Saint Valentino's Day (2)
After purchasing the tools she needed for cooking, Reika returned to the room with Irene and set about preparing something with busy hands.
"Um... Reika, I've brought everything you asked for, but..."
"Ah, thank you! Just leave them nearby."
A large brass bowl—two of them—and a tray. Several pieces of wood, molds for baking cookies, a few bricks, and the ingredients. She had even drawn water from the well, saying it might be needed.
"I double-checked the recipe for this very moment!"
Indeed, on the way back to the lodging Reika had bought a book of recipes and read through it at speed. Irene realized anew that when it came to making sweets, none of Reika's usual scatterbrained self was anywhere to be seen.
After checking the ingredients, Reika began working with those delicate hands of hers, thumping about with surprising competence.
"What's this...?"
"Prep work for cooking! Ah, Lady Irene, could you open the window...?"
Faced with Reika's unusually high energy, Irene quietly did as she was told and opened the window. After a few minutes of tinkering, a surprisingly decent cooking setup took shape. It was an extremely primitive affair—bricks stacked into a square with chopped wood set inside—but at least it allowed for cooking with fire.
"Wait. Doesn't this need a flame? ...I didn't bring anything for kindling."
"Don't worry."
Reika took a deep breath and lightly spread her hand.
Fwoosh—
She tossed the small fireball gathered in her palm lightly toward the wood, and the wood caught and began to burn.
"Ohh..."
Placing the brass pot on top completed a fairly respectable cooking system.
"Impressive. You can create fire from your hands."
"Anyone can do it if they know how to read mana."
"Mana?"
At Irene's question, Reika brought a finger to her lips and sank into thought.
"Hmm... Well, according to Master's explanation, it's an energy source flowing through the air... So, like how you feel air entering your body when you breathe, you feel the energy gathering at your fingertips... Is that how I should explain it...?"
Explaining mana—something she had been able to sense from birth—was quite difficult even for a genius like Reika. Irene seemed to sense as much, and instead of pressing further she changed the subject out of consideration.
"That aside, this doesn't look like the work of someone who's only done this once or twice."
"I couldn't leave my room, after all. Preparing cooking tools in secret like this and baking bread was the only free time I had. Thinking about what kind of bread to bake, what to put in it... Contemplating those things is really pleasant."
After saying that, Reika let out a small ehehe of a laugh. Her slightly flushed face made it clear she was in a very good mood.
"Now I'll melt the chocolate in here."
She put all the leftover chocolate they had purchased into the pot. Since it had melted so easily in the mouth, that much heat would surely turn it soft and sticky before long.
For Irene, who had only ever cooked rough fare like grilled meat or simple salads, she could not quickly grasp what Reika was trying to do—
Best to leave it to the expert here.
"Next, we wait until it all melts. Ah! I brought this. Try it on."
"Hm?"
Irene accepted the scrap of cloth Reika fumbled out and handed over. Unfolding it... this was an apron, wasn't it?
"You carry something like this around?"
"I always keep it with me. Someday... I thought maybe I could bake with a friend...! It's a bit amateurish, but still—a day like this has finally come for me..."
Leaving the somewhat sentimental Reika behind, Irene put on the apron—
"Hmm...?"
Something... did not seem to be tying properly.
"Reika. Sorry, but I don't think the size fits."
"What? Ah..."
The moment she turned her head to look at Irene, she painfully understood what "doesn't seem to fit" meant. It did not even cover her chest—that part alone was floating free. When she had seen Irene change clothes before, she had clearly been wearing a compression bandage... but it was that large?
"Reika...?"
"Ah, yes! Ah, th-that... um, you don't have to force yourself to wear it! It's f-fine if you don't push yourself."
Momentarily stunned by that overwhelming chest, Reika hurriedly waved her hands as she spoke.
"Hmm... I feel somehow sorry."
"No! If anything, I should apologize... I should have tried harder too..."
"......?"
And so the small commotion passed. Irene set about finely grinding various nuts, including hazelnuts, with something like a mortar.
"Good. You're doing great!"
Then she put the finely crushed nuts straight into the melted chocolate. Reika stirred it carefully as she spoke.
"It'll be hard to perfectly recreate that flavor... but this should roughly make up for the nutty taste...!"
After some time had passed, Reika extinguished the fire and skillfully transferred the hot chocolate little by little into the molds.
"Here. Lady Irene, try doing it yourself too!"
"U-um..."
Somehow she found herself pouring the melted chocolate into the molds as instructed. It was not that complicated a process, but from the moment she started grinding the nuts she could feel it—the sensation of making something.
Her own two hands. Those two hands she had always thought had no value except for staining with others' blood on the battlefield... the feeling of sweets taking shape from them felt incredibly novel and fresh to Irene.
Whether food or snacks, the act of making something people eat was an act of creating life—of creating living. She who had always taken others' lives was making sweet, warm sweets, things that sustained life. Irene felt she understood a little why Reika liked making them.
"Great work!"
Reika arranged the prepared chocolates on a tray, then poured the water Irene had drawn into the remaining bowl.
"Now it's time to add the seasoning called time."
One hour later, confirming that the chocolates on the tray had hardened to some degree, Reika finished her meditation and slowly rose from her seat. Then she lightly spread her pure white hands, closed her eyes, and began gathering a blue aura.
"!!!"
Soon something like small icicles bloomed from her hands. Reika made several pieces and dropped them into the water-filled bowl. By floating the tray on the water that had instantly grown cold—
"Done!"
"Hoh... Magic really is amazing."
"Right? Father only focused on its value as a strategic weapon... but even without that approach, there are endless ways to use it. I wish it weren't an era like this."
And so, decent-looking chocolates were completed. Because they had used cookie molds the shapes were all different, but wasn't the important thing the taste?
"......"
Irene nervously crunched into a chocolate. Rolling it around in her mouth a few times...
"...It's delicious!"
"I'm glad!"
It did not taste exactly the same as the new product they had eaten before, but it was definitely something worth eating.
"Lady Irene made these herself!"
"No, I... only did what you told me to."
"That's not true. Irene's heart went into the chocolate. A person's heart plays a more important role than any seasoning."
"...Is that so?"
"Of course!"
From Reika, who spoke with a smile, Irene gained a strange courage. Then if she just delivered this to that man...
Irene recalled Swen's face—the man who had always been her support, who had taken on the stigma of traitor for her sake.
...I hope he likes it.
I want to see him happy receiving this—
In this moment, there was only one thing she wished for.
At Jennis's word that a messenger pigeon had arrived urgently seeking me, I left the lodging and headed for a small park near Aingart Castle's plaza. Arriving there, I found faces I had not seen in quite a while.
"Swen...!"
"Lord Swen...!"
The ones who had called me were Irene and Reika. Perhaps because it had been so long, I found myself smiling without realizing it at how glad I was to see them.
"Have you both been well?"
"Yeah. Well... thanks to you. Swen, what about you? You look a bit thinner..."
Irene said that as she lightly brushed my cheek with the back of her hand. I had been noticing lately that she was the type to worry excessively.
"No. I'm the same as always. If anything, I've been eating pretty well lately."
"Really? That's a relief then..."
"But what's going on? Calling me so suddenly."
"Lady Irene...!"
At that moment, Reika lightly poked Irene's side. As if knowing exactly what that meant, Irene made a startled expression and stared blankly at my face.
"Th-that is... so, um, Swen. I-I have something to say."
"Yes. Please go ahead."
"Uh... um, ahem. So... I've been greatly indebted to you since our days in the Brans Army. And, um... Christmas, was it. Back then you were the one who congratulated me first, so to speak, so... as a way of returning the favor... um, so, that is."
Setting aside how incredibly cute and lovable she looked not knowing what to do—I felt like I knew why she had called me.
"Did you prepare chocolate by any chance?"
"......!!!!"
Irene's pupils visibly dilated. With her face completely flushed, she looked at me with an expression wondering how on earth I had guessed correctly.
"H-h-how... did you know?"
"Well, today is Saint Valentino's Day, after all."
"It's a northern continent holiday, but Lord Swen knew about it...?"
I nodded at Reika's question.
"Yes, well. Roughly."
"Well... then this conversation will go quickly."
With that, Irene handed me a paper bag. Opening it—chocolates shaped like people or little bears, looking just like cookies, revealed themselves.
"Wow... did you make these yourselves?"
"Hm? Ah... th-that—"
"Yes! Lady Irene and I... worked hard making them...!"
In place of Irene, who could not even answer properly from fluster, Reika replied with sparkling eyes.
"Is that so? Thank you. You could have just bought some."
I picked up a person-shaped chocolate right there and ate it. With a crunch, various nuts chewed in my mouth.
This... is like that, isn't it?
Once again, the culture of my original world came to mind. You could easily get chocolate packed with nuts at convenience stores.
"It's delicious. Thank you."
"No, well... i-if it tastes good... that's a reli—?!"
I put the chocolate I had bitten halfway into Irene's mouth. Greatly flustered, she flushed red and did not know what to do... then eventually closed both eyes tightly and accepted it. She munched like a small animal, and with a gulp stared straight at me and asked,
"Wh-what was that just now...?"
"Because it's delicious. I wanted to eat it together with you, Lady Irene."
"Waaah... Lord Swen, you're so bold..."
Reika covered her mouth with both hands, not knowing what to do.
What? I did not think I had done anything particularly special.
"Anyway, since it's been so long, shall we take a walk together? I've really missed you, Lady Irene."
"Hm? Ah, uh... th-that is, um..."
She did not know what to do, then eventually spoke in a voice that trailed off.
"...I... missed you too."
At that moment, Reika, who had been reading the room, carefully raised her hand.
"Um... I, that is, um... I-I'll head back first! You two, please enjoy your time—"
"What? What are you talking about. Reika, you come too."
"...Eh?"
"I've missed you too, Reika. I was really lonely all by myself."
"...Eh? What? Y-you missed... me too...???"
"? Yes."
Hearing my words, Reika suddenly lowered her head and started not knowing what to do. It was the familiar Reika I originally knew. I had thought she was speaking unusually smoothly today. But well, it was not a lie that I had missed her. Jennis was not a bad friend, but the time spent with these two had been nothing but enjoyable for me.
"Um... i-if you... say so..."
"Great. There are lots of pretty places around here, so let's take our time looking around."
"...Yeah."
With Irene nodding, we slowly set off with no particular destination. Matching my steps with theirs, listening to the gentle breeze and the sound of rustling leaves... I recalled what had happened just earlier.
"Swen. On Saint Valentino's Day, there is a custom of women giving sweets to men. You'll easily guess why I'm bringing this up."
"I desire you. Therefore... as a sovereign, and as a human being, I intend to look as good as possible in your eyes going forward. Starting from the most trivial things. With sincerity, I will engrave this body fully into your gaze."
"Don't you think it would be quite enjoyable to slowly learn together that if there is a lord to serve in this chaotic age, it is none other than myself? Fufu..."
Best not to mention being summoned by Lady Serpina and getting stuffed full of all kinds of expensive chocolate...
Including the reason I had learned there was a holiday so similar to Valentine's Day called Saint Valentino's Day—thinking it was fine not to mention even such trivial things, I spent a leisurely time with them for the first time in a while.