Chapter 32.2: Gems at the fingertips

But upon hearing that the state was willing to buy local crops and seafood at a high price, the jobless workers in the Imperial Capital headed for the countryside.

In fact, from the transit records during this period, a large number of people traveled from the Imperial Capital to the countryside for farming and other purposes.

Furthermore, Arnold distributed the foodstuffs he purchased to various places to fill the bellies of those impoverished by the war.

A fair amount of money had been invested in this policy, but as a result, the Garkhain Kingdom became even richer. Productivity and fertility rates increased.

Consequently, tax revenues also increased and national power was strengthened. This trend was totally obvious just by analyzing some of the documents.

A fact I would never have known if I’d lived outside of Garkhain.

A scene last night flashed through her mind.

Arnold told her, “You don’t have to be prepared to become my wife.”

“…”

What did he mean?

She should have clarified properly, but Rishe was dumbstruck. It was because the expression on his face looked somewhat sad.

That look and gaze, Rishe knew.

He had that same look on his face when he killed me.

She had so many questions she wanted to ask him.

And yet, she couldn’t even stop Arnold from turning his back to her.

She tried to picture that moment, and it even brought back another memory. Rishe cringed, then turned over and plopped down on the desk, heaving.

There’s absolutely no deeper meaning to the act itself. Absolutely not. So don’t think about it.

But, she also thought.

She has already made her mind up, so there was no time for big talk.

Rishe squeezed her eyes shut and got up from the chair.

Then she lightly tapped her cheeks to regain her spirit.

I have to get this done first!

It was time to move on to the next step in the process.

Rishe took the pot down from the stove and separated the boiled petals from the juice into bowls. She let them cool down while she prepared another pot. When it was cool enough, she squeezed the water out of the petals with a cloth.

Next, she picked up a glass bottle from the table. The transparent slime inside was the sap of a tree that grew widely on this continent.

She mixed the dye extracted from the flowers with the sap while trying to prevent bubbles from emerging as much as possible. Once the dye was evenly distributed, she transferred the mixture to a small vial and shook it to release the bubbles.

A vial of dark pink liquid resulted from it.

Opening another glass bottle, Rishe dipped the brush she had prepared into it.

It was the mixture of the juice of certain medicinal herbs, a light milky white color. She carefully applied it to her nails. On top of that, she applied a layer of the pink liquid she had just completed evenly so it wouldn’t bulge out.

After about 10 seconds, the liquid began to feel hot and fuzzy.

She waited for a few minutes without using her fingers before poking it with the tip of the brush handle and found that it had hardened. It seemed to have hardened well.

Excellent.

She spread her hand, and was pleased to see her nails dyed rose pink. They were glossy and shiny with the hardened sap and her fingertips seemed to be covered with gems.

This was a discovery she had acquired in her life as a pharmacist when she was researching new drugs by mixing medicinal herbs together.

The juice of three different herbs combined with the sap of the widespread clusters of colonial trees (not sure if I identified right =コリーニの木) would solidify in a few minutes or so. When she was a pharmacist, she used it to reconstruct the broken nails and other parts of an injured person’s body.

Now she just needed to experiment if it hardened well when mixed with flowers other than roses.

Just as she as pondering, Elise, the maidservant, showed up.

“Rishe-sama, please take a break.”

Seeing that Rishe was still in the kitchen, Elise, who called her out several times, curved her lips up.

“I’ll make you some tea. So please take a break this time…”

At that moment, Rishe’s fingernails inadvertently caught Elise’s attention. She paused and her eyes shone like stars in the vast sky.

“Sparkly, shiny…”

Her voice sounded so cute as she let out a soliloquy, that Rishe chuckled.

“You came just right in time, Elise.”