Divorce Manual

Chapter 71

What about milk tea?

I can feel the gaze of the noble ladies secretly gathered toward me.

I've guessed this much.

Rumors that I'll be doing something with milk have already told me that it would be a difficult situation.

You must be curious what I'm going to do.

To be honest, I didn't introduce it right away because I wanted to see the reaction.

When the seat gets hot, then I would show them.

But—

"I don't like to cover the scent of expensive tea leaves by adding fishy milk to it."

Countess Miriam's self-talk pops up again to interfere with my plans.

Well, you're the ambush that Evangeline planted.

Because of her position, Curtis couldn't filter her out.

"I see."

I smile brightly and nod.

I can't fight with you here.

I'm a pacifist who hates fighting.

But—

"How many people have died after drinking milk incorrectly?"

You're not leaving me alone.

"Really?"

"Don't you know?"

"Yes."

"Oh my gosh."

Watching Miriam laughs as if she's embarrassed.

"Then you don't have to drink it."

I smile and turn away, emphasizing that I don't care what she says.

I am not affected by your attack.

"... "

I can see Miriam's face slightly clenched.

Oh, it looks like our Evangeline didn't talk about that, how I'm a master of listening and ignoring people.

"I like it."

"What?"

"I like tea with milk."

Pope puts the tea cup down, adds five tablespoons of milk, and then the sugar—

"Oh my goodness."

"That precious sugar?"

"The tea leaves are already expensive, but are you also adding sugar?"

"How much is that?"

The other wives' stares at me with interest as I lift the tea cup and stir it with the invaluable spoon.

Observing them, I drink tea calmly and enjoy the milk tea that suits my taste as usual.

"I want to drink it too. Pope?"

Violetta who's no longer by my side looks at my teacup with interest. Pope hands her a milk tea.

Then, as I have done, the noble ladies gain courage from my act of adding milk and sugar to black tea, shyly raise their hand, and ask for milk.

First times are important.

They needed to drink expensive tea at least once in order to be interested in the tea I drank, but it had to be delicious for them to keep going with it.

Of course, there's sugar in it.

What I have to sell is not sugar, but high grade milk.

It has to taste differently from the milk they're used to drinking.

The savory and sweet taste must go together smoothly with the bitter taste.

Even if they might just say that it is good right now, they must go home and suddenly think about it.

'I want to drink milk tea!'

Isn't that on the same level as spraying something with a little bit of aphrodisiac? It's just black tea with milk, and a lot of sugar.

Is it too much? I feel like a car that's losing its confidence.

"Oh, this is so delicious."

After a sip, Violetta says with admiration, pressing her lips firmly together with her fingertips.

"I thought it would taste good because of the sugar, but the milk is softer than I thought. Yum!"

Whoo- It's not just milk. It's pasteurized milk.

Well, if someone asks about the difference between raw milk and pasteurized milk—

I don't know exactly what, but it just tastes different.

I can't say that though.

"Is that so?"

Grinning, I pick up my tea cup.

If I had said, 'This is so delicious. It's the best. Please buy it!'

It's up to the people to buy it, and even if they want to, they won't buy it.

Therefore, as much as possible, it's better to say, 'Right?! Isn't it delicious?'

"It's okay to drink milk without sugar."

I'll properly promote it and hang back.

"I think so. The milk is really good."

"Thank—"

However,

"Milk is just milk."

The voice that makes me stop in my tracks.

So, Miriam...today's villain is you.

I strongly feel that there's a new villain around me every day.

"Thank you, Lady Ingrid—"

"It looks like the milk is burnt. Oh, it's disgusting."

Miriam's annoying tone makes me want to swallow up the word "Lady" as I narrow my eyebrows. She is desperate to hear my response.

Her lovely bad talk continues, but I turn toward Violetta and ignore her.

"Lady Violetta, would you like to try this tart?"

"Ah."

Violetta's jaw hardens, looking as if she's reluctant to accept my recommendation.

I feel like I have made a mistake, so I try to recommend something else.

"If you don't like tart, maybe something else—"

"No, Your Grace."

Violetta shakes her head and laughs awkwardly.

What is the meaning of that laughter?

I tilt my head, entirely clueless.

"My constitution changed after giving birth to my first child. When I eat food containing nuts, my body breaks out in hives."

"Your constitution?"

"Yes, isn't there almond milk in the tart?"

Ah, you're allergic to nuts.

Only then do I nod, understanding her words.

In this world, as well as in the Middle Ages, milk is so precious that there are many cases of using almond milk in cooking instead of milk.

Because of that, people with nut allergies said they couldn't eat cookies or tarts containing almond milk.

Violetta is like that.

But fortunately—

"I didn't use almond milk here."

"Is that so? "

"It was made with milk. Try it."

When I hand Violetta a plate of apple tart, there's a strange tension for a moment. It's almost as if I'm afraid to give you something.

"Oh, it's okay if you don't want to eat it. I told you there's almond milk, so you can eat it with confidence."

"I know, Your Grace."

After hearing the rest of my words, as if telling her not to feel forced, Violetta shakes her head.

"I know how you feel."

Then she lifts her fork and takes a bite of the tart.

"It's so delicious."

No, it's not just a bite.

I tilt my head at Violetta's messy appearance, who's hungrily munching on the tart.

Has the countess not been able to eat tarts?

Looking at Violetta, who has quickly eaten a piece of tart with her eyes closed, puts another piece on her plate again—

"I have to ask our chef to make it with milk."

She shyly laughs as she looks at me.

It's not something that will give her a bad reaction.

She must have really wanted to eat a tart, but it seems that she couldn't because of almond milk.

Anyway, anyone is happy, so let's nod along.

"Oh, I heard it from my husband, Your Grace."

"Hmm? What?"

She speaks quietly, covering her mouth slightly with her hand.

"About the milk you made."

"Oh."

"I heard that if you keep it in storage, it'll be fine for more than one day, or even up to three days."

I didn't make it up.

I wonder if there's such a rumor, but let's nod for now.

"Sell me that milk."

"... Hmm?"

Is it supposed to be this easy?

Is she trying to win favor with me or Charles? Let's step back a bit.

"Milk."

Violetta looks into my eyes, talking about milk very earnestly.

"Sell me some, Your Grace."

Is milk this precious?

.

.

When a person goes through pregnancy and childbirth, a lot of changes occur in their body, and it seems that for Violetta, it's a nut allergy.

Before she gave birth to her first child, she was fine even if she ate bread with almond milk. Strangely enough, even if only a small amount of almond was mixed in, her whole body itched and tingled while she was pregnant.

Therefore, in Count Ingrid's estate, almond milk became a banned item. The problem s—

It happened after the second pregnancy. After living well, she suddenly wanted to eat tart or bread a lot of times. Even though she lives with hives all over her body, she couldn't do much about it and put bread in her mouth.

'Isn't it okay to get milk and drink it? I'm a noblewoman.'

'Unless you have a cow, it's difficult to have fresh milk.'

So, she tried using all the different methods to get milk, but when she had it, her stomach kept hurting.

No, it wasn't just that she was sick, it seemed that she couldn't get out of the bathroom all day on the days that she ate it wrong.

But, she drank the sterilized milk with tea.

It must have been a dream for Violetta.

No, isn't it just milk?

Oh, my goodness.

Will milk, which has started as a real half-prank, become so serious?

I don't know much about the situation because I've lived mostly in modern times.

Once you open the refrigerator, milk is just there.

Did you know that when you came here?

"Don't worry. We were planning to provide milk to the young people."

"Oh, the sterilized milk from the magic stones?"

Violetta opens her eyes wide as if she was really surprised. The eyes of the ladies around her are also on me.
When you get this kind of attention, your ears will become hot.

But, I don't know much about it since I had never received it before.

Maybe I'm an attention seeker.

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T/N: Abella really needs to get a "Let Me Live" t-shirt because people be coming for her for no reason lol