"Coming!" Annie pouted, casting a lingering glance at the glass display case before reluctantly dragging herself over to Nicole.
"Hehe..." Lucy smiled, settling beside Nicole and gazing at the bottles and jars on the table. She even spotted a honeycomb, which filled her with surprise.
"So many ingredients?" Annie asked in astonishment.
"That's right." Nicole pulled out her private notebook, filled with personal insights, and spread it on the table. The three women leaned in to look.
The cosmetics Nicole referred to were actually makeup techniques Lucas had taught her—natural beauty products from Earth, not the chemical concoctions like toners, serums, or primers. Lucas, having seen too many heavily made-up women on Earth, and knowing that many modern techniques were technically unfeasible or simply undesirable in this world, wouldn't teach Nicole those.
"Alright, first, melt the honeycomb to make beeswax," Nicole instructed, following her notes.
"I'll light the fire and pour the water!" Lucy eagerly offered to help.
"Good." Nicole nodded, retrieving an empty ceramic cup. She placed dried hibiscus, rose tea, and then comfrey into it.
"What are these? They smell so good," Lucy exclaimed.
"These are flowers grown in the backyard. You've been here for days, haven't you visited the backyard yet?" Nicole said softly. Many varieties were completely new to them.
"No, I haven't," Lucy nodded, deciding she would go see it after this.
"Should I pour water?" Annie asked, looking at the ingredients in the cup.
"No," Nicole shook her head, picking up a bottle of plant oil. "Water won't preserve it for long, and it'll spoil easily."
"What's this now?" Lucy asked, like a curious child.
"It's a dried fruit oil. The Master says its yield is very small, making it incredibly precious," Nicole whispered. Her workshop held many ingredients unavailable on the market, all provided by Lucas for her experiments. If not for the relentless ledgers, she would probably spend most of her time here. She missed Camilla a little; after teaching Camilla how to manage accounts and audits, she had delegated some tasks, freeing up more time for her experiments.
Nicole pushed away her thoughts, pouring the dried fruit oil into the cup, submerging the dried flowers.
"Ah!" Nicole cried out in surprise after pouring, staring at the contents of the bottle, her eyes blinking rapidly.
"Wha—what's wrong?" Annie asked urgently.
"Did something go wrong?" Lucy frowned, looking down at the notebook but finding no mistakes.
"No, I just forgot I already did this step before," Nicole chuckled, patting her forehead. She walked to a nearby shelf and retrieved an identical bottle, which contained plant oil already infused with hibiscus and comfrey.
"Nicole, you made this before? It's so red!" Annie exclaimed.
"Yes, about seven or eight days ago. My memory is terrible," Nicole said, playfully sticking out her tongue.
"If you already have that, what's the next step?" Lucy grew more curious.
"Let's make the dye," Nicole said, glancing at her notebook. She picked up a ceramic plate, placed the rose petals she had picked that morning into it, poured in some white wine, and squeezed in the juice of a sour fruit. Nicole had recently noticed many new fruits in the castle, many of which she had never seen before; this sour fruit was one of them, useful for both cooking and this.
"Here, crush these," Nicole handed it to Annie.
"Leave it to me!" Annie took a wooden pestle and began to mash the petals.
"Lucy, let's cut some paper," Nicole said, pulling out some wood pulp paper from a drawer.
"Oh, this paper is so white!" Lucy exclaimed, picking up a sheet. She found it surprisingly soft.
"This paper is two or three grades higher than what's sold outside; its cost is quite high," Nicole explained simply. Everything used in the castle was of higher quality than what circulated on the market. She had heard Lucas say that they would only upgrade and release these advanced products once the current ones were fully widespread. Some of the things she knew about, like this wood pulp paper, probably wouldn't be released for many years.
"What are we cutting this paper for?" Annie asked, still mashing the petals.
"To make lip papers," Nicole said, her eyes shining with anticipation. She remembered Lucas saying that lip papers would make lips look very red and very sexy—a phrase she hadn't forgotten.
"Alright, next is filtering, right?" Annie craned her neck to look at the notebook, then found some linen to squeeze out the juice.
"Now, boil it down a bit," Nicole nodded. She turned to Lucy. "Pour out the melted honeycomb and let it solidify into beeswax."
"Understood!" Annie's interest was piqued.
"Okay," Lucy complied.
A few minutes later, Nicole had cut hundreds of paper strips, each about two fingers wide. She nodded in satisfaction.
"Annie, it's ready. Let's make the lip papers," Nicole said, taking the rose petal juice. She dipped the wood pulp paper strips into it for two or three seconds, then laid them out on a bamboo mat.
Working together, the three women finished soaking and laying out hundreds of lip papers on the mat in about fifteen minutes.
"What are these lip papers for?" Annie asked, her fox ears perked up in confusion.
"Here, I'll show you," Nicole said with a mysterious smile. She wet her lips slightly, picked up a lip paper, and pressed it against her mouth. Her lips took on a beautiful, vivid red hue, looking incredibly sensual and captivating.
"Wow! It's beautiful! So, so beautiful!" Annie gasped, her brown eyes wide as she stared at Nicole's reddened lips, which made one want to kiss them.
"Is this a lip paper? It's incredible!" Lucy exclaimed. She felt this could definitely be written into her novel. Of course, she wouldn't reveal the secret formula, only its effect. She believed it would be another product, besides perfume, that would drive women wild. She was already captivated by its effect.
"Isn't it wonderful?" Nicole smiled alluringly. "These lip papers need to be brushed with rose juice several more times to make them even redder and more vibrant."
"Nicole, when they're ready, you have to give me some!" Annie pleaded, tugging on Nicole's arm.
"Don't worry, everyone in the castle will get some. We're even having an exhibition in a few days," Nicole said with a slight smile.
"An exhibition?" Lucy asked.
"It was the Master's idea. He said summer is coming, and it's time to launch new products," Nicole replied mysteriously.
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You can read advance chapters and view R-18 images of the characters on pat reon page.
pat reon.com/GreenBlue17
200 power stones.
Top 100. All time.