Chapter 611: The Clover Field

If I admitted here that I could sing, then everyone would absolutely ask me to perform.

That was the one thing I desperately wanted to avoid.

And if, by some terrible twist of fate, people actually liked it…

Then my songs might start spreading throughout the territory.

Which, in other words, meant anime songs would begin spreading throughout the Heine Margrave House domain.

A catastrophe.

“How’s it, Julius?” Father asked.

“It’s true that I sang together with Fabienne during the carriage ride, but unlike the piano performance, the singing itself was nothing special. Just ordinary songs.”

“Ordinary… I see.”

Hmm.

Father still looked unconvinced.

Still, at least he seemed to understand that I didn’t particularly want to sing. Thankfully, he chose not to push the matter any further.

Rosalia looked disappointed, but this was one of those moments where I needed to harden my heart.

“I really wanted to hear Julius-niisama sing…”

“Really? Personally, I’d like to hear you sing, Rosalia.”

Apparently she hadn’t expected that answer at all.

Rosalia instantly jerked her head upward in surprise.

And judging from the way the rest of the family suddenly focused on her, it seemed I wasn’t the only one interested in hearing the song of our household princess.

“F-fweh!?”

“Oh my, that sounds wonderful, Rosalia. Mother would love to hear you sing too~”

Mother immediately pressed the advantage while Rosalia’s face turned bright red.

Well, the gramophone could record any kind of sound.

Mother was probably thinking that she wanted to preserve Rosalia’s singing voice while she was still this young.

I wholeheartedly agreed.

Honestly, I wanted that recording too.

Cornered by Mother’s eager encouragement, Rosalia timidly began to sing.

And the moment she did—

The atmosphere changed completely.

Perhaps it was because of the bath’s natural acoustics and echoes, but her voice sounded almost like that of a true songstress.

Clear.

Gentle.

Beautifully resonant.

Everyone immediately burst into praise, and naturally, I applauded enthusiastically as well.

Who would’ve thought Rosalia possessed such a hidden talent?

Mother already looked as though she was seriously debating whether to hire a professional singing instructor.

Eventually, our pleasant family bath time came to an end, and we returned to our respective rooms.

Unfortunately, Sister-in-law Daniela had apparently grown quite fond of the idea of communal family baths.

“We should all bathe together like this from time to time,” she’d proposed cheerfully.

And somehow…

The proposal had passed unanimously.

Well, it was true that everyone had seemed noticeably closer afterward.

There really was something about “naked companionship” that strengthened bonds.

Next time, though, Fabienne would definitely need to join us too.

Leaving someone out would be unfair.

“If we put the gramophone up for sale, it feels like it would sell unbelievably well.”

“I believe so too,” Nero replied. “Until now, listening to music so casually was impossible for most people.”

“You want one too, Nero?”

“Yes. If possible… I would also like a gramophone containing Julius-sama’s songs.”

“…I’ll think about it.”

Apparently Nero had become incredibly fond of anime songs.

That was troubling.

Ideally, I wanted to keep that entire subject hidden forever.

Well… somehow things would probably work out.

Time solved most problems.

Probably.

The following day, the gramophone designs finally began reaching a deadlock.

The same ideas kept endlessly circling around inside my head without evolving.

Yeah, this was no good.

I needed to step away from it for a while.

Fortunately, there were plenty of other tasks demanding attention.

One of them was expanding the medicinal herb garden.

After all, if I wanted to obtain Holy Clover, I first needed to create an actual clover field.

With that goal in mind, I headed toward Father’s office to request permission for the expansion.

“Father, one of the ingredients necessary for creating the magical potion that grants light affinity is a material called Holy Clover. To cultivate it, I’d like permission to expand the medicinal herb garden.”

“I understand. Permission granted. Though just in case, speak with Amelia about it as well. I already explained the general situation to her yesterday, so there shouldn’t be any issues.”

“Thank you very much. I’ll go ask her immediately.”

If Father had already spoken to Mother, then perhaps he’d also informed Alex-niisama and Sister-in-law Daniela.

If so, that certainly simplified matters.

After all, this might eventually become necessary throughout the entire Spencer Kingdom.

I immediately went searching for Mother and discovered her having tea together with Rosalia in the salon.

Judging by the relaxed atmosphere, it seemed Rosalia’s gramophone production had finally reached a stopping point.

Which meant—

Perhaps my gramophone had finally been completed.

That was genuinely exciting.

“Mother, I came to discuss something with you.”

“Oh my? What is it? First, have some tea.”

With a subtle glance from Mother, the servants immediately prepared a steaming cup of tea for me.

I decided to take a brief moment to relax as well.

Once I received approval for the herb garden expansion, things were going to become very busy.

“Oniisama’s gramophone is finished! I’ll go bring it right now!”

“Thank you. I’m looking forward to seeing it.”

The moment I smiled and said that, Rosalia dashed out of the salon together with Lillie.

Mother watched her leave with softened eyes.

She looked as though she wanted to say something, yet remained silent.

Probably because I’d said I had something important to discuss.

She likely assumed it was a conversation Rosalia shouldn’t hear.

And honestly… perhaps she was right.

If Rosalia heard we were creating a clover field, she’d probably insist on helping herself.

“Mother, I’d like to expand the medicinal herb garden. Father has already given his approval.”

“I don’t mind, but is the current herb garden insufficient? It’s already fairly large, isn’t it?”

“The issue is that the material required for the light-attribute potion can’t be obtained within the current garden.”

I proceeded to explain to Mother how Holy Clover was acquired.

After hearing the explanation, even Mother concluded that cultivating it within the existing herb garden would be impossible.

“You’re right, Julius. We can hardly send people into the demon territories just to gather it. Very well, you have my permission. However, please do it toward the far end of the garden if possible.”

“Of course. I would never do anything that harms the scenery of the Heine Margrave House estate.”

Excellent.

Now I had permission from both Father and Mother.

That meant I could proceed with building the clover field without hesitation.

The estate grounds were still enormous, after all.

And if I generously used magical potions to accelerate growth, I should be able to obtain Holy Clover without needing to wait very long at all.