Chapter 295: Men’s Fountain Pen

After being able to exercise vigorously for the first time in a while, I feel strangely light-hearted. I hadn’t realized it myself, but it seems that stress had been accumulating little by little.

The intense exercise was refreshing and exhilarating! No wonder it feels so good.

Returning to the mansion with this pleasant feeling, I found that colored glass had arrived at the workshop. Rosalia had already started working on the glass pens.

“Oh, these are quite nice colors. They’re vibrant, cute, just like Rosalia.”

“Oh, Oniichan”

Rosalia blushed. As expected of a lady. Even at seven years old, she seems to understand that the compliment is genuine. It’s worth saying such things. And judging by her reaction, it seems she hasn’t noticed the “thing” I gave to Lelie. Impressive, Lelie.

“Julius-sama, the crystal you ordered has arrived.”

“Really? Now we can finally complete the shrine to be presented to the royal family.”

I processed the crystal handed to me by Nero into a perfect sphere. As ordered, it’s a larger crystal. The finished crystal is about the size used by fortune-tellers. It feels somewhat mysterious.

I’ll install it at the back of the shrine and seal it carefully to complete it.

“It’s done. I need to report this to Sister-in-law Daniela right away.”

When I reported it to Sister-in-law Daniela, she was very pleased. She said she would arrange to have it sent to the royal castle immediately. That’s one burden off my shoulders.

“Now I can start working on my own tasks. First, I’ll work on the fountain pen. I’m afraid of being scolded by Father later for it not being done.”

“I don’t think he’ll say such things… I’ll prepare everything. Should I use the same materials as yesterday?”

“That’s the thing. I think it would be better to make it more practical for Father.”

I don’t think it needs to be as glamorous as the ones given to Mother and Sister-in-law Daniela. Generally, men don’t adorn themselves with flashy things. So, a more understated, dandy fountain pen might be better.

“Alright, decided. I’ll use wood for the material. I’ll paint the wood black and add some gold decorations in parts.”

“Understood. I’ll get everything prepared.”

While Nero goes to get the materials, I’ll start making the black color. I’ll mix various paints to create a black hue. I’ll add a bit more blue, so it’s not pitch black but rather closer to navy blue. I won’t make it matte; rather, I’ll make it glossy.

I immediately started working with the materials that were brought to me. I’ve made three fountain pens so far, so I’m quite familiar with the process. I quickly made the parts and dyed the necessary areas black. The color turned out quite nicely.

Since I’m at it, I’ll change the color of my own fountain pen to match as well. After all, it looks cooler that way.

“Julius-oniichan, I’d like to make Alex-oniichan and Cain-oniichan’s fountain pens the same color too.”

“Shall we? In that case, let’s paint them together.”

It seems that Rosalia has finished making the glass pens. She’s now started working on the fountain pens. Perhaps she was waiting for me to return. Although I taught her how to make them yesterday, she didn’t seem confident about doing it alone. She still seems like a child in that regard. Well, she is a child.

It seems she can’t afford to make mistakes like I do, saying things like “Oops, I messed up, teehee.” Even though it doesn’t matter if she makes mistakes.

“Rosalia, you shouldn’t be afraid of making mistakes. Success comes from piling up failures.”

“But you don’t make mistakes, do you?”

“No, no, Rosalia. You just haven’t noticed, but I’ve made plenty of mistakes.”

I couldn’t help but smile wryly. Did Rosalia see me that way? Even though I’m full of failures. Indeed, if I think “this is bad” before it turns into a complete failure and fix it immediately, it might look like I’m not failing from an outsider’s perspective. I also conduct thorough preliminary tests.

Whether or not Rosalia was convinced, she didn’t say anything more about it.

Don’t try to copy me, Rosalia. Doing so will make you lose your own identity.

After giving advice and making corrections, we finally completed three fountain pens between us. Now only sister-in-law Mika’s fountain pen remains. It has to be a luxurious one.

“Oh, and I’ll make a fountain pen for Rosalia and give it to her as a present. It might be too big for her to use comfortably right now, though.”

“Thank you very much. I’m looking forward to it!”

This means that all members of the Heine Baron family will have a fountain pen. There shouldn’t be any complaints with this. As I was satisfied with the completed gentleman’s fountain pens, Nero announced lunchtime.

When I went to the dining room for lunch, I found our father there, which was unusual. It seems that Cain-niisan and the others haven’t returned yet. It looks like they’ll be having lunch out as well. They might come back later.

I didn’t expect to see Father here. He’s probably, no, definitely waiting for the fountain pen. I’m glad I made it this morning.

“Father, this will be your fountain pen.”

“Oh, sorry, Julius. This is…”

He seems surprised by the splendid black gloss. Mother, who was sitting next to him, also seemed interested and was peeking at Father’s hand.

“Oh, it’s a lovely color. It’s perfect for Max. And the gold decorations here and there are really wonderful. It has a simple feel, but if you look closely, it has a refined elegance.”

“Yes, it does. I like it, Julius. Thank you.”

“I’m glad you like it, Father.”

It was rare for Father to pat me on the head. It seems he really liked it. While I was teaching Father how to use it again, Alex-niisan and the others arrived. Rosalia was handing Alex-niisan his fountain pen.

“Did Rosalia make this? It’s amazing. It’s very beautiful. It feels almost too good to use.”

“Please use it properly. Julius-niisan said that stationery only has value when it’s used.”

“Ah, that’s true. I’ll take good care of it. Thank you, Rosalia.”

“Hehe.”

Rosalia looked pleased as Alex-niisan patted her on the head. Rosalia really likes everyone in the family. When Cain-niisan comes back, he’ll surely pat her on the head too.

Cain-niisan is also quite indulgent with Rosalia.

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