“Agh, that’s hot!” William took a single bite of Emma’s special curry and started begging for water.
“You all right there, William?” Arven filled William’s empty cup with more water.
“I told you you should’ve taken it from the mild pot instead. You’re still a kid.”
“William, I’ll take this plate. You go get yourself something mild instead.”
Emma scolded William with exasperation, and George confiscated his spicy curry. Meanwhile, William dejectedly went off to get himself some mild curry instead. “Man... I was so good with super spicy food before...” In my previous life...
“Well... What about the rest of you? Is it too spicy?” Emma had invited all her friends, Arthur, and for some reason, the king and Prince Edward as well.
“This...curry, was it? It’s quite delicious! Why, I could eat a dozen plates of it! The meat and vegetables in them are cooked to perfection. I can’t stop eating it!”
Was it really okay for someone from the royal family to be eating something not specially prepared for him like that? I don’t see anyone around to test for poison or anything... The family stared worriedly at the king as he went to town on the curry.
Well, if the king’s okay with it, then so am I, Emma thought, dreamily watching the king’s uninhibited eating habits. She hadn’t gotten to feed a silver fox like this since she’d treated the sailors with scurvy, and she really did think it was the sort of thing she’d never tire of.
Dinner continued. However, there was one problem...
Unlike the king, Prince Edward was gripping his spoon and staring at his food, not taking a single bite.
“Your Highness, is it not to your taste?”
“I-It’s not that... It’s more...when I think about how Emma made this, my chest feels so tight...” He’d never thought he’d get to have Emma’s home cooking. He thanked the heavens that he decided to participate in the field trip this year. He was so overwhelmed by his blessings that it was causing him a bit of trouble.
“There’s no poison in it, so you can eat it without any worries.” Unfortunately, Emma had not picked up on how full his heart felt, simply assuming he was a bit pickier than the king.
“Oh, what’s the matter, Your Highness? If you don’t want to eat it, I’d be happy to do it for you.” Arthur noticed Edward wasn’t eating and teasingly reached out to take his plate.
“Wh-What do you mean, Arthur?! Emma worked so hard to cook it... Of course I’m going to eat it! Homph! ...Agh, it’s spicy!” The prince quickly shoved a spoonful of the curry in his mouth to keep Arthur from taking any, but it was spicier than he’d anticipated.
“E-Er, there’s some milder kinds over here, so you don’t need to force yourself to eat that one if you don’t want to, Your Highness...” Emma suggested nervously, hoping this wouldn’t get her accused of treason.
“That’s not it, Emma! I’m completely okay. It was just spicier than I expected...but it’s very delicious. I’ve never had anything like it, but it’s shockingly delicious. It’s not just spicy either... It’s like a bunch of...complicated flavors are...I guess, mixing in my mouth...?”
“Pfft! I can’t tell if that’s supposed to be a compliment or not, Your Highness!” Arthur couldn’t help but laugh at the prince’s jumbled review.
“It is! Obviously it is! I-It’s just a bit spicy, and then there’s more flavor that comes after!”
“If it’s too spicy, I can get you a mild flavor instead, Your Highness...”
“It’s fine! You sit, George! I’m completely fine!” The prince stopped George, who had stood up to get him a different plate. As a boy older than Emma, he couldn’t bear to be eating a milder flavor than her.
“Pffffft! You are a riot, Your Highness.” Whenever it came to Emma, the prince was much more expressive—the way a boy his age should be, making one wonder where that cold, emotionless image he used to have even came from. As his childhood friend, Arthur was so happy to see Edward loosen up, he could barely stand it. It was exactly the kind of thing he’d wanted to show the nobles who used to say he was a coldhearted, blue-blooded prince all this time, and he couldn’t contain his laughter.
Meanwhile, the king, who was on his second plate of curry, had mixed feelings about his son’s demeanor. He really wanted Emma to marry his son, but he couldn’t possibly say that. After all, Count Stewart, who was sitting across from him, was glaring at Edward with the face of a demon. As the father of a young girl himself, the king understood Count Stewart’s feelings all too well. But it wasn’t just the count. The count’s younger brother, Dr. Arven Stewart, was also glaring. The rumors that he was fully niece-brained must have been true.
Arthur’s little sister, Marion, scolded him for laughing. “No need to be rude, Arthur. Lady Emma, his highness is trying to say that the food is both spicy and delicious.”
“Spicy and delicious, right, Caitlyn?”
“Yeah, spicy and delicious, Catherine!”
“The mild version is quite delicious too. And this...rice, was it? The staple food of the Eastern Empire pairs so nicely with it.”
Marion and the twins had decided on spicy curry, while Francesca had chosen the mild version. They all seemed to have taken a liking to it, and were happily chowing down. Curry really was amazing. One could control the spice levels so easily that anyone could eat it.
Melsa scolded Leonard and Arven in a quiet voice for glaring at the prince, then offered the king a plate piled high with the meat. “Go on now, Your Majesty. Try the meat I cooked as well. I used this anti-monster...er, spice mix and the yogurt Francesca gave me to cook it, so it’s going to be fantastic.”
“R-Right...” The king had been deliberately trying to avoid the plate, but he couldn’t refuse when she handed it to him directly. The king reached out to take a piece. It wasn’t chicken. It was the meat of the giant monster bird Arven had shot out of the sky. When it was in the rich, yellow curry sauce, it had been mixed with a bunch of vegetables and cut into bite-sized pieces, so he’d been able to eat it without much convincing.
However, the meat in his hands made him hesitate. This one had only been seasoned, and it definitely looked just like a lump of monster meat. After seeing the Stewarts’ field dressing moments before, it was going to take a lot of courage to eat it. To make matters worse, he knew he’d heard Count Stewart’s wife say she’d used anti-monster powder on it, even though she tried to cover for herself.
“You’ll want to eat it while it’s still warm!”
“O-Of course.” The dish made of monster meat (which he’d never eaten before), covered in extremely suspicious spices (which he’d never seen before), was being forced upon him. In a worse twist of fate, the Stewarts had predicted people would want seconds, so they were trying to eat more rice before it ran out. Nobody had even touched the meat dish, so there was plenty left. “A-All right... Madam Stewart. I’ll have some now.”
Everyone (other than the Stewarts) was watching the king’s response to decide whether they would eat it or not. They were all nervous, but they didn’t show it. The man with the highest status in the group had suddenly become the poison tester. He finally steeled his nerves, then brought the meat up to his mouth, making everyone gulp. However, just as the meat was about to reach his lips, the voice of some panicked guards startled them all.
“Y-Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Something terrible!”
“What is it?! I’ll be there right away!” The king (quite unnaturally) got up quickly, meat in hand, and ran out of the tent. “What happened?!”
Outside the Stewart family’s tent, the knights who had called the king, a meager handful of hunters, the lord of the Skyte region, and his son, were lined up in a fuss. It must have been a major emergency, so the king looked at the lord of the region for an explanation (meat still in hand).
“I’m so glad to see you hale and hearty, Your Majesty! Y-You must escape this place! It’s dangerous! It’s far too dangerous for you to be here!” The lord knelt before the king, not having rested for a second. He was out of breath and covered in sweat as he pleaded.