The women heard his footsteps grow distant. Loretta waited for them to vanish entirely before asking, “So, what’s that?”
“The pudding the master recommends. It’s a mouthwatering dessert made with egg,” Victoria replied, peeking quickly into the package. She thought for a moment, then added, “I don’t have a winter box with me today, so would you like to eat these with me?”
Loretta had no idea what material the strange white package was made from. It had an illustration of a winged dog, and she felt something cold within it—likely the “pudding” her friend described.
Wait. “Pudding…”? She peered at Victoria. The word “pudding” didn’t exist in the Duchy’s language, so Loretta had assumed it was just chosen randomly. Apparently, however, it came from this dessert.
“I didn’t think Fried Sh—er, I mean, Heinrich…could be so thoughtful,” Victoria mused.
It was virtually impossible for Loretta to figure out what kind of connection Heinrich and Victoria had, considering that the former was a young knight in his twenties who rarely had chances to visit the capital, and the latter was a nearly forty-year-old princess who never showed her face in public.
As the court mage was unraveling the puzzle, Victoria opened the box gingerly. Inside sat two clear glasses topped with a strange white substance. The food inside the glasses looked unfamiliar to Loretta, but according to her friend, this was “pudding.”
“Pudding’s delicious, you know,” Victoria told Loretta, turning to hand her something.
“A spoon? What’s it made of?” Loretta took the utensil and began studying it—a habit many mages shared when handed something unfamiliar.
The spoon was clearly meant for this pudding stuff. It was tiny—a perfect size to fit into the small containers. Its material, however, was a complete mystery to Loretta. The transparency is like glass. However, the clear spoon wasn’t heavy like glass. In fact, it was far lighter than a wooden spoon. Is it ice? No, it’d have to be colder.
As far as Loretta knew, there was nothing quite like it. “Seriously, what’s this material?”
“No idea. My master asked the restaurant’s master some time ago. He said the spoon was ‘plastic’ or something.”
An entirely unfamiliar material… That puzzled Loretta further. Victoria simply laughed in response, lifting the day’s star attraction—the glasses of pudding—from the box.
“These are probably Mont Blanc pudding, since they’re a seasonal autumn flavor.” Victoria handed a glass containing her absolute favorite dessert to her old friend.
Loretta took it unhesitatingly. “Pudding…”
She could tell from the side of the glass that the dessert was separated into beautiful layers. At the bottom was something pitch-black; a buttery yellow layer rested on top. Those took up most of the glass, but a creamy brown layer sat above them. I’ve never seen anything like it before.
Victoria was wolfing down the pudding. Judging from her attitude, it was safe enough to eat. In fact, just watching her made Loretta’s mouth water. She appears to be enjoying it. Well, I might as well give it a taste.
Loretta was a mage who sought to understand the greater workings of the universe. She naturally had a sense of curiosity even stronger than most people. She immediately imitated Victoria, pulling the wrapper off the glass container and lifting the lid.
It doesn’t smell like much, she noticed.
Loretta dipped her spoon into the brown layer and scooped up a little pudding. Some white powder resembling snow rested on top, which was seemingly mixed with some kind of nut.
From the pudding’s aesthetic beauty, it was clearly the work of a true artisan. After observing the pudding for a moment, Loretta put the spoon in her mouth. The cream’s rich flavor spread over her tongue. Mmm.
Thanks to the nuts mixed into the sweet cream, it had a mealy bitterness. It was less sweet than the desserts Loretta usually ate, but that made it easier to appreciate the nuts’ flavor. Loretta was familiar with their taste and soon recognized it. Ah, those are marones. Were they ground and mixed with sugar?
The brown cream’s smooth texture was delicious on its own, but after enjoying its flavor for a bit, Loretta dipped her spoon deeper, into the yellow layer.
The plastic spoon felt much more fragile than a metal or wooden one, but it dug through the pudding cleanly. The yellow layer was probably made of eggs and milk; it wasn’t liquid, but it was very soft and broke apart easily. What a bizarre texture.
Loretta scooped up some pudding, bringing it to her mouth. Mmm. It’s so soft…and it’s cold. I wonder how sweet it is.
The yellow pudding fell apart without her chewing, and its flavor suffused her mouth. It was much sweeter than the brown cream she’d eaten earlier; she could get addicted to this.
Suddenly, she figured out the yellow layer’s core ingredients. This is made of eggs, milk, and sugar! And crushed marones for aroma, I bet.
She’d recently heard that the prince’s favorite dessert among the palace delicacies was made with eggs. Is this it? Loretta decided that the rumored dish must be pudding.
“The middle pudding layer is delicious on its own, but combining it with the creamy layer on top is even more scrumptious,” Victoria said. “Oh—and you should save the caramel at the bottom for later.”
Obeying the Witch Princess’s seasoned advice, Loretta ate a spoonful of the middle layer mixed with the cream atop it. Combining them brought out the best in both flavors; Loretta was actually a bit moved. “Wow…the whole dish changes a lot.”
The yellow layer’s sweetness and gentle eggy taste welcomed the mildly sweet brown cream. The mysterious marone flavor and fragrant vanilla likewise spread through Loretta’s mouth. Mont Blanc pudding required you to eat both the flavors packed into the single glass simultaneously, Loretta realized. What a mysterious dessert.
She kept digging into her pudding without stopping, eventually reaching the bottom of the glass. “Oh… What’s this black stuff?”
As her spoon struck the layer, dark liquid came through cracks, coloring its surface. Loretta dipped her spoon, then licked it.
The black liquid was apparently made from a sugar base; it was far sweeter than any other element of the pudding. However, it was also strangely bitter, and that flavor wasn’t masked in the least.
Sweet but bitter? Did the cook burn the sugar? Giving it some thought, Loretta arrived at the answer. If this pudding had been a normal dessert, she would’ve considered the black liquid a failure. But it pairs wonderfully with the other layers in this “pudding” stuff. It’s surprisingly tasty.
Mixed with the upper layers, the dark syrup had its own unique appeal. The gentle sweetness of the former tempered the almost-cloying strength of the dark liquid, which in turn brought out more of the pudding’s unique flavors.
Victoria had polished off her Mont Blanc pudding some time ago, and she’d been watching her friend with rapt attention. When they finished their desserts, she locked eyes with Loretta and asked her opinion. “How’d you like it…?”
Loretta chuckled. Deep within Victoria’s eyes was the certainty that Loretta found the pudding delicious. Yet there was also a hint of anxiety over whether her friend enjoyed it as much as she did. The court mage answered truthfully. “Actually, it was delectable.”
“Thank goodness! I knew you’d feel that way.” Loretta’s half-elf friend smiled with relief, apparently unconcerned with the upcoming battle.
Seeing her friend’s grin, Loretta thought, I’m sure this mothman hunt will go just fine.