Chapter 169: Dango Before Clothes
After finished eating the breakfast that had been prepared by Bartolo - after a long time of not eating it -, I relaxedly spend the time after the meal in the dining room.
I would usually go to the sofa in the living room, but I can’t move around today because of my sore muscles. And thus, perhaps out of consideration for me who can’t move around that much because of my sore muscles, the whole family is now spending their time in the dining room.
It’s just that it’s kinda hard to talk with each other with our current seating order, so Nord-tousan is now sitting in front of me.
As expected, with Elna-kaasan sitting next to each other with Nord-tousan, it makes a lovely picture.
As I spaced out while thinking about that, Sara quietly offers me a teacup.
A Royal Feed after a long time.
I thanked Sara and took the teacup from her.
After savoring the scent of the black tea in the cup, I sipped a little and hold it in my mouth for a moment before I swallowed it.
The taste of the fragrant tea spreads inside my mouth and quickly passed through the back of my throat.
「Haaー, sure enough, tea will calm you down」
I sighed and muttered.
I often drank barley tea and green tea in my previous life, but I have only drunk black tea after reincarnating in this world. And if it was me before I will definitely choose green tea or barley tea, but now it’s difficult to choose which is better among the two.
「Was there a particular drink in Kagura?」
Perhaps she was interested in it, as I was admiring the taste of the tea in my mind while drinking it, Elna-kaasan ask.
「There was a drink called green tea in Kagura. It was bitter and astringent in taste but it has a nice scent and different charm from black tea」
「Did you buy it as souvenirs then?」
「Of course」
「Then, let me taste it later」
Oh well, Elna-kaasan really loves tea after all. Though I don’t know whether she will like it or not, I bought a lot of them. As for the tea leaves, they still have a long time before they expired, and if it’s necessary I can just drink it by myself so there’s no problem.
「Al, did you buy Kagura’s books for me?」
「I mainly bought books about the origin of Kagura and its specialties」
「Thank you!」
Sylvio-niisan thanked me with a refreshing smile on his face.
……I wonder what is this feeling. When I see Sylvio-niisan’s smile, I feel that my heart is being cleansed.
Maybe, it’s because I was surrounded by people who made vulgar smiles during the journey.
But, I guess he wants to read Kagura’s books now cause he’s fidgeting.
I was busy with various things yesterday that I didn’t have the time to bring out their souvenirs.
And Tori had run away so quickly, I guess that’s because I was being punished and forced to practice immediately after coming back home.
It seems like at that time, he said something that may seem admirable like he’s going to visit again with the reason so that we can enjoy our family reunion, but I caught a glimpse of him together with Irvine and the others laughing at me when I’m being crushed in the courtyard.
That was a figure of someone who was really amused by something.
「So, did Al finally buy the food that was the purpose of the trip?」
「Un, I bought it! Like rice and such!」
「I’m worried about that 『and such』 but for now what other things did you buy?」
When I answered like that, Nord-tousan asked while looking worried.
「The other things are mostly seasonings like soy sauce and miso, things like sake, seaweeds that I got from the port city, and other things that are easy to preserve」
「Hmーm, I don’t know anything about those soy sauce or miso. Let’s have Bartolo check about those things later」
Well, even if I said that they are seasonings from a foreign country, Nord-tousan - who had never been there - will have no idea about them.
But, looking at me who was able to readily answer him, Nord-tousan looks relieved for now.
「There’s also Kagura clothes, hair accessories, cloths, and necklaces. I also bought each maid Kagura clothes for Sara and the others」
「Really!? Alfried-sama!?」
When I tell them more about the souvenirs I bought, Mina - who is waiting on us in the dining room - shouted in joy.
「Un, it’s true」
「We got it Sara! We’ll get souvenirs from Kagura!」
「Yes, it’s a happy thing」
Even when Sara - who is beside her - is pretending to look graceful outwardly, she looks happy for some reason.
Looking at the happy faces of those women, I think that it was a good idea to get them souvenirs.
「Moreover, it’s Kagura clothes! Kagura clothes are as expensive as dresses aren’t they!」
「Eh? They are that expensive?」
Perhaps it’s because they heard Mina and Sara talking about it that Nord-tousan and Elna-kaasan’s expressions become worried.
「……Al」
「I know Elna-kaasan. I had the help of girls - Ilya and Aleutia - to help me choose a broad selection of the accessories and Kagura clothes」
「It would be a relief if Ishtall’s princess was the one who helped to pick them. That’s great. I was worried and thought that ‘maybe Al will disappoint me by buying some strange clothes’」
Elna-kaasan looks really glad after hearing my answers.
So it’s because Ilya is the young miss of the Earl’s house, huh. She considers the time when the clothes will have to be worn in the Kingdom, not only about the aesthetic sense of the clothes themselves. So it’s no wonder that Elna-kaasan is relieved Ilya helped in choosing them.
「Well, the one who had the final say of which to pick is still the noble - me - though」
「……that last remark instantly made me worried」
Even though I was worried about it and it took so much of my time, just what are you saying now?
「Mina said that they are expensive, but how much did it cost for one of them?」
When I turned to look at her with moist eyes, Elna-kaasan ask me without faltering.
Not only Elna-kaasan, Nord-tousan, Mina, and Sara are also curious about them as they look at me.
「At least around 10 gold coins I guess」
「10 gold coins!?」
As I answered it while trying to make it ambiguous, Mina raised her voice in surprise.
「As for Elna-kaasan’s stuff, they around 50 gold coins, I think」
「50 gold coins!? It had already gone past beyond 1 platinum coin that I have allocated for you, then?」
As expected, it seems like such an amount of money will even make Elna-kaasan terribly surprised.
As for Nord-tousan, he appears to have become speechless.
Nord-tousan - who returned to himself after a few seconds and look at me - was trying to say something, but I opened my mouth first to prevent him from saying anything.
「Nooo! I mean, Nord-tousan told me to buy expensive Kagura clothes for Elna-kaasan and the others」
「Eh?」
When I uses the excuse I had already prepared, Nord-tousan let out a stupid voice.
Well, that’s obvious. Nord-tousan never said something like that after all.
「Amazing! On top of buying 10 gold coins worth of clothes for us, Nord-sama is still willing to spend more money for his dearest wife Elna-sama!」
「Nord-sama’s love toward his wife is now being conveyed since Nord-sama is usually always acting in moderation 」
Mina and Sara are praising Nord-tousan as they believe in what I said.
Such spontaneous remarks utterly blocked Nord-tousan’s path of retreat.
「Mou, even though you’re so fussy about money, you wanted to surprise me, huh? 」
「Eh? Ah, un! Of course, that’s so! Ahaha」
As soon as Elna-kaasan heard what I said, her expression immediately loosened and she looks really happy.
Even if they have any doubts about the fact that I used the money arbitrarily, they won’t raise them. As usual, my Mother become simple to deal with when it comes to Nord-tousan.
On the other hand, Nord-tousan’s - who was hugged tightly by Elna-kaasan - mouth is twitching as he smiles.
Perhaps, he notices that the spending for this time’s souvenirs had greatly surpassed that of 1 platinum coin.
However, there’s no backing out now.
Since the women's group will be truly disappointed if he exposed the facts that I purchased all of that clothing arbitrarily at this stage.
For Nord-tousan - who considers his wife’s feeling - should not be able to do that kind of thing.
But, if I leave the situation as it is, I don’t know what Nord-tousan will do later so I have to ensure him ahead of time.
「It’s about time the spinning top is being sold in the market, and the new game is also being prepared by Tori’s company, guess we’re going to be safe for a while 」
When I calmly muttered so that Nord-tousan could hear it, Nord-tousan heaves a sigh of relief as his expression looks better.
Just when I’m also relieved that the insurance I prepared is enough to cover me, Elna-kaasan - who is still hugging Nord-tousan - suddenly raises her head.
「Ah, Al! The foods and clothes are good, but what about the sweets?」
The lively atmosphere in the room suddenly turn quiet the moment Elna-kaasan asked that question.
Mina and Sara’s conversation stopped suddenly, and they stared at me.
What the, this pressure……… They look much more serious than the time with the clothes and accessories.
「……er, there’s the matter about the storage life of the sweets, after all, so I didn’t buy a lot――」
When I said that while giving a strained laugh, the expressions of Elna-kaasan and the others changes into something like a Noh mask.
「I didn’t buy them, but don’t worry about it since I’ve studied on how to make them so that I can make them even here」
「Right! Then it’s great!」
「I’m looking forward to trying sweets from Kagura and other places!」
「I wonder what kind of tastes do they have?」
Only after I corrected myself in a hurry, did the women’s group and Elna-kaasan start to smile in satisfaction.
Aah, I haven’t learned how to make those sweets, what should I do now?
I didn’t think that they thought of this as something even more important than Kagura clothes and accessories.
So the women in our place prefer sweets over clothes, huh.
1. Hana yori Dango, valuing something real, than something you can't see, touch, etc. Substance over style.
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