That Wonderful, Delicious Red One (7)

The moment Jacqueline shouted that, everyone around us began to stir.

“Tomato…? You mean those red, swollen things people say are poisonous?”

“Wait, that red color comes from those? Is it really safe to serve something like that to the young master?”

They were voices of concern about the ketchup.

Apparently, the maids were every bit as prejudiced against tomatoes too.

Uh-oh… Could this actually be a pretty bad situation? I wondered, but what worried me most of all was the young master’s reaction.

“…What is a tomato?”

His face was overflowing with suspicion he made no attempt to hide.

You aren’t seriously trying to feed me something strange, are you?

Especially not a vegetable. If you are, I will not forgive you.

That was exactly what his expression was saying.

“Um, well… You see… A tomato is, er… this.”

There was no point trying to play dumb.

Having decided that, I brought over a tomato and gently placed it in front of the young master.

“Ugh…!”

The instant he saw the bright-red tomato, the young master let out a sound of heartfelt disgust.

I don’t really know what this is, but it’s a vegetable. Therefore, it is the enemy.

That single reaction conveyed his feelings perfectly.

Jacqueline immediately seized the opportunity and went on the offensive.

“Trying to trick the young master into eating vegetables he hates is simply awful! And one that’s rumored to be poisonous, no less! Just what are you trying to do, Shirley?!”

Jacqueline declared it with a wicked smile.

So this was what she had been aiming for…!

This was bad. At this rate, they might start suspecting me of trying to poison the young master!

…Although naturally, there was no way something cultivated in the Royal Palace gardens could actually be poisonous.

“Tomatoes are not poisonous! That’s nothing but superstition! Besides, this ketchup was made from wonderful, nutrient-packed tomatoes that Agata, the Field Witch, worked very hard to grow. There’s no bitterness at all—it’s a delicious sauce!”

I somehow managed to argue back, but I was at a complete disadvantage.

No, worse than that—because I had openly admitted it was a vegetable, the young master’s face had stiffened beautifully.

At this rate, the young master might start thinking of me as “the enemy who tried to trick me into eating something I hate.”

Children absolutely hated adults like that.

Having the young master dislike me would honestly hurt…

But the entire mood had turned against me.

The maids were staring at me suspiciously, while the prince had even turned his eyes away because he didn’t want to look at the tomato.

Even the head maid was giving me a cold look. I was completely surrounded by hostility.

This was bad…!

I had to do something… anything…!

My brain cells spun at full speed… and then they arrived at one outrageous answer.

“That’s it! Then let us do this. I shall taste it for poison myself!”

“What?”

The young master let out a startled voice.

Right before his eyes, I picked up a Frankfurt sausage slathered generously with ketchup, opened my mouth wide, and took a big bite.

“Then, if you’ll excuse me… Mmph. Mmm! Delicious! The Frankfurt sausage and sweet ketchup go together perfectly!”

Even though I had made it myself, I couldn’t help being impressed.

The Frankfurt sausage, made from premium pork supplied to the Royal Palace, had a satisfyingly crisp casing, and when I bit through it, delicious meat juices burst out from within.

That sausage and the strongly sweet ketchup came together in my mouth, growing richer and more flavorful with every chew.

My entire mouth was filled with happiness!

(Using my homemade apple cider vinegar in the ketchup really was the right choice!)

That’s right. This ketchup contained one of the things I had bottled up and brought with me to the Royal Palace.

My special homemade apple cider vinegar had been mixed into it.

As the name suggested, apple cider vinegar was vinegar made from apples, with a faint sweetness and refreshing tartness.

Using it in ketchup was guaranteed to enhance the sweetness.

Using charcoal to grill the Frankfurt sausages had also been an excellent choice.

It gave them a deeper flavor and brought back the kind of fun you felt eating food at a campsite.

Still munching away, I ended up finishing the entire sausage.

For some reason, everyone seemed to be staring at me in disbelief, but surely that was just my imagination.

Yes. I decided that was what it was.

“Mmm, I can’t stop! One sausage might not be enough for a proper poison tasting, so I’d better have another!”

I had already eaten plenty while taste-testing earlier, but it was simply irresistible.

My hand reached toward another one.

But someone suddenly slapped my hand away.

The owner of that hand was… the young master.

And while glaring resentfully at me, he spoke.

“How dare you eat my snack so deliciously right in front of me… Enough poison tasting.”

With that, the young master picked up a Frankfurt sausage covered in plenty of ketchup, stared at it uneasily for a moment, and then, with an expression that seemed to say, To hell with it! he bit into it.

“Y-Young Master!?”

Jacqueline cried out in surprise, but the young master simply continued chewing the sausage… and then, the very next moment.

“…It’s delicious!”

He shouted in delight.

“What? No way!?”

Jacqueline cried out in surprise once again.

Apparently, everyone really did know about the young master’s hatred of vegetables.

And yet here he was happily eating something covered in a condiment made from them.

While everyone stared in astonishment, the young master polished off the entire Frankfurt sausage in no time.

“Amazing! It’s sweet and truly delicious! Shirley, was this really made from that vegetable?!”

As he spoke, the young master gazed at the red ketchup with sparkling eyes.

With a triumphant smile, I answered him.

“Of course, Young Master! Just because something is made from vegetables does not mean it must always be bitter or sour. With a little ingenuity, they can become something this delicious!”

“I see. Shirley, I am very fond of this ‘ketchup’!”

As he said that, the young master kept bringing Frankfurt sausages to his mouth one after another.

For now, I decided it would probably be best not to mention that it contained onions too, not just tomatoes.

“It truly is sweet… Is the tomato it comes from sweet like fruit as well?”

“Ah… Um…”

The young master stared intently at the tomato as he asked, leaving me at a loss for how to answer.

Tomatoes were surely among the vegetables children were most likely to dislike.

If I made him bite into a raw tomato right here and now, it was obvious he would end up hating tomatoes.

But telling him, “Children don’t find them tasty,” would also be terribly rude because it would mean treating him like a little kid.

So I simply told him the truth.

“Raw tomatoes can be quite tart, so they may not suit everyone’s tastes.”

“I see. Then I don’t want one.”