Chapter 7 - The Worst Awakening
Dahlia’s awakening the following day was the worst.
Instead of the bell outside the gate, it was the tower’s doorbell that kept ringing over and over.
Only a few people could open the gate, so she assumed it was probably her childhood friend Irma who had come.
However, when she rubbed her sleepy eyes and went to check, it was Tobias standing there.
Having stayed up until midnight cleaning up and drinking wine, she had only just fallen asleep at dawn. Her face was puffed up, and her hair was messy.
She had wished he wouldn’t come so early, but by then, the sun was already high in the sky.
"Um… Sorry, but I need you to return the engagement bracelet."
Her former fiancé was adding to her discomfort at a time when she already wasn’t feeling well.
The engagement bracelet, in essence, was a gift from the man to the woman, or sometimes exchanged between both, similar to engagement and wedding rings from her past life.
However, in this world, it had a slightly different meaning. When a man gives it, he usually chooses something valuable enough for the woman to live on for at least two months, with the idea that she could sell it and survive in case of an unforeseen situation.
Even if the engagement was broken off, the recipient typically retained ownership of the bracelet.
When Dahlia had received it, Tobias had asked her not to damage it as much as possible, so she had placed it in an accessory box and only wore it when they went out together.
Yesterday was moving day, so she had put it in the box to avoid damaging it, and frankly, she had completely forgotten about it until now.
“...It’s not something you hear often, someone asking to return an engagement bracelet.”
“I’m sorry. I want to quickly have an engagement bracelet made for Emilia, but I don’t have the time, and, well… various things have been difficult…”
Dahlia was truly glad she hadn’t married this man.
Whether she was his new fiancée or new wife, reusing something like that was just sad, Dahlia scoffed inwardly.
“Alright.”
Selling the bracelet seemed like too much trouble, and asking for money was just as bothersome.
She truly, from the bottom of her heart, didn’t want to see this man right now.
“I’ll get it, so just stay here.”
She closed the door and dashed up to the third floor. She rummaged through the accessory box and grabbed the engagement bracelet and the earrings.
She put both in a bag she had around and went back to hand them over to Tobias.
“Here, the bracelet. And I’ll return these as well.”
The bracelet had been made to match Tobias’ chestnut-colored hair and almond-colored eyes.
It was a slim, gold band with a strong brown carnelian stone and a chic design. She had somewhat liked it.
The earrings were simple round studs made of orange-red garnet.
In this country, when someone starts a relationship, they might wear pendants, earrings, or rings matching the color of the other person’s eyes or hair.
Dahlia had received the earrings as a birthday gift from him.
She had been told not to wear them during work and had only worn them a few times, but now it was certain she would never wear them again.
Tobias gave a small nod as he received them and pulled out a small white box from his jacket pocket.
“I’ll return this.”
On her birthday last year, when Tobias gave her earrings, Dahlia had given him a gemstone in return.
It was a small but flawless ruby with a beautiful red glow.
Tobias had asked her to let him decide whether to turn it into a ring or a bracelet, so she gave it to him as a loose stone. However, she hadn’t seen it again since.
The returned stone remained unchanged, still shining in its small box without any crafting done to it.
As she took the box, she couldn’t help but let out a bitter laugh.
Tobias must have lost interest long ago.
“...I’m really sorry for hurting you.”
When Tobias bowed his head, Dahlia silently closed the door.
・・・・・・・
She felt a burning sensation deep in her throat.
She wasn’t sure whether she was angry or sad.
Dahlia erased Tobias’ registration from the control panel at the back of the workshop. Now he wouldn’t be able to open the gate anymore.
She carelessly tossed the small box onto a shelf.
Next, she rushed to the bathroom and used a magical tool powered by water and fire magic stones to fill the tub with hot water.
She undressed and soaked in the scanty amount of water, washing her face repeatedly.
She had decided that she wouldn’t look down anymore.
She repeatedly told herself that there was no need to cry over Tobias—he wasn’t worth it.
Once she had calmed down a little, she got out of the tub, and carefully washed her body and hair.
Fortunately, in this capital city, there was no shortage of water for the kitchen, bathroom, or toilets.
This was thanks to the cheap and stable supply of water magic stones.
Dahlia had heard from her father and learned at the academy that over twenty years ago, the royal family had initiated the “Great Water Reform.”
The king had "wanted to ensure that people wouldn’t be lacking water anywhere in the country," and from his words, research had started, with a viscount in charge of sewage management establishing a mass production system for water magic stones. As a result, the viscount was raised to the rank of count.
Even now, the production and management of water magic stones were primarily handled by that count’s family, which also oversaw water supply, purification, and sewage systems in the royal capital.
It was rumored that they would rise to marquis status in the next generation.
With no shortage of drinking water, the option to bathe every day, and the luxury of a flushing toilet—Dahlia, who had lived in her previous life in Japan, found this to be something to be truly thankful for.
As she stepped back into the tub, she observed the water magic stones she had stocked up on. They were small enough to fit four in the palm of her hand, dark blue, oval-shaped stones. Though small, one could supply several tubs of water. Fortunately, they were affordable at the cost of a few copper coins.
In this world with magic, “mana” was everywhere, and she had been taught that magic could be activated by following certain steps.
However, it seemed there was no detailed theory or verification on whether the water magic stones gathered moisture from the air, transferred water magically from somewhere, or even generated it from nothing.
When she had once innocently asked a professor in the magic department at the academy about it, she had been eagerly invited to a research lab.
Until now, Dahlia had mostly worked with fire and wind magic stones, along with materials from monsters.
Now that she had the money for the new house back, perhaps it was time to start a new study with the water magic stones.
Her usual soap caught her eye at the corner of her vision.
She had been casually using soap in this world, but although they had soap and liquid soap, there were no pump bottles for foaming soap. She remembered the basic mechanism and had experience with disassembling and reassembling it.
It wasn’t a magical tool, but a foam pump dispenser would make both bathing and hand washing more convenient.
Why hadn’t she thought of this before? She had to jot it down right away—Dahlia quickly got out of the tub.
Before she knew it, her thoughts of Tobias had vanished like foam bubbles.
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