Volume 3, Act 23: Calm before the Storm
Three days after the Founding Festival had started.
In a quieter mansion, Cordelia briefly checked on the condition of the greenhouse, and then went back and forth from her room and the library.
The first thing Cordelia started on, during the Founding Festival, was calculating the amount of paper purchased by the school; shed calculated the approximate amount of paper needed based on a report from the school.
Then, she also estimated the cost of Laras pencils, from her production record, and she also calculated the price for the bread erasers. Finally, she wrote down her aims and the price, then a sentence asking the merchants and Ronnie to get her quotes; Cordelia sighed in relief.
For now, I wonder if these things will be enough for the school.
The documents were for asking for Elviss permission.
She had already told him that she was thinking of improving the writing implements, when she was at the pencil manufacturing stage, so she could probably get his permission without any problems.
If a problem did pop up, then it would probably be her plan to borrow fields in the fief and open a medicinal herb garden.
She had to finish the documents on her plan to cultivate herbs in an area where wheat didnt grow well, and how to collect the capital for that, during the remainder of the Founding Festival so that she could persuade Elvis.
Should I borrow land and manpower for the herb garden? Or should I just buy already grown plants? Thats becoming a problem. I have documents on the current harvest so I can calculate the income, and I have to write comparison data.
However, Cordelia, who had muttered those words spontaneously, realised that she had been talking to herself a lot. Although, Ronnie and Laras holidays would end tomorrow, and her surroundings would probably become lively again.
I think its Laras first time at the Founding Festival, I hope she has fun.
She thought as she stretched her back a little. Her body had become really stiff, probably because she was concentrating so hard.
Ill go for a little walk.
If I push myself too hard, then I might make a mistake in the calculations somewhere. She thought that as she left the room and headed towards the garden.
Cordelia traced the memories of her childhood and remembered that the Pameradia mansion had felt imposing. It still felt imposing now, but it also felt brighter.
When she had first visited the fief at the age of eight and returned to the Royal Capital, Elvis had said, You can grow your favourite plants. Thus, Cordelia had told the gardeners the descriptions of the flowers she wanted grown there, and a few of their names.
She didnt have flowers in the greenhouse just for appreciation, but she had wanted to feel relaxed by just looking at flowers, so there were a lot of gorgeous flowers in the garden. By no means, did all the flowers have large petals, but they were all pleasing to the eye.
(Its stunning.)
The flowers glistened vividly, thanks to the skills of the gardeners. And, the rose, Cordelia, was also blooming in a section of the garden.
She didnt have a lot of stock yet, but when she told Gille that Elvis had said to her that she could plant whatever she wanted in the garden, he sent her some flowers to grow.
(A rose with the same name as me. It feels strange after all.)
On the one hand, she was happy because it was a beautiful flower and smelt nice, but she became strangely embarrassed when she saw it in front of her. Of course, she knew that the flower thought nothing of her, but she felt compelled not to lose to it.
Then, Cordelia, who was lazing around in the garden, felt herself relax and decided to return to her room. Her eyes also felt a little rested from taking a small break.
She also invited people to join in with her other experiments, but there was no doubt that this experiment had the highest competition rate in the mansion.
You have a flood of applicants.
Yes, thanks.
Cordelia was happy that this experiment was accepted in the mansion to the extent that applicants were rushing in, but she also had mixed feelings about it.
(Its become like some kind of big lottery But I feel sorry for people who want to try it out but get rejected.)
Of course, the participants werent decided by lottery. She decided the participants based on conditions such as physical condition, fatigue, transparency and stagnation of magic.
She couldnt say that the sample size was enough since she only recruited from within the mansion, Cordelia could make predictions such as, This person seems like they wont like this aromaorThis effect would probably work, by lightly using her analysis magic.
For some reason or another That was the only thing she could say, but she was able to conclude if the magic of the plants would be compatible or not with a person.
It might be a unique intuition related to her magic, since Ronnie dismissed it when she tried to explain it to him by saying, I dont know what youre talking about.
Im going to meet with them one by one again, so could you show me their work assignment list? I want to talk to them at a reasonable time.
Understood.
Hans respectfully accepted Cordelias word, and this time, Emina spoke.
Ojou-sama, do you have a bit of time now?
Yes?
I want to talk to you about clothes for going out. There are some possible choices If youre busy, then I would like to take some of your time tomorrow.
I see I cant go out in the clothes I use for my experiments or the clothes I wear for riding. And, it was likely that the clothes for going outthat Emina had said, would include accessories such as parasols.
And I have never prepared clothes for going out before because my usual dresses are for indoor use.
(This will probably not be finished in a bit.)
It took time to pick dresses and try them on. I dont remember asking for much, but my closet is full of clothes that were made at the beginning of the season and clothes that Otou-sama gave me.
(But this is the first time Im going out with Christina-sama. It would be rude if I dont dress like her.)
I think that all the dresses I have suit me. But, if I consider that Ill be standing next to Christina-sama, then there would be too many to choose from.
Ill do it today. Im sure itll bother me if I do it tomorrow so I wont be able to focus on anything else.
Cordelia said that jokingly and Emina and Hans smiled.
Translator: Blushy
Editor: SenjiQ