A violent shock wave, indeed, I thought, recalling what had happened during the lunch break.
After I’d told him that the prince would be cooking for the festival, my brother had declared he wanted to try cooking as well. It hadn’t come entirely out of nowhere—we had been talking about cooking—but I hadn’t expected the tremor that rippled through the room.
I guess this world is still too bound to tradition for boys who cook to be commonplace.
No, wait. Aaron cooks for Isaac, doesn’t he? And Halil definitely told me that it’s customary for the head of the house to cook the main dish for celebrations in his homeland beyond the Summit of the Gods. Neither of them strike me as against men cooking on principle.
Incidentally, Japanese history had at least one emperor whose pastime was cooking in the Heian period—classified as classical history, far older than the current era of the empire. He was also the author of one of the poems of the Hyakunin Isshu, the one that went:
“For you, I venture,
to the fields of early springs.
Young greens in my hand,
while upon my trailing sleeves,
falls the softly drifting snow.”
I remembered his story very well, because I’d been so surprised when I’d realized the poem was probably about picking ingredients to cook! I’d had a hard time wrapping my mind around the fact that men already cooked to woo women so long ago. That emperor had had over forty children, so clearly the cooking had been doing something for him!
That said, I couldn’t recall his name. I had a vague feeling it contained the ideogram for “light,” but that was about it.
Sorry, Mr. Emperor.
Anyway, maybe my brother’s advisors had been so shocked because he was already the Duke of Yulnova. Maybe it had to do with his dignity as a duke, or maybe they’d just been shocked because it was so out of character for him.
I couldn’t forget the way Novak had gone stiff. When he’d recovered and opened his mouth to speak, though, I’d feared that he might try to stop Alexei.
I felt bad for Novak, but my brother wanted to cook. As an Alexei fangirl, there’d only been one thing for me to do:
“In that case, I’ll teach you!” I’d exclaimed before Novak could cut in. “I’d love to spend time with you in the kitchen.”
Now that I thought back on that moment, Novak had definitely gone stiff again when I said that.
But every single person needed to eat! Learning to cook was a good thing.
On the off chance I really dragged my brother into misery and we had to give up on our titles and wealth...being able to feed ourselves would be far better than despairing because we didn’t know how.
Although it would be better if our house didn’t collapse at all.
Remember, Ekaterina: pure, upright, and beautiful!
I worried less and less about the doom flags, but sometimes fear struck my heart all over again...
Anyway, I wouldn’t be teaching Alexei anytime soon, because he’d suddenly snapped out of it and shaken his head.
“That won’t do,” he’d said. “You’re too busy at the moment. I shouldn’t take up any more of your time.”
It had been quite a cold shower on my enthusiasm, since I’d gotten so excited at the idea of cooking with him. I’d already been wondering what color of apron I wanted him to wear, picturing myself teaching him how to peel potatoes and other such basic skills thoroughly and gently. I’d even toyed with the idea of getting him to wear a white chef’s uniform and hat!
I still think it’d fit him so well!!!
Even though the thought had only lasted a minute, I’d contemplated it with great intensity.
“Then I shall teach you after the festival is over,” I’d declared. “Please promise not to learn from anyone else!”
“As you wish,” he’d replied with a smile.
Alexei was too soft on me. Not that I expected anything else.
For some reason, Novak had looked only a little relieved.
Come to think of it, I’d heard Novak had been rather harsh when he was younger, so perhaps he believed men had no place in the kitchen. Personally, I thought it was a shame. He should learn how to cook too, so he could make something for his wife, Adelina.
“Um... Lady Yulnova?”
Ah!
I snapped out of my thoughts at the sound of my name.
I pressed my hands to my reddening cheeks. “I’m so sorry. I was lost in thought while the two of you worked hard. How embarrassing...”
“Please, don’t worry. I simply wanted to tell you we were done with this,” Yuri replied. His cheeks were just as red as mine, and he wore an apologetic expression on his face.
The boy working with him to replace the curtains with black ones was called Korneli Ephme. He’d also flushed red and was nodding along.
In my past life, I’d always taken the initiative, so I hated to let them do it all while I was zoned out. In this life, though, I was a highborn lady. I probably shouldn’t climb on chairs to change curtains.
“You’ve done a great job. Thank you both,” I said.
The two boys looked even more bashful, scratching their heads and mumbling in tandem, “We didn’t do much...”
As a big sister, I thought they were adorable.
Classes were over for the day, and I’d invited these two to a vacant room. I wanted Yuri to show me what he could do with his light mana. He seemed reserved, and I figured he’d be too shy in front of everyone, so I had asked the teachers if I could borrow a room. Thankfully, there were plenty of empty rooms in the academy because the number of students varied greatly from year to year.
Unlike the schools of my previous world, the Magic Academy had no fixed intake. Every youth who fulfilled the admission criteria was accepted, so the school never knew how many new students would enroll until after the year’s mana testing.
As a former working adult, I thought this system was terrifying. Still, it had endured for years, and the teachers knew how to adapt. They also had a lot of leeway to make adjustments. For instance, the university cooperated with the academy, and student “teachers” sometimes filled gaps if more teachers were needed.
You might be thinking: Are students qualified to be teachers?! But in this world, there was no such thing as a teaching license or diploma.
“The sun has started setting, so it’s not so bright outside anymore. Once we close these curtains, we should be able to see your light very well. Please show me what you can do, Lord Rey.”
Yuri’s face went rigid, and he gulped.
“First, please cast a light on an actor as you would if they were on the stage. Lady Flora, are you ready?”
“Yes, Lady Ekaterina.”
First, I wanted him to act like a basic spotlight. The classroom was dim but not so dark that you couldn’t see the people around you, so I watched Flora stand up.
I felt Yuri’s mana twirl through the air, and the next moment, light appeared around Flora.
Ooooh!
I stared at her, eyes wide.
My past life had led me to expect a cone-shaped light descending from above, but Flora was lit by an oval glow. It almost looked like she was emitting light.
So that’s the sort of thing you can do with mana! Of course, it would differ from the spotlights of my past world!
I adjusted my mental image. The point of using spotlights was to make the actors stand out. As long as that goal was achieved, the process didn’t matter.
Actually, this might be even better than a spotlight! Flora looks wrapped in a cocoon of light.
If such a thing had been possible in my previous world, plenty of stage directors would have wanted to use it!
“This is wonderful! Lady Flora, you look divine, just like a holy saint!”
“It feels...so strange,” Flora said.
She seemed a little disoriented, but I could see she was enjoying herself as she stretched out her hand, moving it in and out of the light.
“Lord Rey, does this tire you out?”
“Not at all. I can maintain this light a lot longer without issues,” he said with a little laugh, scratching the top of his head again. He seemed to be doing just fine.
“Could you try to gather the light atop Flora’s hand? I want it to look like it’s resting there.”
At my request, the light shrank and floated to Flora’s hand. Concentrated in a single spot, it was brighter than before, but Yuri quickly adapted, dimming it back to the same intensity.
A soft ball of light floating above the hand of a beautiful girl... The spectacle looked straight out of a fantasy story.
“Perfect! Your skills are truly impressive! To think you’re able to control your mana with such precision!”
“Th-This isn’t much... My family used to use me as a lamp, and my older siblings would yell at me if the light was too strong or too dim, so...”
I was speechless. He reminded me of another big sister I’d met in the duchy who was a little, well...let’s say forceful.
Maybe little brothers are really meant to be ordered around.
“How beautiful. The light stays above my hand!”
I’d rarely seen Flora so excited. She moved her hand up and down, marveling that the little ball of light seemed to follow it. Of course, it was all Yuri’s doing.
“Lady Ekaterina, catch!” she exclaimed, making a throwing motion.
I reflexively extended my hands, and the ball of light slowly floated into them.
“Wow...” I grinned despite myself.
Th-This is fun! I feel like I’m in a manga or an anime, only this is real life!
After playing around with the little sphere for a while, I threw it back toward Flora. Suddenly, the ball split into two. One landed in Flora’s hands, while the second returned to mine.