Chapter 69

The success of the crude glassblowing.

Upon receiving the report, Queen Aura returned to the harem to discuss the future of glass manufacturing with Zenjiro, altering her schedule.

Zenjiro, who has been quite busy since the arrival of Prince Francesco and Princess Bona, tries to return to the harem for lunch whenever possible. If Aura's memory serves her correctly, Zenjiro was supposed to have lunch in the harem today.

Returning to the harem, Aura briskly walked down the corridor and forcefully pulled open the door to the living room where Zenjiro was supposed to be having lunch.

"Zenjiro, I'm sorry, but can I have a moment?"

As she said this and stepped into the living room, the queen's movements froze.

"Aura...?"

Zenjiro, who was in the middle of his lunch, shuddered and looked at her, clearly surprised by her unexpected visit. His reaction was so flustered that a jealous woman might have suspected, "Do you have something to hide?"

However, upon quickly seeing what Zenjiro was eating, Aura realized her mistake and sighed, apologizing.

"I'm sorry, it seems I've chosen a bad time. I'll go pass the time elsewhere, so please finish your meal at your leisure."

"Okay, sorry."

Zenjiro, who was about to leave, replied with a small apology and sipped the 'soba' he had been eating.

"Hmm, indeed, the customs of a foreign land cannot be accepted in their entirety."

Closing the door to the living room, Aura shrugged and muttered. While most of the food and recipes Zenjiro brought from his world were interesting and delicious to her, there were a few that highlighted the cultural differences she could not accept.

The 'soba' Zenjiro was eating was a perfect example.

To be precise, what Aura found difficult to accept was not the 'soba' itself, but the act of slurping noodle soups.

Zenjiro had local dried noodles and 'mentsuyu' (soba sauce) from his aunt. These were items he had brought from Japan, but he had left them untouched for a long time because explaining the cooking process to the maids was too much trouble (as a royal, Zenjiro was not recommended to cook in the kitchen himself).

Eventually, Zenjiro decided to teach the cooking process to Vanessa, the head of the kitchen staff, and had her prepare the soba. The first attempt was overcooked and mushy, but subsequent attempts were edible.

The broth was a simple mixture of commercial 'mentsuyu' with meat and dried seafood stock, without any chopped green onions to mask the smell. Despite this, Zenjiro, whose palate was not particularly refined, found it satisfactory as long as the soba tasted like soba and the broth had a good meat flavor.

Seeing Zenjiro slurping the soba with enthusiasm, Aura's face contorted, which was a natural reaction.

Indeed, even on Earth, there are cultures that strongly dislike slurping noodle soups like ramen or soba.

For Zenjiro, slurping was not particularly vulgar (it was a very common dish that rarely appeared in formal settings), but for Aura, it was a reflexive grimace of disgust.

The intelligent Aura and the less intelligent but still knowledgeable Zenjiro quickly realized that neither was at fault and that finding a compromise on this issue was difficult.

Thus, the solution they came up with was "non-interference."

Zenjiro only eats noodle soups when he is alone in the harem, and Aura does not comment on his behavior.

In this sense, the earlier incident was more of a mistake on Aura's part.

"Although it's a waste to eat separately when we're both in the harem, there's no other choice. I'll have my meal in another room. Please prepare it as you see fit, Vanessa."

"Yes, I understand."

As she passed by, Aura relayed her request to the bowing maid and headed straight to one of the harem's rooms.

The sudden change in plans and the sudden request for a meal. The maids, who were outwardly calm, were undoubtedly in a frenzy behind the scenes.

Aura, being born into royalty, naturally gave the order without hesitation, whereas Zenjiro would have considered the maids' situation and hesitated unnecessarily.

A master who gives unreasonable orders and a master who hesitates to express their wishes, making the maids guess their intentions and act autonomously. Both are, in their own ways, troublesome masters.

Walking down the harem's corridor, Aura shook her head slightly.

"Zenjiro is from another world. Considering that, it's fortunate that our differences in values are limited to this extent."

Despite this, Aura still found the culture of slurping noodles difficult to accept.

Shaved ice, brandy, castella, and recently, distilled spirits. Generally, the Earth-based food and drink culture Zenjiro brought to this world were enjoyable for Aura, but there were a few exceptions.

"Besides, if he could stop making that insane dish of cooking beans with a large amount of sugar to make a paste, it would be even better."

So far, the only two food cultures Zenjiro brought that Aura rejected were these.

The 'sweet bean paste,' according to Zenjiro, was "still in the trial stage. If we can reproduce it, it can be used in various sweets," but honestly, it seemed dubious. Cooking beans with sugar did not seem like a normal dish.

However, it was impolite to dwell on her husband's few shortcomings for too long.

Switching her thoughts, the queen opened the door to a rarely used dining room.

After finishing their separate meals, which, if heard alone, might sound like a "cold and estranged couple on the verge of divorce," Zenjiro and Aura sat across from each other on the living room sofa.

"I see, I've been completely out of the loop, but the glass manufacturing has made significant progress. It's impressive that they've managed to shape the glass through blowing. So, the main issue is still the 'color of the glass,' right?"

"Yes. Other problems include the kilns not being able to withstand the high temperatures required for glass manufacturing, resulting in a very short kiln lifespan. However, the most pressing issue at the moment is the color problem."

With the hot season over, it was now possible to stay in the air-conditioned bedroom without much discomfort.

Queen Aura, who had another task immediately after this, sat on the black sofa in her third formal red dress, with her legs neatly aligned, and slightly twisted her lips.

"Still, removing the color from the glass. Hmm, fundamentally, it comes down to how to remove metal components from silica sand. This can be achieved through water stirring to skim the top layer, using magnets to remove metal particles, and, as a more fundamental solution, using sand with as little metal content as possible."

"Hmm, indeed. They seem to be doing water stirring to the extreme. The 'magnets' you occasionally use in the garden, you said, won't work for a while. So, the only immediate solution is to find sand more suitable for glass, right?"

Seemingly expecting Zenjiro's response, Aura's expression was not as disappointed as her words suggested, and she folded her arms.

Realizing from her expression that it wasn't a particularly serious problem, Zenjiro had a mischievous idea.

(Well, this should be a harmless joke, right?)

"I'm just a layman from a world with glass, so my knowledge is limited to the two DVDs I showed you."

"Two times?"

As Zenjiro intended, Aura reacted sharply to the "two times" part. Zenjiro, feigning innocence,

"Yes. The first time was making 'glassware.' The second time was making 'round glass sheets,' known as 'crown glass.' The methods for removing the color from the glass are mainly demonstrated in the second session, but I don't think I showed you that, did I?"

He said this with a straight face.

While colored glassware can be used without issues other than appearance, window glass, or 'sheet glass,' requires high transparency to be practical. Therefore, the 'crown glass' session involved more methods for removing the color from the glass than the glassware session.

"I haven't seen it, I haven't."

Feeling that he needed to set the record straight before it was too late, Zenjiro said,

"Ah, but I've already told you the methods that can be implemented in this world. If you still want to see it, I can show you, but don't be disappointed, okay? It's not my fault."

Pressed by his wife's enthusiasm, Zenjiro forgot his initial mischief and emphasized this point.

"Yes, I understand. It's a waste either way."

Despite her words, Aura's face was filled with unmistakable hope.

A few minutes later, the two were sitting in front of the TV.

Zenjiro held the TV remote in his right hand, pausing frequently to explain the content to Aura in detail. As a result, it took nearly an hour to finish a program that was less than thirty minutes long. However, it was inevitable, as it would be too inefficient to ask the busy Queen Aura to learn Japanese just to watch TV.

"... That's how 'crown glass' is made. The glass is blown and then spun rapidly to form a circular disc. This creates a round, flat sheet of glass.

Do you understand? It's used for windows, which let in light but not air, allowing light to enter from outside.

Therefore, window glass requires a higher level of transparency compared to glassware."

"I see."

Aura, with a serious expression, leaned forward from the sofa, staring intently at the TV screen.

For a while, things went smoothly.

"Hmm, you ground the sand in a stone mortar, right?"

"Yes. By making the sand as fine as possible, it's easier to remove the metal mixed in. After washing the sand with water and drying it thoroughly, it is sieved to separate the sand containing metal particles from the sand that doesn't."

"This part is already the method you taught us."

"Yes. And here, the square rod in the bag inserted into the sand is a 'magnet.' It has the property of attracting metal, so it's used to separate the metal content."

"Is this the method you've been experimenting with in the courtyard recently?"

"Yes, but it's not going well. So, for now, consider this method non-existent."

"Hmm, it's disappointing, but there's no other choice. So, what's left is..."

The TV showed methods they had already tried and methods they couldn't try due to a lack of tools. Up to this point, Aura remained calm, as there was nothing new to gain.

The problem arose afterward.

"... Stop."

At Aura's low, restraining voice, Zenjiro inwardly flinched, thinking, "Here it comes."

However, Zenjiro maintained a feigned expression and voice, saying,

"Huh? What is it?"

Of course, there was no way Aura would be fooled by such a ruse.

"What did you just say?"

Reluctantly, Zenjiro sighed and answered honestly.

"Yes, so, even after using the magnet, the glass was still too colored. To make it more transparent, I added 'something.'"

"What is this 'something'?"

"Broken pieces of transparent glass."

"..."

Zenjiro's answer made Aura frown deeply, and she remained silent for a moment, a frightening expression on her face.

Zenjiro, who had initially approached this with a mischievous intent, felt a bit regretful at how scary her expression was.

To make transparent glass, you mix in transparent glass.

Well, mixing it in would indeed result in 'transparent glass,' since the original material was transparent.

"Hey, Dad..."

"Me? I don't remember having such a big daughter. I do have a wife, though."

"Is that so? Hey, Carlos' dad."

"Wh-What is it, Zenjiro's mom?"

Intimidated by his wife's flat tone and