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“Everyone, you may withdraw.”

After the meal, Forli spoke thus and dismissed the knights and coachmen from the tent.
The forest folk women who had served them also bowed and departed. When Ekaterina thanked them for the delicious meal, they returned smiles that seemed genuinely pleased, not merely polite.
Mina remained. As usual, her expression was blank, but she was radiating an unmistakable aura of *I have no intention whatsoever of leaving Lady Ekaterina’s side*, and Forli gave a small nod in acknowledgment. It seemed he had no intention of sending her away.

“Milady, please try this.”

Smiling, Aurora held out a plate bearing something resembling thin cookies.

“These are sweets coated with the royal jelly of the Great King Bee. Normally, only the queen bee may consume it, and only a very small amount is produced. It is extremely rare for them to share it with humans. Even His Imperial Majesty the Emperor likely cannot partake of this. It is the only truly luxurious hospitality we, the forest folk, can offer.”
“My, such a precious thing. Every dish we were served for supper was absolutely splendid and delicious.”

Still, knowing it was so precious made her heart flutter.
When Ekaterina tasted it, it had a satisfyingly crisp bite. The sweetness was subtle, not overpowering.

(…Ah?!)

A moment later, the sensation hit her, and Ekaterina’s eyes widened.

What is this—my magic power surged up in an instant, as if fuel had been thrown onto a fire. It felt like all the energy she had spent exterminating the one-eyed bear and turning over the fields had been recharged at once.

“For someone with magic as strong as yours, milady, the effect manifests more strongly.”

Heh heh, Forli chuckled.

“The royal jelly of the great king bee is extremely beneficial to the body even for ordinary humans, with illnesses and injuries healing at astonishing speed. But when one who possesses magic consumes it, it increases their magic power.”
“My… how marvelous.”
“The fifth duke, Duke Vasily, is said to have called the royal jelly ‘the secret treasure of the forest.’”

It was like a recovery item that often appeared in games in my previous life. Amazing. If this world were an adventure game instead of an otome game, adventurers would be swarming here to obtain it. Thank goodness there are no adventurers in this world.
…I’d almost forgotten this was an otome game world… Since coming to the ducal territory, my days have been completely unrelated to any otome game scenario. It’s scary how I might forget the plot and events entirely.

“The queen of the great king bees possesses high intelligence, and seems to understand the principle of the human world that the one who rules this land is the Duke of Jurnova. When members of the ducal family visit the settlement of the forest folk, the bees often share some royal jelly with them. It is as though they are making their value known.”

If so, that queen bee is truly intelligent. Understanding human needs and marketing herself accordingly—she’s practically a marketer.
And it clearly worked. Duke Vasily probably protected the forest of the great king bees in order to secure this royal jelly as well. In a world where individual magical power can be an overwhelming advantage, an item that increases magic power is the ultimate treasure. And if it also works on illness and injury, in a world where medicine is still underdeveloped, then it truly deserves to be called a secret treasure.

“…I wish my brother could eat this.”

The words slipped out of her mouth.

I wonder how Onii-sama is doing now. Is he overworking because I’m not there? Has he eaten properly?
If he ate this royal jelly, maybe it would even break his overwork death flag. I should have taken it back without eating it.
Ah, but there’s the danger that he’d just increase his working hours because he can recover… No, that won’t do. “Drink this and you can work twenty-four hours straight” is a Showa-era catchphrase and a relic of the past… Though from this era’s perspective, that’s the future? Whatever.

Waaah, I miss my brother so much…

Sensing Ekaterina’s eyes beginning to well up, Aurora spoke, as if to distract her.

“Milady, would you care to see an item connected to Duke Vasily that has been passed down among us forest folk?”
“Oh my. Yes, by all means, please.”

No, no, this is not the time to unleash my brother complex.

Aurora brought over a wooden box from the corner of the tent, about the size that one could hold in their arms. It was a beautiful piece, well used and polished, with fine carvings covering its surface. Only the front of the box was divided into nine squares in a grid, each square carved with a different plant.
When Aurora opened the lid on top and moved something inside, there was a click, and one of the nine front panels came off. Then she slid the remaining eight panels around like a puzzle.

So it’s a trick box. In Japan, Hakone marquetry is famous, but similar things exist in the Empire too. So the forest folk can make things like this as well.

At last, a thin drawer appeared, and Aurora took out an old document from it and handed it to her.

“Could this be the letter of imperial authorization that my brother mentioned at the banquet?”
“Yes, it is.”

It felt much like ordinary paper, but given that it should be about three hundred years old and yet the ink had not discolored, it was probably parchment. From what she had learned after beginning to frequent Aleksei’s office, paper had already been widespread by the founding of the Empire, but important documents had long been written on parchment, as it was considered more durable for long-term storage.
If this is parchment, then Duke Vasily must have considered protecting the forest folk and this forest of the great king bees to be matters important enough to pass down to future generations.

She opened the document and read.

The script was old-fashioned but strong and vigorous. As expected of Duke Vasily, famed as one of the wisest rulers among the successive dukes of Jurnova—his strength of will could be felt. The style was classical, but even today official documents were written in much the same way, so thanks to her time handling documents in the office, she could manage to read it.
The content was concise, with four main points:

Permission for the forest folk to reside within Jurnova territory.
Permission for the forest folk to travel freely anywhere within Jurnova territory, without exception.
A prohibition on cutting down or developing the forest in which the forest folk live.
In exchange for granting the above privileges, they are to provide every convenience to the inventor Giovanni di Santi, protect said person’s safety, and supply whatever requested. And to swear loyalty to the ducal house.

At the end, a single line had been added in a different hand, stating that this document was still valid, with a date and signature. It was the handwriting of her grandfather Sergei, which she had seen in the office.

…With this, the forest folk could probably even enter Jurnova Castle by showing this letter. Perhaps it was written precisely so they could do that—so that when royal jelly was needed, it could be delivered.
But the price of such generous treatment being convenience for the inventor Giovanni di Santi… Duke Vasily really seems excessively devoted when it comes to inventors. Well, perhaps the main point is loyalty to the ducal house, and this is just a pretext to obtain royal jelly. But still… Besides, Duke Vasily was also the one who established the patent system in the Empire, and that was said to be to protect di Santi’s rights and prevent him from returning to his homeland… It doesn’t feel like it was merely a pretext.

“Milady, please look at this as well. Portraits of Duke Vasily and the inventor.”
“Oh my! A portrait of the inventor remains?”

I’ve never seen one before. The inventor di Santi is famous for his achievements, but now that I think about it, I know nothing about what he was like as a person, or his appearance.

She took the miniature painting, about the size of a hand mirror, and at first glance nearly laughed out loud.

“He looks…unexpectedly young.”

Aurora placed a basket of white pearl insects on the table, and by their light Ekaterina examined it closely. Sitting formally beside Duke Vasily, the inventor had a very youthful face—almost cute. Hair a pale salmon pink rather than red, eyes a vivid lemon yellow, and large round eyes as his defining feature. He had a mustache on that face, but it suited him terribly poorly.

In variety shows in her previous life, idol girls would sometimes inexplicably do “beard dances,” and his mustache looked about as natural as those fake beards. She had unconsciously imagined the inventor as someone like Leonardo da Vinci—a dignified old man from his famous self-portrait. Instead, she got a mustached idol. What a twist.
And next to him, Duke Vasily, tall as befitted a Duke of Jurnova, with a magnificent, well-trained build. The contrast was like Kegon Falls. With blue-gray hair and eyes, looking a bit stern but handsome, probably around thirty—Vasily beside a cute, baby-faced di Santi likely in his twenties… If my BL-loving friend from my previous life saw this, she’d immediately start fantasizing. Ancestors, I’m terribly sorry.

“Milady, next, please look at this.”

Aurora handed her another miniature painting, and this time Ekaterina looked at it expecting to see the baby-faced mustached man again.
There was no mustache.

In fact, the clothes he wore were a dress.
An old-fashioned, loose one similar to what the forest folk wear. The hair was short, but adorned with flowers that suited the cute face well. She was holding Duke Vasily’s hand, leaning against his tall figure as if being enveloped by him…

Um…

A sudden thought struck her, and Ekaterina turned the miniature over.
On the back, in Duke Vasily’s handwriting, was written:

“Giovanna di Santi
My spouse”

Giovanna… a wo—woman?!
And spouse—?!