Count Goran And The Chocolate-Covered Cherries (2)

“Hold it by the stem and eat it in one bite.”

When I explained how to eat it, Alvin nodded and said, “All right,” before popping the chocolate into his mouth.

Seeing this, Dennis began eating his as well.

Since it was his first time trying something like this, Alvin seemed a little nervous as he cautiously chewed.

“…………!”

His eyes immediately widened in surprise.

After hurriedly swallowing, he exclaimed,

“There’s something inside!”

“It’s a cherry soaked in cherry brandy, or kirsch. The cherry is wrapped in a sugar coating and then coated in chocolate. It’s called a chocolate-covered cherry. Oh, and be careful, because there’s a pit inside.”

Kirsch was produced in the neighboring town. The distillery sold the liquor itself, but it also sold cherries that had been slowly steeped in kirsch for six months to a year.

They made excellent accompaniments to alcoholic drinks, so I always kept some in stock at the inn.

“…Alvin-sama, this is… bad.”

Dennis whispered to Alvin in alarm, and Alvin nodded in agreement.

“Yes, this is… very bad.”

“What? Didn’t you like it?”

I didn’t mean to boast, but I’d thought they’d turned out rather well for my first attempt.

Alvin spoke with a grave expression.

“No, it’s delicious.”

“Huh?”

“The problem is that it’s delicious. People are going to fight over these.”

“Huh?”

Now I was even more confused.

But even Dennis, whose face had gone pale, declared with absolute certainty,

“Yes. This is bad. There’s going to be a battle over them.”

“Is that so…?”

“There are a lot of hot-blooded fellows in the knight order…”

Alvin sighed, apparently having suffered his fair share of difficulties with them.

Dennis agreed.

“They don’t know the meaning of moderation. Especially when it comes to delicious food. How on earth are we supposed to divide eleven chocolates among them…?”

Dennis clutched his head in despair.

He’d said that so casually, but was the lord only going to get one?

These were supposed to be his birthday present, after all.

“Wait. Are you planning to distribute all eleven among the knights?”

Alvin also raised an objection, but Dennis paid him no attention.

“Lydia-san, could you possibly make some more of these chocolates? We’d like about a hundred.”

He immediately began negotiating with me in earnest.

“Hey, think about how much work that would be for Lydia. You’re putting her in a difficult position.”

Alvin admonished him.

“I don’t mind making them. Unfortunately, I don’t have any ingredients left, so it isn’t possible.”

At that, Alvin suddenly took an interest.

“Would you make them if we supplied the ingredients?”

“Well, yes, I suppose so.”

Let me remind you once again that chocolate was said to be worth its weight in gold.

Even though cacao was grown within their own territory, cacao beans were by no means inexpensive. I was beginning to think this was a rather blatant case of mixing personal and official business when Dennis spoke up.

“Once people discover how delicious chocolate is, we could make a fortune!”

“Indeed, Dennis. We’ll distribute some to the civil officials as well. We need to get as many people as possible to try it.”

“Yes! That should help us open up new markets.”

Listening to their conversation, I realized that they also intended to use the chocolates for promotional purposes.

Well, the best way to demonstrate the value of a food product was to let people actually taste it.

In that respect, the vice-commander of the knight order at my former workplace had been absolutely dreadful.

The chocolate I’d received as a reward had been one of the gifts presented to us for participating in disaster relief efforts in a certain foreign country. Apparently, it had been selected because the vice-commander had tasted chocolate while we were there, became completely obsessed with it, and insisted that it be included among our rewards.

His motives had been one hundred percent selfish.

That bastard had been the son of a high-ranking noble from the queen’s faction, and he’d been a truly useless superior. Remembering all those unnecessary details irritated me all over again.

“We’ll provide all the ingredients. You only need to make as many as you can comfortably manage. Would you be willing to do it?”

“Certainly. Um, could I have a little cacao as payment for my work?”

That way, I could make some chocolate for Noah and the others, too.

Suddenly sensing someone watching me, I turned around and saw the brownies fidgeting as they peeked in our direction.

All right, all right. I’d make some for you lot, too.

“Of course. I’ll pay you a daily wage as well.”

Alvin readily agreed.

“Then I’d be happy to make them.”

Since they were planning to market chocolate, I thought it would be useful for them to have the recipe as well, so I gave Alvin my recipe for chocolate-covered cherries.

By replacing the filling with nougat, caramel, nuts, or other ingredients, they could create all sorts of different flavors.

“Sorry to keep troubling you.”

“Not at all.”

Back then, I’d had absolutely no interest in cooking, but chocolate had been the one exception.

I’d thought that if I ever managed to obtain cacao beans, I’d get someone to make chocolate for me. So I’d cleverly asked a confectioner from that country for the recipe, and now that foresight had finally paid off.

“Well, I really must be going.”

Once they’d finished placing their additional chocolate order, Alvin and Dennis began preparing to leave.

“I’ll go check on the horses,” Dennis said before leaving the dining room, while Alvin, who remained behind, asked me his usual question.

“Is there anything troubling you?”

As usual, I replied,

“No, nothing in particular.”

Normally, Alvin would have accepted that answer and left it at that, but today was different.

“Then is there anything you want?”

“Anything I want?”

“Yes. I’d like to give you something, too, Lydia. When is your birthday?”

“My birthday is in the summer.”

“Summer? That’s still a little while away.”

Alvin sounded disappointed.

“Then I’ll give you something else for your birthday. In the meantime, anything at all—if there’s something you want, just tell me.”

“Something I want…”

What I wanted most right now was a large, nonstick pot, but that seemed like something I could just buy myself.

“Nothing in particular comes to mind… Ah!”

“What is it?”

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

That was what I said, but Alvin was unusually persistent.

“What is it? Tell me.”

“It’s really nothing important. You see, my cow recently had a baby.”

“Your cow?”

“The calf is absolutely adorable. And seeing it made me think I’d like to have a child of my own.”

Calves were adorable, and Noah and Mirei were adorable, too.

Of course, having children probably wasn’t something one should do for such a simple reason, and more importantly, I didn’t have a partner.

It was nothing more than a fleeting desire that had crossed my mind, but it was also something that had never occurred to me while I was still an active-duty knight.

I was a little surprised by how much my feelings had changed.

“A child…”

Alvin rested a hand on his chin and sank into thought.

“I’m sorry for saying something so silly. Please forget I mentioned it.”

I hurriedly tried to dismiss the subject, but Alvin was lost in contemplation.

After a little while, Alvin suddenly asked,

“So, Lydia, does that mean you want to get married?”

“No, I don’t particularly want to get married.”

“Why not?”

“Hmm. I suppose it would be fine if my husband were someone who’d let me continue running the inn, but not every man would be willing to do that. Besides, if I became someone’s wife, I’d probably have to adjust my life to suit my husband, and that sounds like a nuisance.”

“…………”

“I really like the life I have now, so I think I’m happy enough without getting married.”

In short, I had no desire to marry.

“Are you saying you wouldn’t mind if your child were born out of wedlock?”

“I suppose there would be ethical concerns, but yes, that’s right.”

For nobles, it was important for children to be born to legally married parents because of matters such as inheritance rights. However, for commoners with no property to pass down, there were relatively few disadvantages to having a child out of wedlock.

“I see.”

Alvin stood up, approached me, and knelt before me.

Then he took my hand and pressed his lips to the back of it.

Looking directly into my eyes, Alvin said,

“I want to marry you, Lydia.”