Chapter 17
Chloe couldn’t help but burst out laughing at Viscount Fortnum’s words. Alphonse sipped his tea in silence while listening to their conversation.
After the Battenbergs had enjoyed their time and left, Lady Fortnum said to her husband,
“Honey, did you see it too?”
“What are you talking about?”
“The way the Duke looked at the Duchess. It seemed like the Duke was very interested in the Duchess.”
“Hmm, was that so? I’m not sure.”
Viscount Fortnum tilted his head.
But Lady Fortnum thought otherwise. She was quite perceptive, and she saw clearly. It was not uncommon for the duke to glance at his wife and watch her with interest.
Some might ask what’s so special about that? It’s just a curious look, not one of love or affection. On the contrary, they might say that it’s too late if the husband is only just beginning to show some interest in his wife. Lady Fortnum would have thought the same if they were any other couple.
But ‘he’ was the Duke of Battenberg. He, Alphonse Battenberg, of all people.
Moreover, the Duke, who was always the center of attention in society, seemed to be of no interest to the lady.
The Duchess, unexpectedly, seemed to be quite friendly with the Duke, but that was about it. The Duchess seemed to have too many interests to be interested in her husband.
‘This is interesting. I heard that the Duke of Battenberg is treating his wife coldly.’
Lady Fortnum smiled at the thought. She was almost certain that what she had seen was the prelude to a new relationship.
‘As expected, you can’t trust rumors.’
Chloe Battenberg was definitely an interesting and fascinating person. She was intrigued and curious about her. It had been a long time since she had wanted to know more about someone.
***
Chloe was so happy to have her first same-sex friend. She woke up the next morning and went straight to the kitchen. She asked the kitchen maids to prepare fresh milk, unsweetened cream, sugar, and a few other ingredients.
A few hours later, she finished the milk jam and put it in a pretty glass jar. The milk jam she made came in three flavors: vanilla flavor with lots of vanilla beans, chocolate flavor with cocoa powder, and Earl Grey flavor with plenty of finely chopped Earl Grey leaves.
After the milk jam had cooled, Chloe wrapped them up and sent them to Viscountess Fortnum. It was a simple gift for her new friend.
It took less than three days for a response to come back.
“Oh, Lady Fortnum!”
“I apologize for my unannounced visit, Lady Battenberg.”
Chloe greeted her unexpected guest warmly.
“No, Lady Fortnum is always welcome.”
Lady Fortnum presented Chloe with a basket full of dessert treats, such as eclairs with chopped fruit, orange-scented scones, and chocolate mille-feuille. Chloe was delighted, saying that they would be great for tea snacks.
They moved to the reception room. Soon, light refreshments were served. They enjoyed the refreshments and chatted.
When the mood had become moderately warm, Lady Fortnum began to explain why she had come so suddenly.
“The ‘milk jam’ that Lady Battenberg made was really delicious. What a sweetness and smoothness! My husband also said it was fantastic. I wondered how you could come up with the idea to make jam from milk. I thought Lady Battenberg was an alchemist.”
Chloe felt terribly embarrassed. Milk jam wasn’t her idea, it was something she often made in her previous life.
“It’s really nothing special. Just add enough sugar to the milk and cream and simmer for an hour or two. You can also mix in other ingredients like cocoa powder or Earl Grey tea leaves.”
“Oh my! An hour or two on the fire? That must take a lot of effort.”
Lady Fortnum was impressed.
“By the way, have you ever thought about starting a business with this fresh invention?”
“Yes? Business?”
“Yes! My husband even said that he would be willing to invest if Lady Battenberg were to start a business with this.”
Chloe was dumbfounded. Business! It was something she had never thought of.
“Well, I’ve never thought about it. I’ll have to think about it. I’ll ask the Duke too.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Oh my!”
Chloe and Lady Fortnum both turned around in surprise. At the entrance to the drawing room was Alphonse.
“Excuse me?”
He sat down on the same sofa as Chloe, about an inch away from her. Chloe turned to him and smiled happily.
“Duke.”
“Wife.”
Alphonse glanced at Chloe’s face with expressionless eyes and nodded. He spoke to Lady Fortnum.
“I heard you talking about business. I know this is rude, but could you elaborate?”
Lady Fortnum was so excited that she explained everything.
That Chloe made something amazing called ‘milk jam’ and that it was really fresh and delicious. About how if they commercialized it, it would definitely do well, etc.
Alphonse, who had been listening to the story in silence, turned to Chloe and spoke.
“Can I taste that milk jam too?”
“Yes! There’s some I made to eat in my bedroom. Please wait a moment.”
Chloe called over to a passing maid and asked her to bring her some milk jam from her room. Soon, a jar of vanilla-flavored milk jam was presented to them.
Alphonse, who tasted the milk jam spread on a piece of bread that was on the table in the living room, realized that it was very special. It was neither fruit jam nor whipped cream, but something in between.
Moreover, this milk jam was easy to apply and could be eaten as a meal, so it had many uses. It was the perfect item to commercialize targeting noble women.
And…
‘I don’t like sweets, but this somehow isn’t bad.’
He liked it somehow. It was just, for all the reasons, a feeling. It seemed to him that after drinking Chloe’s tea so many times, his trust in her had increased.
Alphonse glanced at Chloe. She blinked her round eyes, seemingly unaware of what a great thing she had created.
“What do you think, wife?”
“Yes?”
“Do you want to commercialize this?”
Chloe was troubled by Alphonse’s question. Business… Actually, she wasn’t completely uninterested either. Even when she was a student, she had thought about opening her own tea shop later on.
Besides, since it was a business that utilized something he liked, it didn’t seem like there would be anything more fun.
Even without that, since she didn’t have the authority to manage personnel and budget within the office, she had nothing to do, so it seemed like it would be nice to have something to do on a regular basis.
Chloe smiled brightly.
“Yes, I think it will be fun.”
Alphonse nodded.
“Then I will consider it positively.”
“Oh, Lady Battenberg! That’s so great.”
Lady Fortnum was delighted as if it were her own business.
***
A few days had passed since the first mention of business between Alphonse and Chloe. Chloe, as usual, headed to the kitchen to make tea. Ellie was with her, holding a can of tea.
It was unprecedented, perhaps unprecedented in the Empire or even in any other kingdom, for someone as high as a duchess to come to the kitchen herself to make tea.
However, Chloe almost always stopped by the kitchen whenever she made tea. At first, it was because she wasn’t sure whether the maids would listen to her instructions when she asked for water and such, but now it’s become a habit to just boil the water in the kitchen herself.
Of course, at first, the maids working in the kitchen were embarrassed by the Duchess coming into the kitchen herself, or they felt burdened by her. However, as this happened repeatedly, the maids in the kitchen gradually began to treat Chloe as an NPC or guardian deity who was originally there.
As Chloe entered the kitchen, the kitchen maids greeted her roughly. The Battenberg kitchen maids did not show her the polite manners, respect, and fear they would show to the ladies of other noble houses. But at least they did not ignore her, openly harass her, or look down on her. Chloe was satisfied with that.
“Ellie, could you put some water in the kettle and put it on the fire? I think about 1.5 liters of water would be good.”
“Yes, madam!”
Ellie put down the tea caddy and ran to find the copper kettle. While Ellie found the copper kettle, filled it with water, and placed it on the stove, Chloe measured out the exact amount of tea leaves and placed them into the large tea kettle.
The kitchen maids secretly watched them do this. In fact, for the kitchen maids who had nothing fun to do other than toiling in the kitchen all day, the sight of Chloe drinking tea was a pleasant sight.
They prepared all kinds of cooking ingredients and made all kinds of dishes, but tea was a completely unfamiliar territory for them. The sight of the lady making tea and the sweet, unfamiliar scent coming from the teapot were all infinitely new and mysterious to them. They didn’t want to admit it, though.
