Episode 22
“Ugh, the dust.”
Was it because I had returned home after a long while? The moment I stepped inside, I opened the window at the suffocating smell of dust.
It seemed this was why my dad used to say you shouldn’t leave the house empty for a long time in the past.
“I should start by cleaning.”
Though I was tired and wanted to lie down right away, I rolled up my sleeves immediately because I was taught that originally, you shouldn’t postpone things like this.
I shook out the blanket and pillows to hang them in the sunlight, and wiped away the dust accumulated on the floor and furniture. After organizing even the luggage I had used during this business trip to the South, before I knew it, the sun was setting gradually.
“Ah, I’m tired.”
The moment I lay down on the bed thinking to try lying down for a bit now, a massive sound came from my stomach.
“…Is there anything to eat, I wonder.”
Rummaging through the kitchen, as expected, it was completely empty.
Not knowing when the business trip would end, I had cleared everything out just in case it spoiled, after all.
“Just when I thought I’d get some rest.”
I had to go out again. But since I had nothing to eat tomorrow anyway, moving right now was the right thing to do.
In the end, the moment I lay down, I got back up and went out to buy groceries.
Mm, still, looking around the market after a long while feels nice, doesn’t it?
Fresh vegetables, seasonal fruits, down to eggs for protein supplementation.
At the rustling sound of the paper bag filled with things to eat, it felt as though even my heart was amply filled.
“By the way, did I buy too much?”
Because I was hungry, I packed in a lot of this and that, but what should I cook and eat? Things that take a long time are a pass first off, since I’m far too hungry…
“Since I bought commercial tomato sauce, shall I add eggs and vegetables to eat egg-in-hell?”
Ah, that sounds delicious. Because it’s easy to make and finished quickly, it seems just right for now.
“Ah, but it only tastes right if eaten together with a baguette, though.”
I stopped my steps and looked back. Whether to go back to the bakery for a perfect meal, or to go home as I was because it’s a hassle…
“When you eat once, you have to eat properly.”
Dad always said that! Saying that for every meal, one must eat with sincerity and do their absolute best.
“Off to the bakery!”
Passing the front of the academy and arriving at the bakery, the uncle I met after a long while welcomed me with a smile.
“My, Cynthia, it’s been a long time.”
“Uncle, do you have baguettes?”
“Of course I do. Shall I slice it for you?”
“I’d be grateful if you would!”
Because the sound of cutting bread is good to hear whenever I listen to it.
At the sound that stimulated my stomach with a crunch, crunch, my salivary glands reacted.
While the uncle was slicing the bread for me, I looked around without much thought, and there was something that caught my eye sharply.
Rustle—
A plastic bag drawn with cute rabbit shapes. A red plaid ribbon tied above it. And inside it, cute animal-shaped cookies packed full of chocolate chips.
“Here you go. What, shall I give you that as well?”
“Ah…”
The Animal Farm Cookie Set. It was something made at this bakery targeting cute-loving female students attending the academy, but I had never imagined that Aidan liked this.
“Pfft.”
Recollecting his flustered appearance when he came to buy this last time, laughter burst out.
“Huh? Why are you like that?”
“Ha-ha, no. Mm, please give me this.”
Since I’ll be stuck in the laboratory with Aidan all day starting tomorrow anyway. I might as well buy one to eat as a snack.
“That’ll be 8 silver in total.”
“Here you go.”
If I give him this cookie tomorrow, will Aidan’s ears turn red like that day again?
Recollecting it, the corners of my lips twitched.
“I hope tomorrow comes quickly.”
***
Was what I said definitely yesterday, though…
I wanted to smack my lips from yesterday slap, slap.
“Are you listening to my words?”
Looking at Aidan’s face looking down at me disdainfully with his arms crossed, I straightened my posture.
“Of course. I’m listening well.”
The laboratory Aidan prepared for me—no, to be precise, for this research paper—was extraordinary.
Perhaps because it was made under the name of the Duke Winslow family, it was state-of-the-art and much wider than the laboratories at the academy.
A wide desk taking my height into consideration, a chair comfortable for the lower back even when seated for long hours, down to a blackboard that could be written on and erased. It was a perfect environment that would make any scholar’s eyes turn upside down.
Packed full, materials necessary for research—unbelievable as something prepared in a single day—were even prepared.
At first, it was great. It was extremely great at that. It was enjoyable to personally experiment with the research I had only conceptualized while attending the academy, and it was also happy that Aidan really gave full support as promised.
“And about these experimental results. The number of experiments is far too low. At this level, wouldn’t it be difficult to consider it a meaningful result?”
“Is that so? As expected, the margin of error is far too wide, isn’t it?”
“Let’s do it again. And about this part, I wonder if it would be better to re-experiment while keeping the platinum wire length constant. The platinum wire length is different every time, isn’t it? If variables aren’t controlled, the judges will be the first to take issue with it.”
I nodded my head meekly. It was all correct. While I had confidence in coming up with new things, proving them in a form others could understand was another talent altogether.
In that regard alone, Aidan was far superior to me. As the sole heir to the Winslow family and friend to the Crown Prince, he must have received a more systematic and rigorous education than anyone from a young age.
“And I’d like one more source document added to this part. Here, too.”
Aidan marked the parts that needed correcting with red ink, and that amount gradually increased. Having answered one by one, I shut my mouth from a certain moment onward.
On some pages, there was even more red than black.
“You can do it, right?”
“…I have to.”
However, it’s for Dad.
Although it wasn’t certain whether the cubic zirconia attached to that fountain pen was a core or not, still, if there was a possibility, I could do anything.
Tying my hair tightly once more, I picked up the pen. Once I had started anyway, I had to do my best.
And endless revisions were repeated.
Experiment, failure. Revision, experiment once again.
Platinum wires snapped countless times, and glass spheres broke several times. The paper was rewritten several times midway.
“Theoretically, it’s perfect, though.”
Swirling my pen around, I slumped face down onto the desk just like that. Looking at my appearance, Aidan muttered that I lacked dignity, then stretched his neck, having grown tired himself.
“Phew, there’s certainly no more places to touch up. What on earth could be the problem?”
“I know, right? Up until the initial experiments, it was definitely a success…”
The platinum wire kept snapping. I tried using other conductors as well, but every single type of metal was a failure.
Failing to find a breakthrough in particular, I checked the outside, which had grown dark before I realized it.
The sun has set already.
I haven’t been able to eat a single meal today.
“Mm, how about trying this part like this?”
Aidan asked, correcting equations atop the blackboard.
Is that guy not even hungry? Am I the only one struggling right now?
Coming here and for the whole day, the only thing I ate was the black tea I drank to wake myself up.
“Excuse me…”
It was embarrassing to say I was hungry first, but perhaps because I was hungry, my brain wouldn’t work any longer.
“Would you like to eat something before we do this?”
“Does food go down your throat in this situation? Nothing has been resolved.”
“Still, one has to eat to live! Only then is research, as well as finding things, possible.”
Hearing my answer, he didn’t hide his disdainful expression, but upon checking the clock himself, he opened his eyes wide as if startled.
“Come to think of it, we couldn’t eat today.”
That’s right, we starved.
“However, if you eat until you’re full, you get sleepy. At any rate, an appropriate amount of glucose is enough for the brain to function.”
Saying so, he dropped a single sugar cube over freshly brewed black tea.
“There, this way you take care of sugar and fill your stomach, don’t you?”
“…”
Should I just resolve this problem even a bit faster, go home, and grill and eat the meat I bought yesterday…
Wait, the thing I bought yesterday?
Come to think of it, why had I forgotten about it?
I opened my bag. Inside the black briefcase, there was one cute fellow standing out unnaturally on its own.
Rustle—
Precisely the Animal Farm Cookie Set.
“This.”
“…?”
Among them, I pulled out the bear-shaped cookie and held it out to Aidan.
“It’s a snack.”
“…”
“This much is an appropriate amount of… sugar, isn’t it? Without making you full. Is it not?”
The fingers taking the cookie were faster than expected.
To play hard to get when he’s going to take it that fast.
“Why are you like that?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re smiling right now.”
“What do you mean smiling, who is? It’s just your imagination.”
Rolling my lips inward, I suppressed my laughter, but still, I couldn’t hold back the laughter leaking out. Just as Aidan was trying hard to feign composure, even as his ears turned red.
