Chapter 27: The Little Prince and the Record of Ravishment (2)

The second prince, Theodore Cartesia, is not well-known.

He is younger than his siblings, and he has not shown any active efforts to stand out.

“I only saw his face for the first time at the recent ceremony.”

And this isn’t a problem with my lack of information.

No one knew much about him.

There was even some murmuring among the members, some of whom were hearing about this guest for the first time.

“Prince Theodore? Is he coming here?”

“I heard he is famous for never showing his face in high society…”

An enigmatic figure shrouded in mystery, even among the nobles!

When it comes to personal stories, Martina sometimes talks about her siblings, but it was the first time she mentioned Prince Theodore during our last meeting.

“Did she say he was quiet because it made her uneasy?”

If that’s the case, it probably means he’s not quiet because, like Princess Lani, he has no interest in power…

Could his presence here have some political meaning?

“No, there’s no point in speculating.”

I shook my head and tried to clear my thoughts.

What does it matter what royalty thinks?

For me, as long as I don’t act disrespectfully, that’s all that matters.

Graham, noticing the murmurs among the members, explained.

“The reason he is visiting is because he has a great interest in cuisine as well. He has been supporting the Kingdom Culinary Association from behind the scenes until now.”

“Prince Theodore was a sponsor?”

“Yes. He has been supporting us anonymously until now, which is something I only recently learned myself…”

Graham couldn’t hide the pride on his face.

“Doesn’t that mean our activities have been meaningful!”

“Ooh! To think the prince recognizes our work!”

“Are we becoming the Royal Culinary Association now?”

“Haha, not so fast.”

Graham smiled and calmed down the excited members of the Culinary Association.

Then he turned to me and got to the point.

“So, I have a request.”

“A request?”

“Yes. We’ve prepared various dishes for His Highness, but something about them doesn’t sit right with me.”

Does that mean…?

The next words were exactly what I had expected.

“I would like you to help. With your skills, I’m sure you can make dishes the prince has never had before.”

“Me, cook here…?”

Are these dishes something the prince has never eaten before?

Of course, I know plenty of such dishes.

Even a prince from this country would not have tasted cuisine from another world.

But since they’ve already prepared other dishes, why would I need to…

“Of course, I’m not asking for it for free. Your store is having trouble with spice supply, right? I’ll arrange a supplier for you.”

“Well, in that case, let’s give it a try.”

I’ll do it. If not me, then who else would do it?

I realized how foolish I had been to misunderstand Graham’s intentions.

“I had a feeling I was running low on supplies anyway.”

Though I had money to buy spices, in this world, just having money doesn’t guarantee I could easily find them, so I had been planning to find another supplier.

Satisfied with my enthusiastic response, the elder nodded.

“Then, let’s check the dishes we’ve prepared.”

The elder led me to the kitchen where the dishes were ready.

Upon entering the kitchen, a variety of dishes were already laid out on the table.

The most basic dish was steak, and there were even more uncommon dishes, like a fresh salmon dish.

Despite the capital being in the center of the mainland, the dishes were made with all kinds of ingredients, filling the table.

However, the most striking dish among them stood out separately.

“Wait, isn’t this monster meat?”

“Ah, you recognized it? It’s a harpy breast dish.”

It was a monster dish!

Perhaps to make it easier to identify as a monster dish, the characteristics of the monster were not removed and were still present in the cooked dish on the plate.

I felt a sense of discomfort upon seeing it.

“Why would they…?”

That meat is tough and tasteless.

As someone who has forcefully eaten it to survive, I couldn’t understand why anyone would want to eat it.

Some monsters even have body parts similar to humans, making it even more grotesque.

The harpy mentioned earlier is also a monster with a human-like head.

“Although the chest was just like a bird’s…”

If the harpy had a chest like in the myths from my previous life, human-like…

I shook off the horrible thought and turned my attention away from the monster dish table.

After checking the remaining dishes, I nodded.

“There are no chicken dishes.”

It seems they focused on using rare ingredients, as there were no chicken dishes at all.

Recalling the experience of serving food to Martina, I don’t think even the prince has ever had a chicken dish.

I pondered which chicken dish I liked the most and then decided on the menu.

“I’ve decided on the menu.”

“Oh, what dish are you planning to make? Is it chicken?”

“That would be good, but I’m thinking of something else.”

Having promised to make a dish I’ve never eaten before, I couldn’t just make one that was already prepared.

I checked to make sure I had all the necessary ingredients before speaking.

“I’ll make yurin-gi.”

Yurin-gi.

That’s the new dish I’ll present.

If you ask why I chose yurin-gi instead of chicken, there are many reasons, but the most important one is simple.

“There’s no time for brining.”

The prince isn’t coming tomorrow, so when would I have time to brine and fry the chicken?

So, I thought of a dish that wouldn’t take long to prepare, and yurin-gi came to mind.

There’s another reason too.

“The prince is young, right?”

Although yurin-gi is a Chinese dish and doesn’t feel like food for children, upon reflection, it has flavors that would appeal to a child.

The base flavor is tangy, sweet, and salty.

There’s no child who doesn’t like this flavor.

Of course, it’s the same for adults, but these primal, stimulating flavors tend to be better liked by younger people.

Now, to prepare the ingredients.

The ingredients are very simple.

Lettuce, chicken thigh meat, and the ingredients for the sauce.

Yurin-gi is typically made with boneless meat, so I prepared the chicken thighs by removing the bones.

“I could add some red chili or green onion as garnish, but…”

I decided to skip that.

There are no chilies, and I figured the green onion wouldn’t be suitable for children’s tastes.

First, I tore the lettuce by hand and placed it on the plate, then spread the chicken thigh meat thinly on top.

It’s important to tear the lettuce by hand, as it quickly changes color if cut with a knife.

Next, I lightly pounded the thinly spread chicken thigh meat with the back of a knife, mixed in cornstarch and egg, and coated it evenly.

“Good, it’s well coated.”

Then, I placed it in heated oil.

Sizzle—

The sound of frying chicken filled the kitchen as it hit the hot oil.

I used a ladle to press down on the floating chicken pieces and fried them for about two minutes.

“Now.”

After two minutes, I took the fried chicken out and gently tapped it to remove excess oil.

This step is essential to ensure that the chicken becomes crispy all the way through, which is crucial for making yurin-gi.

Then, I placed the chicken back into the oil.

When the chicken was nearly fully cooked, I increased the heat and fried it for about 30 more seconds to finish.

I took out a piece to check how well it was cooked by cutting it open and tasted it.

Crisp! Crispy!

“Perfect.”

It was truly a perfect fry.

Since I couldn’t serve the pieces I had cut earlier, I had to eat the leftovers.

But frying the chicken doesn’t mean yurin-gi is complete.

What completes yurin-gi is the sweet and sour sauce!

The ingredients for the sauce aren’t many.

Water, soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, and a little pepper.

Mixing these in the right proportions creates the sauce.

“I didn’t expect there to be soy sauce in this kitchen.”

That’s one of the reasons I decided to make yurin-gi.

Here, it seems like they have everything.

It feels like all the spices I’ve seen while traveling are available.

This level of selection makes me feel proud to be in the Royal Gastronomy Association!

Of course, there were no modern sauces—things like ketchup, oyster sauce, or hot sauce—but that’s just how it is.

“Though I wish they had oyster sauce at least.”

Should I make it myself?

I should ask later if there’s a place where I can buy oysters in bulk.

When I had finished preparing the sauce, Elder Graham peeked his head into the kitchen.

“Is everything ready?”

“Yes, it’s done.”

“Good. He should be arriving soon, so come out and wait. Change into something else too.”

I left the kitchen, changed into a luxurious outfit (which the elder had provided), and waited for the prince’s arrival.

How long had it been since I exchanged light chatter with the association members?

The door to the mansion opened, and a servant dressed in royal attire entered, announcing loudly.

“His Highness, the rightful heir to the throne, Prince Theodore Cartesia, has arrived! Everyone, please stand!”

The mansion fell silent as everyone stood properly.

In the silence, the sound of small footsteps echoed.

After the footsteps stopped, someone spoke in a youthful voice.

“Look up.”

We all looked up as instructed.

There, standing before us, was the young prince.

Small.

End.