Was he mocking the Emperor right now? Unless he was insane, how could he give the Emperor food he’d already put his mouth on?
The sharp words he was about to pour out slipped back in. Brukisel had never once thought himself weak to sweet praise. But the moment Rou spoke with sparkling eyes as if he couldn’t help but praise him like that, his words would get stuck.
“What?”
“As expected, maintaining that magnificent body must require a lot of food. Do you always eat that well?”
“I wonder.”
From Brukisel’s perspective, Rou ate far too little. That’s why he seemed as fragile as dandelion seeds blown by the wind.
“Ah, for dessert there’s candied fruit and pudding. Which do you prefer?”
“I don’t particularly enjoy sweets. You can have both.”
“Really?”
The rich scent of the candied fruit reached all the way to Brukisel’s seat. Rou stuck a piece of fruit with a fork and held it out, asking if he’d like to try it.
“……No thanks.”
“Just try one. It’s really delicious.”
“……”
Rou asked repeatedly with a regretful look, asking if he really wouldn’t try it. Finding the continued questions bothersome and tiresome, Brukisel reluctantly took the fork by hand and brought it to his own mouth. Rou waited for Brukisel’s reaction with eyes full of anticipation.
“How is it?”
“Sweet.”
Rou seemed satisfied as if that was the highest praise Brukisel could give food.
Though Rou’s attitude had twisted his insides, after accepting and eating the candied fruit, his thoughts changed a bit. Rou seemed to have no reservations about sharing food. In fact, didn’t they say that in that southern kingdom, families shared a single plate? Thinking that way, Rou’s current behavior didn’t seem strange at all.
Brukisel silently picked up the sandwich Rou had pushed aside. When it contained pickled apple, the sweetness felt out of place, but since Rou had picked out only the apple, this actually suited his palate better. Rou chewed the candied fruit slowly at a still-slow pace, though a bit faster than before.
“That was delicious.”
“You finished all of it?”
“Yes. But I’m too full to eat the pudding now.”
Rou didn’t say he wouldn’t eat it, but pushed the pudding to one side saying he’d have to eat it later. Brukisel was simply amazed. Rou, who couldn’t even finish half a sandwich, had emptied an entire jar of candied fruit.
Still, seeing him eat something was somewhat reassuring. The question of how a person could sustain life with that food intake subsided.
The previous High Priest was truly a strange fellow. If he knew the High Priest had a small appetite and couldn’t eat much, and that he at least enjoyed sweets, he should have prepared meals centered on such foods. What was the point of providing foods he didn’t even enjoy, making him troubled?
It was something that would make Jes inwardly rage if he knew, asking why anyone would complain about a nutritionally perfect meal. Brukisel silently poured fresh tea into Rou’s cup. After slowly drinking his tea, Rou soon picked up the pudding, his stomach seemingly having settled a bit.
That evening. Rou told Jes what had happened in the greenhouse. Upon hearing that the Emperor had eaten the food he made (more precisely, the food he’d had Yan make), Jes made a peculiar expression. He had never imagined the Emperor would accept and eat it.
In any case, Jes’s interest wasn’t in someone like the Emperor but in their noble High Priest, so when Rou seemed happy, Jes was also happy.
“It was nice eating with Brukisel. I was able to eat more than usual.”
“Is that so? Did you finish half the sandwich?”
“U-uh, yes.”
“Oh my. You did wonderfully.”
Since he wasn’t asked who ate it, Rou comforted himself that it wasn’t a lie. He quickly changed the subject to mention a part where he could confidently give his impressions.
“The candied fruit was really delicious. The scent of lemon and apple mint was especially good.”
“……His, His Imperial Majesty the Emperor……”
Yan, who had been tending to Rou’s hair, only reacted to the conversation after quite some time.
The next day. Yan ended up falling ill, perhaps too burdened by the fact that the Emperor had eaten the vegetables he’d prepared and the bread he’d baked. And Jes, whose hands trembled so much he couldn’t properly use a knife, ended up creating something so bizarre he couldn’t bring himself to serve it to the High Priest.
Rou soothed Jes with words that it was fine and headed to the greenhouse. Jes said he would prepare a grand dinner and packed freshly baked white bread, a large wheel of goat cheese, and an entire ham made from pickling a cow’s hind leg whole. Being close to raw ingredients themselves, they were heavy, and Het carried them while sweating profusely.
Honestly speaking, Rou wasn’t drawn to any of those three foods. It would have been nice if there were at least some sweetly stewed apricot compote, but it was regrettable.
‘But there’s plenty of honey in the greenhouse anyway.’
Rou received the basket at the door. Het emphasized repeatedly to be careful, but Rou, who tended to overestimate his own strength, confidently took the basket only to stagger. His face burned with embarrassment at staggering over how heavy it was. He was ashamed to be seen by those far younger children.
“Are you alright? I could help carry it inside the greenhouse.”
“No, there will be many plants that aren’t good for your body. I’m fine.”
“But…… you don’t look fine.”
“I said I’m really fine! Look. I’m holding it perfectly well.”
Rou was holding the basket practically dragging it. Just as Het was considering whether to hold his breath and go in briefly before coming out, the greenhouse door opened and the Emperor walked out. While Het was bowing to show respect, he nonchalantly took the basket from Rou’s hands and disappeared back into the greenhouse.
Het rubbed both eyes, wondering what he’d just seen. Unless he was hallucinating from inhaling airborne pollen, the Emperor had just carried the High Priest’s luggage for him.
“Ah. Het, I’ll see you later at the temple then.”
The High Priest didn’t even seem to think anything of it. No, the High Priest was originally someone who believed all humans in the world were good and kind, but what was the Emperor thinking carrying the luggage for him?
Het seriously worried for about five seconds whether the Emperor might be trying to assassinate the High Priest. Then, remembering again that no poison in that greenhouse could harm the High Priest, he made a strange face. He couldn’t understand the Emperor’s mind at all.
The two culprits who had pushed Het into a whirlpool of curiosity peacefully headed to the table in the greenhouse. Rou watched with a pleased face as Brukisel lifted the basket as lightly as a feather. In any case, Brukisel was really good in three areas: strength, body, and face.
“You were here first, I see. When did you arrive? Did you wait long?”
“No.”
“Really? I brought lunch today too since I thought it would be nice to share.”
“I see.”
Brukisel had been in the greenhouse for a while, as documents that appeared to be his were already spread across the table. Rou didn’t want to unnecessarily touch them, and Brukisel also looked troubled, unable to clear them away immediately.
Then, Rou discovered a basket placed beside that table. Brukisel reached out one hand as if to stop Rou, then immediately turned his head sharply away. His ears were tinged faintly red.
“What’s this?”
“……It’s nothing special.”
When he opened the basket, a sweet fragrance wafted out from inside.
It had already been several months since Rou moved into the temple. And as his fame spread throughout the continent, those offering rare items increased. Naturally, among them were local specialties from the believers’ regions, so the temple’s dining table was quite abundant.
However, even amidst all that, Rou didn’t have many opportunities to encounter human desserts. Occasionally there were those who offered precious honey or brought flowers, claiming they were items only found in their region, but desserts were difficult to transport long distances in the first place.
The servant Yan could cook quite well, but that was focused on meals, Jes avoided dessert-type foods, and Het didn’t seem to enjoy them. But, this basket……
“What is this?”
Dark red cherries to be eaten whole with the pits removed. Apples filled with pistachio marzipan. Pie filled with linden tree fruit pickled in maple sap. Pudding with green grape pieces floating in it, pavlova topped with sweet custard cream and raspberries.
Whether the imperial head chef had put forth his utmost skill, there were numerous desserts even Brukisel was seeing for the first time. The only familiar ones were cream puffs and macarons occasionally seen at banquets.
Brukisel hadn’t ordered them to be made with such devotion. Just. He had just wished for Rou to eat his fill of things that suited his taste. And he had only casually told the kitchen to prepare desserts to share with the High Priest.
‘Doesn’t this make it look like I’m paying special attention?’
Brukisel’s ears turned redder than winter cornelian cherries. It felt ridiculous that he’d prepared so many varieties when he didn’t even enjoy them himself.
Rou was amazed at the desserts arranged carefully yet extremely meticulously. Until a few hundred years ago, humans’ desserts had been at best picking wild cherries from the roadside after a meal—when had they developed this far?
Rou picked up the cherry placed on top and popped it into his mouth. Rou’s lips were instantly stained red. Brukisel, who had been watching to see Rou’s reaction, immediately turned his gaze away upon seeing that. Somehow it felt embarrassing to keep watching.
“Wow……”
The cherry must have been lightly stewed in boiling sugar water, as the flesh was chewy yet soft. The sugar syrup coating the outside was slightly crispy with a texture that crumbled when pressed with the tongue. The syrup pooled where the seed had been burst in the center of his mouth and flowed along his tongue.
“It’s so, so delicious!”
Rou exclaimed like a gasp. Brukisel slightly turned his head to look at what expression Rou was making.
