The Prince’s Fiancée
With a light cough and a small sip of water, I said, “What about other fruits besides the **Kræmül**?”
The entire hall fell completely silent. The noble children who had wandered in had already caused the atmosphere to grow icy, and I slowly lifted the mask from my face.
The servants and maids froze in shock at the sight.
“Her Serene Highness?”
“She’s the Crown Prince’s fiancée! Aah!”
Everyone quickly lowered their heads to me.
So my face has already become pretty famous…
One middle-aged chef, who had raised his head, spoke to me.
“I’m sorry, miss, but this kitchen is dangerous. You shouldn’t come any closer….”
“What about other fruits besides the **Kræmül**?”
At that moment, a younger chef suddenly asked me.
“Jackson, shh!”
“But Miss said there’s a replacement fruit….”
They had been drowning men, and no matter what, they wanted to find a way to survive.
“Yes. I have a replacement. Please believe me.”
I placed my hand on my waist and spoke confidently, but suspicion appeared on the faces of the chefs, servants, and maids.
The villagers of Galnem, who knew how far my pragmatic living spirit had reached, would have believed me without a second thought….
But to them, I must look like an ignorant little girl who doesn’t know anything.
“Everyone will definitely like it!”
I knew how to captivate noble tastes, even if it was different from the rare **Kræmül** fruit.
***
“This… isn’t the **Kræmül** sherbet, is it?”
“What? It looks so unusual.”
“I think I’ve seen this before.”
At the end of the Masked Ball, the nobles stared into the glasses in their hands and tilted their heads.
Some even frowned slightly, saying it didn’t match proper etiquette.
But since they were wearing masks, they couldn’t openly criticize the Imperial Masked Ball’s dessert no matter where the Emperor was.
“……”
Briton also accepted the glass the servant brought him.
Unlike the **Kræmül** sherbet, this one had a pinkish tint, and the sherbet inside was thick with snowflake-like particles.
I picked up a spoon and scooped a little of it, then brought it to my mouth.
And a moment later…
“……!”
Briton’s pupils trembled gently.
He had tasted this before.
Arinell loved this melting ingredient that tasted sweet and adorable the moment it touched the tongue.
“As expected….”
The soft-spoken young man’s quiet murmur flowed out with a deep smile.
And among the most crowded women at the ball,
“……Mm!”
Even Lady Alence, who was the focus of everyone’s attention, scooped up a spoonful of the snowflake sugar beet sherbet and expressed her happy emotions.
Arinell’s skill!
Eating such a rare sherbet at a masked ball. The satisfaction welled up.
Since I decided on today, Arinell?
Lady Alence’s cheeks turned happily red.
“Everyone, please eat. Truly amazing! Hong-hong-hong!”
Lady Alence’s exaggerated praise made the other noble ladies slowly pick up their spoons.
And they began to eat bite by bite.
“This was also served at Lady Alence’s salon…?”
“……It tastes good. I haven’t tried it before!”
“Oh my! Is this the dessert Lady Alence was talking about?”
The ladies excitedly ate the sherbet and voiced their impressions.
It wasn’t exactly the same as the **Kræmül** taste, but this refreshing yet sophisticated sweetness was addictive, and they couldn’t stop spooning.
“Oh, what a splendid taste!”
“Oh! Really?”
The chefs and servants stood there in a daze.
They had betted with genuine surprise, thinking she was just some innocent noble young lady who had been raised in the countryside, and the result had been astonishing!
“What on earth is this sherbet?”
“Lady Alence. Please explain!”
“What is this perfect ingredient?!”
Lady Alence fanned her curiosity without revealing the dessert’s name, and the ladies were so curious that their eyes were spinning.
Some ladies even decided they would sell all their jewels to buy plenty of this dessert.
“I didn’t make this dessert today. It’s my disciple’s.”
People’s gazes slowly turned toward me.
“Miss Arinell Maila.”
Arinell, who received those stares, held the glass in her small hand with a calm expression and nibbled at the sugar beet sherbet.
“?”
“Aah!”
At the unexpected name, everyone’s eyes widened in surprise.
This exquisite dessert was made by a mere child who had just arrived from a rural village?
“That’s really true?”
“Yes.”
Some nobles, unable to believe it, asked the chefs standing nearby again.
Seeing their enthusiastic reactions, Arinell could guess the signs of a huge business success.
Arinell, receiving everyone’s gazes, smiled brightly and spoke up.
“Actually, the secret of this dessert is….”
A massive silence began to spread across the hall as people listened to Arinell’s words.
How could such a sweet taste come from such expensive and rare ingredients?
And Lady Alence, the Imperial Chancellor, had only fanned the flames of curiosity without revealing the secret.
A few seconds later, Arinell opened her mouth.
“It’s red sugar beet.”
Arinell’s clear, sweet voice rang out.
But even after ten seconds passed, no one reacted.
After a long while, the nobles began to whisper with absurd expressions.
“What… what?”
“Red sugar beet? Isn’t that what farm animals eat?”
“It’s bitter and sour, so it’s not worth cultivating in the fiefdom….”
“That’s impossible. It must be a joke.”
Actually, this reaction had been within the expected range.
Because the value of red sugar beet was usually thought of that way—nothing worth handling, and no one even tried to process it properly.
If Arinell had been raised from the start in a noble house with abundant food, she would never have looked at a beet twice.
Arinell smiled sweetly and added, “To know if it’s really true or not, ask the people who made the sherbet.”
Then, the people who had been so quiet suddenly shifted their gazes to the chefs present.
The chefs looked at Arinell’s signal, then nodded with bewildered expressions.
“It’s really…?”
“……!!”
“What?”
Everyone’s eyes widened.
And taking advantage of this gap, Lady Alence began to solidify the ground after the rain.
“As they say, the finest food depends on the skill and ability of the one who makes it. When I first tasted the dessert my disciple made, I was overwhelmed with shock.”
She continued praising Arinell.
“The elegance that seems to wrap around the tongue, this is more noble and perfect than any dessert in the history of Albreon… ah… it’s hard to find.”
Red sugar beet. A common, lowly ingredient.
But according to Lady Alence’s words, Arinell’s sherbet tasted as sophisticated as **Kræmül**.
The special processing method and blend of red sugar beet was Arinell’s own technique, something no chef had ever tried before.
“It’s like discovering a pearl in the mud, isn’t it?”
The nobles couldn’t deny it and didn’t even try to refute Lady Alence’s words.
“Let us toast to this great discovery.”
Lady Alence raised her glass as if toasting, and the remaining sherbet was like drinking juice. The other nobles followed her lead.
It was the moment a new trend began in Albreon’s high society.
“Anyone curious about Miss Arinell Maila’s special recipe should, Hong-hong-hong, pay close attention to her future movements.”
A star that appeared like a comet in high society!
The noble ladies and young noble children began to look at Arinell with eyes full of admiration.
This heightened expectation would create a good demand.
Yes! Success!
Arinell exchanged a sweet smile with Lady Alence.