CH 144

I was in the kitchen again today, and a bit pissed off because of it. I’m honestly happy that everyone eats what I made and says it’s delicious. But there will be limits. If I was made to make pudding so frequently, I’m going to get sick of it. Why does everyone like pudding so much?

King Wilhelm, First Queen Elisabeth, Ludwig, Eleonore, and Margarete, it’s all a hit with the royal family. And the reception from Dietrich, Rutger, and the rest of House Kreff is also excellent. The person who was served the pudding, the person who served it to them, everyone says it’s delicious, and everyone asks for more. My family is like that, and so are the usual five ladies. Every time they’ve got the opportunity, they ask me for more pudding.

Is it really so delicious? There’s no vanilla, so it doesn’t have much flavor. It’s just sweet and soft pudding.

Well, I don’t think there’s ever been a texture like that in this world, and there’s not much sweetness in it, either. Although the production of beet sugar has increased and the price of sugar has gradually fallen, it is still expensive for the commoners. With the creation of the crepe cafe, sweets are spreading throughout the land, but it’s still a rarity.

In the first place, even though crepes are made and sold at a price that ordinary people can afford, they are not cheap. If one crepe in modern Japan costs 500 to 1,000 yen, would that be considered cheap?

Even if it was 1,000 yen, it would be a price that almost anyone could buy. But it’s definitely not cheap. It’s a different story that anyone can buy it and that something is cheap. How many meals can you eat with 1,000 yen if you cook at home? If you can only eat one crepe while paying enough money to fill yourself up normally, wouldn’t you think, “I can afford it, but it’s not cheap, is it?”

It’s the same thing in this world, the price has been lowered to the limit, but it’s not like you can buy as much as you want. It’s like a little extravagance or something you want to eat even if you have to take away from other things. It’s not like you can eat it every day over your usual diet.

I know it well. Sweets are rare and the texture is new. I can understand why everyone wants to eat it because it is so novel. But I don’t want to be asked to make it so often. It’s too many times, too close together.

That’s what I’m mad about. It’s hard because I have to make everything by myself. You can have someone else make it and buy it from them. If I do that, it will be a win-win if I can get it anytime I want. The only thing you should be careful about is eating too much and gaining weight just because you can buy it freely.

House Carruthers’ Head Cook, Damian, and his trusted subordinates have come to the Carruthers Residence in the royal capital. Because Father and Mother are both here, Damian and the rest of the servants arrived sometime after them.

At first, I thought that my parents would go back to Carruzan as soon as my entrance ceremony was over. However, seeing that Damian and the others came with Oliver and his troop, I immediately realized that my parents had no intention of returning that quickly. They may be coming back in the future, but at least they’re planning to stay here until I’m due to return to our territory for the long vacation.

I can teach Damian and his assistants how to make pudding. Anyway, I showed them how to cook it in the royal castle, so the court cooks should already understand how to make it. Or rather, Damian and the others have seen me cooking, so they should know how to do it even if I don’t explain it now.

The pudding itself is not difficult to make. And materials are no longer difficult to obtain. In the past, it was difficult to obtain sugar, eggs, and milk, but now we can purchase them all from our ranch. And that’s why there’s a problem.

Pudding can be easily imitated by anyone as long as they understand how to make it. That’s why I haven’t spread the pudding manufacturing method or commercialized it until now.

For example, if you know how to make crepe batter and how to cook it, all you have to do is add cream and fruit and roll it up. But in reality, it’s not that simple. That’s because the cream is difficult to obtain. The cream is a dairy product and needs to be sourced from our ranch. However, there is not enough quantity that anyone can buy it freely, and the manufacturing method has not leaked out. Even if others try to imitate crepes, they will first stumble on sourcing cream.

And even if they somehow manage to get past that, the next obstacle is fruit. Anyone who goes to the market can buy the fruit itself. But the fruits that you can normally buy at the market are only seasonal ones. It doesn’t last long and is available for a short period of time. Even if you make something like a limited-time menu with ingredients that match each season, it won’t have a reliable market supply.

We do a lot of things without regard to costs, such as making jams and mimicking refrigeration and freezing. If other companies try to imitate our methods, the selection will be pitiful, the cost will rise too much, and the selling price will be many times higher than ours. Even if such a store follows us and opens a competitor, it will not be a match. So no one has imitated it yet.

Pudding, on the other hand, requires fewer ingredients and is easier to obtain. Anyone can make it if they know how to make it. So if you want to monopolize pudding, you need to be careful not to leak the recipe. It is not possible to do as we have at the cafe, teaching part-time employees how to make crepes and serve them to customers.

There is no worry that the court cooks will leak the recipe. I’ve already taught them how to make cookies, pound cakes, etc., but it’s good proof of their trustworthiness that nothing has leaked yet after all this time. They are thoroughly educated and selected elites and do not carelessly share such information. If that happens even once, they and their families will not be safe. That’s what it means to be in charge of the Royal Dining Table.

Damian and his subordinates will be fine since they’re our cooks. The recipes and cooking methods I taught until now have not leaked out. I don’t know about the people who were originally serving in the royal capital, but I don’t have to worry about the people who came from Carruzan or Caanburg.

But having Damian and the others make pudding every day is also a problem, so it’s not a bad idea to take this opportunity to sell pudding as well. When it leaks and is imitated, then our time has come. If different people think about the same concept from different perspectives, more varied tastes and acts of ingenuity may come out. It’s not a bad thing at all.

It’s not interesting to be imitated blindly just like that. It’s best not to leak the manufacturing method as much as possible, and for a while, we want to collect profits as the original creators. It’s a little late, but let’s go talk to Hugo, the Head of Caanza’s Royal Capital Branches.

I headed to the Caanza Trading Firm Royal Capital 1st Branch with some of the puddings that I had just finished so that they could sample them in the office.

Instead of doing it in the store, I called my staff to the office, then explained my thoughts to Hugo and the others, and asked them to taste the pudding afterward. Pudding has a great reception here as well, and everyone puts their stamp of approval, saying it will definitely be a big hit. However, the material sourcing and manufacturing methods for mass production were simple, and if those leaked, we’d get copycats in an instant.

“This pudding is also wonderful,” Hugo said. “But, how do you keep coming up with these new ideas one after the other, Sir Floto?”

“Uh…” I said.

I’m at a loss for words. I can’t say it’s the knowledge of another world from my previous life…

“Would you like to make this product exclusive to members for a while?” Leonor said. “That ought to help buy us some time before the inevitable imitations.”

“I see……”

Reducing the number of people who can actually touch it will buy time before it leaks or someone finds out how to make it anyway. And if you make it exclusive to members, you can set the price higher. If you limit the number of products per day, the burden on the producers will be stabilized. You won’t know where the information leaked from or can leak from if you expose the product to a lot of people, like at the cafe. If only a certain number of members can get a certain amount, it seems that the secret can be kept for the time being.

“Moving on…” Hugo said. “Isn’t it time to tell Bianca, the assistant manager of the second store, about you, Sir Floto?”

“About that…” I said.

I still try not to tell Bianca about me. It’s not that I don’t trust Bianca. But if Bianca finds out about me, she won’t let me casually go to the crepe cafe. Is it selfish of me to want to casually go to the store as just a commoner and a customer all by her lonesome?

“I think you should ask Bianca, who runs the crepe cafe, for her opinion,” Hugo said.

“Ugh…I understand…” I said.

And so, I decided to take Hugo with me to the crepe cafe. If I go now, the cafe will probably be closed by the time I arrive. I don’t want the other staff to know about me, but after the store is closed, I can ask Hugo to call Bianca and talk to her alone.

The crepe café may have already closed, but Caanza’s General Goods Store is still open for a while. Let’s talk a little with Hugo and Bianca in the reception room or office of the General Goods Store. With that in mind, we headed to it.

As we approached the crepe cafe, we all heard a familiar voice.

“I’m sorry for coming at this hour,” the voice said. “I’m not asking you to sell the product now. I would like you to sell this product at a party in a week’s time! I don’t know if it’s allowed… and also, there are a lot of customers during the day, so that’s why I came now, so please forgive my rudeness.”

“Huh…?” I went.

The crepe cafe should have closed by now, but the door opened and Bianca and Christa were standing outside. Why is Christa here at this hour?

From the start, Caanza does not accept any business past opening hours. For example, if you respond to even one customer as a favor, you’d likely get another customer that says, “Why’d you do that for him and not me?” Once the favors start cascading, the amount of work will increase and they’ll not be able to go home on time. That’s why we are making a uniform effort to end all services when the closing time rolls by.

But now Bianca and Christa are talking in front of the crepe cafe. Of course, I’m not telling them not to talk at all just because it’s past closing. It’s not like I’m telling my staff not to deal with any customers after closing time, period, especially since we don’t know what they want. I’m just saying that you shouldn’t deal with sales, service, or complaints like they would during opening hours.

For example, neighbors may ask for advice about the noise or talk about our garbage disposal. In a restaurant, of course, there is those sort of problems. You can’t talk leisurely when the cafe’s crowded with customers in the middle of the day. It is unavoidable to deal with such things in the morning or at night when the store is closed.

However, I’m certain that Christa’s presence is no such business. Christa, who lives in the aristocratic district, can’t be here for that. Then does she want? There’s no way I’d be able to figure it out if I was thinking about it by myself, so it would be best to ask.

“Christa? Is something the matter?” I say.

“Floto… Floto, I’m begging you! Pudding for the evening party next week! Please serve it at Lady Helene’s party!” Christa replied.

And with that… I already know what’s she here for. Of course, Helene’s evening party will be held about a week from now. Because I was invited there, too, after all…

But is she ready for that party now? What’s the matter here? Normally, you would invite people after you have a clear prospect of being ready to hold the event. There shouldn’t be any idiots who’d send out invitations first, even though there’s nothing in sight yet. Especially for the organizer, the evening party is also a place to show off their power, so they can never fail. Hence, no one would send out invitations if they haven’t even begun to prepare.

Even before all this, Amelie’s evening party was just about a week ago. Of course, if you hold an evening party at this time of year, they’ll compare it to Amelie’s evening party. The royal evening party is naturally a topic of much excitement and buzz, so it wouldn’t be possible without considerable confidence to hold an evening party right after it.

And yet, was there something that made Christa voice such desperation now? I’m probably right. It must be quite urgent for Helene to tell Christa, her subordinate, to go out and do something about it. There must have been some kind of tragic accident.

For example, the planned ingredients didn’t arrive, or the chef got injured, or they couldn’t come as planned, or there was some kind of serious accident to someone else in their life, and they were distraught. Otherwise, there is no way someone like Duke Bayen would bother to order Christa to do something about it.

Helene, who had to make up something on the spot in a panic, must have ordered Christa to prepare an alternative plan. That’s why Christa came to see if we could serve crepes and pudding at the evening party. She consulted with Bianca, but Bianca doesn’t have that kind of decision-making power, and there’s no way Christa would know that. Anyway, she was desperate and didn’t know who to talk to, so she visited the store itself.

To be honest, I don’t really like Helene. Of course, I’m going to understand Helene’s motivations and the justifications for her behavior. Aristocracy is a competitive society no matter how high up you are, and they pull at each other’s feet, outsmart each other within the limits of not breaking the rules of polite engagement, and they are always competing and desperately trying to come out on top.

Helene’s method is also extremely common for a noble, and it’s not particularly outrageous. You can even say that she’s doing what any nobleman would have done. But that doesn’t mean I don’t care about Helene’s methods or forgive her. Honestly, I detest that way of doing things in general.

But… I want to help Christa, who is acting for Helene’s sake even if she throws away her pride as a noble and bows down to Bianca, who is a commoner. This is not for Helene, but for my friend Christa.

Having made up my mind, I look at Hugo. Hugo silently nodded. Then there is only one thing to do now.

“Christa, Bianca, what are we doing talking outside? Let’s go to the reception room of the General Goods Store,” I said.”

“…… Huh?” Bianca said, looking at me blankly.

It must be strange to them that I’m in charge. But I didn’t care about that and went into Caanza’s General Goods Store, next to the cafe. After seeing Hugo enter after me, Bianca and Christa followed.