Once the banquet celebrating spring has ended, the winter social season draws to a close. Nobles return to their respective territories, and those living in the Noble District resume their usual work. As for me, I return to the
"According to the usual schedule,
At dinner, which had become a touch livelier with
"I can't go back yet."
"What's wrong, Rozemyne? Has something happened?"
It wasn't a matter of something having happened. Something very important had been forgotten. I pouted my lips unhappily.
"When are you going to teach my chef how to prepare fish dishes, Father? Ever since I returned from the
He'd said he'd arrange it once I returned from the Royal Academy, but now the day of my return to the Temple was fast approaching. This was a dire situation. When I lodged my complaint, Father finally seemed to realize his oversight, snapping his fingers.
"Ah, that's right. Then I'll contact
"Much obliged."
I replied with a refined noble smile while clenching my fist triumphantly under the table.
...Yes! It's here, it's here! Woohoo! Fish! I can finally eat fish!
Not the muddy, river-fish of Ehrenfest's polluted waters, but actual ocean fish from Ahrensbach. How many years had it been since I'd last had a fish dish? I couldn't contain my excitement.
I needed to thank
"Father, the ingredients Ferdinand has been managing were brought by Aurelia when she married, so she could savor the tastes of home. I'd like to let her eat Ahrensbach cuisine too.
Father pondered my question briefly, then turned his gaze toward
"...Hmm. If Aurelia is coming, we'd need to increase her guard and decide whether to invite the Karstedt family along with Lamprecht, but the invitation itself is fine."
Seeing me celebrate the permission I'd received, Mother called my name gently.
"Rozemyne."
"Even if Aurelia misses the tastes of home, I'm not certain she'll be in a condition to come here. Before sending out invitations, please check thoroughly with Lamprecht and
Mother said this with concern, carefully avoiding the word "pregnant."
Indeed, if Aurelia was suffering from morning sickness during her pregnancy, coming to the castle would be difficult no matter how much she wanted to. Feeling unwell while being considerate of those around her, even the finest cuisine might not taste good. Aurelia already disliked going to places where people gathered. And if I sent a formal invitation, it would essentially force her to attend.
...But I really wanted Aurelia to try Ahrensbach's traditional cuisine.
"Brother
"Ah, go ahead."
After dinner, while heading back to my room, I obtained Wilfried's permission to speak with Brother Lamprecht. In a private room in the main building closest to the Northern Building, I sat down with Brother Lamprecht as family. Brother
"Brother Lamprecht, how is Aurelia doing? Do you think she'd be able to come to the castle for Ahrensbach's traditional cuisine?"
At my question, Brother Lamprecht crossed his arms and groaned.
"I think it would be difficult for Aurelia to come to the castle. I've heard she often can't even eat these days. An invitation from you as the Lord's adopted daughter would be one we can't refuse, so it would actually help if you didn't send one."
Even from what little Brother Lamprecht said, Aurelia's pregnancy sounded rough. She felt nauseous, couldn't move much, and apparently spent her days either throwing up or sleeping. During
"Besides, I don't think she'd want to remove her veil at the castle."
...Ah, that was indeed a problem.
I recalled how Aurelia always wore her veil and glanced at Brother Lamprecht.
"I've never seen it myself, but you've seen Aurelia without her veil, haven't you, Brother Lamprecht?"
At my question, Brother Lamprecht's eyes widened for a moment before he began to laugh softly.
"Of course. She hardly ever wears it in her own room. The reason is that we don't want to create any misunderstandings that would worsen Ehrenfest's relationship with Ahrensbach any further. She wasn't wearing one at the Royal Academy, either."
That made sense—since Aurelia had been a knight apprentice, wearing a veil would have made attending lectures difficult. I'd always wondered how Brother Lamprecht had grown close to Aurelia while she wore her veil, but apparently she hadn't worn one at the Royal Academy.
"I think Aurelia will keep wearing the veil until her relationship with Ahrensbach improves. She's fundamentally timid."
"I saw her following behind her mother at social gatherings and got that impression too."
After thinking over various things about Aurelia, I decided to have her dishes delivered piping hot using a Magical Tool that stopped time. Originally, Aurelia was supposed to have food brought to her using a Magical Tool so she could eat whenever she wanted. I'd just be using it for its intended purpose.
"So, for the day we eat Ahrensbach's traditional cuisine, I'd like you to bring a Magical Tool that stops time for Aurelia's sake."
"Thank you for thinking of so many things for Aurelia, Rozemyne. She'll surely be happy."
When I made my suggestion, Brother Lamprecht smiled happily and patted my head.
"So there won't be any invitation after all..."
If I was having dishes delivered to Aurelia, there'd be no need to invite the Karstedt family to the dinner either. Brother Cornelius, who had apparently been looking forward to the Ahrensbach cuisine, made a somewhat disgruntled face and poked my cheek in silence.
After finishing my conversation with Brother Lamprecht and returning to my room, I promptly sent an ordundant to the Chief Priest. "I'm going to learn how to make Ahrensbach's traditional cuisine, so please bring some fish." I received "Understood" in reply and went to sleep feeling relieved, only to find the fish had already been brought to the castle by the time I woke up.
At breakfast, Richarda told me about it, and I sent an ordundant expressing my thanks, adding, "The Chief Priest's response was impressively swift. Ferdinand must be looking forward to the fish as well."
The Chief Priest replied, "It's not that I was looking forward to it. The fish requires a great deal of Magic Power, so it's better to use it as soon as possible. I also want to send you back to the Temple as quickly as possible."
But he'd said he'd be staying at the castle all day to work, so he was clearly looking forward to the fish.
While I was doing light exercises at the knights' training grounds, I begged the Chief Priest, who had come to train as well, to show me the fish.
"What kind of fish is it? Please show me, Ferdinand."
"
A noble young lady naturally couldn't just wander into the kitchen. Unable to even see the fish, I had no choice but to wait in my room for dinner. Honestly, it was boring, but today was the day
...It wasn't like they were making everything to my preferences, so for today, I'd just have to bear it.
"That said, it's rare for you to join the knights' training instead of helping Father with his work, Ferdinand."
"...Just a change of pace."
For just a change of pace, his training looked remarkably serious. Grandfather and Brother
"I'll be doing my usual exercises with
"Lady Rozemyne, thank you so much!"
Angelica left with a bright smile, departing at wind-like speed. I did my radio calisthenics, then rested. Light exercise followed by rest—just as I always did.
After returning from training, I had a message sent to the kitchen asking them to save some ingredients for me to take back to the Temple, and I began writing down recipes from memory. I should probably think of them as Western-style dishes.
Fish marinade, carpaccio, oil-marinated, herb-baked, meunière, acqua pazza and bouillabaisse-type soups, fritters, fried white fish, and I also liked putting it in gratin. I wasn't sure which of these I could make since I didn't know whether the fish could be eaten raw, but just thinking about fish dishes made my heart race.
...But what I wanted most was a simple salt-grilled fish. Make cross-shaped cuts on the surface, sprinkle with salt, and grill it.
When you grill fish, the salt turns white on the skin as it crisps up with beautiful char marks. Gently peel back the skin with chopsticks, and steam billows up. Savoring the fish aroma rising with the steam, squeeze tart citrus juice over it and take a bite. With freshly cooked white rice or dry sake, it would be perfect.
...Though I wasn't old enough to drink yet.
Just thinking about fish dishes and recalling all the food I'd eaten in my Reoné days made my stomach growl.
If I had soy sauce, I could consider making simmered fish, but there was no way I'd find soy sauce that satisfied me. Maybe Ahrensbach had something like fish sauce, but I refused to count that as soy sauce.
And then, dinnertime—the moment I'd been looking forward to—finally arrived. I left my room in high spirits, and the siblings headed to the dining hall together.
"Tonight's dinner is Ahrensbach's traditional cuisine made with ingredients that Aurelia brought to Ehrenfest. It's my first time trying it, and I can hardly contain my excitement."
"Ahrensbach cuisine? I used to eat it occasionally. Grandmother was fond of it."
Wilfried said this with a nostalgic expression. Having been raised by
"Sister Rozemyne, do you love new dishes and sweets that much?"
At Melchior's words,
"Melchior, Sister is the one who created that whole trend just because she wanted to eat delicious food and sweets. If she eats tonight's Ahrensbach cuisine, a whole new trend might be born."
"I've never had it either, so I'm looking forward to it."
After interactions with Ahrensbach nobles had been restricted, it was only natural that ingredients had stopped coming as well. Veronica's arrest and the fact that no one was ordering Ahrensbach's traditional cuisine probably played a role too.
Melchior apparently had no memory of eating Ahrensbach's traditional cuisine, and Charlotte had only vague, distant memories of having eaten it.
"This is Tsanbelzu Soup, made by stewing Ahrensbach fish with pomme and herbs."
After the familiar appetizers came what looked like a bouillabaisse-like soup containing only fish—no other seafood. Bouillabaisse is typically red, but since this was stewed with yellow pomme, it looked quite different. Still, thinking of it as fish pomme soup, the taste would probably be somewhat similar to bouillabaisse.
Excitedly, I dipped in my spoon and brought the soup to my mouth. Then, after one sip, I set the spoon down. All the strength drained from my body.
...I was eating it again for the first time in so long.
It was made using Yurgenschmidt's traditional method of stewing ingredients until they fell apart and then discarding the entire broth, so there was absolutely no fish flavor left. Floating in the soup were disintegrating chunks of fish that had lost all their umami and all taste of pomme. That was Tsanbelzu Soup. With my expectations so high, the letdown was crushing.
...The precious umami of the fish had been completely washed away. Umami, come back!
Since the only fish available was what Aurelia had brought, it was incredibly precious—yet having it prepared this way, I felt like I could become a ghost crying "What a waste!"
"Hmm, so this is what it tasted like?"
"Actually, our usual soup is better."
Everyone eating with me also wore lukewarm expressions. Their palates, accustomed to the regular soup that locked in every bit of umami, didn't quite take to the Tsanbelzu Soup that let it all escape.
"This is Fikken."
From the looks of it, it was a white fish meunière with an appetizing buttery aroma. Perhaps this too had been pre-boiled, robbing it of all its flavor. Heart pounding, I cut into the Fikken and brought it to my mouth.
"...It tastes like fish."
The crispy fish surface was thoroughly coated in butter. The butter flavor spreading through my mouth also contained what seemed to be riga for seasoning. The fish wasn't overcooked—it crumbled softly in my mouth. When I bit down, I could taste the fish distinctly within the rich butter, and the nostalgic flavor of ocean fish was so wonderful it almost brought me to tears.
...It really was fish. Not some strange ingredient, not muddy-tasting—just the fish I'd been wanting to eat.
I savored each bite slowly, thoroughly enjoying the precious fish flavor. What I was eating was an utterly ordinary meunière: white fish pieces seasoned, dusted with flour, and pan-fried to a golden crisp in butter. Riga was added for flavor, but it wasn't far from the meunière I knew—a meunière that was commonplace in my Reoné days. Back then, my assessment would have been "neither bad nor particularly good—just average."
But right now, being "ordinary" was the most important thing of all. Unlike the soup that stewed away all the umami, this was delicious. It actually tasted like fish.
...Fish! It had been far, far too long since I'd had fish!
An ocean fish that wasn't muddy, wasn't difficult to eat, and was simply, deliciously edible. Tears of joy.
...Aurelia, thank you! You're my sea goddess, Fairfuehlemeer!
While giving thanks to Aurelia, I finished the Fikken. The meunière was delicious in its own right, but what I really wanted was salt-grilled fish.
"Small pieces will do. Could you please grill this fish with salt and serve it with citrus juice?"
"Certainly."
What appeared before me as I waited excitedly was, for some reason, a lemon-flavored meunière. True to my instructions, it was salted, and the citrus juice cut through the butter's richness, giving it a refreshing quality that elevated it above the previous meunière.
But this wasn't what I wanted. What I wanted was simple, genuinely salt-grilled fish.
Still, I couldn't complain to the court chef right then and there. In the worst case, the chef could be dismissed. The fault must have been in my instructions. Passed through multiple people before reaching the chef, I should have explained more precisely, leaving no room for error.
...Sigh, I really wanted that salt-grilled fish.
Even so, I was satisfied to have eaten fish after so long. Unlike my smiling face, the Chief Priest who had brought the ingredients wore a rather stiff, forced smile. That was the expression he wore when deeply displeased or irritated. He probably felt that the taste didn't justify the effort and Magic Power required for the time-stopping Magical Tool.
"Surely the ingredients are being kept? Please ask my chef to put the remaining ingredients into the time-stopping Magical Tool once more."
"Rozemyne, what do you intend to do with the ingredients in the Magical Tool?"
When I tried to ask Lieselota to pass the message along to the chefs, the Chief Priest in charge of Magic Power deepened his forced smile even further. Behind that smile, I could tell he was angry—don't make me waste extra effort.
Wilfried and Charlotte, noticing the Chief Priest's smile had taken on a slightly menacing edge, nervously looked back and forth between us.
"I'd like to do some more research on fish dishes at the Temple."
The Temple was freer than the castle. Besides, it was easier to give instructions to the chef there. The castle wasn't suited for developing new flavors. Still, the Chief Priest's displeased expression didn't change.
"The soup I instructed them to make could have been delicious if they'd made dashi from the fish properly, just as you make dashi from pork or chicken frames. I genuinely want to enjoy Tsanbelzu Soup more."
I wasn't being so greedy as to ask for soupe de poisson. Aqua pazza or bouillabaisse would be fine. I just wanted to enjoy what should have been enjoyable—simply and deliciously.
"You're remarkably voracious—whether it's books, food, or sweets—anything you want."
The Chief Priest said this with an exasperated expression. I didn't want to hear that from someone who was shockingly voracious about beautiful consommé and Magical Tool research. But the forced smile had faded, so perhaps he'd developed at least some interest in culinary research.
Since he didn't tell me not to take anything back to the Temple, I asked Lieselota to bring the prepped fish pieces along with certain other items.
"Be sure to tell them not to forget to include the fish 'frames' as well."
"Lady Rozemyne, frames? Are you sure? What would those be?"
Lieselota, who had been quietly listening to the instructions for the chef, tilted her head in puzzlement. I glanced at the Chief Priest's forced smile once, then grinned.
"They're the equivalent of chicken frames—necessary for making fish stock. If you explain it that way, my chef will understand which part is needed."
"Certainly."
Lieselota headed silently to the kitchen without making a sound. Watching her retreating back, I deepened my resolve to eat delicious fish dishes.
By the way, the Tsanbelzu Soup that left us unsatisfied apparently delighted Aurelia, who was starved for the flavors of home. Apparently the butter-heavy Fikken was something she couldn't eat no matter how delicious, so maybe the completely umami-free, bland flavor was what worked best.
I was able to eat Ahrensbach's fish.
There were quite a few disappointments, though. (Laughs) Next, I return to the Temple. Time for my meeting with