Ch 13

If possible, flowers should be made of gold. Selling flowers turned into gold would be a good gift in itself. What is certain is that it will sell at high price.

Eluana’s dream, which had been blooming in lumps, was shattered by the following explanation from the Duke.

 “It is possible with alchemy to turn leaves into gold. It is also possible to make not only gold but also elixir. However, changing the material itself requires a great price.”

“You will have to pay?”

 “You will use your life force.”

“Life force?”

“It’s similar. So usually, they use their abilities through resonance with materials that have a high affinity for them.”

“Material and resonance …?”

 Eluana’s head tilted slightly. It was difficult for her to understand, so she didn’t understand it at once.

“Each alchemist has a material with a particularly high affinity. For example, materials with high affinity for me are gold.”

The Duke took ten gold coins from his bosom. The gold coins placed on the palm of her hand melted and changed into a rabbit shape. The Golden Rabbit turned into a roaring bear again, and then shot out like a stream of water. The golden wave around Eluana’s wrist turned into a ring bracelet. Eluana looked down at the gold bracelet on her wrist.

 “You can simply change its shape, increase its strength like I did, or make it into a weapon with high cutting power. Unless they change their traits, such as turning gold into silver, they use energy in return.”

 “Then when I smelt my sword.”

“Have you ever felt your heart pound when you smelt a sword?”

 “yes.”

 “That’s the resonance. The more you think of a specific image you want to apply to the material, the better the result. You must have had a certain image of the unbreakable sword.”

 “I was thinking about it because I didn’t want anyone using the sword to get hurt. “

“Alchemy is closer to communication than magic. When you get to the duchy, I’ll tell you the basics”

“Should I do a demonstration in front of the First Prince? To prove that the sword was alchemized.”

The Duke laughed as if he had heard a funny word.

“Alchemy is a gift the dragon gave to the Spess family. So far, there has never been an alchemist outside the Spess family. As the head of Spess, if I admit it, that’s all. There is no need to prove otherwise.”

“then …”

“First, I plan to announce Ron Vita as a member of the Spess family. You can say you inherited the alchemy ability from him. I plan to organize Ron Vita’s funeral. Although a fallen family, Ron Vita was the head of the household. Concealing his death is a more felony than you think.”

That meant letting her continue to live as Ron Vita’s daughter, not the Duke’s illegitimate child. For her elusive position, and for Louie it was better that way too.

 “thank you for your consideration.”

 “You’re talking like I’m a stranger.”

Eluana seemed to have shown her true intentions, so she averted er gaze.

“I want to take Louie with me.”

“He is Stella’s child.”

Because of the unexpected answer, Eluana was speechless. The sun vas setting slowly when they stopped the carriage that had entered the village

The three-story annex next to the six-story inn was where they were staying today. The first floor of the annex consisted of carriage storage, the second floor was a restaurant, and the third floor was a guest room.

It was an inn for aristocrats who carried many servants. Eluana’s eyes widened as she looked out the carriage window. It was the first time Eluana came out of the Aden estate. During the festival, when the people of her village went to the neighboring estates, only the family of Eluana kept to the empty Aden.

Ron Vita and Stella raised Eluana freely, but she was strictly forbidden from leaving Aden. Except for the lord’s castle, there were no buildings with more than two floors in Aden. So, the six-story inn in front was the tallest building Eluana had ever seen.

“high.”

When Eluana admired it, Louie opened her eyes and smirked.

 “Isn’t it sister’s first time coming to another town? I’ve been to Yonezu.”

Louie’s mouth widened as he turned his gaze out the window with a bashful smile.

“Whoa, high. It’s shiny.”

Because Yonezu was a country estate no less than Aden, so there was no such tall building.

 In addition, the farther away from Aden, the more the number of particles of light that Louie could see, so it sparkled wherever he looked.

The Duke, seeing Louie’s wide eyes, grinned.

“Let’s get off.”

The Duke, who got off the carriage first, reached out to Eluana. 

Are you going to catch it? I could get off by myself.

 But Eluana held his hand. There are many things that she will need help with, so she chose not to go against his nerves. It was a calculated movement, but the Duke’s hand supporting her weight was warm.

Even after she got out of the carriage and removed her hand, the warmth remained, and her palm tickled for nothing. The Duke then lifted Louie up and lowered him. It was an unexpected development, so both Eluana and Louie had to roll their eyes in embarrassment.

 “Go in.”

“yes.”

It was when Eluana took Louie’s hand and answered awkwardly. The door to the inn swung open and someone ran out.

“Duke! It’s the Duke!!”

The man who ran out screaming sadly passed the Duke and stood in front of Eluana and Louie.

“Oh my gosh, breathe.”

The man who covered his mouth with his hand with a strange noise finally started crying and introduced himself.

“My name is Noah Nielsen, the Duke’s assistant.”

“… hello.”

Noah was moved just by a hello from Eluana. Noah, who pulled out his handkerchief and wiped his tears, said in a watery voice.

“It’s really sad that I didn’t know until you grew up like this.”

Eluana flinched.

It was as if he had regained his lost love of a thousand years. It was an exaggerated feeling for a person meeting for the first time.

It broke Noah’s heart to think of how hard it must have been in prison. Noah’s shoulders drooped as Eluana narrowed. The Duke said as he walked into the building first.

“Noah, don’t be shy. Come in. “

As soon as Eluana, Louie, and Noah entered, the waiting staff bowed their heads to greet the guests. The man who seemed the oldest among them asked the Duke respectfully.

“Would you like to eat first? Or would you like to take a bath? “

The Duke did not answer and looked at Eluana.

 Realizing that she had been passed the option, Eluana answered.

“From the bath. “

The woman with her hair tied up led Eluana and Louie to the third floor.

“You can use these two rooms. Bath water is available. May I serve you? “

I was about to say that I don’t need it, but Louie replied at once.

 “yes, please. Noona, let’s wash up quickly and eat.”

After washing Louie, it will take some time for Eluana to finish bathing. She had people waiting for her, so it was reasonable for her to do so.

 “Then take a bath and stay in your room. I will come over.”

Louie nodded his head. Eluana let Louie go and went into the bathroom in her room. A large bathtub filled with fragrant water. As she took off her clothes and sank into the water, her body seemed to melt. It doesn’t hurt even when it comes in contact with water.

She fumbled for nothing with her back and leaned back in the bathtub. The inn was bigger and more splendid than Eluana had vaguely imagined. She couldn’t even imagine what the duchy would look like if the inn was this much.

“Dad, this seems to be the sweet life, doesn’t it?”

Assistant Noah roughly put the papers piled up on the round table and pulled out only the quarterly budget. This had to be reviewed before returning to the Duke’s residence.

Noah laid the papers open and sat down in front of the Duke who was sipping his drink in a relaxed manner.

First, a report.

“Both of Ron Vita’s swords at the auction were successful. Those swords were why Miss Eluana was imprisoned?”

“Right. Buy other swords on the market little by little so nobody notices.”

“yes.“

Noah, who was taking notes of the instructions, started nagging, unable to swallow the rising emotions.

“No, no matter how urgent it is. What if you leave me alone? You suddenly disappeared and there was a commotion. I thought you were attacked. When I woke up. I saw that you had crossed the teleport gate.”

The Duke of Spess answered in a voice mixed with self-pity.

“Were you sure when you left?”

 “The Alchemy Sword appeared, and it was supposed to be made by Ron Vita”,

 Noah sighed a little. He searched all over the continent to find Stella. But he didn’t even think about ‘Ron Vita’. Even more so, that such a short relationship could have continued like this.

 No, that’s it. Noah continued nagging.

“Still, you should have brought gold coins. How did you borrow the carriage? “

“I got some from the First Prince.”

“You stole it.”

“The prince beat my child.”

Noah took a breath. He’d hoped he heard it wrong. Noah asked, hiding his trembling.

“You didn’t kill the first prince, did you? Still, he is the most powerful prince as the next emperor …. “

“What do you think of me?”

 “It’s the Duke. You are the Duke.”

So, the concern that he might have killed the first prince was really justified.

 “I didn’t kill him. I have no intention of moving on like this.”

 “Thank you for saving me. It is said that if you kill the First Prince, you’ll be really tired. The worst is war.”

The Duke of Spess answered briefly, ‘I know’, and then emptied the glass.

 Noah was an old friend before being an assistant to the Duke. The reason Noah treats him rather loosely is because he has been a playmate with the Duke since he was five years old. Noah’s feelings were more complicated because they were confident that they knew each other better than anyone else.

Honestly, I don’t know if I should comfort you or congratulate you.

“Congratulations. You found your child.”

The long wait is finally over. You won’t have to wait for Stella anymore.

Among the many emotions he felt, there was certainly a sense of remorse.

“When they see Eluana-sama and Louie-sama, many people will be surprised and go crazy.”

 “I will.”

As he inadvertently tilted the glass, a light brown liquid flowed between the lips of the Duke.

“Are you thinking of adopting Master Louie too?”

 “Of course.”

Noah accepted his choice as if it were taken for granted. Just because he was Stella’s child, Louie deserved complete protection. Noah said, remembering the figure of Louie.

 “Aren’t you a lovely child?”

 “Because it’s Stella’s child.”

The Duke of Spess answered calmly and poured all the alcohol left in the glass into his mouth.