Volume 1, Chapter 28: His Highness, enter right.
I began to commute to the royal kitchen two to three days every week. On those days, I would lead the kitchen in place of the head chef.
The most troubling part besides coaching the chefs was meal planning. It was okay for the café menu to be unchanging for the most part. It was important to have a seasonal menu, but the café required a regular menu or customers might complain that “I came here just to eat this but it wasn’t on the menu.”
The royal kitchen was a completely different story. As long as you were cooking for the royal family, you could not possibly give them the same food every day. It was easier on the chef, but also easier to get sick of for the consumer. Well, something like a weekly curry day might be okay, but it would be difficult to find a meal that everyone liked. In addition, a common household meal like curry did not exist in this world.
“This week will be these…maybe up until this date, no wait! They overlap here, so that’s a no go. Hmm…”
“Lady Risa, are you meal planning again?”
Sitting in a corner of the kitchen racking my brain over the menu for the week, I raised my head at Keith’s voice.
“Yeah. A week flies by so fast. I have to plan all the meals for this week again…”
“Thanks for doing that. You know, neither the head chef nor I could think up these dishes you make, and everyone in the royal palace is praising how good the food has gotten.”
“Ahaha, is that so.”
“Don’t laugh it away like that! I still remember the shock I received when I went to your store! It was so good…the people here at the royal palace get to eat that every day! They’re really blessed!”
Keith knew of my café before I came to coach the royal chefs, so he was the friendliest towards me. I was also amiable towards him, so we became fast friends.
He had also become engrossed in my food. I heard through the grapevine that despite being a flirt towards the ladies, he was very passionate towards eating good food. Therefore, he also trusted me deeply, as I was the maker of said food. Only Zeke had trusted me so much before, but now with Keith’s trust, the royal chefs began to rely on me as well.
As I wasn’t seen as a woman, it was nothing amorous, but I wouldn’t be exaggerating if I said that this was the most popular I had ever been in my life.
Burning up with rivalry towards said Keith was my very own café employee, Zeke.
To be honest, Zeke held the position as my first disciple. Although he didn’t really express his emotions, he changed a little since we came to the royal kitchen.
One day, soon after we began to commute to the royal palace, I was set back at the café by many orders for cake. As such, I got to the royal kitchen a little later than usual.
“Good morning! I’m sorry I’m late…huh?”
I entered the kitchen to find a crowd of chefs.
“Excuse me, what’s going on?”
“Ah! Lady Risa! Please do something about those two.”
“Heh?” fr(e)ewebnov(e)l.com
I called to a chef nearby, who pointed to the center of the crowd with an exasperated expression. In the direction of his finger was Zeke and Keith, who looked like they were going to throw hands at any moment.
“So? You’re a café employee, and what about it?”
“A royal chef like you probably couldn’t understand. Not that I expect you to.”
“I see. Tell me then, what exactly can you do?”
“Let me return those words right back at you.”
I tilted my head, still confused despite listening in on their conversation, and tried to get between them.
“Both of…”
“What is going on!”
The head chef entered the kitchen and raised his voice, cutting me off.
“There is much to do! Quit your bickering and go to your stations!”
“Yes, chef!”
At his shout, the crowd of chefs scattered with their reply.
The two in the center stared the other down and turned their backs towards each other. They noticed me while doing so, and their eyes met mine.
“Miss Risa.”
“Lady Risa.”
“…Morning.”
I smiled weakly and raised a hand in greeting.
After that, Zeke and Keith began to compete in everything. From cooking competitions to trivial and pointless things. For some reason, they would always ask me to judge the results. For Zeke, who only had me as his image of a chef, it was great that he had a rival. After all, Keith had much more experience in cooking, and putting aside his flavor, he was superior in the foundations and knife work.
However, Zeke didn’t lose to everything. His sweet tooth and flaming passion for sweets began to reflect in his skills. Sweets were unexplored territory for Keith, and he had no chance against Zeke when it came to that area.
It was good that they had friendly rivalry, but all things in moderation. Honestly, with two big men constantly loitering around me, it was very difficult to coach the others or do anything in general.
The head chef and I would rebuke our respective subordinates, and the current fight would end. But soon after they would start fighting again. It was quite troublesome.
“I wonder if those two can’t get along for more than a few seconds…”
I mumbled to the head chef, casting a glance towards the bickering pair.
“…It really is hopeless when the person in question doesn’t notice either…”
“Hm? Head chef, did you say something?”
“…Nothing.”
I stared blankly at the head chef, who simply sighed deeply and went back to his station.
Despite small incidents like this happening here and there, the consultation at the royal palace went by smoothly.
“Keith, can I ask you something?”
“Yes?”
“Who planned the menu before?”
“That would be the head chef and us sous chefs. But we never went so far and beyond like you, Lady Risa. Usually we just looked at the ingredients of the day and thought up something based on that.”
“…Heh?”
Seriously…and you were okay with that, royal chef!?
I have no more words for the food in this world.
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“Lady Risa, please check this.”
“Okay! …Hmm, it needs a bit of salt, I think. Try adding one more pinch.”
“Yes ma’am!”
As always, I went around coaching the chefs while they prepared for lunch. The menu for today was pseudo-clam chowder, chicken and steamed vegetable salad, vegetable omelette, and bread rolls from the royal purveyor Chester’s Bakery.
After my instruction, Mister Paul’s bakery was revitalized and he rehired bakers, once again receiving orders from the royal family. Mister Paul still delivered bread to Café Omusubi, and lately he was very passionate about making new breads. He would come from time to time to hear my thoughts, but unfortunately there wasn’t anything that could be sold yet. Seeing the determined Mister Paul even after his proposals were rejected by me, I felt that it was only a matter of time.
Personally, I was waiting and praying for someone better than cooking than me to appear, so I was very happy to watch him grow and had high expectations for him. Of course, that was the same for the royal chefs here too.
A few days after commuting to the royal palace, I could say with confidence that the younger, more inexperienced chefs learned faster.
The awards for best knife work and efficiency in food preparation still went to the veteran chefs. However, they also had strange habits because of their experience. This was the same as when I was teaching Mister Paul how to make bread.
For example, let’s say they wanted to fry something. If it was pan-fried vegetables, it was okay to use high heat. However, dishes that burnt easily like the meunière or dishes that needed to be cooked through would be burnt to a crisp in an instant when put on high heat.
This actually happened a few days ago when we were making hamburg steak. At a glance, the steak was grilled beautifully and looked quite appetizing. I had a bad feeling about it as I cut through the middle, only to find it completely raw. The concept of switching heat settings during cooking couldn’t seem to stick in the chefs’ minds. There was no question that I told the veteran chef who puffed his chest out with pride to go back and make the steak again.
Bad habits die hard, and they would often rear their ugly head when the kitchen was busy.
The head chef was working especially hard to avoid that. I didn’t want to drag him out in the open too much, but the head chef was very diligent, the complete opposite of Keith. Of course, there was also his position to think about, but he was a straightforward person by heart. He was also very masculine and had a strong sense of justice. That was also why the chefs trusted him so deeply. He could reel in even Keith with one look.
However, after I shook his lofty throne, the head chef was also trying his best, albeit in the shadows. As the leader of the royal kitchen, he couldn’t be looked down upon by the other chefs.
To that end, he secretly came to my café on the weekly holiday for one-on-one instruction. I’m begging you, he said with his head bowed, and I accepted based on his passion. I discovered later that it was easier on me if the head chef also improved.
Although I started the consultation in the royal palace at Mister Royce’s request, it was a milestone to further develop this country’s food culture.
“Lady Risa!”
“Hm?”
While I was finishing the final checks on the lunch dishes, a chef ran to me in a panic.
“R-right now, um”
“What’s wrong?”
I tilted my head at the chef as he stumbled through his words, when the door to the kitchen opened and two people wearing the chivalric order uniform entered with someone behind them.
“Excuse me.”
The man in the back said, and all the chefs jumped and quickly kneeled down. Still confused with the situation, I stood by myself.
“This is no official gathering, so please feel at rest.”
He said, and the chefs slowly got up. He looked around and met my eyes, then for some reason walked over to me. Huh? I thought as he moved towards me. He opened his mouth, and—
“Your Highness!!”
Slam! The kitchen door opened, and there stood Gil, panting and catching his breath.
“What is it, Gilford?”
“Don’t ‘what is it’ me! What do you think you’re doing to Risa, to my daughter!?”
Gil stood in between us as if to hide me from the man, full of wariness.
“I thought I would see the rumored chef. You wouldn’t let me meet her even when I asked you to, so I could only come to see her myself.”
“What do you mean, see her yourself!”
For some reason, Gil did not want me to meet this person. Astonished, I peeked out at the man from behind Gil and was struck with a strong sense of familiarity. Where have I seen that face before?
Hmmm…? Gil called this person Your Highness, right…?
Your Highness should be the title for royalty.
Then it hit me. This person looked like Her Majesty Adele. I saw Mister Royce, who came in late, and moved towards him, saying,
“Mister Royce.”
“Lady Risa. Sorry to bother you at such a busy hour.”
Mister Royce looked at the scene in the kitchen, his forehead creasing, and apologized to me with a sigh.
“Don’t worry about it. Uhm, could that person be the crown prince?”
“Yes.”
“Wow.”
The crown prince of this country, and the son Her Majesty Adele was speaking of. I took a good look at the man who wasn’t paying attention to Gil, who was rattling on about something. He seemed my age, perhaps older. His wavy, blond hair seemed to come straight out of a fairy tale. His facial features inspired authority as if he were born to lead, and I imagined that he must be popular among the ladies.
Mister Royce, who stood next to me, sighed again and said, “Let’s move somewhere more suitable for this,” before interrupting Gil and the crown prince.
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Lunch preparation was basically finished, so I left the kitchen to the head chef and followed Mister Royce to another room in the royal palace. Of course, Gil and the crown prince also came with us.
Gil unhappily sat next to me and eyed the crown prince across from us warily. I worried whether Gil’s attitude towards royalty was lese-majesty and a criminal offence, but Mister Royce did not rebuke him nor did the crown prince himself say anything about it, so it seemed fine.
“Your Highness Edgar, allow me to introduce you. This is Lady Risa.”
“Nice to meet you, I am Risa Kurokawa Claude.”
“I am Edgar Ashlnig Faris Feliformia.”
I began to get up, but was stopped by His Highness, so I introduced myself sitting down.
“So, why did Your Highness decide to go to the kitchen?”
“Gilford wouldn’t stop bragging about his daughter, and it made me curious. I heard that she just so happened to be in the royal palace, so I simply thought to go see her. Besides, lately the food has become extremely delicious. Mother said that was all thanks to this daughter of Gilford’s, and my curiosity got the better of me.”
“Aaahhh dammit! If only I hadn’t bragged to Your Highness!”
Gil held his head in his hands after hearing His Highness’s simple explanation.
“Why are you so unhappy about this, Gilford?”
“I mean, we’re talking about Your Highness, you know? If you decided to take Risa as your wife, what am I going to do!? I’d finally gotten such an adorable daughter! I wouldn’t even be able to say no if you asked! Risa will marry over my dead body, do you understand!?”
And here I was wondering what you were so caught up on, Gil…
It seems Mister Royce thought the same, as he made an exasperated expression.
“Hmm. Gilford has a point. You are Gilford’s daughter, so there is no problem with lineage, and we are about that age. I would also be released from the troublesome bachelor game.”
“Aaahhhh!! No no no! No, definitely not!”
His Highness nodded at the good idea, and Gil jumped up from his seat to object frantically.
“Now, now, calm down Gilford. It’s a joke. Half of it at least.”
“You mean you’re half serious about this!?”
His Highness chuckled at the frantic Gil, who continued to eye His Highness suspiciously, but sat down with a huff by Mister Royce’s urging.
“Moving along, it is true that I wanted to meet you at least once. I’ve heard from Royce that you are helping with preparations towards the international royal conference. I thought to do everything in my power, as our country is the host this time. I have high expectations for you, and it seems I have naught to worry, judging from the meals these days.”
“Thank you very much. I will do my best, however small my contribution may be.”
His Highness spoke to me in a friendly way. I don’t know if it was because I was Gil’s relative, but I was dense in terms of these hierarchy things, so his amiable attitude was a lifesaver.
“I shall put it in your care. Anyways, I have a favor to ask of you…”
“Yes, what is it?”
It seemed to be a difficult topic, as His Highness looked away for a while. He hardened his resolve and looked back straight into my eyes and said,
“The meal from the other day, humbug, was it? I would like to have that again!”
“…Heh?”
I couldn’t help the strange noise that came out of my mouth upon hearing such a strange request. His Highness had such a serious face, I thought it was something dire…
“…Has Your Highness taken a liking to hamburg steak?”
“Yes! I have never had anything like it before. It is the tastiest thing I have ever had!”
“I see. I am glad that it fits your palate.”
“I have been looking forward to meal time recently. The bureaucrats and knights in the palace all think so as well, and they all move with a hop in their step. Please allow me to thank you as the next leader of the palace.”
Said His Highness and he straightened his back before bowing his head slightly to me.
“Your Highness, you cannot lower your head so simply!”
“I really am truly grateful. Besides, I am not king yet. I wanted to express my thanks.”
“That is fine, but…I simply helped in the kitchen at Mister Royce’s request. I am very happy that you like the food so much that you want to have it again.”
Nevertheless, of all the food His Highness had, for him to be enamored by hamburg steak…
I chuckled at myself, and the sudden audience with His Highness ended.
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