Chapter 11: Labor Milk Tea
“You look exhausted.”
“Yes… I wonder if His Majesty and His Highness are upset with me. I’ve been so selfish…”
Each department was supposed to provide updates every time I gave them instructions. And Lord Balk’s conversation with me should have been reported to the king after dinner by now.
I ordered all departments to halt for a month for reorganization and personnel changes! And here I am, just a young girl, proposing such a bold idea. They must be feeling frustrated.
We had a pleasant chat over dinner, but as soon as I sat down in the lounge, I was preoccupied with thoughts and my expression must have seemed serious. I made His Highness worry.
“No need to worry. This is a great opportunity. We need to take care of post-war processing and make reforms. Both my father and I have complete faith in your guidance.”
“Ah, haha… I don’t have any real-world experience, so if I fail…”
I let out a forced laugh.
Yes, I’m just a knowledgeable person with no practical experience. But today’s situation was dire. It started with organizing and sorting papers. Then we need to hear from those on the ground, or everything will fall into disarray.
However, the thought of failure terrifies me.
Lost in my thoughts, I hung my head low and a cup of warm, light-brown liquid was handed to me.
The rising steam didn’t carry the scent of coffee. As I pondered this, His Highness seemed to have figured it out.
“In the Faithnum Empire, tea was limited to either oolong or green tea.”
“Is this… tea?”
“Yes, it’s black tea. It’s made from the same tea leaves as green tea, but the processing method is different. Doesn’t it have a pleasant aroma?”
“Yes, this is the black tea I’ve read about in books.”
In our country, tea is widely grown and consumed, but the main types are green tea, which is believed to have a sterilizing effect in its unfermented form, and oolong tea, which is semi-fermented to allow for rotation among the many vassal states. Very few tea farmers make black tea, which requires fully fermenting the leaves.
Additionally, the traditional methods of brewing tea have been lost and can only be found in books. The black tea that occasionally surfaces is often bitter and has a less desirable scent.
However, it seems that black tea is the norm in the Baratonia Kingdom. This is the first tea I’ve had since arriving in this country, and it has a subtle scent of milk and honey.
“It’s great for when you’re feeling tired, especially for relaxing your mind.”
“Itadakimasu.”
At His Highness Auglia’s suggestion, I took a sip. The fragrance and sweetness filled my mouth, and the honey-like sweetness that lingered on my tongue, combined with the aroma that wafted up my nose, made my eyes widen in surprise.
The temperature was just right, not too hot or too cold, and I savored it in silence.
“Feeling better now?”
“Yes…! This tea is delicious. It’s sweet… Ah, it’s gone already.”
“For a while, should we have milk tea after dinner? Hehe, Claire, you’re so cute.”
“Eh?”
I was taken aback by being called cute and turned to look at His Highness. Before I could react, he reached out and wiped a drop of milk tea from my upper lip. What?! Wait, I was just going to wipe it myself! Your Highness, what are you doing?!
In confusion, I watched as he put the finger he had wiped into his mouth. No, please don’t kiss it!
“Let’s do our best tomorrow… No cheating, okay?”
“Geez! Your Highness! I wouldn’t do that, I don’t even know what you’re talking about!”
Feeling embarrassed and childish, I turned away and pouted. His Highness, who had wiped his hand, started to pat my head.
“Do you want another glass? Drink some more.”
“…itadakimasu.”
After finishing another glass of milk tea, I felt much more relaxed.
A lot of work, I know how awful it is to try just one facility but she will be doing multiple areas with different requirements.