After eating, Lucas took Mina to the study. The people in the dining room also dispersed; those who needed to rest went to rest, and those who needed to work went to work.
"The Master has prepared some gifts for you. Wait a moment, I'll go get them," Nicole said with a smile on her lips.
"No..." Before Perry could even decline, Nicole had already left.
A short while later, Nicole returned carrying two boxes. Opening them, they contained a four-piece set essential for girls: perfume, lip paper, rouge paste, and eyebrow paste.
"This is?" Perry asked in confusion.
"This is lip paper, it can make your lips even brighter and more alluring. And this is rouge paste, which can cover up minor blemishes."
"This black one is eyebrow paste; it can make our naturally sparse eyebrows look much thicker. Finally, this perfume is my favorite. It's full of the natural fragrance of flowers, and its shelf life can reach up to a year." After softly introducing the four items, Nicole's eyes were filled with pride. After all, she had personally participated in making these items.
"What? Perfume can last for a year?" Perry's eyes widened. Back when she was in the Valtoria Kingdom, the perfume her mother had given her would start to smell weird after only about ten days.
"Yes, this perfume was made using the Master's special secret recipe, so its scent is much more long-lasting and fragrant," Annie said in a crisp voice.
Sally took the girl's essential four-piece set with both hands, her eyes practically sparkling.
Seeing the monkey-eared girl's reaction, the corner of Perry's mouth twitched. She thought to herself that it was no wonder the beastkin of the Sahara all wanted to come to Sedona City; even she was starting to feel tempted.
Seeing the unusual reactions of Perry and Sally, Nicole merely smiled and didn't say anything.
"Then let's go," Perry said, tugging on Sally's tail. She was afraid that if they stayed any longer, even Sally wouldn't want to return to the grasslands.
"Alright..." Sally snapped back to reality, closed the lid of the box, and followed along.
"Freya, is everything ready?" Annie looked at the wolf-eared girl and asked.
"Yes, Your Highness, everything is ready. I will be the one escorting the Eldest Princess back this time, so you can rest assured," Freya said, gripping her two-handed greatsword tightly.
A dozen minutes later, they arrived at the port by carriage. The 1,800 spears Perry needed had already been loaded onto the ship.
Many soldiers and archers were stationed on board. This army was also a hidden chess piece placed by Lucas. Under the guise of garrisoning the cow and sheep milk factories on the Sahara, this hundred-man army was actually tasked with keeping an eye on every movement within the grasslands.
However, after completing the escort mission, Freya would return to Sedona City with the cargo ships. After all, the wolf-eared girl wouldn't leave Annie's side for too long.
"Big Sister, be careful on the road," Annie said, feeling a bit down. They had only been reunited for a few days, and now they had to part again.
Perry smiled, patted the fox-eared girl's head, and said softly, "Don't worry about your big sister's strength. Besides, Freya is here too, not to mention Lord Lucas's soldiers and archers."
"Big Monkey, protect Big Sister well." Annie's eyes looked toward the monkey-eared girl.
"You can count on my strength," Sally said, patting her chest.
After exchanging words of care, Perry bid farewell to the fox-eared girl and boarded the ship along with Sally and Freya. The ship sailed further and further away, and Annie only turned to leave when she could no longer see its silhouette.
On her way back after seeing off her eldest sister, Annie's mood wasn't very high. She felt a bit dejected, but also a trace of relief that her sister was safe and sound.
Step, step, step...
Annie returned to the castle and went to study. As soon as she entered, she hugged the fan and shouted, "It's so hot! Why does it feel like even the wind blowing out is hot?"
Clearly, the fox-eared girl was so overheated by the weather that she had completely forgotten the sense of loss from just seeing off her eldest sister.
"It really is. Have Perry and Sally been sent off?" Nicole asked with a frown, her eyes glancing at the blazing sun outside.
Annie nodded, her fox ears drooping. Beside her, Mina was also dressed very scantily for the heat, sitting on the desk with her cat tail swishing back and forth continuously.
Lucas frowned, thinking that the weather was truly getting hotter and hotter. Remembering that the saltpeter had arrived, it was the perfect time to test the method of making ice with saltpeter.
"Nicole, go fetch two iron basins—one large and one small. While you're at it, bring some saltpeter over to the laboratory," Lucas turned his head and told Nicole.
"Alright, I'll go get them right away," Nicole replied softly.
"Master, what do you need basins for? And two of them at that," Mina asked curiously. She still didn't know what the saltpeter was used for.
It was safe to say that no one in the castle knew; they only knew that the Master valued saltpeter very highly.
"You'll know in a bit. Let's go to the laboratory," Lucas waved his hand, his eyes narrowing slightly as he looked at the curious beast-eared girls.
Mina and Annie knew Lucas was about to tinker with something that would surprise them, so they quickly got up and followed.
Creak... The laboratory door was pushed open, and Lucas led the beast-eared girls inside.
"Master, the two basins and the saltpeter you asked for have been brought over." Nicole walked in carrying the items.
"Good." Lucas rubbed his hands together and began adding a large amount of water to the big basin. Then, he poured a portion of the processed saltpeter into the large basin.
"Master, what are you doing?" Annie couldn't help but ask out of curiosity.
"I'm preparing to make ice," Lucas said, the corners of his mouth turning up slightly, his hands never stopping their motion of adding saltpeter to the big basin.
"Make ice? We can have ice in the middle of summer?" Nicole said in astonishment.
"You can really make ice?" Annie marveled, her eyes widening.
Having ice in the sweltering heat of summer—this was truly akin to magic.
Mina stood silently to the side, her eyes brimming with anticipation, because Lucas had already accomplished far too many seemingly impossible things.
"You'll see in a moment." Lucas gave a mysterious smile.
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