Chapter 722

From the Sweetness of Happiness… to a Sudden Turn
While I sat there warmly watching Alicia-sama and Adry-sama’s adorable back-and-forth like “Alicia-sama, so precious…” our own orders finally arrived too.

Huh? That was fast, wasn’t it?
Did the time just fly by because I’d been grinning at those two the whole time?

No, no.
Judging from how quickly they served everything, they were definitely nonstop cooking pancakes ahead of time based on the number of customers entering the shop.

One of the recipes I’d registered with the Trade Guild was this very pancake, actually, those fluffy pancakes, the kind you’d call soufflé pancakes.

You know, the kind where you whip egg whites forever to make meringue and get them super fluffy. Those.

They were all soft and airy when you ate them, practically melting into happiness in your mouth, but making the meringue and folding it in without crushing the bubbles was seriously hard work.

The whipping was probably being done through sheer manpower and physical enhancement magic…

“Fuwaaaah… so fluffy and melty…”

The moment Mariel-chan took a bite of pancake, she said that with a smile that looked ready to melt away.

Oops, I couldn’t fall behind! Following Mariel-chan’s lead, I cut into my pancake and took a bite.

Owaaah… it melted in my mouth with a soft shuwaa feeling!
This is a really good soufflé pancake!

“The patissier here is quite talented.”

“Yesh, ish sho delishush.”

I added some whipped cream and honey from the side of the plate and took another bite.
Nnngh, this tastes like happiness…!

“My, for it to meet with Cristea-sama’s approval, this must truly be an excellent establishment?”

Alicia-sama looked at me with admiration.

“My approval? Oh no, not at all…”

To begin with, I’d barely ever gone to sweets shops in the royal capital.

Most places only sold baked sweets that were basically hard bread soaked in melted butter and coated in sugar, crunchy from the sugar, greasy from the butter, and there wasn’t much variety.

I’d registered ordinary pancakes with the Trade Guild thinking, This is exactly the kind of thing people need, and they became popular because they worked as both desserts and meals. So I got carried away and registered these soufflé pancakes too.

Since whipping the meringue was such a pain, I’d even written a warning note saying, “Not recommended for those lacking physical stamina.”

Well, maybe I’m just weak…

Still, making these on a daily basis should’ve been rough… so for them to make it the shop’s signature item, they must’ve needed a pretty hefty initial investment. Human-resource-wise.

Even I only made them when I really wanted fluffy sweets.
(Or when I got physical-monster types like Kurogane to help.)

I had lots of other snack varieties anyway.

“You are too modest. Are there any other shops worthy of Cristea-sama’s approval? I would dearly love to visit them.”

“Oh, seriously! If it’s a place picked by Miss Cristea, who makes food this good, then it’s gotta be amazing.”

Alicia-sama and Adry-sama both leaned in with obvious curiosity.

“Umm, well, I don’t really go to places like this very often…”

Usually I just ate at food stalls attached to the market, and there was no way I could recommend those to Alicia-sama.

“Oh my, then this must be one of the few establishments you recommend?”

“Fufufu, Alicia-sama. The pancake recipe here was registered by Cristea-sama herself, you know? There’s no way they could make it taste bad. And if they did, the place would deserve to be shut down.”

Hey, hey, hey, Mariel-chan! Don’t say random things like that to Alicia-sama!
And the last part sounded way too dangerous. “Shut down” and all…

“Mariel-san, that’s not wh…”

Clatter!

Right as I tried to say, “That’s not true,” a waiter passing beside our table dropped the tray he was carrying.

… That startled me.

“M-my deepest apologies!”

Snapping back to himself, the waiter hurriedly picked up the tray, apologized to everyone nearby, then quickly retreated into the back.

“As expected, establishments like this are quite hectic. Perhaps I should purchase the recipe so I may enjoy these at home.”

“Oh, then I can eat these at your place too, huh, Allie?”

“W-what nonsense are you saying!? Then you should purchase the recipe yourself, Adry!”

“Ehh? But eating stuff like this in a house full of guys doesn’t sound fun. Mother would probably love it, though.”

“Then you should present it to Obasama as a gift.”

“Ehhh?”

Oh my, oh my.
Round two of the preciousness attack!

The two of them started another adorable exchange, and while Mariel-chan and I watched fondly, the waiter from earlier approached our table again, this time alongside a man in a cook’s coat, holding some papers.

“Please forgive the interruption while you are enjoying your conversation… but may I ask how the taste of our pancakes was?”

Huh? Did this place have one of those services where the patissier personally visited tables?

No, wait, if that were the case, they wouldn’t have walked straight over here, would they…?

And after the waiter chimed in, the chef was very obviously addressing me specifically.

Uh, wow. I have a bad feeling about this…

“Eh? Ah, um, yes, they were very delicious. Right, everyone?”

“Eh? Yes. They melted softly in the mouth. Such a fascinating texture.”

“Yeah, they were great!”

“They were delicious!”

“Indeed. Though not quite equal to My Lord’s cooking, they were satisfactory enough.”

“Yep! They did a really good job!”

Once everyone had given their thoughts, I smiled and said, “There you have it.”

“Ah…! W-we are deeply honored!”

The patissier whipped off his chef’s hat and bowed deeply.

“Eek!? W-what is this about!?”

“This employee happened to overhear that you are Cristea Ellisfeed-sama, the creator of this recipe!”

The waiter standing behind him nodded furiously.

No, no, no. Isn’t exposing a customer’s personal information like that kind of a problem!?
… Though, compared to my previous life, this world was a lot more lax about such things.

Still, I’m a noble here, you know!?
Shouldn’t approaching me directly like this be a no-go!?

But if I denied it now, I might get treated like some insolent fraud pretending to be nobility.

Ugh… fine…

“Yes. I am Cristea Ellisfeed.”

I did my best to smile gracefully, like a proper noble lady.

I could hear whispers spreading through the shop.

“A noble lady!”
“Wait, from the Ellisfeed Ducal House!?”

Uwaaaah, this is so embarrassing!
I’m never coming back here again…

“Ohh… what incredible fortune! I-I have a request…!”

Eh? A request?
Instantly, memories of the gyudon incident at the academy resurfaced, and I tensed up.

“W-what might that be?”

“P-p-please c-could you sign this f-for m-m-me!”

“… A signature?”

“Yes!”

What he held out was a recipe card for the pancakes sold through the Trade Guild.
He wanted my signature written in the blank space on the cover.

“Eh? Ah, y-yes… with pleasure?”

I accidentally answered like some izakaya employee greeting customers, and the man enthusiastically thrust the recipe card and pen toward me while thanking me profusely.

Wait, how am I supposed to do a signature?

I can’t do one of those fancy celebrity autographs from my previous life…

As I hesitated, Mariel-chan quietly whispered into my ear, “Just a normal signature is fine.”

Ah. Right. Of course.

So I smoothly wrote my name down.

“… Will this do?”

“We are deeply honored! I shall frame it as a treasured family heirloom!”

That’s a bit dramatic…

… Or so I thought, but apparently introducing these pancakes had been the turning point that saved the shop when it had been heading toward ruin.

“It is thanks to this recipe that we are where we are today. Thank you very much!”

Not just the patissier, but all the nearby waiters bowed their heads at once, and that triggered applause from all around us.

Clap, clap, clap…!

Wait, what is this!?
This is insanely embarrassing!!

Alicia-sama and Adry-sama, please stop applauding too!

Mariel-chan, stop slipping business cards around and saying things like, “And for framing services, please consider the Mayor Company, officially patronized by House Ellisfeed!” while riding the chaos!

In the end, they refused to accept payment from any of us, including Alicia-sama and Adry-sama, and sent us off with, “We couldn’t possibly charge you! Please come again!”

“… Mariel-san?”

“Soooorry. No, really, I sincerely apologize!”

Uuuugh, I am absolutely not going back to that café for a while!

What do you think about this chapter?