Celes, with her silver-rimmed glasses, guided me, though slightly lost, to a tavern with an exotic atmosphere located near the entrance of the Coachman’s Lodge street.
It was called, it seems, Izakaya Nobu.
“You know some unusual places, Celes.”
“The food here is very delicious.”
Pulling open the glass door, the inside of the tavern was surprisingly warm.
“Welcome!”
“…Welcome.”
I was so engrossed in our conversation that I hadn’t noticed, but it was cold outside. Realizing this, I became aware of the numbness in my fingertips. Thinking that Celes must be feeling the same, Conrad felt a surge of anger at his own insensitivity.
He wished he had at least offered her his jacket, but that was something he couldn’t do, even if he’d thought of it. With a feeling of frustration, he sat at the counter seat, and a wet towel was promptly offered.
“Here’s a hot towel.”
Receiving it from the smiling, black-haired waitress, he almost dropped it because of its warmth.
The almost-too-hot temperature was pleasant on his chilled palms.
Celes was also warming her hands with the hot towel. Seeing that she wasn’t wearing a ring on her finger brought him a slight sense of relief, though he felt ashamed of it.
What did it matter if she was single? He was about to have an unwanted arranged marriage meeting. Conrad felt a desperate frustration, almost wanting to scream, at the contradiction that the highest-ranking person in the Empire couldn’t even choose his own life partner.
Ah, if only he hadn’t met Celes.
Tomorrow’s marriage meeting would have just ended in disappointment. But now, even that was empty.
Since he had met her, he would have to live with this regret in his heart.
“Okay, then, two orders of kushikatsu, please.”
It seemed Celes had ordered for them while he was lost in thought. Still, kushikatsu was an unfamiliar name.
“Kushikatsu?”
“Yes, like a fritter… or what do you call it here, schnitzel?”
“I’ve never heard of such a dish.”
It was very rude, but he didn’t expect to taste any great cuisine at a back-alley tavern in the old capital. Come to think of it, the late Emperor had told his close aides that he had discovered a new gourmet dish in this city, and he should have listened more carefully about that restaurant. He hadn’t thought he would ever want to invite a woman to such a place, so he had casually dismissed it, which he now regretted.
Speaking of regrets, his “cousin” Johan-Gustav had said something similar. Although, he wasn’t a formal cousin. All the young men with close blood ties were called cousins.
That cousin had also told him that there were delicious things to be found in the old capital. He also remembered his cousin’s niece, Hildegard, mentioning a similar topic.
Come to think of it, it was a waste. It meant there were two or even three restaurants in the old capital that could satisfy the palates of nobles. He had heard that the “snob” Branton had been eating out more often lately, so perhaps the old capital was unexpectedly experiencing an unprecedented gourmet boom.
He was unable to take the woman he had fallen for to a delicious restaurant; how incompetent he was.
While he was lost in such thoughts, a plate and a container of sauce were placed in front of him, and he was given an explanation about the “no double-dipping” rule. It was the first time he had ever been told such a trivial dining rule, so it felt strangely refreshing.
“I’m grateful to you, Conrad.”
“Grateful?”
He was the one who should be grateful. If he hadn’t met Celes today, he would have lived his life without knowing that there was such joy in the world.
“If I hadn’t met you today, Conrad… I think I would have lived my life without knowing that there was such joy in the world.”
He gazed at Celes’s face.
It was very blissful, but at the same time very cruel, that they had been thinking the same thing.
A quiet silence fell between them.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, first up is the shrimp!”
What was brought out were crispy fried shrimp. Although he often ate fried food in the Imperial capital, it was inland, so this was the first time he had seen fried shrimp.
Crunch.
He opened his eyes wide at the delightful texture.
It was light. Fried food is usually heavy, but how could it be this light? Perhaps it was the oil. The sauce, which could only be dipped once, also had a good flavor. Simply put, it was delicious.
Above all, it was hot. Conrad, who was not allowed to eat until the food had been tasted for poison, had not had a warm meal since he was Crown Prince. Naturally, his heart warmed as well.
“Delicious.”
Celes smiled contentedly. She was also lovely when she was eating something delicious.
“We weren’t able to serve you kushikatsu last time you were here.”
The waitress apologized apologetically. It must not be very efficient for a tavern of this size to prepare every dish every day.
One after another, the kushikatsu were brought out, and they ate, smiled, and exchanged impressions.
A happy meal, a happy time.
“Ah.”
He tried to put a lotus root kushikatsu into the sauce container, but he failed.
Only a tiny bit of the edge was coated in sauce. This was a blunder.
He was the Emperor of the Empire, how could he not even manage the double-dipping of sauce? He resisted the urge to say so, and forced a smile towards Celes.
Then, the waitress took a leaf of cabbage that had been placed on the side.
“If you feel like you didn’t get enough sauce, you can adjust it like this.”
She showed him how to scoop the sauce with the cabbage, using it like a spoon. He understood; this was the way to do it.
He successfully finished eating the lotus root, and his stomach was full. Since it was a tavern, the alcohol was probably delicious as well, but he didn’t want to cloud his consciousness with alcohol today.
“Thank you for today.”
“Thanks to you, I had a wonderful time, Celes.”
A glass bowl was placed in front of the smiling couple. Inside was ice cream.
“Wow…”
“Oh…”
The ice cream, scooped with a silver spoon, melted smoothly on the tongue. It wasn’t just the scent of dairy. This scent was vanilla. He decided to overlook the fact that something the Imperial family had banned was in this restaurant, just for today. If anything, he could even grant special permission for this restaurant to use vanilla, in commemoration of today.
With a fluffy feeling, the meal came to an end.
Not knowing how much to pay, he handed over a gold coin with his profile engraved on it. The waitress looked curiously at the gold coin and Conrad. This was something he could never get used to.
“Thank you very much!”
Stepping out onto the street of the old capital, it was even colder, as the inside of the tavern had been so warm.
The sun had already set, and it was a dark, cold winter night.
“Conrad, look!”
Looking up as he was told, he saw a shooting star streaking across the sky. The shooting stars, children of the male and female moons, were said to bestow a small happiness and the courage to open up the future to those who saw them.
Unable to find the words to say, Conrad continued to look up at the sky with Celes.
From the tips of his feet, the cold crept upwards.
The two were silent until they parted ways.