These Side Characters Have More Important Things To DoCh156 - Back at the Rosewood fief!

“—This part could be changed to be more magically efficient. And some additional padding here would make the chair more comfortable,” Pollux said, pointing out various parts.

Ren Xiyang produced paper and pen and used the flat briefcase as a writing surface. “Please draw it out for me.” jVq2aC

Pollux did so, sketching out his ideas. Ren Xiyang asked questions, slowly leading Pollux to refine what he had done. Time passed productively, and then it was time to take a lunch break.

At this point, they had reached the border of the Rosewood fief. The Rosewood staff stationed at the Rosewood property at the border had prepared lunch for them. It was a nice day—not too hot as autumn approached—so they ate outside.

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

“…We made good progress so far,” Ren Xiyang said. “Once you’ve refined the spells, then we can get the workers to make some prototypes to test out.”

“Yes.” ZTNfMX

“I have some work to do, so I’ll sit in the Rosewood carriage for the second part of the journey. Is there anything else you want to talk about right now?”

“Nothing in particular. I also have work that I should do,” Pollux said.

There were many things that Pollux wanted to ask—more about that duel, about the meaning of the gifts to him and his siblings, about the contract, and about Ayden in general—but now was not the time.

“Are you sure?” Ren Xiyang glanced around. Everyone was finishing up lunch, but that meant there was at least 10 minutes before they actually headed off again.

“In that case, can you tell me more about the healing method and how long it’ll take?”

“Sure. The core of the method of ‘copying.’ We use healing magic, as well as perception magic, to analyse the reference body, and then use healing magic to force the target body to make changes to mimic the reference body. The limit of three sessions a week is to allow the body time to make those changes and adapt to them—if you go too fast, then it can become painful.” Ren Xiyang knew from personal experience. “The very close copying is why it’s important to find someone similar in build and age. And the process could take between one year and a few years, depending on what needs to be changed.”

A few years. To Pollux, that felt both long and not long at all.

“As long as we don’t go too fast though, it should be fairly painless,” Ren Xiyang added. ReHQz4

“And what is the success probability?”

“Certain,” Ren Xiyang said firmly. And if it doesn’t work, there is a backup—Cassiopeia, Ren Xiyang thought.

The busyness around them increased, so they didn’t talk much more. After freshening up as appropriate, Pollux and Ren Xiyang went into their individual carriages, and the group set off once again.

Alone inside his own carriage, the carriage suddenly felt empty. Pollux’s emotions inexplicably dropped. He didn’t understand it—he was often alone—so he suppressed it. drKzu2

He was going to be in the Rosewood fief for two weeks on Ayden’s invitation. He was a prince of the Angian imperial family. He was able to contribute to the floating chairs project, and Ayden knew a procedure that would heal him. Things were getting better.

He took out the reading he had and tried to read it.

Not long later, a distant shout of—“Good afternoon, my Lord!”—could be heard.

Farmers in the fields stopped their work to watch and wave as Earl Rosewood’s carriage floated by. “Welcome back, Earl Rosewood!” many of them shouted. YWvLNf

Pollux didn’t hear Ayden reply, but that didn’t seem to stop the Rosewood fief people.

Eventually, it was hard for Pollux to focus on reading at all, as he was increasingly frequently interrupted by shouts of “Welcome back, my Lord! Welcome back, Earl Rosewood!” So, Pollux gave up, in favour of looking out the window.

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When the carriages pulled up the Rosewood summer manor, Pollux was taken aback by the sheer number of people gathered out front. They weren’t arranged in neat rows, and they didn’t have serious respectful expressions either.

But they looked genuinely happy. UbnaXp

The Rosewood carriage stopped first. The moment Earl Rosewood stepped out, those gathered shouted, “Welcome home, Earl Rosewood!”

“Thanks,” Ren Xiyang said.

Pollux’s guards opened the door to his carriage and Pollux exited.

“Welcome to the Rosewood manor, Your Highness Prince Pollux!” eyn9WV

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

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Kel exited the Rosewood carriage too, and other Rosewood staff stepped down from the other carriages and carts. Several of the Rosewood staff moved forward. WemV 3

“Kel, how was the Hraun Nation?”

“Wow, what did you all bring back?”

“A lot of chilli and fruit from the Hraun Nation!”

“Wow, let’s get that put away.” 6Rpyns

“I assume you’re all having your afternoon break,” Ren Xiyang said drily.

“Yes, my Lord!”

“We’ll get back to work after, my Lord.”

“My Lord, the greenhouses have been well cared for, please check at your leisure.” uIhHxW

“Great, I’ll check them out soon,” Ren Xiyang said.

“Yes, my Lord!”

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“My Lord, have you grown taller?”

“I think he has!” KqzVRf

Ren Xiyang blinked. “What, really?”

“Yes, my Lord, you have.”

Pollux had never seen any noble who had had such a warm reception from the people. And he couldn’t tell if he was just imagining the indulgent tones and caring parental gazes from the Rosewood servants.

Bitterness filled his mouth. Look at how many people wanted to speak with Ayden. The Earl Rosewood was very popular. nPyCdV

Lord Hadrian Terra and the other Angians approached Pollux.

“Your Highness, welcome to the Rosewood manor,” Lord Hadrian Terra said with a deep bow.

“Lord Terra,” Pollux said coolly. He didn’t have a good impression of the Terra family. The Terras were merchants first, and nobles second. King Augustus didn’t like them, but he tolerated them due to the taxes they brought in. And from what he understood, Lord Hadrian Terra was the weakest in the family, despite being the eldest son.

“I hope Your Highness had a smooth trip,” Hadrian said politely. He also didn’t have a good impression of the Lūpiter family. He didn’t interact with the Lūpiter family much, though Prince Pollux was known to be gloomy, standoffish, and with a cold temper. gKofFM

“There was nothing of note,” Pollux said.

Ren Xiyang walked over, along with Aaron. “Hello,” he said to Hadrian and the others. “Sorry to interrupt. Prince Pollux, Aaron here will show you to your rooms. He can also show you around the estate this afternoon, or else we can do the tour another time.”

“Our conversation is over,” Pollux said.

Hadrian bowed his head. “I won’t take up Your Highness’s time,” he said demurely as he stepped aside. E 81BH

“You’re dismissed,” Pollux said.

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

Aaron smiled and bowed. “Then, right this way, Your Highness.”

Pollux and his servants and guards followed Aaron into the Rosewood summer manor. The interior did not impress Pollux. But rather than taking the grand stairs, Aaron led them to the side to a small room. 0Quv6o

“This is the main elevator, it’s more convenient than taking the stairs,” Aaron introduced. He pressed a number on a panel on the wall, and the room moved. “The elevator works on a similar principle to the floating carriages.” When the doors opened again, they weren’t in the main foyer anymore, but rather on an upper floor.

It was smooth and quick. Why didn’t the Angio castle have this? It would have made Pollux’s life so much easier.

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Aaron showed him his quarters. “Your Highness, shall I return in half an hour for the tour of the estate?”

“Yes.” Anxbua

Aaron bowed and departed.

Pollux’s servants took his luggage and unpacked, while his guards checked the rooms. Pollux went to the window. It overlooked the side of the manor, that was full of vegetable fields and fruit trees.

“All clear,” the main guard said.

Thirty minutes wasn’t that long. Pollux had a brief rest before Aaron returned for the tour. pwLrch

Aaron first showed the main dining room and the nearby meeting rooms in the manor. Then he took Pollux outside.

“…Now, these are Earl Rosewood’s greenhouses,” Aaron introduced. “Earl Rosewood should be inside.” Before he could knock on the door, the door opened, revealing one of the gardeners.

“Earl Rosewood noticed you were coming. Come inside and see,” the gardener said.

How did Ayden notice we were coming? Pollux thought with suspicion. But Aaron didn’t seem fazed. gI1RTL

“Come on in, Your Highness,” Aaron urged. He looked apologetically at the guards following Pollux. “It’s a little tight inside, so I request that only one of you follow.”

The main guard was the one who also entered, while the rest remained outside.

The greenhouse was warm inside. Two other gardeners were explaining to Ren Xiyang what they had done and what Florence had done while he was gone. The greenhouses had been well looked after. Ren Xiyang felt regret—he’d have to leave them soon. He could probably move some of the plants to the Capital, but he hadn’t had time to set up a greenhouse there yet.

“My Lord,” Aaron called out. 3Vsz20

“Hello. Prince Pollux, welcome to my greenhouse,” Ren Xiyang said.

Pollux blinked. There was a proud smile on Ayden’s face—how often had he seen Ayden smiling?

Ren Xiyang introduced the different sections of the greenhouse. “—And here, we have the ‘Terra’ climate zone. This is where I’ve been developing crops that excel in the Terra climate, as part of my agreement with Marquis Terra.”

Pollux didn’t say much. Crop breeding wasn’t his interest. Zg4Y2Q

“As I understand, Queen Aurelia has contacted Lady Sage to conduct some crop breeding for other parts of Angio. We might be able to visit Lady Sage’s greenhouses at a later date,” Ren Xiyang said. He walked Pollux to the door. “Enjoy the rest of the tour. When you’re hungry, just tell Aaron to take you back for tonight’s dinner.”

After that, Aaron showed the rose gardens, the agricultural fields, the fertiliser processing workshop, the tofu and soy products workshop, and the rose soap workshops. They even visited the glass workshop, where Hadrian Terra was unexpectedly working.

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

“Your Highness, I’ve been studying how glass forms and how different temperatures and materials produce different properties,” Hadrian said, a little embarrassed and uncomfortable with Prince Pollux’s look.

“Does your family not produce glass?” Pollux said. o uLgI

“Ayden wants to me to make ‘industrial strength glass’ for construction,” Hadrian said. “He’s given me a lot of help. My father joked that Ayden’s my academic supervisor…” Hadrian joked weakly and immediately regretted saying so.

Pollux: “…” How old was Ayden and how old was Hadrian??!

“Shall we move on, Your Highness?” Aaron said smoothly.

“Yes.” BmT0Hy

Both Pollux and Hadrian felt a sense of relief to not have to deal with the other person.

As autumn approached, the days were still warm but the evenings became chillier. This was an excuse to take out the hot pots to have a hot pot feast to celebrate Earl Rosewood’s return.

After Ren Xiyang checked his greenhouses, he headed to the kitchens to help prepare the dinner, taking out the chillies he had bought in Hraun to make an extra spicy soup.

Not long after, Mrs Cooks kicked him out of the kitchen and told him to go and sit down—no one else would start eating unless he started first. cWts H

“Yes, Mrs Cooks,” Ren Xiyang said, inexplicably feeling like a naughty kid.

“My Lord, the tables have been arranged,” Kel said, when Ren Xiyang came to the dining hall.

Ren Xiyang sat down at his usual place. To his right were Prince Pollux, Hadrian Terra, and Otto Silvercharm. To his left, was Kel, Maria and Aaron. On this ‘head table,’ each person had their own mini hot pot, while all the other tables had shared hot pots. The servers for the night went around obtaining everyone’s preferences before bringing out the hot pots full of very spicy, spicy, or not spicy soup, trays of various ingredients, and many little bowls with sauces.

Ren Xiyang explained how to eat hot pot to Pollux, showing him how to dip vegetables and meat into the soup and to pick it out when it was done to one’s liking. He also introduced the various dipping sauces. Ren Xiyang did it using his own pot, and made sure to bite into the piece of tender cooked beef and swallow. 210mnI

—The staff around the dining hall who were watching him with eagle eyes immediately started cooking their own food now that Earl Rosewood had started eating.

Pollux’s expression almost cracked. He had to prepare his own dinner?!! He glanced across the table. Everyone picking up greens and meats and mushrooms and tofu and noodles and putting them into their little pot. Even Hadrian was doing it.

“—Don’t worry, I’ll help you,” Ren Xiyang added. “Do you have any ingredients you prefer?”

If everyone was doing it, then he could do it too, Pollux thought, rallying his emotions together again. He pointed out at the pieces of meat that were familiar to him. HEd2SU

As promised, Ren Xiyang added them to Pollux’s pot. It only took a few seconds to cook. He used Pollux’s assigned strainer to scoop out the cooked meat and placed them in Pollux’s bowl. “Go ahead. If it’s too spicy, then you can dip it into the sesame oil sauce. If it’s not spicy enough, this sauce is more spicy.” Ren Xiyang also took the initiative to put in more sliced meat, as well as some tofu, greens, and meatballs for Pollux, and then added similar ingredients into his own hot pot.

Pollux’s soup base was mildly spiced. After seeing how Hadrian seated next to him ate, Pollux tried the meat plain, and then tried another piece dipped into one of the sauces. Heat of both kinds burst in his mouth, flavour coated his tongue, and his teeth easily bit through the tender meat. For some reason, Pollux had the strong urge to go back for more.

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

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Pollux, this entire chapter: ???

Ren Xiyang: Another hot pot convert in the making ^_^

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Thank you to BeezerAG for the ko-fi! And thank you for everyone’s answers a few chapters ago. There are so many things left to do before the story can end  (O.O) I think we might reach 200 chapters…

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