Chapter 126 The Maidens' Gift
"By the way, is something wrong with Miss Rebecca? She’s not with you, right?"
Alicia the Alchemist Girl asked, tilting her head in curiosity.
"Miss Rebecca just accepted Uncle Rob's proposal."
"Really? That’s so wonderful!"
"She's the first among us maidens! It’s great that Miss Rebecca will become part of the Grandchester family!"
Alicia the Alchemist Girl and Amelia the Pharmacist Girl held hands and celebrated together.
"Miss Rebecca will probably be busy from now on, so it might be helpful for Ms. Alicia (Alchemist Girl) and Ms. Amelia (Pharmacist Girl) to assist me with my studies."
"Preparing for a wedding is tough, isn’t it?"
"So tough! We need to think about a gift too. What kind of present is okay for a noble lady!?"
"That really is a tough one."
'Right. I need to think of a gift too.'
Sara suddenly looked at the Elma brandy she had on hand.
'This is the first batch of Elma brandy that was successfully distilled. It could work as a gift!'
However, Sara felt disappointed by the plainness of the bottle containing the Elma brandy. Even though it was all she had, it was too simple for a celebration.
'Even if I wrap it, it feels too plain...'
At that moment, Sara remembered a bottle she had etched using sandblasting in her past life.
'It seems like I could use earth and wind magic to do it, but the problem is I have no talent for drawing at all...'
She really doesn't feel comfortable putting a surreal painting on a bottle for a celebration.
'Right! I can just ask someone else to draw it for me with a masking sheet!'
Thinking about art, Sara decided to ask Amelia the Pharmacist Girl.
"Hey, Ms. Amelia. Can you draw something for me?"
"Something to draw?"
"Yeah, just a small sketch would be fine. Can you draw something like the emblems of Elma and Grandchester? I imagine it would go around here on this bottle."
"Um, so you're saying to draw it on paper for a label?"
"That's close enough. I want to make this brandy a celebration for their engagement. Oh, but can you draw it on thicker parchment?"
"Oh, I see. Please wait a moment."
Amelia the Pharmacist Girl drew a large silhouette of Elma fruit, then added the emblems of the Grandchester family and the Orson family inside it, and wrote the full names of Robert and Rebecca below. She even included a message in smaller letters: "Cheers to a happy life ahead!"
"Ms. Amelia, you’re really skilled, aren't you? You know the Orson family emblem really well!"
"Actually, I used to do side jobs as a ghostwriter and embroidery sketch artist. I've drawn the emblems of major noble families so many times that I can do it without any references."
"I guess I asked a professional for a big favor. I should pay you properly."
"Hehe. Then let's say this is my engagement present for them. Of course, I’ll think of a separate gift for their wedding."
Amelia the Pharmacist Girl smiled happily.
"This label is made of parchment, but can it be stuck on the bottle?"
"I’ll make some adjustments, so leave it to me!"
Sara traced the lines on the parchment with her light magic. The image was like a laser cutter.
"Ms. Sara, your magic control is incredibly precise. If you can do this, maybe there's no need to learn magic control. Still, it’s surprising that you can do something like this with light magic."
Once the masking sheet from the parchment was complete, Sara got another empty bottle separate from the one containing Elma Brandy. If she accidentally made a hole in the bottle that had contents in it, it would be a disaster, so she planned to try on the empty bottle first and then transfer it if it succeeded.
Next, she placed the masking sheet on the bottle and used water magic to stick it perfectly without leaving any gaps. To avoid scratching the parts that wouldn’t be etched, she covered them with earth magic.
'Alright, the preparation is done up to here.'
Then, Sara trapped the masked bottle in a space created with wind magic and forcefully blew sand on the parts covered by the masking sheet using earth magic.
When the work was finished, Sara erased all the sand, took out the empty bottle, and removed the earth and masking sheet that had covered the bottle.
"Yep. It seems to be a success."
Looking at the bottle, she saw the design and message that Amelia the Pharmacist Girl had drawn, beautifully etched onto it.
"W-Wow! Miss Sara, how did you manage to draw on the bottle?"
When Amelia the Pharmacist Girl asked with great curiosity, everyone else looked on with eager eyes.
"Um, first I used light magic to cut out the lines of the drawing and message on the parchment. Then, when I stuck it to the bottle and blew sand on it forcefully, the parts not covered by the parchment got sanded down."
"That means you carved the bottle following the lines of the drawing, right?"
"That's right."
Thomas also curiously rubbed the etched part of the bottle.
"I have to admire Ms. Sara's idea. This is truly amazing technology. Plus, with that parchment, you can create the same design on other bottles too, right?"
"Yes."
Sara began etching the same design onto another bottle.
"Just like this."
"It’s a groundbreaking technique, but it’s a skill only Ms. Sara can do, since Ms. Sara can control multiple types of magic precisely."
"No, I don't think so."
"What do you mean?"
"Sure, I’m using magic to make it easier this time, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done without magic. You can just cut the masking sheet with a knife, and you can cover other parts with something else. If blowing sand is difficult, you could lay the bottle down and drop the sand from a high place, right?"
"I see. It looks like more craftsmen will take on new challenges in glass workshops from now on."
Sara washed the bottle clean with water magic and handed it to Maria, who then poured Elma brandy into the two bottles and corked them.
Then Alicia the Alchemist Girl went to one of the labs and brought back 2 small wooden boxes of different sizes and a magic stone.
"Okay, Miss Sara, please put the bottles in this box. This is a gift from me to both of them for their engagement."
"What is this?"
"This is a wooden box that makes sound, found in Paracelsus's materials. I just happened to make it the other day, and it seems to be the right size."
It might need a bit of packing, but it is indeed just the right size to fit 2 bottles side by side.
"It makes sound?"
"To be precise, you set this magic stone in this part of the box. When the lid of the box opens, it will naturally start making sound. Although, I haven't put any sound into this magic stone yet..."
"So, it means that if you put sound into the magic stone in advance, it would play the sound when the box opens?"
"Yes, that's right. It seems that Paracelsus made it for the box to hold materials and to record the voice explaining the contents, but the previous Marquis Grandchester enjoyed it by recording violin performances."
"I see. That sounds quite interesting. Since we’re at it, I will put my sound into this magic stone."
"Oh, to put sound into the magic stone, you need to use this machine."
Alicia the Alchemist Girl offered the other wooden box to Sara. It was much smaller than the previous box.
"Please set the magic stone here, and press this button to record sound. Press it again to stop recording. The other button can delete the recorded sound."
"I understand. Thank you, Ms. Alicia, Ms. Amelia for my uncle and governess' engagement."
"No, I boldly think of Lady Rebecca as a friend of maidens, so we want to celebrate as best as we can."
"Yes. Ms. Alicia is right."
The 3 maidens were chatting, while the 3 men watched them with shining eyes... or rather, they couldn't join the conversation at all.
As evening approached, Sara and the others returned to the main estate of Grandchester Castle.
Sara quickly headed to the music room to record her piano performance with the magic stone. When Juliette, the maid in charge of the music room, heard Sara was going to play the piano, she got super excited and started getting ready right away.
For some reason, the 3 men also followed her to the music room in a group.
"Um, you guys really don't have to follow me here, do you? Dinner is almost ready, and it would be better if you prepared in the guest room..."
"But you’re going to record sound with that magic stone, right? I’m really interested!"
The other 2 nodded in agreement. Sara let out a small sigh, but since it wasn’t anything she was embarrassed about, she decided to ignore them.
'Mister Thomas is starting to look more like the oldest son of the 3 brothers than a tutor.'
I chose "O lieb so lang' Du lieben kannst" from the list of "Liebesträume" to record. It seemed just right for a wedding celebration.
"Please don't talk or make any noise until I'm done recording, okay?"
After telling everyone to be quiet, Sara started to play. It wasn't her favorite song, but she remembered it because it was often used as background music at weddings.
Suddenly, Sara recalled how she had been invited to many weddings back when she was Sarasa, but in the end, she never got married herself. She felt like she had lost out on all those wedding gifts.
'Ugh, in my past life, I went to my juniors' weddings too. Since they were juniors, I had to give more money, so June was always depressing. Next time, I will definitely get married!'
Her performance was filled with a strange determination, but it turned out pretty well, so she finished the recording without needing to redo it.
As usual, Juliette was in tears listening to Sara play, while Thomas, Scott, and Blaze looked stunned.
"Miss Sara, you are amazing as always!"
"Is there anything Ms. Sara lacks in talent?"
Actually, there were a few things. At least her drawing skills were quite poor, and she showed no mercy to those she considered enemies. She often acted in ways that were not very ladylike.
Maria also thought Sara's performance was wonderful, but she wasn't as sensitive as Juliette. She was very efficient with her work, so she quietly took out a magic stone from the recording box, set it in the other wooden box, filled it with a thin cushion and velvet, then placed a bottle of Elma brandy inside and closed the lid.
"Um... now that the recording is finished, I will be leaving to get ready for dinner. Please don’t follow me, okay?"
Then Sara went back to her room, and the 3 boys honestly replied and headed to the guest room.
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