The Donut Knight (3)

“You want to give sweets to the soldiers?”

The morning after I served the Young Master chocolate cornets,

the Head Maid responded in her usual stern tone when I made the request.

“Yes. The soldiers have been searching the Royal Palace day after day, and they seem exhausted. Since I was involved in the incident too, I feel rather guilty about it.”

The intruder still had not been found.

I suspected he was no longer inside the castle, but even so, for caution’s sake, and for the sake of the soldiers’ honor, they continued searching every corner of the vast Royal Palace with barely any rest.

“So I thought I might serve them something sweet to ease their fatigue, even just a little… Would that be all right?”

After a brief silence, the Head Maid replied,

“Very well. Lawrence-sama did save you, one of the maids, after all. It may be appropriate for the maids to offer some form of thanks.”

“Ah, wonderful! Then—”

“But there are hundreds of soldiers in this castle. Can you really prepare that much while also making the Young Master’s snacks?”

Ugh. She had struck exactly where it hurt.

There were indeed a great many soldiers in the castle, not only those assigned to security but also those in training and various other duties.

And now every one of them was participating in the search. That meant we would need enough for all of them.

Handling that alone would certainly be difficult. If I asked Anne to push herself and help, then perhaps… no, we still had the Young Master’s snack preparations too.

While I was thinking it over, the Head Maid sighed once and said,

“You truly never think things through, do you? Very well. I will tell all the maids to help you. Do it together.”

“What? But I would feel terrible imposing on the others…”

“What are you saying? All maids share the same fate. If one of us is saved, then all of us have been saved. …Besides, you already stand out enough as it is. Use this opportunity to become closer with the others.”

I see. So that was what she had in mind.

Still, would everyone really go out of their way for someone like me?

I couldn’t help worrying, but that concern proved completely unnecessary.

“Hey, Shirley! Is the dough kneaded enough like this?”

“Yes, Clara-oneesama! That’s perfect!”

“Shirley, is this the right size for cutting them out!?”

“Yes, that size is fine! Keep cutting!”

“Shirley, the oil’s hot! What do I do next!?”

“Yes, yes, I’m coming!”

A large number of maids crowded into the kitchen, busily working while voices flew back and forth.

When the Head Maid asked, everyone readily agreed to help me make the sweets.

“Why do I have to help her of all people…!? This is ridiculous!”

Though among them, there was of course one distinctly unhappy voice.

Naturally, it belonged to Jacqueline.

“Don’t say that. We’re all fellow maids serving snacks to the Young Master, aren’t we? Besides, there’s nothing wrong with all the teams making something together once in a while.”

Those were the words of Clara-oneesama, the Team Head of Team Two.

She and her team were kneading the dough with impressive skill.

“Exactly. Besides, I’ve been curious about the sweets Shirley makes. She really does come up with the most original things. This is a good chance to steal some of her techniques.”

That came from Avril-oneesama, the Team Head of Team Three.

Jacqueline immediately snapped back.

“Oneesama, you don’t need to steal any techniques from someone like her! You all make far better and more delicate sweets than she does! This is only temporary! People are just interested because her things are unusual!”

“Oh? If the Young Master enjoys unusual things, then surely that is a good thing. Our job is to make him happy, is it not?”

“U-Ugh…”

Avril-oneesama completely shut Jacqueline down, leaving her groaning in frustration.

Um, by the way, everyone. I can hear this entire conversation perfectly clearly.

“Say, Shirley. Are you planning to make sweets with oil? I don’t have much experience with fried sweets.”

The one staring at the large pot of oil heating over the fire as she spoke was Christina-oneesama, the Team Head of Team One.

It surprised me a little, but apparently the older maids rarely used oil for sweets. Most of what they made consisted of baked or steamed confections.

Of course, sweets made with oil did exist in this kingdom.

After all, oil had been familiar to humans since ancient times, whether animal fats such as lard or vegetable oils extracted from plants.

So naturally, someone would eventually think of frying another extremely familiar ingredient like flour in it to make sweets.

However, that idea did not seem to be widespread among the Royal Palace maids.

Apparently, baked and steamed sweets were considered the standard offerings for royalty and nobles, and the late queen had disliked fried sweets, among other reasons.

“Yes, Oneesama. Then I’ll show you how first.”

As I spoke, I took the dough that had rested in the refrigerator for an hour, cut it into a circle, and gently slipped it into the oil.

All the maids watched curiously as the dough rapidly puffed up in the crackling oil, drawing surprised voices from around the room.

“My, it puffs up so nicely.”

“So that’s what happens when you fry it in oil. I had no idea.”

“I can’t imagine what it’ll taste like. This is exciting!”

With nearly everyone crowding around like that, the kitchen became unbearably cramped.

Even I, gripping my cooking chopsticks, started worrying, What if I burn it? with so many people watching.

I carefully checked how it was frying, and once I judged it perfect, I quickly lifted it from the oil.

“All right! Perfectly fried!”

Golden brown, round, and with a hole in the center… Naturally, it was something everyone knew very well.

Yes, a donut!

“Is it finished now? I wonder what it tastes like.”

Anne spoke with obvious curiosity. She clearly wanted to try it.

The older maids around us looked equally interested.

“No, there’s still one more step.”

But I answered that way.

In this state, it was still too oily. And more importantly, it wasn’t sweet enough.

I waited a little while, letting the excess oil drain thoroughly, then moved on to the final step.

Once it had cooled somewhat, I dropped the donut onto a tray filled with fine sugar.

After coating it generously in white sugar, it was complete.

“Now, this is a donut. Please, everyone, have a taste.”

I cut the donut into small pieces and offered them around.

The older maids accepted them, carefully inspected the cross-sections, then took bites.

“…Oh my, this is delicious!”

The older maids all exclaimed in surprise at once.

The large, fluffy donut seemed to suit their tastes perfectly.

“So this is how it tastes… Interesting. Maybe it would be even better if the dough were a little moister.”

“So frying it makes it puff up and gives it that texture. That must be the key. The air pockets are delicious too. It seems like a lighter texture works better than making it dense.”

“This tastes sinful. Truly sinful. This would be absolutely perfect when you’re exhausted!”

The older maids immediately began exchanging opinions.

As expected, they had sharp eyes. They seemed to grasp the donut’s strengths almost immediately.

Off in one corner, Jacqueline secretly sampled a piece and widened her eyes.

Yes, the heart of a donut was its fluffy texture. I didn’t dislike the drier kind either, but to me, this was what a donut should be.

I would have loved to make all sorts of Mister Donut-style variations, but since we needed a large quantity this time, we would stick to a single kind: the most basic, classic version.

“That is the entire process. The especially important parts are properly resting the dough, the oil temperature, and the frying time. Everyone, I’m counting on you.”

When I bowed after saying that, the older maids immediately began cooking.

I suspected they also had the ulterior motive of mastering the donut-making method for themselves, but that was perfectly fine.

Watching donut after donut being mass-produced was genuinely delightful.