Chapter 354

Snack Time

“”Onii~chan~””

“Have you finished the difficult conversation?”

Allen and Elena came to our side with Grace-sama.

“Give snacks.”

“Please.”

It seemed that they had come to beg for snacks, but on the children’s side, in addition to fruit water, there should have been some tea cakes, although I did not see them clearly.

“I thought there were snacks for you to eat?”

“”For Ju-chan.””

“We wanna let him eat.”

“What Oniichan made.”

“Haha, I see.”

It seems that they want to let Julius-sama eat the snacks that they always eat.

“But you see~…”

I have some leftover snacks in my Infinite Storage, but that doesn’t mean I can just give them to the kids. After all, we are dealing with the royalty here.

“I don’t mind.”

“It’s fine as long as it’s made by you, Tak.u.mi. Oh, please give it to us too.”

However, Tristan-sama gave us permission easily. And when it came to Austin-sama, he asked for their portion as well. Well, that’s fine.

“Err… then, what do you want?”

“”Em, you see~… all kinds of things!”

“All kinds?”

All kinds… do they mean something like an a.s.sortment of several kinds of treats? Or do you mean multiple of the same thing with various flavors, like ice cream?

“Allen, Elena, a little more detail please.”

“N, you see, pound cake!”

“And crepes!”

They went with a.s.sortment.

“Alright.”

I laid out a large plate with several kinds of pound cakes, crepes, sweet flavored mochi, and even smaller gla.s.ses of pudding and jelly. I prepared plates and forks, and let people take what they wanted, mini-buffet style. It would be difficult and troublesome to prepare an a.s.sortment for the number of people here in the normal way, where we are not a kitchen, after all.

“Then, take what catches your eye.”

Oh, the other party is royalty, so should I take it for them instead of letting them take it for themselves?

“Allen, Elena, ask Grace-sama and the others what they want to eat, and take it to them on the plates.”

“Tristan-sama is there anything you are interested in?”

Allen and Elena first called out to Grace-sama, then to Aurora-sama and Julius-sama, who were with them on the other side of the room, so I asked Tristan-sama.

“I will go with whatever you recommend.”

“Understood.”

“However… you are not a professional chef, and yet it seems you create more food than most people in this line of work, Tak.u.mi.”

“In my case, I just cook whatever I feel like eating.”

I like cooking quite a bit, but I don’t think I could do it as my main occupation. Because it’s not like I could make what I wanted to make, and it seems like a lot of work to think about the budget per meal, the nutrition, the coloring… and all those other details.

“Tak.u.mi, do you mind if I pick whatever I like?”

“No, go ahead.”

The three princes couldn’t wait and started to choose by themselves, so after Tristan-sama, I asked Lionel-sama, Richard-sama, and the Prime Minister what they liked.

“They all look delicious, don’t they~”

“”That’s right!””

“Everything Oniichan makes!”

“Is delis.h.!.+”

“Yes, truly. Still, I didn’t know you can make so many varieties of this so-called pound cake.”

“The ones our cooks make may have different kinds of nuts and dried fruits, but they have never tasted like this!”

There was a time I only made one type of pound cake. It was plain dough with dried fruits and nuts. I distributed that recipe to the houses I knew well and, of course, shared it with the cooks at the castle.

They did try to vary the nuts and dried fruits they mixed in, but it seems that they could not alter the dough.

“It looks like there is nothing in it, but it smells like lemoné. Why is it that there are no chopped lemoné pieces in it?”

The chef must have made a pound cake with chopped dried lemoné before. When she tasted my pound cake, she was surprised at the difference.

The one I made was made with grated lemoné peel and juice, so the texture itself would be different from the one made with chopped dried lemoné fruit.

“This one is with carrots and Ena gra.s.s.”

“Yummy~”

“Even Julius who hates vegetables loves this!”

Aurora-sama was impressed by the pound cake with carrots and Ena gra.s.s—spinach made into a paste. Children’s dislike of vegetables is the bane of all mothers~

“What is your goal, Tak.u.mi? The best chef in the world?”

“No, I’m not aiming for anything. I just like good food.”

“I also like good food, but the thought of cooking myself has never crossed my mind~”

Al-sama was a bit disgruntled.

I mean, the food I want to eat is not sold, so I have no choice but to make it myself! Making it myself also takes a lot of time and effort, so sometimes I would rather just buy it and get it over with, but I can’t do that~

I give out recipes for some things, but… this is that. Even if I teach it to a n.o.ble family or the castle, it won’t spread much because the exclusive cooks in those places will only be able to make it, not sell it.

On the other hand, what I teach merchants and stores will spread in the blink of an eye, so I have to also teach them how to make it readily available.

“In Al-sama’s case, isn’t it because you didn’t grow up in an environment where you had to cook for yourself to begin with?”

“Ah~ that may be so.”

“Would you like to cook with me sometime? It would be useful to be able to make even a simple soup for when you go to a dungeon or when you are away from home, wouldn’t it?”

“I will pa.s.s. I mean, we now have the instant soups thanks to you. That is going to be priceless.”

I tried to invite Al-sama to cook, but he casually declined.

Well, princes don’t have to cook, do they?

“”Oniichan, Oniichan.”

“Allen is going to cook with you!”

“Elena also wants to cook together!”

“Haha, thank you.”

I was a little dejected, so Allen and Elena consoled me that they would cook together with me.