After placing the two small clay pots in the pavilion, Finihiya politely thanked Garde once more, then sat down on the cold bench, deep in thought about the production steps.
After confirming everything in her mind, Finihiya instructed a passing servant to help her build a simple little fire.
The servants in the western-style mansion were all curious about the things she’d been doing these days, and from time to time, she could feel unusual glances cast at her from a distance.
The pile of firewood crackled and snapped as it burned, the orange-yellow flames roasting the small crucible above.
Finihiya picked up a small spoon and scooped two spoonfuls of Palm Oil from the clay pot, putting them into the crucible. Once the Palm Oil had melted, she added a spoonful of honey.
The spoon slowly stirred inside the crucible.
A faintly strange smell wafted and spread from within.
After stirring a dozen or so times, Finihiya poured some clean water into the crucible.
The liquid in the crucible gradually thickened, turning toward a milky white…
Once small bubbles appeared on the surface, she picked up the crucible and set it on the ground.
She put out the burning fire, then sat upright on a stone bench beside it, quietly waiting for the liquid in the crucible to cool.
At this point, the simple Bouncing Agent was essentially complete.
Feeling a bit bored, Finihiya tilted her head to gaze at the bouquet behind her.
Blessed by sunlight, the flowers in the courtyard regained their vitality, every petal glistening as if moistened by dew.
In the distance, clothes and bedsheets hanging on the Wooden Clothing Rod swayed gently in the warm breeze.
(“Doesn’t it feel much more relaxing here?”)
A hazy memory of what Darlian had said some days ago suddenly surfaced.
If she set aside the somewhat uncomfortable identity of being a captive and hostage, then the days here were the most carefree and pleasant of her sixteen years.
Every day she woke up with nothing to do.
And there were so many books here that she had never read.
The thing she pondered most often was simply which book to read that day.
She didn’t know where her thoughts drifted off to; by the time she returned to herself, the liquid in the crucible had cooled.
Finihiya squatted down in front of the crucible again, then picked up a small spoon and ladled the thick, milky white liquid into a glass bottle containing the Original Solution.
After mixing the two liquids together evenly, Finihiya held the glass bottle up toward the sunlight.
In the bright light, the liquid inside the glass bottle looked like some strange witch’s secret potion.
The only thing she couldn’t guarantee was the color of the Original Solution she made.
With the newly-made Original Solution in hand, Finihiya slowly made her way to the bathroom.
“Good morning, Lady Finihiya.”
When she pushed open the bathroom door, she saw the maid Fiora cleaning the large bathroom alone with her tools.
Finihiya politely nodded in response to Fiora’s greeting.
“Good morning, Miss Fiora.”
“Lady Finihiya, do you need to use the bath?” Fiora stopped her cleaning. “If you do, I’ll leave right away.”
“Don’t mind me, I’m not here to bathe.”
“All right.”
Standing in front of the large mirror installed in the bathroom, Finihiya scooped a basin of cold water from the bathtub, left over from the night before, and placed it on the washstand.
The bath mirror reflected Finihiya’s figure.
Her long blonde hair fell beside her fair, delicate face.
Just like last time, she soaked a portion of her hair in the wooden basin, then poured a small amount of Original Solution from the glass bottle into her left palm, rubbed it a few times, and applied it to her damp hair.
As she rubbed with both hands, her palms began to produce large amounts of white foam.
Seeing this, a smile bloomed on Finihiya’s face like a delicate rosebud unfolding.
After adding soap pods, soap tree fruits, and Palm Oil to create the Bouncing Agent, the new Original Solution now had excellent foaming power.
After inspecting and examining for a moment, Finihiya rinsed the foam out of her hair with clean water.
As for the cleaning effect, her own hair didn’t really show much of a difference.
As expected, she needed to find someone else’s hair to test it properly.
“Lady Finihiya, what is that?”
Fiora’s curious voice suddenly reached her, and Finihiya turned her head to look.
At this moment, Fiora was hugging a wooden bath broom, her small face full of wonder.
“Shampoo.”
“Shampoo?”
“Mhm,” Finihiya nodded gently and explained carefully, “It’s specially made for cleaning hair.”
“Eh—”
Fiora drew out her response, her curiosity deepening.
Seeing this, a slightly mischievous thought popped up in Finihiya’s mind.
Maybe she should test the shampoo’s effectiveness on Miss Fiora?
Once she thought of it, she gave a faint smile and softly, almost enticingly, said to Fiora:
“Would you like to try it, Miss Fiora? It can make your hair especially beautiful.”
“Really… it can do that?”
“How about you just treat it as me tricking you and give it a try?”
“All right, I’ll give it a go.”
Fiora agreed surprisingly quickly.
Seeing Fiora willing to be her little experimental mouse, Finihiya’s demeanor grew a bit more enthusiastic.
“Then let me help you wet your hair first.”
She had Fiora sit on the edge of the bath, leaning forward, and slowly poured ladle after ladle of cold water from the tub to thoroughly soak Fiora’s honey-colored hair.
Once her long hair was completely wet, Finihiya poured a generous amount of shampoo from the glass bottle.
After rubbing it in her palms a few times, she applied it to both sides of Fiora’s hair.
“Lady Finihiya, I can rub my own hair, how could I let you do such a thing…”
“It’s all right, it’s all right.”
She cut off Fiora’s protest.
After some gentle persuasion, Fiora finally quieted down.
Fiora’s hair was rather dry and brittle, having never been carefully managed or conditioned. Her honey-colored locks were rough, full of tangles and knots everywhere.
Seeing this, Finihiya naturally became much gentler in her washing.
After all, pulling too hard at the tangled knots would definitely hurt Fiora.
“This scent is so nice.”
“Is it? I added quite a lot of rose petals.”
“So it’s rose. No wonder the smell was so familiar,” Fiora said in realization.
“Miss Fiora, you’d better not open your eyes,” Finihiya gently reminded her. “If this stuff gets in your eyes, it’ll be quite uncomfortable.”
“All right.”
Because Fiora’s hair was in such poor condition, and Finihiya wanted to see just how well the shampoo could clean, she ended up washing Fiora’s hair three times in total.
As a result, nearly half the shampoo in the glass bottle was used up.
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.