The Donut Knight (2)

And so, snack time arrived that day.

While soldiers hurried back and forth throughout the castle, we prepared everything with restless hearts of our own.

Once the tables and chairs had been arranged in the courtyard, each team stood ready with the snacks they had carefully prepared, waiting for the Young Master to appear.

Before long, footsteps echoed through the area, and when the Young Master came into view, everyone’s faces tightened with tension.

But… the instant someone saw the person walking behind him, a maid let out a little squeal.

“Lawrence-sama…!”

Yes, the one accompanying the Young Master was none other than the handsome knight, Lawrence-sama.

“My apologies, ladies. Today I will be attending His Highness personally. Please pay me no mind.”

“Eek…”

The squeal was considerably muffled, but an excited voice still escaped from among the maids.

They looked like girls who had suddenly run into their favorite idol and could barely contain themselves.

But at that very moment, a sharp reprimand rang out.

“Who was that just now? I do not remember employing any maid who would behave so disgracefully in front of the Young Master.”

The old hag… I mean, the Head Maid.

Wearing her usual stern expression, the Head Maid appeared as always and glared at us.

We all shrank back at once and bowed deeply, trembling ever so slightly.

“Today, Commander Lawrence-sama will be accompanying the Young Master as his guard. There is no place in this castle for a maid who behaves disgracefully. Is that understood?”

“Yes, Head Maid!”

Every maid, thoroughly terrified and hiding every trace of her feminine excitement, answered in perfect unison.

I followed suit, but when I raised my head, my eyes met Lawrence-sama’s, and he gave me a slightly bashful smile.

“Ah, you are the girl from last night. Did you sleep well?”

“Yes, Lawrence-sama, thanks to you. I truly owe you a great deal.”

It seemed that, even among the crowd of maids, he at least vaguely recognized me.

I pinched my skirt and curtsied. But then I felt all the other maids’ gazes converge on me.

Most of them were probably thinking things like, How enviable, How irritating, or Who do you think you are, talking to Lawrence-sama?

Dangerous, dangerous. A woman’s jealousy could be fatal. I needed to avoid drawing attention.

“Then, let us provide the Young Master with another wonderful snack today.”

At the Head Maid’s command, snack time began.

The Young Master tied on his napkin and waited eagerly for his treats. He looked completely different from the bored expression he had worn when I first arrived.

Determined to live up to those expectations, the teams began presenting their snacks one after another.

Most of them were some variety of bread, and nearly all were moist and soft. Now that everyone knew the Young Master preferred that sort of texture, they were all competing along those lines.

Some even contained jam. Jam was common in this world too, so copying that idea was easy enough.

They were overlapping with our three-flavor bread, but that was no problem at all.

Eventually, it was our turn, and I carefully presented our creation.

“Chocolate cornet, Young Master.”

Chocolate cornet. That delightful creation consists of spiraled bread filled with soft chocolate custard.

It was another kind of bread I had loved ever since I was a child.

“Oh… What an interesting shape. I can see the chocolate. It looks delicious.”

The Young Master picked up the chocolate cornet and peered at the exposed chocolate with shining eyes.

Ahh, that reaction. I felt like I had made the same face the first time I ate a chocolate cornet.

Chocolate custard peeking out from the large opening of the cornet.

Once you knew how chocolate tasted, it was impossible not to look forward to it.

Chocolate cornet truly was a wonderful bread that proudly put chocolate front and center.

Just looking at it made me want one too.

After all, the amount of chocolate we could make was limited, so even I had not been able to sample very much of it.

“Hmm. Which end is the proper one to begin with?”

The Young Master asked while turning the chocolate cornet around and around.

Should you start from the wide end where the chocolate was visible, or from the sealed tail?

One could call that the eternal question of eating a chocolate cornet.

“Either side is perfectly fine, Young Master, but I recommend starting from the wide end.”

“The wide end… this side, then.”

The Young Master stared at the end where the chocolate was exposed.

Then he opened his mouth wide and took a bite, immediately exclaiming in delight.

“Sweet! It is soft and sweet and extremely delicious!”

Exactly. Exactly so.

That was unquestionably the proper reaction to eating a chocolate cornet.

Especially at the wide end, the balance between bread and chocolate leaned heavily toward the chocolate.

What remained in your mouth was a rich sweetness of chocolate, accompanied by only the faintest token presence of bread.

Yet as you ate farther down, the proportion of bread gradually increased, allowing you to enjoy several stages of flavor in a single pastry.

Truly, the chocolate cornet could only be described as a masterwork of breadcraft.

“It is already gone. Shirley, do you have any more chocolate cornets?”

“Yes, of course, Young Master!”

The Young Master had already memorized the bread’s name.

Naturally, we had made plenty of chocolate cornets.

I had been thinking, If there are any leftovers, I’m eating them myself!

But then,

“Delicious. Delicious.”

The Young Master continued eating them with such obvious enjoyment that it seemed my hopes of leftovers would be safely crushed.

Of course, that was really the best outcome.

(…Huh?)

I had been happily watching the Young Master eat.

But then, I suddenly noticed something.

Lawrence-sama was standing guard beside the Young Master.

And his gaze was fixed on the chocolate cornets.

Oh? Could Lawrence-sama possibly want to try one too?

As I wondered about that, the Young Master noticed my gaze, turned toward Lawrence-sama, and spoke.

“Lawrence. Would you like one as well? Shirley’s snacks are sweet and very delicious.”

“Eh…”

At that, Lawrence-sama visibly panicked, his eyes wandering as he hesitated before smoothly dropping to one knee.

“I could not possibly. I would never presume to partake of Your Highness’s food. I merely thought it was a confection unlike anything I had ever seen.”

“I see. Shirley makes unusual snacks. This one also has a flavor I have never tasted before, and it is excellent. I would not mind sharing one with you.”

“No, Young Master, someone of noble standing should not concern himself with such things. Besides, I am not fond of sweets.”

Lawrence-sama declined the Young Master’s offer.

The older maids immediately began whispering among themselves.

“Of course. Lawrence-sama is the very image of a knight among knights. Naturally, he would never eat sweets.”

“As expected. He really is such a rugged, meat-loving man.”

I could practically feel the warm, dreamy atmosphere drifting from them.

The Young Master did not press Lawrence-sama any further and simply finished every last chocolate cornet himself.

“Ahh, delicious. This thing called chocolate truly suits my tastes.”

“I am delighted, Young Master! Chocolate contains plenty of nutri— I mean, it is a wonderful snack that gives you plenty of energy!”

I chose my words carefully, since saying “nutrition” probably would not mean much to him.

Unlike my previous world, this world likely did not yet have the concept of nutritional science.

“Indeed, my mind feels especially sharp after eating chocolate. Thank you as always, Shirley.”

“Not at all, Young Master!”

The Young Master, benevolent ruler that he was, even offered words of thanks to someone as lowly as me.

I was so happy that my head naturally bowed, but then my eyes drifted toward Lawrence-sama.

He was smiling as though nothing had happened.

But I could tell.

The way his gaze lingered on the plate where the chocolate cornets had disappeared, the faint crease between his brows.

And then there were the feelings everyone around him seemed to project onto Lawrence-sama.

…I see.

This…

This smells like a lie.