#46: Hidden Faces And Desserts (2) — The Archmage's Restaurant

The second wife of Count Greek, Berna, is the second daughter of the Count of Dedran, which is adjacent to Greek City.

As mentioned by Count Greek’s butler, she was very fond of tea and desserts.

However, desserts in this world are usually dried fruits or bread with lots of sugar. Bird eggs and dairy milk are commonly used for making bread.

But even when bird eggs are used to make bread, they leave a peculiar smell. People in this world accept and eat it as it is.

Therefore, bread made with real eggs, namely Palenque eggs, is incomparable.

El made a blackberry tart and visited the Lord’s castle. The local name for the blackberry tart is ‘Berere Tart’.

After a meal, Berna’s eyes widened at the sight of the berere tart brought by the butler.

“Oh my, how pretty.”

“I heard it’s a newly discovered dessert.”

The butler explained with a bow. This butler has been a solid supporter of the Greek boy since he started his path to becoming a lord.

“Really? How interesting. Let me see.”

Berna, who married into the count’s family at the age of 20, is now in her early 30s. She has practically no hobbies other than drinking tea and eating desserts. At some point, it just became that way.

Although it was a type of food she had never seen before, the tart strongly stimulated Berna’s appetite. She immediately started cutting the tart with a knife.

There was a round bread at the bottom, which she had never seen before. It was amazing how firm it was. And on top of it was an unknown white cream. And the berere.

Of course, she knew about berere.

Berna quickly took one of the four pieces of the tart to her mouth.

And she was surprised. The tartness of the berere, the sweetness of the choux cream, and the chewy texture of the bread. The combination was amazingly delicious.

“Oh my, oh my!”

Without realizing it, Berna exclaimed and naturally took the fork to the next piece. And she continued to eat. She hadn’t had an appetite recently, but this tart was stimulating her taste buds relentlessly.

Especially the sweetness of the white cream meeting the tartness of the berere created a sweet and sour taste that she couldn’t stop eating.

It was undoubtedly the best dessert she had ever tasted in her life.

“What is the name of this dish? It’s really delicious!”

“My lady, I heard from the chef who made it that it’s called Berere Tart. And he said there are many more delicious desserts than this…”

“Is that true?”

Having eaten the entire berere tart in an instant, Berna forgot her noble manners and jumped up from the sofa.

“Yes, it is.”

“I definitely want to meet him. To think there was such a chef in Greek City.”

“In fact, he is waiting at the Lord’s castle. Would you like to meet him?”

“Really? Call him in right away. Desserts more delicious than this…”

Berna regained her composure and sat back on the sofa, picking up her teacup. The aftertaste of the tart went very well with the black tea.

“I will.”

The butler nodded and soon brought El. Berna looked at El with great curiosity.

“Did you make this dish?”

“Yes, I did.”

El thought Berna might know about his frequent meetings with the Greek boy recently. But Berna’s gaze was that of someone meeting a completely new person.

“Hoohoo, it was really delicious! I heard there are other kinds of desserts?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

When El responded immediately, Berna nodded with a bright face.

She seemed to be as happy as a child.

El felt a little suspicious. Could she really be the one embezzling taxes and trying to turn the Greek boy into a puppet behind the scenes with such a face? It was hard to believe.

Of course, what’s visible isn’t everything.

How great a double-faced woman could she be?

“Count Dedran is visiting?”

“Yes, Master. Anyway, if my stepmother embezzled taxes, Count Dedran is surely involved. The purpose of the visit… there must be some ulterior motive!”

That was true. Since the plan to turn the boy into a puppet failed and he started fulfilling his duties as a lord, things have been too quiet, so it was natural to think something was about to happen.

“There are still retainers who side with my stepmother. And those nobles seem to be connected with Count Dedran…”

“Well, it’s obvious that she bought them off with money and vested interests. Those unrelated to him must have gathered under you, Acting Lord.”

“I think so too. My stepmother… My stepmother… I never thought she would…!”

The Greek boy’s voice choked up, trailing off. It seemed to be because of the memory of her being kind to him when he was young.

“This is actually good. Now we can find out exactly what she’s plotting.”

“We can?”

The Greek boy tilted his head at my words.

“I’ve never had a conversation with Count Dedran. He always only meets my stepmother…”

The boy had already dropped the honorifics for Count Dedran, perceiving him as an enemy. Which was natural.

“That’s actually better. There’s magic in this world that allows you to hear conversations from afar.”

“Is that so?”

The Greek boy blinked in disbelief. I shrugged at him and said,

“Find out the exact date of Count Dedran’s visit. Understood?”

“Yes, Master!”

Even if he didn’t believe in the magic, the Greek boy had a firm belief in me. He nodded vigorously.

Count Dedran’s visit happened just a few days later, in the morning.

The Greek boy sent someone urgently, so I carried the dragon, who was weak in the morning, and headed to the Lord’s castle. It’s not just that she’s weak in the morning; it’s extremely rare for Rurin to be awake in the morning.

I could wake her up if I tried, but I thought I’d let her sleep a bit more. This sleepy dragon would never appreciate my touching gesture.

“Master, huh? Did you bring your wife?”

“What did you just say?”

“Uh, your wife…”

“Who’s my wife?”

“The lady you’re carrying on your back.”

The Greek boy looked at me in confusion. He must have misunderstood again, even though I denied it the first time we met.

Did we look that close?

“No.”

“No? Then who is she…?”

“Hm, hm, well, she’s not my wife, but we share a life bond. Anyway, don’t worry about it. She’s also the one who will use the magic.”

“What? Her? And Master, what do you mean by a life bond?”

The boy had a puzzled expression, wondering what kind of relationship it was if she wasn’t my wife but shared a life bond. Of course, I couldn’t answer. I didn’t know the answer myself.

“That’s not what’s important right now, is it? Lead the way.”

“Oh, yes, yes!”

The Greek boy, with a dazed expression as if he’d been hit on the head with a hammer, led the way. The place we arrived at was an inner room on the third floor of the Lord’s castle.

“This front room is my stepmother’s private room. But it’s quite large… Is it really possible? If they are at the back of the room, it’s hard to imagine…”

I haven’t learned it, but there’s certainly magic that can eavesdrop among the auxiliary spells. So saying it’s magic isn’t a lie. It won’t be questioned later.

Of course, a dragon’s hearing is about a thousand times more accurate than that auxiliary magic.

“It’s okay. Are you sure this is the room?”

“Yes. Whenever Count Dedran visits the Lord’s castle, he always speaks with my stepmother alone in this room.”

“Good.”

“Then I’ll go greet Count Dedran first, and after finding my stepmother, I’ll come back here!”

When I nodded, the Greek boy left the room with a determined expression. I then laid the sleeping Rurin on the sofa. She was sleeping soundly, her black hair fluttering with each snore.

She should have woken up by now, but she hasn’t.

I poked her cheek.

“Hmm!”

She just turned her head while tossing and turning without any reaction.

I dressed her one piece at a time and carried her here, but she still doesn’t wake up. It’s really hopeless.

One interesting thing is that if anyone other than me touches her while she’s sleeping, disaster ensues. She wakes up immediately and breathes fire, becoming extremely sensitive.

This fact was clearly known from a past experience.

After leaving the dragon’s sanctuary and following me, Rurin had to stay with my companions. We were all heading to the capital, so our destination was the same, and I didn’t send my companions ahead, thinking it would help Rurin build rapport with humans.

Of course, when I think about the bad habits she subtly picked up back then that still occasionally trouble me, I sometimes regret not traveling separately for the sake of rapport.

Even now, Rurin sometimes insists on the ‘That woman said!’ series that all originated from that time.

Anyway, we traveled with humans, and one day,

When Rurin didn’t wake up despite it being time to leave, one of my companions touched her arm to wake her.

The result was chaos.

“Don’t touch my body! Human!”

Rurin’s words, as she suddenly woke up and used her breath, were absurd.

But even with her like this, she doesn’t wake up when I touch her. It’s the mystery of mysteries.

Curious about the reason, I once openly asked Rurin.

“You, how do you distinguish between me and others while you’re sleeping?”

The answer that came back was very clear.

“Your cellular structure is imprinted in my brain!”

It was a somewhat scary answer.

Anyway, because of that, she doesn’t wake up even now. Usually, she snores, but sometimes, she smiles in her sleep, as if having a good dream, and giggles.

While watching Rurin as such, I heard a knock from outside.

“Yes.”

When I answered, the Greek boy came in.

“Master, I just had a brief conversation with the Count. Count Dedran immediately went to see my stepmother.”

“Then let’s start. Let’s hear what they’re plotting.”

I nodded in response and immediately began to wake Rurin.

“Wake up! Rurin!”

Since she didn’t wake up even when carried, shouting in the morning wouldn’t have much effect. Then there’s a special move.

“The food is gone, Rurin!”

“My food! My food? Food?”

Then she opens her eyes. What kind of brain structure is this?

“What? Where is this?”