CHAPTER 8: SOAP FORMING IN ANOTHER WORLD

Xiu stared at her nephew for a while, making him confused since he couldn’t understand her expression.

"Did I say something wrong?" Aegon asked softly. "I’m sorry if I did that."

Xiu came out of her daze and smiled widely at him. "How can that be? You didn’t say anything wrong. It’s your aunt who is dumb and comes to nonsensical conclusions."

"My aunt is very smart. Don’t insult her," Aegon corrected her seriously.

"Haha!" Xiu laughed and instantly forgot about all her previous thoughts. She hurriedly brought him to the back of the mansion where Arnold had set up a huge garden.

Nobody was allowed there, as Arnold himself had created this whole garden of flowers and he was also the one who tended to them. This was his private relaxing space where only Aegon was allowed to enter aside from him.

As for Xiu, technically she wasn’t allowed to enter here, but she had her ways of sneaking in without consequences.

Upon entering, Aegon felt as if he had stepped into another world meant to showcase the true beauty of nature. Every kind of flower bloomed in this garden that seemed to stretch endlessly.

The cool morning breeze swayed the flower petals, some of them slowly drifting down to the ground. The mixed fragrance of countless flowers relaxed his heart as a smile appeared unconsciously on his face.

"Now, tell me. What do you want to do here?" Xiu asked.

"Put me down. I’ll do it myself," Aegon said.

"No!" was her straight answer.

’Was worth a try,’ Aegon sighed and began to look around. He spotted a few flowers and asked Xiu to bring them to him. He took a sniff of each and then moved on to others.

He did the same with a few more, and Xiu happily tagged along while wondering what was going on in his little head. Still, she was smiling the whole time because he was relying on her.

It made her very happy.

"I will take this one," Aegon pointed at a blue patterned flower. All of the flowers of that plant had exactly eight petals in total and carried a fragrance that was sweet and relaxing, mixed faintly with mint.

Xiu happily plucked it out without any care for the plant, which made Aegon sigh. "You’ll get scolded for this, Xiu."

"For my Little Sun, I’ll do anything," Xiu kissed his forehead and said.

"But I asked you to pluck the flower, not to ruin the whole plant," Aegon corrected her firmly.

"Don’t fret over such small details," Xiu waved her hand dismissively and said. "Anything else you want for this idea of yours?"

Aegon nodded and gave her the details.

Soon, he was sitting in their open playground with Xiu and Sheila, a maid who usually looked after the cleanliness of the mansion.

Aegon had asked for the necessary ingredients for soap and if there was someone who knew about soap-making. He was young, so he couldn’t do it himself after all. And he knew Xiu wouldn’t know stuff like this either.

Sheila had once worked in a soap factory before coming to serve them, so she was the perfect helper for him.

Xiu had Aegon sit in her lap as she asked, "What now?"

"Sister Sheila, these are the raw ingredients. Can you make soap for me?" Aegon asked in his sweet milky voice.

"Of course, I can do that, Young Master," Sheila nodded and then asked in confusion, "But you already have so many good soaps, so why do you want one made by me?"

Normally, servants weren’t allowed to question their lords or masters. It was considered disrespectful, but things were quite different in this mansion.

Since everyone loved him so much, Aegon also treated them with respect and affection, which was the reason he called them Sisters and Aunt. So they also had certain privileges.

Arnold didn’t care about such details either, as the Augustus family never placed too much importance on rigid noble etiquette. For them, as long as everyone was satisfied, small details could be ignored.

"I want to add something in the soap," Aegon said. "Can you please do that?"

"It’s an easy task."

Although she was still confused, Sheila nodded in response. It really was a small request, and as long as it made him happy, who cared about other things?

Still, she glanced at Xiu, meaning to ask something, but Xiu spoke first. "Just use magic if it’s convenient."

"Yes."

Sheila raised her right hand as a complex red magic circle formed above her palm, and crimson flames burst out of it. They danced around her arm but always remained in her control.

With magic, the process of making soap was much easier, as she just needed to boil the animal fats along with other substances.

Aegon watched everything with sparkles in his eyes. He thought, ’Magic is so cool! If I can learn this spell, then I won’t need to worry about fire ever again. I could cook delicious food anywhere.’

Remembering his purpose, he turned toward Xiu and asked, "Xiu, can you help me extract the Essence of these Moonmint flowers?"

Xiu simply nodded and flicked her hand. In the next moment, the beautiful blue patterned flower turned into ashes, and a single dense drop of shimmering blue was left hovering above it.

"Mix it with the soap while it’s being formed."

Xiu did as he said, as she was finally starting to understand the idea of what he was trying to do. There were a few more ingredients he asked them to add, and a few changes in the process, which both women happily followed.

In the end, they were left amazed as they looked at the set of ten blue-colored thick bars of soap. Their fragrances were so refreshing that both of them couldn’t resist sniffing them up close.

"Using flowers to add fragrance... it’s such a simple thing, then why didn’t anyone think of it before?" Xiu muttered to herself as she stood up.

Seeing Aegon’s confused look, she said, "I’ll be the first one to test your product. Stay here with Sheila, and don’t run around. I’ll be back in a few minutes."

Aegon bobbed his head up and down with a smile. He was very happy that he wouldn’t need to bathe with that bland grey soap anymore. This one wasn’t just fragrant, it was also softer and smoother, since he had added ingredients that would be helpful for the skin too.

’If this is successful, then I can add more things to our mansion that will make our lifestyle better. But... will they put me in a mental asylum for thinking of so many things at once?’