Chapter 8 – Part 3

Back at the palace, I was busy preparing cocktail recipes.

I was making tea syrup and tidying up in the small kitchen.

I heard a knock at the door, and when I turned around, the Crown Prince was there. Had it already reached the appointed time?

“No need for formalities. Take your time preparing.”

The Prince and the head maid of the Crown Prince’s Palace both had a habit of seeking me out rather than simply sending someone to summon me.

And today, a whole entourage of knights, maids, and servants followed us.

‘The prince is still intent on making a show of things. I thought he’d ease up by now, but he’s strangely diligent in this area.’

As we walked down the corridor and exited through the main entrance of the Empress’ Palace, I was relieved to see that the carriage was ready this time.

‘If I had to ride with the Prince again like yesterday, I’d be so flustered that I wouldn’t be able to make any cocktails.’

As the Prince helped me into the carriage, he asked,

“What kind of cocktail are you planning to make today?”

“I’m thinking of making something with a strong emphasis on tea.”

“Is there anything more I should prepare?”

“The spirits you showed me yesterday should be more than enough. Also, could I use the tea leaves from the Crown Prince’s Palace?”

“Of course. I’m looking forward to it.”

When we arrived at the Crown Prince’s Palace, one of the reception rooms was set up with various spirits and soda water.

I sat down across from the prince and listened to his brief introductions to the different liquors.

“This one is a distilled and aged wine.”

As I wafted the scent from the bottle’s mouth with my hand, I could tell it was excellent brandy. It was the same one I saw yesterday, but I had been too distracted by the whiskey to pay proper attention.

The Prince, observing my expression, voiced his concern.

“It might be a bit strong for you to drink.”

I hadn’t even said I was going to drink it yet, so why was he acting like this?

The Prince averted his eyes from mine and gestured for a servant to bring the tea leaves.

Before long, Archie entered the room with the tea leaves.

‘Archie, you’re still here!’

Archie seemed happy to see me after a long time, but he couldn’t speak to me in front of the Crown Prince.

We exchanged greetings with our eyes only.

When I tasted the tea Archie brewed, it wasn’t bad. I felt like a proud teacher watching a student come of age.

‘Archie is talented at cooking, and he’s good at making tea too!’

The Prince, for no reason, interrupted.

“Pour me a cup as well.”

Archie poured the tea into the Prince’s cup as well.

I poured another cup of tea and mixed in some brandy. A special tea, good for health and beauty, was easily completed.

I had no choice but to taste it slightly. As expected, the tea flavor was somewhat overshadowed by the taste of alcohol.

“This needs a bit of sugar.”

I then filled a new cup halfway with brandy to better adjust the amount.

After having Archie brew more tea, I filled three cups, varying the amount of brandy in each, and added sugar.

“Now, please taste them.”

The Crown Prince sipped each cup in turn and shared his thoughts.

“The first one tastes like tea with a hint of alcohol. This would be nice to drink regularly.”

It would probably be too weak to serve as the main drink at a ball.

“The second one seems just right. It would be good to enjoy warm, to appreciate the aroma.”

“Exactly.”

As expected, the Crown Prince had a discerning palate.

‘I wish I could taste all of these myself.’

I felt a bit sad that my alcohol tolerance was so low.

Looking longingly at the brandy, which had a taste as excellent as its aroma, I could only sigh.

The Crown Prince then brought another drink closer to me.

“This one is distilled from fruit wine.”

It was clear and transparent.

‘Let’s just call this eau-de-vie. If it ages, it will turn into brandy.’

Since the previous recipe was for a warm cocktail, I thought it would be fitting to make a cold one this time.

“I’m going to add some tea syrup that I prepared.”

I poured the spirit into four glasses, then combined it with tea syrup, lemon juice, and soda water in different proportions to create four cocktails.

The Crown Prince tried each one and said,

“The first one has the best taste, but it’s far too strong for a spring ball.”

He was right.

Serving something like this would have the nobles at the ball drunk within ten minutes.

After a moment of consideration, the Crown Prince made his decision.

“The fourth one is the best choice for the ball.”

It was a refreshing cocktail with a unique taste, combining strong alcohol with plenty of tea syrup, lemon juice, and soda water.

I had also suspected this would be the chosen one.

Now that the cocktail tasting was over, I needed to return to the Rose Palace to finalize the recipes the Crown Prince had selected and refine them for large-scale production.

The Crown Prince once again offered me his arm. I accepted the escort and walked out of the Crown Prince’s Palace to the main entrance.

A perfectly fine carriage was waiting.

“Today, there’s a carriage for the return trip as well.”

“I heard the repairs… were completed.”

“I see.”

It was rare to see the Crown Prince embarrassed. I felt like laughing, but I decided to let it go.

However, when I got into the carriage, I noticed that the backward-facing seat was completely covered with gift boxes.

“These are for you.”

“Oh, I see…”

So that’s why every day, a carriageful of gifts had been arriving at my door.

The backward-facing seat was so full of presents that there was no room for the Crown Prince to sit.

Naturally, he sat beside me.

Thinking about how close we were sitting reminded me of the blurry-featured attendant I had seen yesterday, and I suspected this might be another one of his tricks.

I gestured toward the gifts and then to the Crown Prince and myself, sitting closely together.

“Your Highness, was this the work of your attendant?”

“It seems so. I apologize. If you’re uncomfortable, we can…”

“No, it’s fine. I’m not bothered.”

The Crown Prince looked visibly relieved.

I continued,

“But if this was the plan, wouldn’t it have been better to have us naturally sit facing each other and then suddenly stop the carriage, making me roll into your arms?”

“Hmm.”

The Crown Prince was momentarily taken aback, then confessed honestly.

“That was, in fact, the original suggestion from Derek. However, I rejected it as it seemed inappropriate.”

Well, I actually thought it was a great idea.

‘I’m sorry for being an inappropriate person…’

My shoulders slumped.

In the carriage, with only the sound of wheels clattering on the cobblestones, the Crown Prince pulled out a small box from his coat.

It was a box covered in black leather, with the artisan’s logo engraved and gold-leafed. It was refined and striking, even compared to items from my previous life.

“I wanted to give this to you personally.”

As he spoke, the Crown Prince clicked open the box.

Inside was a pair of earrings in the exact same color as my necklace.

‘Didn’t Noah say this necklace was made of magic stones? Aren’t magic stones supposed to be unavailable here?’

The Crown Prince, noticing my surprised expression, explained,

“It took some time to find stones that matched your necklace. They’re not identical, but they should complement each other well.”

Upon closer inspection, I noticed that the way the light refracted within the stones was slightly different from that of the magic stones.

‘Since I wear this necklace every day, he must have intentionally prepared earrings that would match it.’

Though I had received many gifts from the Crown Prince, this was the first one that truly touched my heart.

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

I couldn’t take my eyes off the earrings. The Crown Prince smiled contentedly.

The rest of the gifts in the carriage were to be delivered to my door by the Crown Prince’s arrangement, so I returned to the Rose Palace with peace of mind.

Having finalized the cocktails for the upcoming spring ball, I needed to organize the recipes and send them to Duke Oscar.

I sat back in the same spot where I had once drunk too much and passed out, and I began organizing the recipes.

‘The amount of sugar for the tea syrup… and the lemon juice…’

Adjusting the recipes for large-scale production was proving to be quite tricky.

I spent the entire afternoon perfecting the five cocktail recipes.

‘Should I just hand this over to any servant and head back to the Imperial Palace?’

As I was thinking this, Duke Oscar approached with a maid and a few servants in tow.

I walked over to Duke Oscar and handed him the recipes.

“Here are the five mixed drinks.”

“You’ve done well.”