Chapter 257

"You can not only use flowers, but even things like fruit peels can work." Lucas said, taking a sip of his coffee. The bitter taste made him focus slightly.

"Ah? Fruit peels work? How is that possible?" Nicole's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Yes, Young master, stop joking." Annie pouted.

In their minds, perfume represented something high-end, elegant, and mysterious. How could it possibly be made from fruit peels? If flowers were used, they might accept it, but fruit peels?

"I'm not joking. Anything that has a fragrance can be used to make perfume—leaves, wood shavings, resin, and even bark," Lucas put down his coffee and sighed. "Of course, different materials require different methods to extract their fragrance." Making perfume from flowers involves extracting the fragrant essential oils from the flowers and blending them to create a unique scent.

"Wait..." Nicole and Annie exchanged glances, the high and mighty image of perfume suddenly collapsing in their minds.

Perfume, when you peel back the layers, isn't as glamorous as it seems. Just like on Earth, if you search online for homemade perfumes, you'll find a myriad of bizarre methods.

It's likely that the perfume in this era is just one of those quirky methods, but the perfume Lucas plans to make isn't like the kind where you crush fresh flowers, soak them in water, and then filter the liquid to get a fragrance.

First of all, such perfumes have a very faint fragrance and a short shelf life. Lucas suspects that the perfumes made in this era are likely made in this manner.

He also guesses that the reason for the low production and high price is due to the mystery surrounding them and the limited supply, which creates a kind of profitability. After all, the shelf life is a major issue.

If you were to mass-produce this kind of perfume, you'd find that after ten days, the fragrance fades, and it even starts to smell rotten. Who would accept that?

But with limited supply and an air of mystery, once the perfume turns rancid, they can easily make excuses, claiming it's your fault for not storing it properly or, even more shamelessly, say that the perfume is supposed to be like that—its value lies in those ten days.

How would you argue? In the face of others' strange looks, a noble's pride and vanity would prevent them from complaining. The next time, they'd eagerly buy another bottle of perfume with a short shelf life, and then boast about how great the fragrance is, and how precious it is.

"Alright, stop dwelling on it. Let me make some first. This will be your responsibility in the future." Lucas waved his hand and said.

"Huh? Us?" Annie's eyes widened, and her fox tail perked up high in surprise.

"Perfume will be under your control from now on," Lucas nodded affirmatively, amused. "Annie, you need to have more confidence. After all, you're a princess."

"I... I don't want to be a princess," Annie pouted, muttering quietly, "Being a princess is tiring and troublesome..."

Lucas shook his head helplessly and walked over to the furthest cabinet. He unlocked it with a key and took out a glass distiller.

This distiller cost Lucas several hundred dollars. The first step in making the perfume is to extract the essential oils from fresh flowers. For that he had already chosen the flowers and plucked their petals. 

"Wow! It's huge and made of glass!" Annie exclaimed, her brown eyes sparkling as she stared at the distiller.

In this era, glass didn't exist as we know it. Anything transparent or semi-transparent, aside from some gemstones, was generally referred to as 'glass.'

Lucas didn't bother explaining what glass was. He poured water into the vessel, then lit the alcohol lamp. His goal was to first distill some water. The method he was going to use to extract the fragrance was alcohol infusion. He had already made some perfume on Earth using this method in his home. So, he didn't waste any time and started the process.

He then brought over ice water and connected it to the condenser tube. The steam, upon meeting the cold, would condense into water and slide into the cup below.

Annie and Nicole watched the scene in amazement, their breaths slowing down, as if afraid that any sudden movement might cause something to go wrong.

They both took out their notebooks and started sketching, though when Lucas glanced at their drawings, he felt they were barely better than doodles.

"Alright, next is the most important part of making perfume," Lucas said.

He took out another glass vessel, placed some rose petals inside, and then placed it on top of the water-filled vessel.

"This step is about using steam to extract the fragrant oils from the flowers," Lucas explained briefly. If he had gone into too much detail, neither Annie nor Nicole would have been able to fully understand.

"Wow, so this is how it's done, it's so sophisticated!" Annie exclaimed, quickly jotting down notes.

"Yes, I had no idea perfume-making required such precious glassware," Nicole marveled, also writing diligently.

At this point, both of them completely dismissed Lucas's earlier comments about using fruit peels and wood shavings. After seeing this method, they now believed that the perfume being made this way was undoubtedly high-end and luxurious.

Lucas rolled his eyes. "Other people's perfume doesn't use this method."

"Huh? Really?" Annie asked in surprise.

"Of course," Lucas nodded, speaking slowly. "When the perfume is ready, you'll see for yourselves."

"Alright, I've used perfume before, I'll compare it," Annie said eagerly.

"Good!"

Lucas casually responded, his black eyes fixed on the slowly moving liquid in the condenser. He was using steam distillation to extract the essential oils.

Moreover, he had already instructed the research department to look into how to create a set of distillation equipment made of ceramics, even if it was a bit clunky.

The liquid, after going through the essential oil separator, was divided based on the different densities of water and oil, effectively separating the two.

Soon, Lucas collected a small bottle of rose essential oil, then took some previously distilled alcohol from the shelf. From there, it was just a matter of mixing the two. 

With the essential oil and alcohol, the perfume was already mostly complete. This mixture, known as essential oil perfume, had a shelf life of over six months.

"Watch carefully, now I'll teach you how to make perfume," Lucas said, taking a small ceramic bottle and using a syringe to mix the ingredients in the right proportions. Exactly 2 parts floral extract and 1 part distilled water.

What they got was perfume, with a fragrance that lasted up to a few hours. He then transferred the perfume to a clean, dark bottle to protect it from light.

"Wow! It's so fragrant, way better than the perfume I used before!" Annie exclaimed loudly. "This pure scent has no weird aftertaste."

"Is this... perfume?" Nicole asked, her mouth forming an O shape. It was her first time seeing and smelling perfume.

"It is not ready yet, we have to wait a few hours to let it cool down. Then we have to let the perfume age in a cool, dark place for a few days to weeks to allow the scent to mature." Lucas said, seeing their excitement.

"Young master, this perfume... it's too... too fragrant!" Annie took a deep breath of the scent and said excitedly, "The perfume I used before can't compare to this at all."

"So, what do you think, how much should we sell this perfume for?" Lucas asked quietly.

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