Chapter 08
“Who is it— huh?”
Ize opened the door slightly to peek outside, then gasped in shock and quickly opened it wide.
“D-D-Duke!”
Through the open door, Klaus appeared along with three knights.
Klaus silently looked around the annex. Soon, his gaze landed on Roana.
“Greetings, Duke.”
Roana was just as surprised as Ize, and her voice sounded slightly dazed as she greeted him.
“You told me to come after one week.”
Klaus reminded her of their previous promise in a dry voice.
“That’s true….”
Roana looked at Klaus awkwardly.
‘I never thought he would personally come….’
She had expected him to either send a subordinate or simply not come at all. So why had Klaus suddenly decided to visit the annex himself?
“I had some matters to deal with, so I arrived late. The vassals were making too much noise.”
“The vassals?”
Roana tilted her head curiously, but Klaus did not explain further.
As Klaus looked around the annex, his gaze landed on Gerald sitting in the living room.
Gerald stiffened nervously under Klaus’s stare. Even as a magician, facing Klaus directly seemed difficult for him.
Klaus’s gaze moved past Gerald and toward the server sitting on the table. There was still some coffee left inside.
The moment he saw the coffee, Klaus frowned slightly.
It was an obvious sign that he was displeased.
The people inside the annex tensed nervously without understanding why.
Klaus remained silent for a long time. Only when everyone felt like they might suffocate did he finally speak.
“So this is the calming potion you asked the magician to make?”
“What? A calming potion?”
Roana’s eyes widened into circles.
‘What calming potion?’
The tension that had filled her entire body instantly disappeared.
“Did you not ask the magician to make a calming potion? And the Adanta fruit is the ingredient.”
Only then did Roana understand what Klaus meant.
She could not help bursting into laughter.
At Roana’s bright laughter, Klaus looked startled and raised one eyebrow.
“No, no, that’s not it.”
Roana waved her hands as she denied it.
Roana already knew that noble ladies sometimes asked magicians to make calming potions. Countess Rius often took them herself.
So she fully understood why Klaus had misunderstood her actions that way.
But even understanding the misunderstanding, she still could not stop laughing.
“Why would you think that?”
Roana asked.
Klaus suddenly became speechless.
Why had he thought that? His reasoning had seemed completely logical and natural. Because Roana was probably having a difficult life here….
“You.”
After a long silence, Klaus finally spoke. His voice strangely sounded hesitant.
“I thought you might be struggling with your life in the South.”
“How could that be?”
Roana tilted her head as if she truly could not understand.
“I already told you. My dream is to live comfortably without doing any work. I’m happier than ever right now.”
Klaus silently stared at Roana.
Now that Roana understood his misunderstanding, she no longer found him frightening. So she smiled at him brightly.
“This isn’t a calming potion.”
Roana pointed toward the server half-filled with coffee.
“Then what is it?”
“It’s a drink made from Adanta fruit….”
“You made a drink from Adanta fruit?”
Not only Klaus but even the knights beside him looked shocked.
“But Adanta fruit has no taste at all.”
Edward carefully spoke up.
“That’s not true. It tastes bad when eaten raw, but if you roast the seeds… actually, just try it.”
Ize prepared enough teacups for everyone while Roana filled them with warm water and coffee.
By the time the server was completely emptied, there was just enough coffee for everyone.
Roana handed the first cup to Klaus personally.
Klaus only stared suspiciously at the teacup without drinking it.
“Please try it too, knights.”
The three knights each received a cup.
They curiously stared at the steaming black liquid, but none of them drank immediately.
It seemed the idea of a drink made from Adanta fruit created psychological resistance.
Unable to watch anymore, Roana lifted her own teacup, which still had about one sip left inside, and drank it in front of everyone.
The moment Roana personally drank the coffee, Klaus and the knights widened their eyes.
“Please, go ahead and drink it.”
As Roana urged them, the knights finally hesitantly placed the cups to their lips.
And a moment later.
“It’s delicious!”
Edward and Brook lifted their heads at the same time and spoke.
The remaining knight also widened his eyes and stared at the coffee in admiration.
“I told you it tastes good.”
Roana said proudly.
“So? What does it taste like?”
She wanted to hear more of the knights’ opinions.
“At first, I thought the flavor was simple. But once you swallow it, the lingering aroma becomes incredibly deep and complex.”
The most excited person was Edward.
As someone born into a high-ranking noble family who enjoyed fine cuisine regularly, he closed his eyes and endlessly described the coffee.
“The feeling in the mouth is unique as well. It’s heavier than water but lighter than alcohol. It doesn’t feel burdensome, yet it’s not light enough to disappear instantly either.”
“Right? It tastes even better with bread or desserts.”
“My goodness, having sweet desserts with this would truly be perfect.”
“Wait, I actually have cookies.”
Roana happily brought out the nut cookies delivered from the main residence a few days earlier.
They were expensive desserts, but she did not mind sharing them at all.
For Roana, gaining more people to enjoy coffee with was something truly wonderful.
In front of the knights, Roana once again ground the beans and brewed coffee using the dripper.
The knights also enjoyed watching the coffee grounds puff up when water touched them, just like Ize had.
Another cup of coffee was served to the knights, Ize, and Gerald.
“Ah, this is truly…!”
After taking a bite of the cookie and a sip of coffee, Edward cried out emotionally.
“The sweetness of the cookie and the bitterness of the drink combine into heavenly harmony. The way the hot, smooth drink melts into the crispy cookie creates an absolutely fantastic taste.”
The others also happily enjoyed the coffee and cookies together.
Roana proudly watched them before suddenly realizing that Klaus still had not properly drunk his coffee.
Sensing her gaze, Klaus slightly frowned.
‘Does he not want to drink it?’
Maybe Klaus was simply someone who disliked trying unfamiliar things. For a person like that, drinking a mysterious beverage would probably be unpleasant.
“Um… Duke, if you don’t want to drink it, that’s perfectly fin—”
Just as Roana started speaking, Klaus lifted the teacup to his lips.
Then he took one sip of coffee.
Only one sip.
Klaus set the teacup back down without drinking more.
Without realizing it, Roana nervously watched him.
Even though she was confident in the coffee’s taste, she still cared about what he would say.
“How is it?”
Unable to endure the silence, Roana finally asked first.
Klaus looked down at the teacup before turning his gaze toward Roana.
“It’s excellent. And unusual.”
Klaus only gave an evaluation of the taste without sharing his personal thoughts.
‘Seriously, he keeps making me curious.’
Roana barely resisted the urge to pout.
Still, today she had gained many companions to enjoy coffee with, and Klaus had at least given coffee a positive evaluation.
That alone was huge progress for Roana.
“It truly is an excellent beverage. To think you invented something like this….”
Edward, who now held endless goodwill toward Roana after just one cup of coffee, spoke dramatically.
“If you get another chance, please come visit again. I’ll always have drinks prepared.”
The Bruggen family garden was extremely large, and there were many coffee trees growing there.
And once all the coffee trees in the garden were harvested, servants could simply gather wild coffee cherries growing outside.
At Roana’s offer to serve coffee again, Edward visibly brightened.
Meanwhile, Klaus remained expressionless as ever.
“You’ve confirmed now that I’m not plotting anything suspicious, correct?”
Roana asked Klaus.
Klaus flinched slightly before nodding.
“Then I shall take my leave.”
He turned around, leaving behind a cup of coffee that was not even half-finished.
The knights slowly turned as well, looking regretfully at the plate filled with coffee beans.
“It was truly delicious….”
Brook spoke wistfully.
“Ah, everyone.”
Just before Klaus and the knights opened the door to leave, Roana suddenly remembered something and spoke up.
“This drink isn’t only delicious. It also has one special effect.”
“An effect?”
Edward asked curiously.
“Like peppermint tea helping with sore throats? Or eggnog restoring energy?”
“Well, similar to eggnog, but different. After half a day passes, you’ll understand what I mean.”
Roana smiled meaningfully.
Without asking further questions, Edward and the knights tilted their heads curiously before leaving.
“I should get going as well. I want to continue my research immediately.”
Gerald also left together with the knights.
Roana spent the peaceful afternoon with Ize while waiting for them to return.
Because the true value of coffee only revealed itself with time.
Just as she expected, around evening, the three knights including Edward knocked on Roana’s annex door once again.
“You’ve come, knights?”
Roana opened the door for them.
The knights looked extremely excited.
“So, what kind of experience did you have today?”
Roana asked expectantly.
Since beginners had drunk two whole cups of coffee, they must have experienced something incredible.
“Something unbelievable is happening!”
Just as Roana expected, the knights eagerly began describing what happened to them.
“Ever since drinking that beverage, my whole body feels full of energy!”
“I worked all day, yet I’m not tired at all!”
“And I keep feeling this strange happiness and satisfaction rising inside me!”
“My goodness, I’ve never experienced anything like this in my entire life.”
Roana barely held back her laughter.
The awakening effect and energy coffee provided were things she loved just as much as the taste itself.
“What exactly is the name of this drink?”
Edward asked desperately.
“It’s called coffee.”
Roana answered with a bright smile blooming across her face.
Neither Roana nor the knights knew it yet, but today marked the beginning of the great coffee era that would soon sweep across the Bruggen duchy and the entire empire.
