“This is fantastic!” I exclaimed.
Van picked up a fork and put one into his mouth. His eyes glittered—it seemed that he also loved the mushrooms. “I did not know that there was such a delicacy here in Diamant!”
“Right?!” I turned to the squirrels and thanked them for introducing us to such a delicious treat. The squirrels shook their paws as if to be modest about their contributions.
“It might be a good idea to offer these snow mushrooms as a delicacy guests can eat at the hot springs,” Van suggested.
“That sounds great.” After all, the hot spring shouldn’t be the sole attraction—it should also feature local delicacies for visitors to enjoy. “I’ll think of some more recipes that use snow mushrooms.”
“Yes, please do,” Van said. And with that, our meeting about the hot spring excavation ended.
“I’ll be meeting with Marquis de Noisette now,” Van said. He attempted to say it in a serious tone, but he was still in his tiny dragon form and being held by Roche. I had to hold back my laughter as I saw him off.
While waiting for Van, I contacted our body doubles in the capital via crystal to hear their reports. At the appointed time, silhouettes appeared in the crystal I had. I peered into it and saw burly knights wearing dresses. Once again, I was taken aback by their appearances. The white squirrels were also terrified—they all ran and hid behind me.
Anyway.
“Sir Chouquette Salée, Sir Saint-Honoré, and Sir Potiron. Good work. How are things in the capital?”
Sir Chouquette Salée, who had been acting as my body double, answered my question. “There are no problems in the capital, milady! The illusions have been functioning as intended, and none have seen through our disguises as of yet!”
“I see.”
According to the knights, they had been going out shopping, attending theater performances, and holding tea parties. These were all very public activities, but they had not been attacked at all.
“Just to make sure, where did you all go shopping?” I asked. I was worried that they were going out to buy things like weapons and armor.
Sir Saint-Honoré, the one taking on the role of Parfeil, answered. “Yesterday, we visited a store that sold stuffed animals and purchased a stuffed white cat.”
Sir Potiron, who was acting as Madeleine, showed me the stuffed cat. It was an adorable toy with fluffy white fur.
So they bought it at a store that sells cute toys... I felt faint just thinking about these beefy knights wearing dresses and picking out stuffed animals. I pinched the back of my hand to keep myself together.
In the afternoon, they went to see a musical performance popular with dragonkin women entitled “Twinkly Shiny Stage.”
Sir Chouquette Salée recalled the performance for me. “‘Twinkly Shiny Stage’ was a dazzling show. There were young men wearing vibrant outfits, singing and dancing on the stage.”
I tried my best not to imagine these cross-dressing middle-aged knights seated among the young ladies in the audience.
Sir Saint-Honoré continued the report. “While watching the performance, I learned a new term: ‘fan service.’”
“Fan...service?” I asked.
“Indeed. The performers would sometimes wink at or blow kisses to the audience. The patrons call this ‘fan service.’”
“I... I see...”
It seemed that the three of them had received quite a bit of “fan service” from the performers. They must have gotten wind that they were the Dragon Duchess consort and her companions.
The knights had apparently joined their fan club as well. I just couldn’t comprehend why they felt the need to do such a thing.
Finally, Sir Potiron recalled their tea party. “We talked about our new equipment over tea.”
“Equipment?”
“We discovered that young ladies wear an item called a ‘corset’—a piece of equipment that is even more constricting than the armor we wear.”
Upon hearing that, I screamed internally.
“I had no idea that young women wore such constricting garments to shape their bodies. While I deeply respect their commitment, I could not help but feel that such a practice should be outlawed.”
Frankly, I fully agreed with them about corsets. I deeply wished that being thin and slender would cease being the prevailing standard of beauty.
“And what have the councillors been up to?” I asked.
“Nothing unusual...is what I would have liked to say. Your Highness, one of the Dragon Duchess consort’s knights noticed something odd about them.”
“What is it?”
“Well, it’s about Count Disque Praline...”
“Ah, that stubborn man.”
Count Disque Praline, one of the councillors who normally antagonized me and often refused to even bow his head in respect, had greeted one of my knights in the hallway. He was probably the councillor who despised me the most. I sometimes worried about him as there were days when his eyes seemed unfocused and he was spacing out. I heard that he had previously been a kind and gentle man, so it bothered me even more than it would otherwise.
“These past few days, he has apparently regained his old gentle behavior.”
“That’s good to hear. Still, we can’t let our guard down,” I said. I couldn’t discount the possibility of the enemy lulling us into complacency. Then I asked them to be on alert at all times.
The three of them saluted and finished their report.
“That is all from us at the capital.”
“Sir Chouquette Salée, Sir Saint-Honoré, Sir Potiron, I thank you all. Please take care of yourselves.”
“We thank you for your kind words, milady.”
“Milady, please take care of yourself as well.”
“We are praying for your safety.”
The crystal communication line closed and the squirrels peeked out from their hiding places. At the same time, I let out a long sigh.
I had thought that someone would make a move if our body doubles at the capital were too lax, but it was completely peaceful over there. Perhaps we had been too obvious in luring the enemy into taking action. I needed to consult Van and come up with a new strategy.
After that, I called Madeleine over to help me think of some delicacies to serve at the hot spring resort. Madeleine was from a well-off family and she had tried countless delicious foods since she was young. She was the perfect person to consult about this.
“A specialty food for the resort?”
“Yes,” I said. “I want something that everyone—be it noble or commoner, man or woman, young or old—can enjoy.”
“Hmm... That’s a difficult request...”