Volume 3 Chapter 42 Gourmet Nation Elgard
I walked over to the crab box and checked out all the crabs inside.
The crabs were as big as my face, and their legs were thick and long, like Mr. Lucian's fingers.
They had round claws and plump shells. They looked all round and were already boiled, turning a bright red.
"They're boiled..."
"They're steamed crabs, Lydia. We put the steamed Elgard crabs in a special freezing box with ice magic to freeze them instantly. Once you take them out and thaw them, you can eat them right away, and they taste amazing. You can also use them for crab hot pot, crab rice, or crab eggs, and they'll be delicious."
"A special freezing box?"
"Yeah. Freezing them instantly keeps their taste just right. The box lasts about a month, so after that, it goes back to a regular box. But in a month, you'll probably finish everything, right? Elgard is known as a food paradise, and our cooking and preservation skills are better than other countries."
"A food paradise...!"
My mom's hometown, Elgard, has a lot of tasty food.
And the prince of that country, Elder Brother Chrisrain, gives me crabs.
Maybe it's because it's my mom's home country. I feel more at ease with him than with the usual suspicious-looking people.
He gave me crabs after all.
There are no bad people who give crabs.
There's a saying in the Bernard Kingdom: "There are no bad people who give crabs and good meat."
"But, Elder Brother Chrisrain, is it really okay to get so many crabs...?"
"Of course! I steamed them this morning and packed them up for my cute little sister. Well, it was my palace chefs who did it, not me."
"Thank you so much!"
"There are 20 crabs in each box, and there are 5 boxes, so that makes a hundred. It feels a bit small, but I thought if I gave you too many, they'd take up too much space. Do you think it's enough, Lydia? I can bring more if you want."
"Wow, thank you, Elder Brother Chrisrain... I'm so happy about the crabs..."
After the Christmas festival, we have the New Year festival coming up.
Eating crabs during the New Year festival is such a treat.
Maybe everyone will gather at the restaurant, and then we can make crab hot pot, steamed crabs, crab rice, crab tempura, crab eggs, and crab cream croquettes.
Crabs are delicious whether you boil or grill them.
That's because they're fancy.
Expensive ingredients are tasty. It's a truth of the world.
"Lydia, I can send you a lot of crabs too..."
"Sir Stefan, thank you, but I just got a lot from Elder Brother Chrisrain, so I'm good. Let's eat together during the New Year festival, okay? But since we have so many, let's eat a little bit now."
"Lyd-Lyd, I want to eat crab cream croquettes."
"I heard Lyd-Lyd's cooking is really good. If it's okay, I'd like to try some too."
"Yes, of course!"
I smiled brightly.
I had just bought a lot of ingredients, and Lady Emilia was helping me carry things, so I wanted them to stay and eat.
Sir Ciel told me not to cook until Sunday, but it should be fine.
Tomorrow is Saturday, and Sunday is just 2 days away.
I'm feeling great, and cooking a little bit shouldn't be a problem.
"Lydia, are you sure it's okay? I don't want you to overdo it."
"I'm fine! I plan to reopen the restaurant next week, and doing nothing feels weird."
Sir Stefan looked worried.
When I smiled and looked up at him, he turned his gaze away, looking troubled.
"Lydia, are you not feeling well? Did I come at a bad time? I got a letter from my aunt that mentioned you, and I wanted to see you as soon as possible."
"Um, well... I'm happy. It feels strange to know I have relatives in Elgard."
"Aunt Tiansa was a princess from Elgard. My father, Gracephia, and my late grandfather, Haildin, really cared for Aunt Tiansa. When her marriage to the Lord Feldur was decided, they strongly opposed sending Bernard abroad for studies."
"I see. But still, my parents got married, right?"
"That just shows how much they loved each other. When there's love, borders don't matter. But because of that, I got a cute little sister, so I'm really happy."
I took some crabs out of the freezer with elder brother Chrisrain.
I pulled out 4 frozen crabs and brought them to the sink.
When I put them in a bowl, Elder Brother Chrisrain held his hand over the crabs.
"Thaw."
With a magic I hadn't heard of before, the crabs went from frozen to not frozen.
They already looked really tasty.
"Lord Chrisrain, how did you get into Lydia's restaurant? It shouldn't be easy to break in; that's a safety issue."
"Don't worry, Stefan. My specialty is space magic. It's not really for fighting, but in Elgard, those who can cook better are considered superior, so bloody battles aren't very popular. My magic helps with cooking."
"Space magic. It looked like you made the box of crabs appear out of nowhere."
Lady Emilia said, looking curious.
I drained the water from the thawed crabs while boiling water and milk to make ginger milk tea.
When I added the star sugar I got from Mr. Lucian, the ginger milk tea turned out really cute.
Lady Emilia and Lady Anna brought chairs next to the counter and were sitting with my dad, holding cups and drinking.
Ms. Famine moved to Lady Emilia's lap, and Eir-Eir jumped onto Lady Anna's head.
It seemed like both of them were scared of the crabs.
"Yeah. That's space magic. One type can store things infinitely, and the other lets you move by connecting spaces. Those are the two types I can use. So even if the door is closed, I can break in anytime. I could easily steal fancy caviar from a treasure vault that hides high-quality ingredients."
"But Sir Chrisrain, you're the Crown Prince, so you shouldn't need to steal."
Lady Anna said, sounding a bit exasperated.
"Well, Anna, I'm known as the useless prince who hasn't married at 26, and my 2 younger brothers are much more capable. I think my brother Ignis will take the throne. I don't want to deal with the annoying job of being king; I want to meet delicious ingredients from around the world and explore the mysteries of gourmet food."
"...You sound a lot like Mr. Tsukuyomi."
Lady Anna sighed.
Sir Stefan quietly muttered, "I wish I could escape too..."
I thought about how nice it would be for him to avoid the king's duties while picking the meat from the crab legs.
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