CH 57

ON OCTOBER 2, 2022 BY GUTEZAGUTEREZ0980

“He also brought this sugar candy called konpeito. Try it.”

Cohen, the head maid, re-brews the tea and quietly exits the room.

“What do you think of the cosmetics?　These glass bottles are horribly shaped, even the mirrors are completely different from the ones we have.”

Elsa is somewhat excited as she talks to a trusted colleague she hasn’t seen in a long time.

“Elsa, that’s what we like to hear. Where did you meet him?”

In response to Adelheid’s question, Elsa reveals that her third daughter Sophia rescued Ginjiro, who was injured and unable to move, and brought him here.

“This sugar candy is delicious and beautiful too. I’ve never seen or heard of it, not even in the capital.”

Even Adelheid, a well-known gourmet, had never heard of konpeito.

“Besides this konpeito, he has a lot of other things that we don’t know about. Black eyes and black hair are something rare around here, so I thought maybe he was a nobleman from some other country, and I looked into it, but I couldn’t find out anything.”

“Would you like me to investigate?”

Adelheid suggested, but Elsa shook her head.

“If others people ask him to sell those cosmetics, it would be troublesome, so please don’t tell anyone. He insisted that the cosmetics be sold only to me. Even though he knows the value of the cosmetics, he doesn’t want to make money or demand power, rather he thinks it’s a hassle. Can you believe that?”

“I can’t believe it. Just to confirm, we will still can get the cosmetics, right?”

For Adelheid, it’s important, so she asks for confirmation to Elsa.

“Of course. I will give you the cosmetics as a gift from me, not through the Mainz family. In return, you must make sure that the source of the cosmetics will not be revealed, and if anything should happen to Ginjiro, you must protect him.”

Both Adelheid and Franzeska nodded in agreement.

“By the way, I’ve got some beauty products prepared for you in addition to those basic cosmetics. Please look forward to tomorrow morning.”

“Come to think of it, Sophia-chan and Ginjiro-san are dancing, and you did it on purpose, didn’t you?”

“Did you notice it? Sophia seems to have a thing for Ginjiro.”

Wherever the three women gathered, girl talk would start.

“I heard that the third prince has his eyes on Sophia-chan.”

“The third prince is a womanizer, isn’t he?　Sophia doesn’t have any interest in him either, and he’s also that second wife’s son. If he goes out of control, I’m counting on you, Franzesca.”

—

Ginjiro leaves the the tea party room, and Sebastian leads him to the room where Sophia is waiting for him.

“Ginjiro, I’m sorry about my mother.”

Sophia looks somewhat apologetic, but such a face does not suit her.

“Sophia, if you don’t mind, would you like to dance with me?　I’ve practiced hard and I want to dance with Sophia.”

The words came out naturally.

The reason I had practiced dancing so hard for the past few days was because I wanted to dance with the woman in front of me and I wanted her to be happy.

And yet, Sophia was not smiling.

Ginjiro kneels down in front of Sophia and offers his hand.

“Eh, but I’m not wearing a dress and there’s no music.”

Sophia was surprised at the suddenness of the moment, but she seemed happy as she held Ginjiro’s hand.

Standing up, Ginjiro hugs Sophia and steps slowly forward.

“Hey, Ginjiro, I wish I had worn a dress if we were going to dance.”

“I bet Sophia looks even prettier in a dress.”

“What is that, it’s unfair…”

Just swaying.

I can clearly hear my heartbeat.

The moonlight in this room seemed to bless both of us.

We danced, oblivious to the time, but Ginjiro’s stomach started to growl.

“Sorry, come to think of it, I haven’t eaten anything.”

Ginjiro shyly confides as he scratches his head.

“I thought Ginjiro looked cool today, but then suddenly your stomach started growling…. Somehow I feel hungry too.”

A young woman who looked depressed before the dance is now all smiles and sparkling.

“Shall we eat something together?”

Ginjiro thinks about it and asks Sebastian if he can borrow the kitchen.

“If it’s Ginjiro-sama, it’s all right. Please use it whenever you like, as long as you like.”

Well, I always have a coffee with Sebastian when I come here, and I’m sure Oliver, the head chef, will forgive me.

“Good evening, everyone. I’m going to borrow your kitchen for a minute. Here please take it.”

Ginjiro gives everyone his favorite pound cake.

“Oh, how bad. None of the maids are here today. They’ve been sent out for Okusama tea party. By the way, weren’t you at the tea party too?”

I told them that I had attended the tea party, but it was over, and since I hadn’t eaten anything, I would like to make some food.

“That’s fine, but I was just about to make a meal. Can you make some for us as well?”

I looked at Sophia, and she said OK, saying it would be fun to eat together.

“Then let’s make everyone meals together.”

The menu is pasta and salad.

After that, I think I’ll bake a pizza since there is a big oven.

First, pasta.

I ask Oliver to share the tomatoes for the tomato sauce.

There are many different kinds of tomatoes in this another world, this vertical tomato is very similar to the Italian tomatoes.

Cut into small pieces and put on low heat.

It was a lot of work just to make the tomato sauce, as it needed to be made in large quantities, including the portion for the meal, but everyone helped me.

Hungry Bear has a mincer for making hamburgers, but not here, so I made pasta with tomato sauce using a lavish amount of bacon and smoked meat.

I also made carbonara and peperoncino because I had plenty of eggs and cheese.

“First of all, here is the pasta. This one is tomato sauce and this one is carbonara with eggs and cheese. The recipe itself is easy to make, so after the tasting I’ll let you all make your own.”

Sophia seemed interested, so I offered her a small portion of the dish, separately from the chef’s tasting.

“This is delicious. You said it was easy to make, but what’s with boiling these flour sticks to soften them and mixing the boiled juice with the sauce, why not just tossing the used boiled juice out?”

Basically, anyone can make pasta easily, but I think Oliver is a great chef for asking about emulsification of peperoncino.

When I explained about emulsification, he was impressed that such a concept and method existed.

“Sophia, what do you think? I hope it suits your palate.”

Sophia liked the pasta with tomato sauce.

I didn’t make meat sauce this time because I didn’t have minced meat, but I vowed to make it for her next time.