“OH my! How lovely! Are they really all edible?”
Lady Kate’s eyes lit up when she saw what was on the platter. Her pupils dilated, though I wasn’t sure if that was from sheer excitement, or a natural trait of all members of the Wildcat clan. Her cat ears twitched between gaps in her golden-brown hair.
“Of course. Please help yourself to this gem candy.”
Lady Kate, with Lady Natalie standing behind her, listened as I confidently offered them the gem candy—a kind of candied fruit.
As Berry requested, I candied the strawberries whole to maintain their shape. Once that turned out to be a success, I repeated the process with other fruits and set them out on the garden table for my guests to sample.
“They’re so beautiful. It feels like a waste to eat them.” Lady Natalie was staring closely at the gem candy. I’d definitely succeeded in gaining her interest.
Both of their eyes were fixed on the glittering strawberries and tiny crab apples. Next to those were grapes that had been coated whole with the caramelized sugar and glossy bite-sized pieces of oranges. The trick was to carefully remove moisture from the fruit’s surface before preparing it. This allowed for a more even distribution of candy coating.
Each piece of fruit, stuck with a skewer for easier consumption, resembled a beautiful gemstone.
I’d decided to name them “gem candy” to make them sound a bit fancier.
This was a popular treat in my past life, commonly purchased at food stalls during festivals, but I was quite certain the people of this world would be fascinated by such a rare sight. It was relatively simple to make while producing an eye-catching, delicious treat.
“Meow meow!”
Berry was nodding her head as if to give her approval of the flavor. She’d already gotten her fill of the strawberry gem candies I made for her beforehand.
“Hehe! It’s time for us to dig in too.” Lady Natalie, a cat-lover, smiled at Berry. It was an adorable sight to see on the usually expressionless girl’s face.
We all picked up our skewers and bit into the candy coating.
Crack! Crunch!
The candy split apart with a satisfying sound, making way for a simple sweetness to dance across my tongue.
Next, I bit into the fruit.
Chewing on the strawberry fruit inside produced the perfect balance of sweet and sour. The juices seeped out and combined with the candy coating, allowing the opposite textures an equal opportunity to shine through.
“Why yes, these are sweet and tasty,” Lady Kate said. “It’s also fun how the candy splits apart.”
First a strawberry, then a grape, then a candy apple. Lady Kate was continuously scooping up more gem candy with swift and elegant mannerisms. Her wagging tail revealed how pleased she was.
“I’m glad you like them,” I said. “I see you’ve finally come around on strawberries, Lady Kate.”
Despite how delicious and pretty strawberries were, the people of this country hated the fruit they referred to as the “poor man’s gem.”
This was due to the existence of a different fruit, identical to strawberries in all but color, known as “demon’s gems.” Their poisonous nature made the people of Wolfvarte wary of consuming anything similar-looking. Many refused to consume jam or pureed strawberries, and almost no one dared eat anything that retained the strawberry’s natural shape.
Even Lady Kate’s tail had puffed up with fear the first time she saw them, so I was most pleased by her progress. It seemed exposing her to them and baking strawberry sweets over time had been a success.
“Hehe!” Lady Kate giggled. “Well, you were so passionate when you recommended them, it was impossible not to fall in love with these strawberries. All of Your Majesty’s sweets have been really tasty.”
“I feel exactly the same way.” Lady Natalie nodded eagerly in agreement. “You certainly love your strawberries, Queen Laetitia, and that’s why they’ve become a favorite of mine too. It’s another thing to look forward to every time I visit this villa.”
“Meow!”
“You’ve got good tastes for a human if you like strawberries that much.” That was how I interpreted Berry’s cry as she patted Lady Natalie’s shoulder.
“…!” Lady Natalie was silently trembling. She seemed to be screaming with glee on the inside, overwhelmed by the direct contact with those little toe beans. I knew the feeling all too well.
Berry’s so cute. What an adorable creature. I would be acting just as strangely if Berry had placed her paw pads on me in approval.
Lady Natalie took a sip of tea to distract from her red cheeks. Then she took a deep breath to calm herself. “…Thank you very much for treating us to more delicious desserts today. I’ll be sure to repay your kindness when we next meet.”
“You’re making too much of it,” I said. “All I want is to enjoy tea with the two of you.”
Every tea party with Lady Natalie and Lady Kate was a delightful affair. Both women had lovely personalities, and perhaps because we came from similar backgrounds, they’d opened up to me over the past year to become my dearest friends.
Of course, I was also glad to have these connections with them on a larger, societal level.
Lady Natalie and Lady Kate were candidates to become Wolfvarte’s next queen, and had therefore been granted villas of their own on the palace grounds. They were two of the country’s highest-ranking noblewomen.
Both women’s families opposed the other, so Lady Natalie and Lady Kate were cold to each other when they first met, but after going through a series of events that allowed them to clear the air, their relationship had improved considerably. They even held tea parties of their own to strengthen their friendship and exchange information when I was too busy to join them.
I’d learned they also recently began to correspond more with Lady I-Liena, a candidate for queen like themselves, and were on friendly terms with her now.
“I could never tell what Lady I-Liena was thinking at first. That made me worry she was a scary person, but fortunately, she’s started to be a bit more friendly.”
“I felt the same. She used to be so nasty and always made fun of me. But she’s a little gentler these days. I wonder why?”
Lady Natalie and Lady Kate both cocked their heads.
While they welcomed Lady I-Liena’s softening attitude, it appeared they didn’t understand it either.
“I believe Lady I-Liena approves of how the two of you have grown,” I said. “Perhaps she sees you as companions who will help support this country’s future alongside her.”
Lady I-Liena’s motives were hard to read.
But she did appear to genuinely care about Wolfvarte and her own homeland, the northern region. She’d prioritized her duties as a noblewoman over her own happiness or romantic inclinations, and these days, I saw her as a woman prepared to sacrifice her desires for the good of the kingdom.
That was why I was so certain—Lady I-Liena must have viewed Lady Natalie and Lady Kate as immature people when she first met them. Perhaps she felt they weren’t worth taking the time to know until now.
Ultimately, it was also of benefit to the kingdom for them to slowly forge a friendship with her.