Chapter 623: An Elegant Gramophone

With Lady Fabienne and Mira still clinging to me, I resumed making the magic potion. Since Lady Fabienne had already taken it halfway through the process, I could hardly tell her to finish it herself, so I struggled on.

By concentrating on the magic potion, I somehow managed to disperse the heat gathering in my lower body.

That had been close.

Once we completed the potion safely, we moved to the rest area. Mira came with us, of course. Their large, round eyes sparkled in expectation of something delicious. Thank goodness I had hidden some dried fruit in my pocket, just in case.

As I gave Mira the dried fruit, Lady Fabienne and I exchanged progress reports.

“The gramophone is coming along nicely. All that remains is to make the casing based on the design. Is everything going well with the magic potions?”

“Yes. We’re steadily producing Rapid Growth No. 2. At this pace, within another three days we should have enough to treat the entire clover field we visited.”

“Then we should hurry to collect the clover seedlings.”

If it were only Lady Fabienne and me, we could leave immediately. Unfortunately, Father, Mother, and Rosalia were coming as well, which seemed to be making the scheduling more difficult.

I was curious how far the arrangements had progressed, so I decided to visit Lionel later.

After enjoying tea with Lady Fabienne, I left the compounding room and headed directly for the training ground. I could observe the knights and mages while looking for Lionel.

“Good day, Lord Julius.”

“Thank you for your hard work. I’m glad to see everyone looking well. Wasn’t it difficult while Lionel was away?”

“It was somewhat demanding, but the deputy commander worked very hard. From time to time, he lamented that he was still far too inexperienced.”

The knight gave a wry smile. The deputy commander was every bit as earnest as Lionel. Perhaps he had been frustrated that he couldn’t perform exactly as Lionel did. But he didn’t need to become another Lionel. I hoped he would make use of his own strengths.

The knight guided me to Lionel. The deputy commander was there too. They appeared to be practising coordinated combat.

Soldiers carrying shields, swords, and bows attacked targets while carefully confirming the effective range of each weapon.

“Lionel, I’m sorry to interrupt your training, but I need to discuss something.”

“Lord Julius. You aren’t interrupting us at all. What is it?”

I explained that the magic potions would be ready in three days and that I wanted the clover seedlings before then.

Lionel hadn’t forgotten the matter. He nodded without surprise.

“We’re prepared to depart at any time. At this point, everything depends upon the master’s decision…”

“Then I’ll ask Father. The party will consist of Lady Fabienne, Rosalia, Mira, Father, Mother, and me. Is that correct?”

“Yes. For the moment.”

Lionel’s answer was strangely hesitant. Had Brother Alex and Sister-in-law Daniela said something as well? As I tilted my head, Lionel asked cautiously:

“Lord Julius, have Lord Alex and Lady Daniela mentioned anything to you?”

“No. Should I ask them?”

Lionel nodded silently. I see. I should ask. Somehow, I had the feeling they would say they wanted to come too. Judging from his reaction, Lionel suspected the same thing.

This had become a much bigger affair than expected. Sorry, Lionel.

All right. I would raise the subject at dinner, when Brother Alex and Sister-in-law Daniela should both be present.

After returning to the workshop, I resumed making the gramophone. If possible, I wanted to complete Sister-in-law Daniela’s today.

With that in mind, I worked slightly faster than usual.

By the time I returned from escorting Lady Fabienne to the Ambert estate, it was nearly dinner. I went to the dining room early so I could present the finished gramophone to Sister-in-law Daniela.

Conveniently, she and Brother Alex entered soon afterwards.

“Sister-in-law Daniela, your gramophone is complete. Here it is.”

I handed it to her. The instant she saw it, she froze. Her eyes widened as she stared intently at the gramophone.

Could it be that she didn’t like it? I didn’t think I had misunderstood her tastes.

As if to cover for the motionless Sister-in-law Daniela, Brother Alex reacted first.

“It seems Daniela is overwhelmed by the gramophone you made for her, Julius. Considering the magnificent decoration on its casing, that’s only natural.”

“Thank you, Julius. I never imagined you would make something so wonderful for me.”

“I’m glad you like it. It was worth choosing an elegant design that would suit you.”

I smiled at Sister-in-law Daniela, whose eyes had filled with tears. Had I somehow made something so extraordinary that it could move a princess to tears? I certainly had put a great deal of effort into it.

Perhaps we should market this design as the “Daniela Model”. A gramophone bearing the same design as the kingdom’s princess might command a high price.