Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 145
Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 145
Candied fruit.
This was one of the snacks I’d wanted to try quite badly when I was little.
Maybe even more than French toast.
‘Right. Why had I forgotten about this?’
Lion soon realized the answer.
Actually, the reason was so simple it hardly counted as an answer.
Back when I was devouring everything I’d ever wanted to eat, at some point a thought suddenly struck me.
Ah, this is pointless.
No matter how much better the food I bought and ate was, it couldn’t completely cover up the envy I’d felt back then.
Like a scar that could fade but never vanish completely.
Once I realized that, a sense of emptiness washed over me alongside a feeling of lethargy.
A feeling of being full yet somehow unsatisfied, as if I were still hungry.
I thought I had made an effort to comfort myself, but I instinctively realized I had gone about it the wrong way.
I hated that.
‘…So I decided to turn away from it entirely.’
As it happened, I got thoroughly burned out by work, and naturally that feeling flew away into the past and was forgotten.
Even after possessing this body, I hadn’t thought of it at all, had I?
But now, looking at the candied flower petals in my hand, it stung like a needle prick, and the thought surged up.
It was a strange thing.
Even though the only resemblance was that both were preserved in sugar.
‘But I was really young back then, wasn’t I.’
I realized I was wrong, but I didn’t want to admit it, so I’d been ignoring it all this time.
I guess back then I didn’t know that all I had to do was accept it.
“You don’t have to buy it. Just have a taste.”
When Lion just stared at the candied petals without eating, the merchant offered again, as if to say it was all right.
Only then did Lion put a petal that had been resting softly in his palm into his mouth.
As the red rose petal entered his mouth, a gorgeous and sweet rose fragrance subtly stimulated his nose.
Closing his eyes, he felt as if he were strolling through a splendid rose garden.
‘Sweet.’
It felt like plucking the most lavishly blooming rose and drinking the honey within it.
At the same time, the image of candied fruit in his mind grew clearer and clearer.
Why he had envied that food back then, and why he had wanted to eat it.
Even though it was a memory tinged with sadness, Lion didn’t feel bad about recalling it.
“You’re eating it with enjoyment. Then how about trying this as well?”
The merchant, perhaps satisfied with Lion’s reaction, took out some lemon and orange peel preserved in sugar syrup, skewered them, and handed them over.
Lion put the candied orange peel into his mouth and chewed it busily.
“…!”
This was quite delicious too.
Maybe because the tough peel had been boiled and soaked in syrup, it was softer and chewier than expected.
Should I describe it as a texture reminiscent of jelly?
‘The outside of candied fruit must be quite similar to this, then?’
Of course, candied fruit involved a drying process, so it couldn’t be exactly the same, but the feeling itself was fairly similar.
“Tasty.”
“Right? Actually, it was my children’s favorite snack when they were little. So I thought I might try selling them, but they don’t sell well at all…”
The old merchant laughed heartily and joked that he was thinking about giving up the business.
“Once word gets out, you’ll sell out in no time, though.”
He meant it. The skill wasn’t ordinary.
At the very least, it wasn’t the sort of quality that would be pushed to a remote street stall due to lack of popularity or taste.
But… well, everyone had their own circumstances.
Lion decided not to press further.
‘Still, it’ll be worth the price for the idea.’
Maybe the merchant couldn’t read Lion’s thoughts, because he laughed as he rearranged the containers.
“Heheh, if I could just earn back the cost of the honey and sugar, I’d have no complaints.”
“Is that so? Then at least today, you’ll earn plenty.”
“Pardon?”
Lion immediately pulled out a handful of gold coins from his pocket and handed them over.
The merchant’s wrinkled eyes flew wide open as he was suddenly handed more gold than his hands could hold.
“E-even if I sell everything here, it won’t come close to half this amount…!”
Realizing that Lion was a fairly high-ranking noble, the old merchant’s speech became noticeably more polite.
‘He probably didn’t give this with that intention, but…’
I suspected I’d have reacted the same way, even if our positions were reversed.
Without bothering to comment, Lion picked up the jar filled with the rose petal preserves he’d just eaten.
“Even if the actual price isn’t that high, to me it’s worth this much, so don’t refuse. Thanks to you, I remembered something I’d forgotten.”
“Th-that must have been quite a pleasant memory.”
“Mm.”
It wasn’t a pleasant memory.
But…
“I think it’ll become a good memory soon.”
With that, Lion straightened up from his slightly bent posture.
“Anyway, these candied flower petals are really delicious, so maybe you could spread the word during the day. Well then.”
Finishing his words, Lion hurried away.
With the sweetness lingering faintly in his mouth, he wanted to make candied fruit as soon as possible.
“…”
The merchant, watching Lion disappear, only then dimly realized something.
A long-haired young man in exceptionally fine clothes.
And his eye color…
“Oh my god!”
That person he’d just met was probably the eccentric young master of the Asteri family.
The merchant clutched the overflowing gold coins tightly and bowed deeply toward Lion’s retreating back, already far in the distance.
* * *
When Lion returned to the mansion, he headed straight for the kitchen and took it over.
Even though it was late at night, the kitchen was clean…
“Hmm?”
Moreover, the kitchen tools Lion usually used were already laid out.
Presumably Alex, the head chef, prepared them every night in case Lion came to the kitchen.
“What a thoughtful person.”
Lion chuckled and picked out a generous amount of fruit he wanted from the fruit basket.
Apples, lemons, oranges, grapefruit, and the like.
Anything with a refreshing taste was gathered.
Since he was going to make them anyway, he thought it would be nice to make several kinds, and later make more of whichever candied fruit was the best-received.
With sugar and honey set out last, the ingredient preparation was quickly done.
Now, there was the most important step before starting to cook.
“Nature.”
“Peep?”
“Will you help me make a snack?”
“Peeeeep?”
“Ahem.”
Nature shot back as if to ask, ‘We’ve always made things together, why are you asking now?’
Fair point.
Lion cleared his throat, covering his mouth with his fist.
“Of course I know you’ve always helped me. But the ‘ultimate snack’ I’m making now absolutely needs you.”
It was a little embarrassing, but he meant it.
Because… on the way back to the mansion, he had seriously contemplated what snack he had truly wanted to eat as a child.
In fact, the answer came to him fairly quickly.
He had wanted a snack made together with someone.
That sense of fulfillment from making and eating together, sharing the process, was essential.
That, Lion thought, was the strategy for this hidden quest.
“This time, not just helping, but making it together. How about it?”
“Peep!”
Nature scurried over to Lion and nuzzled its head against the back of his hand.
That meant yes.
Just that made Lion feel somehow fulfilled.
And… for some reason, his heart felt buoyant!
“Then let’s take it slow together. First, shall we wash the fruit clean? Get some water ready.”
Nature filled a basin with cool, clear water to the brim.
Once the clean water was brimming, Lion gently rinsed the fruit.
Strangely, the moment the fruit went into the water Nature had produced, it became noticeably cleaner.
That wasn’t all!
The quality of the fruit itself also changed.
One might call it the ideal form of the fruit.
“Not bad.”
Lion praised Nature and cut the grapefruit.
The thickly sliced grapefruit, cut along the segments, gave off a bitter yet uniquely distinctive aroma.
It would be fine to slice it thinly and make candied fruit just like this, but…
Toning down the grapefruit’s bitterness a little would probably make it easier for everyone to enjoy.
He soaked the prepared grapefruit in salted water again.
“Let’s leave it for a bit.”
Even just leaving it until the fruit prep was done would get rid of most of the bitterness.
Lion then sliced the lemons and oranges along the segments.
As the tart, fresh fragrance of the peel-on fruit pieces filled the kitchen, his mouth watered on its own.
In truth, he’d had a hard time resisting since the moment he’d started cutting the grapefruit.
‘…Wait, I could just eat some.’
It wasn’t as if there wasn’t enough.
Besides, it was a fun little experience you could only have while cooking, wasn’t it?
Lion peeled one of the prepared oranges, cut it in half, and handed it to Nature.
Of course, Nature had no intention of holding back either, and pecked at the fruit piece right away.
Nature’s beak and feathers became damp with orange juice.
‘Good appetite.’
As expected of a bird, it liked fruit, it seemed.
Lion chewed on his half-piece of orange.
“Mmm~!”
Sweet and tart juice spread through his mouth like a flood.
Even though he’d only eaten a tiny piece, it felt as satisfying as downing concentrated fruit juice!
That wasn’t all.
He even felt as though the greasy coating in his mouth from the night market food had been washed clean.
To get this effect from just fruit, not even a cooked dish…
The fruit supplied to the Asteri mansion was good, but the real power was probably thanks to the water Nature had made.
Lion resisted the urge to eat another piece, finished preparing the apples, and finally rinsed the grapefruit that had been soaking in salted water with cold water, placed each kind in separate containers, and layered sugar over them to pickle.
Normally, he would need to leave them for a few hours to let the fruit’s moisture and sugar mingle…
‘But I want to feed them quickly.’
Lion reached out to the pickled fruit and used ‘Fermentation Acceleration.’
As a result, the moisture drew out as if the fruit had been left to sit for ages, and the sugar became damp.
“This should do.”
Lion ended the Fermentation Acceleration skill and inspected the fruit.
The relatively smaller fruits like apples and lemons seemed perfectly pickled, but the oranges and grapefruit looked like they could stand a bit longer.
He could cook them in order.
Lion put the apples and lemons into separate pots, added water, and boiled them over medium heat.
By the time the white sugar had slowly melted into a clear, fragrant liquid, Lion picked up a small jar of honey.
[Moonflower Honey (★★)]
- A thick, sweet, deep-yellow liquid.
- Its sweet, rich aroma seems like it could spread a thousand miles.
- Make sure no bear beastfolk ever discover it!
“…Is it because it’s honey?”
The moonflower honey especially had many warnings related to bear beastfolk.
“Well, it’s not important right now.”
Bear beastfolk were not exactly the sort of people one could meet anywhere.
Anyway, this was the honey he had saved up bit by bit after making Moonflower Honey Potion.
Maybe the labyrinth and moonflowers were a good match, because they had been growing well ever since.
In any case, since this fellow had good aroma and flavor, adding honey was better than adjusting the consistency with something like corn syrup.
Lion poured the thick honey in a steady stream into the boiling pot, and soon an aroma on a completely different level from before began to spread from the kitchen throughout the mansion.