71. Why Is Pudding Called Pudding?

“Hmmmm.”

Darius continued to stare at me silently. What, why, what. If you have a complaint, just say it. Then I’ll apologize for my mistake.

Now without even making a “hmm” sound, Darius was quietly looking at me.

Sparkle sparkle.

But that gaze seems somewhat…… mixed with subtle expectation?

“I see, Anette cooked, huh. To distribute to the knight order. All night long.”

“Yes……”

“While I was sleeping.”

“Um, Your Highness. The lady spent all night making enough fried food for the knight order without anyone’s help, burning her hands in the process……”

“Ah, so she made fried food with such care.”

Actually, my hand wasn’t hurt, but I wrapped it with a handkerchief to make them feel burdened. Was that wrong? Did he already notice? My fake injury?

“I was sleeping while my wife was working so hard……”

Darius let out a small sigh.

“No, it’s just that. The northern knight orders will soon gather, and if our knight order falls behind, we’ll lose face in front of the other knight orders, and above all, you’re the one who leads the Black Knight Order, Darius.”

I was just trying to boost everyone’s morale.

With a guilty feeling, I hid the hand wrapped in a handkerchief behind my back. Darius’s gaze persistently followed my hand.

“I know how to eat fried food too……”

What?

“If you had asked me if I wanted fried food, I would have come out to eat it.”

Darius looked at the training ground dejectedly.

“If I couldn’t eat because I couldn’t beat someone, I wouldn’t even feel wronged. I could beat them all.”

The knights who had trained all night had all gone to sleep, and only I, who had caused the trouble, Sir Lucion, and Darius, who had come to inspect the training ground after hearing the news from Barbarossa, were present. Oh, and Apple, my dedicated maid.

“We ran out of fried food ingredients……”

“Well, have you ever asked me what I wanted to eat?”

Squeeze, Apple with a flushed face pulled at my sleeve.

“My lady, our kitchen has plenty of food ingredients. Really plenty. Even if we run out, I’ll restock everything.”

“Ah, but……”

Darius whispered quietly as if talking to himself.

“If I were to eat something, I’d prefer pudding.”

“Pudding ingredients! We have all the ingredients for pudding !”

Apple jumped up and down with reddened cheeks. Are you going to make it?

That damn pudding!

If I ever gain power, I’ll issue a pudding ban in this castle.

* * *

“I brought vanilla essence and egg yolks!”

“I wasn’t sure if you meant custard pudding or fruit pudding, so I prepared all the ingredients!”

On the counter was soft pudding mixture dissolved in warm water, and in a small pot, sugar was caramelizing to make the caramel sauce for the custard pudding.

Since Apple had even cut the fruit, there wasn’t much left for me to do.

With a feeling that this wasn’t quite right, I poured the melted pudding into round glass cups amid everyone’s expectations.

Once this cools sufficiently, then.

“Huh?”

Ting, when I removed the glass cup, the pudding couldn’t maintain its elasticity and collapsed.

“Is the problem that I didn’t grease it?”

“Next time, you’ll be able to make a perfect pudding!”

“That’s right, a pudding as pretty as a baby’s bottom!”

I tried again amid the maids’ encouragement.

“This is quite…… difficult?”

The result was a failure.

Maybe the problem was pouring the cooked pudding into round glass cups instead of using special pudding molds.

The pudding filled with fruits also lost its pretty shape and got squashed as soon as it was flipped.

But wait, we’ve already made the pudding, right? All we need to do is remove it from the cup, so couldn’t someone else do just that part? The maids already prepared everything anyway.

Flinch, there was a strange exchange of glances between me and the maids as I looked around at them.

You can do it, my lady.

If I’m not mistaken, their eyes seem to be saying exactly that.

“Hey, you know.”

I should have said enough with the games and just serve the pudding to the lord. But instead.

“……Do we have more pudding mixture?”

“Of course you want to give something made with your whole heart to someone precious.”

This is subtly making me sincere.

How much time passed after that?

“Huff, huff……”

The hundredth pudding landed softly on the plate.

Ting.

The elasticity that returns even when touched with a spoon.

“It has amazing elasticity.”

“Look at this ripe golden color.”

“Plus this rich vanilla fragrance. It’s the standard of excellent custard pudding.”

“It’s truly the king of puddings.”

Everyone clapped in admiration.

Besides the hundredth pudding, I now have about twenty successful ones! I’m the best at removing pudding from glass cups now.

Wiping the sweat from my forehead, I looked at the maids. The maids with satisfied faces were rubbing their noses.

Anyone watching would think I prepared all of today’s formal dinner at Inkheart Castle. But everyone looks so happy, so it’s fine. Probably.

The maids crowded into the kitchen, squealing the entire time. I could have made the pudding alone, but for whatever reason, they were unusually excited.

“The Grand Duke has never requested anything outside of meal times before.”

“He’s not really someone with a big appetite.”

“And that person complains about fried food in front of me?”

Oh my, that’s true. When I joined their conversation, the maids all raised their hands to cover their faces as if trying to hold back laughter.

“Just laugh.”

Bang. As soon as I gave permission, the maids all laughed with ticklish expressions.

“Why would the Grand Duke suddenly be upset about last night’s fried food?”

“And he said he wanted something other than fried food.”

“He wants something other than food his wife gave to other men.”

“Completely.”

“Obviously.”

“This is precisely……”

“Aren’t you all going back to work? Apple is the only one here who’s my dedicated maid, right?”

“Ah, Apple! Switch with me. It’s my break time, so you go in and rest. I’ll serve the lady and the Grand Duke.”

“What? Why? I don’t want to! I’m a diligent maid. I can’t leave Lady Anette’s side for even a moment.”

“You’re still not good enough to serve the Grand Duke and the lady. We can’t risk ruining an important moment.”

“In that sense, I’ll serve with you. Two is better than one.”

“I’ve improved a lot too!”

Feeling slightly annoyed at Apple and the maids competing to watch the weekend romance drama ‘War with Pudding’ of the grand ducal couple, I deliberately looked for Cinnamon.

“Come to think of it, where’s Cinnamon? She seems like she’d just get things done without saying things like you all.”

“Eek, my lady. You can’t abandon me and choose Cinnamon! That’s betrayal.”

“You betrayed me the moment you chose pudding for the meal……”

The maids even drew an A with caramel sauce on top of the custard pudding. Anyone could see it was Anette’s pudding made by Anette.

All I really did was preserve the perfect pudding bottom.

“Ah, right. Aren’t you going to taste it?”

Puddings were piled up like mountains. Both properly completed ones and those that just lost their shape midway. Since it’s a snack, it would make sense to try one, but everyone just watched the making without eating.

“No way.”

“Well, the caramel might be burnt or we might have forgotten to add sugar by mistake, so shouldn’t we taste it?”

“It’ll taste good without tasting it.”

“Of course, he’ll like it.”

“So we should taste it……”

“No!”

“The Grand Duke specially ordered it, saying he wanted to eat it alone!”

“No, he didn’t go that far.”

“So the lady is also forbidden from tasting it in advance!”

“I’ll eat if there’s any left!”

“But even if there’s leftovers, it’s forbidden to distribute them to the knight order!”

“Right! And male servants too!”

“Let’s just all not eat it!”

“Let’s make the Grand Duke eat only pudding for three days and four nights as he requested!”

I gave a small response to this ingenious idea.

“Oh, I agree with that.”

Then he’ll get sick of it and never make such a wicked request for pudding again.

* * *

“Eat up.”

Amid everyone’s encouragement and aspirations, pudding arrived at Darius’s reception room.

“This is the specially ordered pudding formal dinner.”

You want pudding?

Fine, I’ll let you eat as much as you want.

Darius glanced at me as he saw the tea time tray filled with pudding from the first to the third floor.

“Is this perhaps the A of Anette?”

I thought he’d be sick of it.

He looked at the pudding with curiosity.

“Just try not eating it all.”

“Then who will you give it to?”

“Anette pudding will be served for breakfast, lunch, and dinner until you finish it all.”

I put my soul into that pudding.

“It’s something I made with great difficulty, incomparable to mere fried food.”

I made it with such difficulty that I was so focused I even threw off the handkerchief I was supposed to keep wrapped around my hand to pretend it was hurt.

This is all because of Darius’s unreasonableness. Feeling somehow wronged, I clenched both fists and looked at Darius, when he suddenly lowered his head and laughed.

“Pfft.”

“Are you mocking the pudding right now? Do you know how hard it was for me to maintain that beautiful curve of the pudding?”

“I’ll eat it all because I’m sorry.”

“……There are more than ten of them.”

Even for dessert, that’s overeating.

“I can eat them all. Because I like it.”

“You like it that much?”

Pudding? That much?

“Of course.”

Darius’s black eyes met mine.

He gazed at me and took a bite of the pudding, nom. The curvature of the pudding that I had been careful about all day instantly collapsed before the spoon.

Food is made to be eaten, but watching the perfection I created crumble made me feel somewhat unhappy.

“I like it.”

“……If I had known you liked pudding that much, I would have made it earlier.”

“There will be many chances for you to make it in the future, Anette.”

Will there be?

“I like pudding, and you hate me eating pudding. Everything was unknown to be known.”

Darius continued to eat the pudding with a spoon. It must be delicious. He’s smiling.

Ah.

Is this good?

Is this right?

I, who am merely an extra in this world, cannot judge.

I was just trying to fry fried food diligently. But suddenly Darius asked for pudding for himself. And everyone said I should give it to him. So.

“Anette. You’re thinking unnecessary thoughts again.”

“I’m not doing anything.”

“I’ve been seeing that expression often lately. Since when……”

His voice becomes subtle. There he goes again. Deliberately coming close to whisper when he could speak from a distance and still be heard.

It was just before a fleeting thought turned into a deep contemplation.