A Familiar Voice
“What is this!”
“It’s… it’s a stew of seasonal vegetables…”
The way the chef answered suggested that he was hiding something. But Mia wasn’t going to be fooled.
“I’m asking what this vegetable is.”
Mia asked while bring the spoon closer to the chef’s face. There is a difference in height between the chef and Mia, so she stretched out her arms and stood on her tiptoes.
“It is indeed a yellowmoon tomato, Your Highness.”
The chef answered after realizing that Mia was not backing down. The maids around them all looked worried.
“Really? This… this is a yellowmoon tomato?” Incredibly, Mia stares at it and then puts the spoon in her mouth with her quivering hand. There was a refreshing sourness that spreads in her mouth the moment it touched the tip of her tongue. There was a faint sweetness hidden in it. The moderately simmered vegetables crumble in her mouth and melt. Leave a wonderful finish in her mouth…
The exquisite taste, which is different from what she remembered, shook Mia’s emotions.
Enthusiastic, Mia took another spoonful. The stew melted on her tongue, leaving a rich flavor, and the bread has a soft sweetness to it.
“Was bread always this soft?”
Her muttering voice was trembling. Then she noticed that tears were flowing down her cheeks.
“Huh, Your Highness, did you not like it? Was there something wrong with my cooking…?”
The chef panicked.
Mia, whose mouth was full, tried to reply, but her voice wouldn’t come out. Furthermore, she started choking on something, and so she flailed her arms wildly. After showing a behavior that was unprincess-like, she managed to calm down when one of the maids brought her water.
“I enjoyed it, chef. Your skills are commendable.”
Mia smiled at the chef who was nervous.
“I’m honored by your compliment, Your Highness. But that stew was made to bring out the naturalyu flavor of the ingredients. So the flavor is not all to my credit.”
“Was that so? But that yellowmoon tomatoes… Wasn’t yellowmoon tomatoes supposed to be more greenish and bitter?” She remembered what she was forced to eat in prison. It was hard, bitter, and tasted very very bad.
“Oh…” After a bitter smile, the chef said. “In the case of yellowmoon tomatoes, if you save the trouble of boiling, it may have such a taste. However, the one we prepared for you was cooked for three days. Anyone can make it they pay attention to the heat, you know?”
“…That much time? But if it takes so much time, we can just avoid eating it altogether.”
“I cannot do that, Your Highness. It is our duty as subjects to protect the health of the imperial family.”
The chef puts his hand on his chest and bows deeply. Before, Mia took for granted such signs of deference assuming that it was the normal way of things. But it wasn’t. After the revolution that fell the empire, there was nobody who gave a care about her, nor any deference. She has learned this now, and so she softly smiled and said.
“You are very considerate. Know that I am most grateful for your efforts.”
“Huh …?”
Hearing honest gratitude from Mia, the chef was in absolute shock that his mouth went agape. He took two unsteady steps backwards. He never thought that such a selfish princess could utter such kind words.
… At this point, it should be obvious how Mia usually behaves.
The chef stared at Mia with the kind of bewilderment as if he had just seen a witch through the sky.
“I…I… I am very honored, Your Highness.”
Finally, words came out of his mouth. He scratched his chin out of embarrassment.
“Well, it is also a matter of cost. The foods prepared today were of the finest quality that it is equivalent to a month’s salary of the common people.”
“My, is that so?”
Talks of costs and price have never made much sense to Mia. In the first place, she was raised as a spoiled princess. She was the kind of woman that can get anything that she likes with just a glance. She wasn’t interested in how much her living and food expenses are. Nor was she interested in how much the common people’s salaries are.
So she naturally did not care about the chef’s words. Or it was supposed to be like that… but…
Do you have any idea how much it costs to feed you royals?
A sarcastic voice suddenly echoed in her mind. Surprised, Mia looked around.
What in the heavenly moons.. Who was that now?
It was a familiar voice… from her memory…
