking it. She could vaguely understand why Julius, who was so oblivious to others’ feelings and only did what he wanted, was particularly attached to Cedric.

—In other words, he’s been spoiled by him.

“I’ll make it again. And delicious things taste even better when shared with everyone. Next time, let’s all eat it together.”