Chapter 04

“I came to give you this.”

Roana opened the pouch she was carrying. Inside were the raw coffee beans she had carefully prepared all night.

“These are Adanta fruit seeds, are they not?”

As expected of a knowledgeable magician, Gerald recognized the beans immediately.

“But why are you giving these to me…?”

Gerald looked at Roana with suspicion.

Roana smiled brightly again and said the words she had prepared beforehand.

“Did you know that the seeds of the Adanta fruit contain a secret that has not yet been discovered?”

For a moment, undeniable curiosity flashed across Gerald’s face.

Magicians were very similar to the scientists from Roana’s previous world. They were obsessed with “undiscovered secrets” and passionate enough to risk anything to uncover the truth.

“A secret…?”

“In the legend, humans who ate the seeds of the Adanta fruit suddenly attacked other races. But that is only a legend. The Adanta fruit has a completely different effect.”

Roana dropped one of the beans into Gerald’s hand.

Gerald still looked suspicious as he glanced between Roana and the bean resting in his palm.

“What kind of effect?”

“Have you ever had to continue researching late into the night while struggling to stay awake?”

“Well, yes, but what does that have to do with this fruit…?”

“I cannot explain everything right now, but the Adanta fruit can help with academic research. Would you like to try it?”

Roana placed one of the raw beans into her own mouth to demonstrate. Enduring the bitterness, she forced herself to smile before swallowing it.

Even after seeing that, Gerald hesitated for a long time. But in the end, as a magician, he could not overcome his curiosity.

Carefully, Gerald raised the raw bean to his mouth and swallowed it after chewing.

“…Ugh! This tastes awful!”

Gerald screamed midway through chewing.

“It is fine, just chew and swallow it.”

Roana quickly covered his mouth with both hands to stop him from spitting it out.

“Mmph!”

Gerald grimaced terribly as he forced himself to swallow the bean.

“…What exactly is supposed to happen?”

“For now, calm down and spend the day as usual. Then come find me around evening.”

“Why would I come looking for you?”

“You will.”

Roana smiled meaningfully.

Leaving Gerald behind, she returned to her separate residence and spent a peaceful afternoon. She also made sure to remove the pulp from more coffee fruits in preparation for Gerald’s arrival.

That evening, someone urgently knocked on the door of Roana’s residence.

“Who is—”

“What exactly did you do to me?!”

Before Roana could even finish asking, Gerald burst out excitedly.

“See? I told you that you would come looking for me.”

“This is…”

Gerald grabbed his hair with both hands, looking utterly confused.

“So, how did the Adanta fruit feel?”

“How did it feel?”

Gerald suddenly lifted his head and rapidly poured out everything he had experienced.

“My mind feels clearer than usual, I am full of energy, and new ideas keep appearing nonstop. Earlier, I even solved a formula that I had struggled with for months! And even after working all day, I am not tired at all. In fact, I feel good. What exactly is this?”

Yes. That is called caffeine overdose.

Instead of telling him the truth directly, Roana smiled calmly and answered politely.

“It increases concentration and stimulates creativity. That is the true effect of the Adanta fruit seeds.”

Gerald’s eyes widened.

“Is that really true?”

“You experienced it yourself, did you not?”

“Hoo…”

Roana carefully watched Gerald’s reaction as he let out a shocked breath.

‘This is my chance.’

This was the moment she had been waiting for.

Looking at Gerald, who was still overwhelmed by the effects of the coffee bean, Roana spoke.

“If you process the Adanta fruit properly, you can create something called coffee. It tastes wonderful, and the effect becomes even stronger.”

“The taste improves?”

More than anything else, the mention of better taste caught Gerald’s attention.

“However, in order to make this coffee, I need the cooperation of a magician. Complex equipment is necessary.”

At Roana’s words, Gerald seemed to realize something.

“So that is why you came to see me yesterday? You wanted to use my labor to make coffee?”

“There is no need to put it so bluntly… but yes, that is correct.”

Roana nodded.

Then she looked at Gerald with eyes sparkling with anticipation for coffee.

“So, what will you do now? Will you help me?”

“First explain exactly what I need to do.”

Gerald gave a cautious answer. As expected, he was not an easy person to persuade.

Roana seated Gerald at the table in the drawing room and explained the entire process of turning raw coffee beans into roasted coffee beans. She even used hand gestures, foot movements, and drawings while describing the tools needed for each step.

“Do you understand what I mean?”

“I understand, but…”

Gerald trailed off.

“To be honest, it sounds meaningless. Even if the taste improves, why go through something so troublesome?”

The process of turning coffee fruit into coffee beans was long and difficult. Roana could understand why nobody in this world had discovered coffee despite having the fruit right in front of them.

Honestly, even she sometimes wondered who first thought of extracting coffee through such a complicated process.

‘Whoever it was, they definitely were not normal.’

Still, thanks to that person, humanity was able to enjoy fragrant coffee. They could practically be called a benefactor of mankind.

Roana sighed and looked at Gerald, who still seemed doubtful.

‘Coffee really tastes amazing, but I have no way to explain it.’

Since she did not have actual coffee yet, she could not properly convey its wonderful flavor.

After thinking for a moment, Roana reached out with desperate eyes and placed her hand over Gerald’s.

“Please, just trust me once.”

“No.”

Gerald answered immediately without the slightest hesitation.

“How could I trust someone I only met yesterday?”

He really was strangely reasonable for a magician.

“Fine, then let me ask differently. Do you not want an even more intense experience? Once the Adanta fruit seeds are processed, the effects become much stronger. Do you not want to conduct research with ultimate concentration and overflowing creativity?”

Conflict appeared on Gerald’s face. But his hesitation did not last long.

“…I do.”

Roana smiled brightly.

“Then please make the tools I described. You are a magician, so something like this should not be difficult for you.”

“This coffee had better truly be something remarkable.”

Gerald pulled his hand away from Roana’s and stood up.

“Making the tools will not be difficult, so it should not take long. Let us meet again in one week.”

“Thank you.”

Roana nodded enthusiastically.

Klaus was reading documents submitted by his retainers inside his office.

Perhaps because a new bride had entered the family, the retainers seemed to think their influence had grown stronger, and they kept making unreasonable demands toward Klaus.

Of course, Klaus had no intention of accepting those demands. Instead, he intended to use this opportunity to suppress the increasingly arrogant retainers.

—“I will live quietly like I do not exist.”

True to her promise, the woman had done absolutely nothing after the marriage. She made no attempt to control the servants of the household, nor did she try to interfere in family affairs.

The regular reports about her only mentioned that she spent her days leisurely enjoying herself like an idle noble.

While thinking about her, Klaus suddenly realized that he had not yet received a report about her recent activities.

‘Though it is probably the same as always.’

The woman never left the garden or the separate residence.

“Today’s report.”

“Yes?”

“That woman… no, the report about my wife.”

“Ah, I will bring it immediately.”

Edward brought over the documents.

As Klaus accepted them and began reading, one of his eyebrows slowly rose.

“A magician?”

Among the usual repeated descriptions of “residence, garden, residence, garden,” one unusual word stood out.

“It says she visited Lord Gerald’s residence five days ago.”

Edward carefully reported while watching Klaus’s reaction, worried that Roana visiting Gerald might upset him.

Fortunately, Klaus did not seem especially displeased.

“Why did she visit the magician? There is nothing to gain from doing that.”

He merely sounded puzzled.

The Bruggen family funded Gerald’s research out of respect and courtesy, while Gerald stayed at the estate and raised the family’s prestige. Their relationship was limited to that.

Magicians never interfered in the affairs of the family they stayed with.

“What did she do there?”

At Klaus’s question, Edward looked troubled.

“That is… actually, we do not know.”

“You do not know? Do you think that makes sense? Your duty is to monitor my wife.”

“We were watching her! But truly, nothing happened. She did not even enter Lord Gerald’s residence. They only exchanged a few words before parting.”

“That is strange.”

Klaus muttered quietly.

The woman who had spent an entire month living quietly had suddenly done something unusual.

‘What exactly is she trying to do?’

Klaus felt both curiosity and caution at the same time.

“Should we call Lord Gerald? If we ask him directly—”