Chapter 3

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When Lord heard Mr. Nicholas' words, he froze.

To begin with, what are all these ominous words like "fall," "falling," and "dying" that have been coming up in the conversation? What is Lady trying to do?

I am employed specifically to take care of Mr. Nicholas, so I shouldn't interfere unnecessarily, but these words are really stirring up my anxiety.

“Marianne, Marie, did you hear? Even Nicholas is saying such things.”

“Oh, I think Nicholas' love for experiments is a part of his nature. Well, if it were Nicholas, the response in case of an emergency might be a bit slow, so I won't let him do it. So it's fine. I'll handle it.”

“No, no, no. There might still be an emergency. Alright, that's the end of this conversation. Got it?”

“Ehe.”

“Neither ‘ehe’ nor ‘ufufu’ will work! ”

As I fidget, the eldest son, Lord Harold, tries to reassure me.

“It's okay, Reia. Father and Mother are just having a good time. By tomorrow morning, everything will be back to normal. Speaking of which, Reia, is the second helping of meat ready?”

“Ehe.”

“Neither ‘ehe’ nor ‘ufufu’ will work! ”

Lady has been gathering the local women since this morning to discuss the harvest festival held in the duchy.

The harvest festival started when the couple began governing the territory, and all the costs for materials and other expenses are covered by the lord, while the villagers contribute by helping with the work.

After all, the duke and duchess are making an incredible amount of money from the exclusive sale of coal, the development and sale of automatic vehicles and large automatic vehicles, and the postal delivery service. The villagers are so proud of this that they boast about it as if it were their own business.

This year, both wheat and vegetables have had a bountiful harvest. It's been three years since Lady came up with the idea of fermenting leaves, vegetable scraps, and chicken manure before using them as fertilizer, and the soil has improved significantly, making the crops more resistant to disease and increasing the yield.

The harvest volume is so impressive that it has even surprised people at the presentation in the capital, and other territories are eager to try it out, with a flood of requests for visits. All of this is second-hand information from the butler.

“So, I think just the harvest festival and the compost-making workshop might be a bit dull. I think we should have something that really draws attention and promotes tourism in the duchy.”

“The wheat flour dough fried in oil is a must, right?”

“I'll make a pumpkin tart.”

“Warm pudding in small cups will surely be popular.”

“Grilled meat skewers are always a hit with the gentlemen.”

“How about putting grilled meat in a bun?”

Lady Marianne nodded in agreement.

“We should set up stalls to sell all these. They'll definitely be popular. But, I have one more idea to create a memorable and eye-catching scene at the end.”

“Oh, Lady, you have such a wonderful idea?”

“Yes, I'll show you all the real thing now.”

With that, Lady Marianne stood up and led the women's group to the garden.

“Tom, bring that.”

Tom, the gardener, is a veteran who came with Lady Marianne from her hometown. He is skilled with his hands and is a devoted admirer of Lady Marianne's talent.

“Here it is.”

What Tom handed over looked like a simple thin paper bag.

“Watch this,”

Lady Marianne turned the bag upside down and spread it out. There were hemp strings sewn into the four corners, with small, light pieces of wood hanging from them. In the center of the wood, a wooden nail was hammered in from below.

“Stick the candle to this wooden nail.”

Lady Marianne had Tom hold the spread-out paper bag, placed the candle, and lit it.

The women in the group all looked puzzled.

After watching for a while, Lady Marianne nodded to Tom, who gently let go of the bag.

“Oh my!”

The paper bag, filled with the heat from the candle, quietly rose into the sky.

“Such a small candle can do this!”

Everyone watched in amazement as the paper bag continued to rise. Mr. Nicholas, his cheeks flushed, clapped his hands and laughed, looking up. Lady Flora also looked up, making “Aww, aww” sounds.

“What if we release hundreds of these into the night sky all at once? Wouldn't that be beautiful?”

The women in the group, imagining the scene, nodded in silent agreement, moved by the idea.

“The only thing to be careful about is fire, but we can choose the location. At night, the wind blows from the land to the lake, so the paper lanterns will all drift towards the lake and won't fall on the land.”

“Will the wind always blow towards the lake?”

A young woman asked hesitantly.

“Yes, unless there's a storm. At night, the land, which is made of stone and soil, cools down, while water doesn't cool as easily, so the air moves towards the lake.”

Lady Marianne then explained about temperature and air density for a while, but everyone except Mr. Nicholas listened with a vague expression. I didn't understand it either. What is air pressure?

“Anyway, I'm excited! Just thinking about how beautiful it will be makes me so excited.”

I agree with the young woman. How beautiful would it be to see hundreds of these paper lanterns rising into the night sky?

The harvest festival is a month away, and I'm already looking forward to it with excitement.