320 - A Maid
"We have to return the chef, don't we..."
When I heard the news that Ethelbert had entered the royal castle, that was the first thing that came to mind. When I muttered it, letting my feelings of "I don't want to, I don't want to return him" carry my voice, Hermine pointed out that I shouldn't draw out my sentence endings. It's not like I usually draw out my endings, so I'd like a pass just this once.
"Kalisa, how much Napaji cooking have you learned?"
"...I can't say any of them are perfect yet, but I've memorized the recipes and cooking methods for the dishes that were served at the detached palace."
"Recipes and cooking methods, you say?"
"Yes."
That means, as long as she practices, she can recreate all the Napaji dishes I've eaten so far, and on top of that, I'll get to eat Napaji dishes during the practice process too. When I asked if she could make the ramen-like Nemaru as a test, Kalisa said she could make it well enough now, even if the noodle thickness didn't satisfy her yet.
...Our Kalisa is seriously amazing! As expected of a super maid trained by the capable steward Iridal!
For a fulfilling food life, the next issue is that Napaji seasonings are expensive, but fortunately my guardian earns well. Napaji seasonings at least are something I could secure as a small luxury.
...Actually, doesn't my living expenses while at the detached palace seem like it's paid by the country?
It seems my treatment, being given a detached palace, is as a guest. They apparently have a budget set aside to let such a guest stay without inconvenience.
...I'm starting to feel like when they occasionally tell me to become an adopted daughter, the difference is just whether the budget is for a guest or for an adopted daughter.
I had thought the cost of the kotatsu I had made as a hobby would come from the five thousand gold coins that were apparently my translation salary, but it wasn't from the guest budget. Alfred had paid for it. Actually, it seems Alf had paid for it. He transferred the design of the Reversi board that Alf had made at the Grenore residence to Alfred, and Alfred made Reversi boards in the capital, and every time Reversi spread, more people asked for Reversi boards. When they inquired with merchants about Reversi boards, the merchants figured this could be a product and bought the design from Alfred. Alfred was troubled about what to do with the payment since it was originally transferred from Alf, and Alf was also troubled about receiving payment since he had only made a design based on what I taught him, and in the end, the conclusion was apparently to make it my pocket money while I was in the capital.
...Without me knowing, in a place I didn't know about, I got pocket money.
At any rate, I'll be happy that I'll still be able to eat Napaji dishes even after returning the chef to Ethelbert. All that's left is to convince Leonardo and Kalisa herself to let me take Kalisa along when I return to Grenore city, but that can wait a year.
I received word that Ethelbert had returned to the royal castle, but I refrained from visiting for a while, thinking it would be a bother if I went right away. After about a week passed, just when I started wondering if Ethelbert's travel fatigue might have worn off, an invitation arrived from Ethelbert himself. Apparently he had some luggage entrusted to him by Leonardo, so he said to come visit in a large carriage.
...What could Leonyaldo-san's luggage be, I wonder?
I had no idea what luggage Leonardo might have entrusted to Ethelbert, so I thought about it for a while. But there was no way an answer would come, and the good smell of baking kintsuba made me stop caring about Ethelbert's business.
"This is my first time making yokan from Omiamtasu sweet potatoes, Nakuoyu, but it turned out well."
"Just Omiamtasu sweet potato yokan would look delicious, but since it's a gift, let's make it into kintsuba."
We coat it in flour mixed with water and have it lightly grilled on an iron plate. It's just the yokan getting a wheat flour coating, but that alone makes the already delicious sweet potato yokan even more delicious. I think the person who created kintsuba was a genius.
First, Kalisa and the chef taste-tested and poison-tested the freshly grilled sweet potato kintsuba, then I ate one. The faintly warm sweet potato kintsuba was the most delicious thing ever. Even though they were for gifts, I reached for another one, and the sweet potato kintsuba I grabbed was snatched away by another hand that came from above.
"...Do you need something, Vard-san?"
"This is, quite... guh!"
Without hesitation, I baptized Rannvald with my heel as he brought the sweet potato kintsuba to his mouth without asking. The heel baptism was because he was standing behind me. It's not like I deliberately chose my heel for greater effect than the toe. Food grudges are frightening, but I don't think I'm that cruel. If he'd asked to try one, I would have honestly said "go ahead" and handed it over, but there's no need for mercy toward Rannvald, who snatched the one I was about to eat.
"Do you need something, you sweet potato thief?"
"I'm not a thief, this is a poison test."
"Kalisa already did the poison test!"
When Rannvald reached for a second one, I smacked his hand away, calling him cheeky. I'm aware I have a greedy appetite, but I never intended to hog them all. It's just that when Rannvald tries to steal them without a word, I want to stop him because it's bad manners. If he said even one word like "delicious" or "another one," I'd be willing to portion some out onto a plate for him.
"So, what business do you have? You didn't really come just to steal snacks, did you?"
Rannvald, who usually holes up in the annex, had only come to the detached palace once on the first day Alfred brought him. Rannvald, who seems to be avoiding Nadine's eyes, had never come out of the annex until now. And yet today, he not only came to the detached palace but even showed his face in the anteroom next to my room, stealing the sweet potato kintsuba being baked in the small kitchen mostly used for making tea.
...What should I do. I want to turn him over to Nadine.
Or maybe to Felicia. I was that upset about having my sweet potato kintsuba snatched from me.
"I heard you've been summoned to the retired old man's detached palace, so I came to make sure you don't mess up."
Rannvald, telling me not to let it slip that he's here at the detached palace, seems to have decided to call Ethelbert "the retired old man" instead of "Father." I think this would be enough to disguise their parent-child relationship at first mention, but if he wanted to be thorough, it should be "retired geezer." The fact that he calls the elderly Ethelbert "old man" rather than "geezer" made me feel a strange attachment and want to be suspicious.
"You rarely come out of the annex, and you came all the way here just to say that?"
"Because you have a face that looks like you'd let it slip to the retired old man if I didn't warn you. You already let it slip to Feli that I'm here."
"I wasn't told to hide it from Felicia-sama."
Apparently Rannvald calls Felicia "Feli." I suppose they were close back when she was in the detached palace as royalty.
"...Thanks to that, the surveillance is strict and I can't move freely."
"Oh? So that means I did a good job?"
Rannvald made an indescribable face, so I turned my gaze to the silver-white knight standing behind him as guard and watcher. Both of them had such cheerful expressions that it seemed I had been useful to them.
"You've got quite the personality."
"My specialty is honesty to the point of stupidity."
"That's not something to boast about."
"It is something to boast about, you know? Speaking honestly, I think Vard-san coming to make sure I don't mess up today was a complete failure."
I'm often told that my thoughts show on my face. If he hadn't come to warn me to keep secrets, I probably wouldn't have thought about Rannvald at all, since he hadn't shown his face for a while. But because he warned me, it left an impression, and if I'm not careful, it might show on my face in front of Ethelbert.
"That was a failure."
"You... can you really be fine being granted a detached palace when you can't even hide your feelings that much?"
"Since I have no plans to become Christoph-sama's adopted daughter or Alfred-sama's bride, I'll be fine."
When he asked why someone like me was granted a detached palace, I kept silent. There's no need to tell him, and even if I did, it would just be a topic that satisfies Rannvald's curiosity and ends there. The silver-white knight seemed not to have leaked anything to Rannvald about this either, standing behind him with an innocent face.
"Ethelbert-sama seems to know that Vard-san is alive, so wouldn't it be fine if he found out?"
When I mentioned that there were signs the hidden passage in the detached palace had been used, Ethelbert was the one who said "it must be a ghost" and wrote a protective charm. Since he wrote "show your face," Ethelbert should know that Rannvald is alive. I think there's no need to hide it, but Rannvald shook his head.
"The one who let me out was the retired master, so he probably knows I'm alive... but he wouldn't permit me to show my face now."
Rannvald said he gained his freedom on the condition of cutting ties. I thought it was rich of him to say that, given there were signs he'd used the detached palace several times before.
"...If you're saying this is a place where you're not allowed to approach the royal castle, then why did you come now of all times?"
"There's something I want to look for, even if I have to risk some danger."
"I see. Well then, try your best not to be found by Ethelbert-sama and Felicia-sama, within Christoph-sama's range of vision, and without causing trouble for me."
"Wait wait. The flow here is supposed to be you butting in with 'What are you looking for?' and offering to help despite being powerless."
"I have no hobby of sticking my face into something that smells like troublesome royal affairs."
"Fine, if you're going to say that much, I'll tell you."
"I decline!"
As Rannvald started to put on a good smile and enter lecture mode, I resisted by covering my ears with both hands. Even if he says to just listen to the story, I don't want to hear something I can already tell is trouble.
"Don't be shy, Christina."
As Rannvald's hand reached out to pull my hands away from my ears, I called the name of my ultimate ally.
"Kalisa!"
"Guh!?"
A heavy thud rang out, and Rannvald's body bent into a V-shape. As he started to collapse to the floor like a puppet whose strings had been cut, the guard knight hurriedly supported him.
"...Weak."
...Kalisa is amazing. I didn't think she'd take him down in one blow.
And my ears didn't miss the comment Kalisa let slip. "Weak," Kalisa muttered in a small voice, gazing at her own hand as if she'd felt no resistance.
"How dare a mere maid act rudely toward Ran...-sama!!"
I suddenly remembered you're not supposed to say Rannvald's name, and the words got muddled at that part. I understand being angry that the person you're guarding was taken down, but Kalisa didn't do anything wrong.
"Vard-san is just a commoner now. A commoner laid hands on the master of a detached palace, so my guard... no, I misspoke. A maid simply eliminated him."
"Hmph... now that you mention it, that's true."
When I pointed out that they probably wouldn't want to make a scene and attract attention, Rannvald's guard quieted down. The cause was originally Rannvald's bad joke. I didn't expect Kalisa to take him down with a single blow of physical force, but since I'd be troubled even if I heard Rannvald's circumstances, I think Kalisa was the right call for silencing Rannvald without letting him have his say.
I had them portion out the sweet potato kintsuba for Rannvald and his guard onto a plate, and sent it with the guard, who decided to carry Rannvald back to the annex before Nadine found him. I think Rannvald's bad joke was the cause, but I also felt I might have gone too far, so this is at least a small compensation. I hope he eats the delicious sweet potato kintsuba and forgets about today.
I also portioned out sweet potato kintsuba for Felicia on a plate, and decided to have Rebecca deliver that. The gift for Ethelbert was packed in a box and carried by Kalisa. Recently I'd had Kalisa prioritize learning recipes and cooking methods from the chef, so it felt like it had been a while since she came along on an outing.
"Thank you very much for lending me the chef for so long."
I thanked Ethelbert, saying I was able to eat delicious Napaji dishes, and returned the chef. He was a chef who made delicious food, but he was someone I had borrowed from Ethelbert's detached palace. Now that Ethelbert had returned to the capital, I had to honestly return him.
"If the young lady was pleased, then that's what matters most. ...And it seems the young lady has revived another secret art."
Ethelbert began thinking about what reward to give this time while stroking his beard, so I told him I didn't need anything. Lending me the chef was so tempting that I jumped at it, but if it's a reward for reviving a secret art, I've already received more than enough payment.
"I've already received five thousand gold coins as salary for my translation work, and I think I've already received too much, to begin with."
For a commoner to live on, it's an amount they wouldn't need to work their whole life. As Leonardo's little sister, it seems I'll eventually be counted among the nobility, so I accepted it thinking there might be some use for it, but it might also be an amount that ends up being left with Leonardo forever.
"Compensation for translation and payment for the actual work are different, I'd think."
"But it seems the Sedovara Church and Alfred-sama covered all the material costs, so...?"
I do some of the actual work too, but most of it is just reading aloud Saint Yuuta Hiraga's research materials. Lately I've also been working on translating Japanese so it can be understood in the Erath language, but since I'm just adding a few notes and cautions, I don't feel like I'm doing work that deserves payment.
"That boy is quite sharp about his own matters, you know. It seems he's making your achievements into his own as a prince."
"Alfred-sama's achievements?"
I tilted my head, wondering what he meant, and Ethelbert told me the rest. By supporting my actions, Alfred gets to have a hand in the achievements I earn, and apparently that becomes achievements for Alfred as a prince. I had just been thinking "I'm grateful that Alfred gives me advice," but it seems there was also this reason behind him lending me Solana as a contact person and visiting the detached palace even for small matters.
...Alfred-sama, as expected of a prince. It wasn't just thoughtfulness without ulterior motives or wastefulness.
It didn't seem like it would end on a clean note, so I'll stop here. I want to eat sweet potato kintsuba. Freshly made is the best.
Will fix typos and errors at a later date.