Making Perfume Again

Suddenly, something pressed against her lips. Lyra involuntarily ducked back, but after hearing Astrid's words, she still subconsciously opened her mouth.

"Huh?"

By the time Lyra fully reacted, her mouth had been stuffed with half a pastry.

Astrid looked at her with interest, as if observing how her own kitten or puppy might eat.

The shell of the fluffy pastry cracked instantly, and the rich jam fell onto her tongue, its sweetness mingling with the natural moisture of her mouth.

It was the first time Lyra had tasted such a delicious biscuit.

As she chewed carefully, she could even detect the milky flavor of the biscuit's shell.

Seeing this, Astrid's expression remained unchanged.

She continued to feed Lyra the remaining half of the biscuit, but as she withdrew her slender finger, it accidentally brushed against Lyra's soft, moist lips.

At that moment, Lyra also felt a softness on her lips. The woman's fingertips seemed to carry a kind of magic, capable of easily igniting a warmth on her skin.

A faint pink hue spread across her neck, and even the roots of her ears grew warm.

Lyra lowered her head and chewed slowly, her pale pink shawl-like hair perfectly concealing her flushed skin, preventing the sunset-like scarlet from being revealed to Astrid.

"How does it taste?" Astrid asked.

Lyra nodded, her voice as faint as a mosquito's hum.

"...Delicious."

Astrid was right. Aside from the involvement of Prince Lucas, the pastry itself was indeed a rare and exquisite treat.

Noticing that Lyra was reluctant to look up, Astrid assumed she was still upset and spoke in a cool tone.

"It seems there's no poison in it. You can eat it with peace of mind."

Hearing this, Lyra raised her head, her lips pursed, and her hands clutching the hem of her skirt.

'Her Royal Highness Astrid... Did she want me to test for poison?'

An indescribable feeling stirred in her heart. As she looked at the dessert box Astrid handed her, Lyra narrowed her eyes, and the strange mood she had felt earlier began to fade.

As she ate the fluffy chocolate pastry, occasionally tasting the wine-infused raisins and walnuts within, Astrid was surprised to find nuts added to the dessert.

Midway through her chewing, a sudden thought flashed through her mind.

She recalled the bottle of women's perfume she had planned to give Countess Charlotte for her birthday and realized where she could make improvements.

Astrid's thinking had been confined to modern sensibilities, and she hadn't fully considered that this was a fantasy world where swords and magic coexisted.

She realized she should add some unique elements to the perfume, much like the surprise of finding a raisin hidden within a chocolate cake.

Charlotte was a professor specializing in magical circles, and if Astrid wanted to impress her, it would be best to incorporate something related to magic.

It so happened that Astrid had recently read relevant literature and could construct a simple open magic array.

After confirming that the plan was feasible, Astrid quickly finished her dessert.

True to her word, she taught Lyra how to make a dish before returning to her bedroom to fetch the perfume.

She then immersed herself in her alchemical work.

The magic array, however, was not typically within the scope of an apprentice's studies.

There was a clear distinction between the first two major levels of mages: Apprentices and Sorcerer.

The primary criterion for becoming an apprentice is the ability to perceive magical elements through elemental vision and to manipulate elemental power to a certain extent.

Advanced apprentices, on the other hand, must possess sufficient mental power to release nearly a hundred primary spells in one go without the aid of a magic array.

Beyond the mental power reserve, which far exceeds that of an apprentice, a Sorcerer must also comprehend intermediate magic related to the magic circle and practice it to proficiency.

Similar to the entry-level magic of apprentices, intermediate magic involving array arrangements also has its corresponding Elders Speech incantations.

However, the text is significantly longer than that of primary magic. For example, the Elders Speech incantation for a flamethrower spell is: "The flame that flows with the spirit condenses and explodes quickly at the extreme." A single sentence suffices to encapsulate it.

In contrast, the incantations for intermediate magic are far more cumbersome. Astrid once came across the Elders Speech incantation for the 'Flame Forbidden Wall' in a book. The entire incantation reads as follows:

"Draw a square channel for the flow of the fire element, arrange the particles vertically, take advantage of the flame's rising and burning characteristics, excite in a clockwise direction, and ignite in the opposite direction in the penultimate section, end to end."

This is still one of the shorter Elders Speech incantations in intermediate magic.

As Astrid flipped through the chapters, she found that some of the more complex spells and incantations were nearly as long as half a short essay.

From that moment, Astrid finally understood why the forbidden spells in the movies and anime series from her previous life required such lengthy casting processes.

Just looking at the sheer volume of text, the caster had to recite an entire page of high-level incantations.

Destructive-level spells were even more astonishing, requiring what seemed like an entire instruction manual to be read aloud.

However, the length of these incantations also had its advantages. The more detailed the Elders Speech incantation, the better it helped Astrid grasp the essence of the magic array.

This was her unique advantage, and it complemented her familiarity with the novel's plot.

Pouring the pre-prepared perfume back into the cauldron, Astrid activated her elemental vision and allowed a wisp of spiritual power to dive into the potion.

She intended to arrange an open magic array within the perfume.

As the name suggests, this array would seal the fragrance under normal circumstances, preventing the liquid from evaporating naturally.

Even if the bottle were opened, the perfume would retain its potency for a long time.

When the user wished to use it, they would input mental power, and the open magic array would release the fragrance according to the amplitude and duration corresponding to the amount of spiritual power transferred.

This effect may sound simple, but it is far from easy to achieve.

The open magic array is not strictly a complete spell; it is more like a refined and isolated step from some intermediate magic, serving only the small, specific function she requires.

Astrid added a small amount of Blue Vitex Grass juice to the perfume.

Although it was the same herb used in the previous refinement of the spiritual power potion, its purpose this time was entirely different.

She needed it to block the flow of air from the outside world.

As the number of wind elemental particles in her field of vision increased significantly, Astrid manipulated her mental power to slowly envelop the surface of the perfume with the light green ribbons of wind energy before her.

Meanwhile, Lyra, standing behind Astrid, was also in a state of elemental awareness.

She observed how the once free and chaotic wind had become docile and soft under the control of an invisible force.

'Her Royal Highness Astrid... What is she doing?'

Lyra was still at the junior apprentice level and had not yet delved into the study of magic circles.

However, simply by watching Astrid methodically control the wind elements and arrange them in a specific order, Lyra could roughly guess that the other party was engaged in some advanced operation far beyond her current understanding.