180: Treat
As I sat on the stairs leading to the front entrance, I was soon joined by Liane, who appeared sitting next to me. I even had to do a double take, because this might have been the first time I had properly seen her not wearing any armour; even in the kitchen earlier today she’d had a couple of pieces on.
But now she sat in loose, dark blue clothing. She even had her hair down!
“Who are you?” I said conspiratorially.
Liane just smirked. “I’m allowed to relax once in a while, you know. It’s not my fault you always have us on edge and expecting some great danger around every corner.”
“You know I have the alchemist guild angry at me, right?” I retorted with a laugh.
Liane nodded, pointing to Lily. “There’s a reason she’s watching you constantly. I’d like to see someone try something. I doubt I’d even get my daggers out before they are in pieces. No, now is the best time to relax. Anyway, what are you doing with the book? You looked confused.”
Letting out a deep sigh as I grabbed my charcoal stick and tried to make a line right down the middle of the page.
“I can’t mark it. I wanted to add the recipes Julia gave me to it,” I said.
Liane reached over, taking it from my hands, which at least answered one question—someone could take this book—and then tried to mark it herself, trying several of the blank pages before attempting to leave a mark on the cover itself. We were both surprised when it had no issue leaving a charcoal mark on the cover.
“How interesting. All the books he gave you seem to be suspicious. Milo has been studying the texts you gave him, claiming they are not at all what is traditionally in the history books,” she said, handing it back after rubbing off the charcoal smudge.
We continued to sit in silence for a few more minutes before Liane pulled out a muffin.
“Where did you steal that from?” I eyed it, noticing it was one of mine too.
“Nowhere. It’s mine,” she said with a full mouth.
We sat in silence for a long while, just watching Crisplet move through the tree, working on the people he was placing in the branches. I was very curious how it was looking, but I wanted to wait until Crisplet was done and happy with it before I went up and had a really good look at it.
I was startled again as the voice of Hari came from behind us. “It is truly remarkable, isn’t it?”
Looking up at him, I saw he was just staring at the giant tree of fire as well.
“It is,” I mumbled.
“Right, well, dinner is about to be served, so I’m to collect you all,” Hari said.
“Good luck pulling Milo away from those books,” Liane said with a laugh.
I didn’t need to collect Crisplet, as he was already heading towards us. Lily was missing, though, which was odd. I could have sworn she was right behind me until just a moment ago.
Entering the dining room, I was surprised to see it was fully set up with a cloth over the table. Candles were lit on the table itself, along with various decorations like fresh fruit and flowers.
“Please, right this way, sir,” Archie said, escorting me to the head of the table where he held the chair for me, before doing the same for Liane, who was seated to my right.
Leaning over to Liane as she sat down, “Uh, you didn’t see where Lily went, did you?”
Liane pointed to the kitchen. “She’s waiting for them to finish so you can make her dinner.”
“Wait, how do you know all that?” I asked, now more sure than ever that something was going on with those two.
“Secret,” Liane responded with a smirk.
I waved to Micca as she entered, taking her seat next to George and Darren. Finally, Milo was pushed through the door by Hari, still clutching the books to his chest.
“Trevor! We must discu…” Milo began to say, but was cut off by Hari.
“Food, then you can discuss,” he said sharply.
Once everyone was seated, the doors to the kitchen opened, and the house staff carried out plates. I also noted that some of them looked rather pale.
Placed in front of me was a plate with a single bite of food on it. It appeared to be a vibrant red sliced piece of fish on a gold coin-sized piece of bread, with a deep green paste between them. Once everyone had their plates, Auguste spoke. “We’ll be having five courses tonight, and to start us off we have Smoked Brinel, served on a herb-crusted crouton with a Rusk Pea puree.”
Looking around, I wasn’t the only one confused by the looks of it, as Micca, Darren, and George seemed to be as confused as I was. But seeing Hari and Milo, they both picked up the whole item and ate it in one bite, so with a shrug I followed them.
It was divine. The flavour hit me right away. It was a warmth that came with the smoke on the fish, before a very delicate fish flavour cut through, and that was soon followed by the herbs in the crouton, which added a crunchy texture to it all. And finally, just when I thought it was over, the rusk pea puree left me with a subtle, fresh feeling that made the tip of my tongue tingle.
The only bad thing I could say about it was that there was only one bite!
But I had no time to complain as the next course started to come into the room. This time it appeared to be a dark bread roll in the middle of a plate, and as it was placed down in front of me, I could see the top had been removed and placed back on top, but Auguste spoke up, answering my questions.
“Next course we have Dusk Shore Clam Chowder, served in an Iron Grain bread roll. We encourage you to eat the bread while you eat the chowder. Alongside it, we are serving a soft red wine. For those who don’t drink alcohol, we have a mellow berry juice which pairs perfectly with this.”
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Looking back down at the meal, I removed the bread disc that was sitting on top and got my first look at the creamy white soup inside the bread roll. I was served juice. I wasn’t sure if they knew I didn’t drink alcohol or just assumed it, because they were asking everyone else. Only Hari and Milo were served wine without question.
My first spoonful of the chowder again was delightful. I was expecting a really fishy taste, but instead it was soft, and the herbs in the soup came through. The clam itself was incredibly tender, so deciding to follow instructions again, and taking some inspiration from Jen, who was tearing her bread lid apart, I tore off a piece as well, dipping it into the chowder and taking a bite.
I was shocked at how much it changed the taste. It went from a delicate delivery with herbs to a heavy earthiness that was then whisked away by the herbs, before I was left with the soft, fishy taste at the end.
How did they do that? The flavour was completely different!
Deciding if the juice was provided as a pairing I should try it with the meal, I took a sip, and it was true it was incredibly soft fruitiness to it, but what I noticed is it completely cleansed the palate, and as I took my next bite, I got to experience it all over again.
Is this what the royals got to eat every night? This was something I wanted to aspire to become.
Again, the meal felt too small, and I wanted more as I ate the last bite of the Iron Grain bread roll.
My glass was switched out and now replaced with what appeared to be a green juice of some kind. While my plate was cleared, I reached out to take a sip. This new juice was vastly different from the last one. It was sharp. It had an almost sour taste to it, but there was a sweet aftertaste that removed the sour before it became unpleasant, as if it were timed perfectly.
“These are so good!” I heard Liane saying next to me as she tried the green juice.
Jen was just nodding as she sipped her wine, which appeared to be a white one now.
The plates were cleared from the table, and there was a short wait before the next course, with Archie bringing baskets of sliced bread to the table and what looked to be a deep, rich yellow butter.
“Is the next course just the bread?” I asked curiously.
Milo shook his head. “No, this is often served between the entree and main course while you wait for it to come out, so help yourself.”
I didn’t wait to be told twice, taking a piece of the dark bread and adding the butter, surprised how smoothly it spread.
I expected the same earthiness as it gave to the chowder, but there was a strong herbal taste to the butter that was spiked with a sharp saltiness. It made the earthy flavour of the bread taste subtle, despite it being so dominant with the chowder.
I was stunned at how they did this. I didn’t even know any of this was possible.
My moment of being stunned was interrupted by the kitchen door opening again, and Auguste walked out, followed by the house staff carrying much larger plates and placing them down in front of everyone.
This one even surprised me as I looked down at what appeared to be a boar’s foot on my plate. This was something I threw away…
“For our main course, we have boar foot, stuffed with a mana truffle and wild mushroom duxelles, served on a bed of creamed marbled tuber, and topped with a sweet wine gravy. This is paired with the sharp Neskar wine and the equivalent Neskar juice. The sharpness and sour notes will pair perfectly with the meal to provide the diner with a journey of flavours,” Auguste said, returning to the kitchen.
I looked down at my plate and wondered how to even start eating it. It was not something I even knew was edible, because I thought it was all bones, but they said it’s stuffed. Looking up, I saw Hari slice straight into it, as if there were no bones at all.
So again, I followed what I saw, cutting it. The outer skin was thin and crispy, breaking with a crack, but there were no bones inside. There looked to be a layer of boar meat under the skin, and where the bone should have been was finely minced mushrooms with small pieces of truffle. Taking a bite, I just sat there, trying to process what was happening.
I expected a mushroom taste, or at least an earthy flavour from the truffle. I had used that before; I knew that flavour. But no, I instead got a slight saltiness from the skin, then a gamey boar flavour, but the meat was so soft it practically melted in my mouth. Instead of the earthy flavour, there was an umami hit and a faint hint of herbs.
I barely processed the creamy, buttery flavour of the creamed marbled tuber. My brain was so hung up on the boar’s foot. If they were this tasty, why did people throw them away?
I wasn’t the only one enjoying it. Everyone was going through the same experience I was, by the looks of it. Liane had her eyes closed. Jen was just leaning back and looking at the ceiling, savouring the bite, while I heard Hari muttering out, “So good”. Darren and George were both eating it like it would be taken away from them in a moment.
“I didn’t know boar’s foot could taste this good. I always throw it away,” I said.
Milo took a moment between bites to answer. Jen and Liane were still lost to the world.
“For most people, they wouldn’t be able to do something like this with a throwaway ingredient, but it’s usually a sign of pride that a chef can use a cheap, worthless ingredient and make it phenomenal like this.”
I didn’t talk anymore for fear of it going cold, and it was completely gone before I knew it. They had somehow removed every bone in the foot without destroying it, and stuffed it fully, right to the tip.
Everyone had perfectly clean plates when the staff came out to remove them.
Next, small teapots were placed in front of everyone, along with a small plate with a perfect square of pink fruit sitting in the middle.
“To reset your palate after that meal, we have our fourth course, a rich berry tea, served with a square of chilled Pethra Melon,” Auguste announced.
I noticed Milo let out a gasp for this one, so I wondered just how special this melon actually was, I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to savour it or eat it as one bite, but the moment it touched my tongue that decision was made for me, it was cold and refreshing, and it felt like I had taken a mouthful of juice.
The fruit itself had a very delicate sweetness to it, that left my mouth feeling fresh and wishing there was so much more, taking a sip of the tea, it seemed to pair with the melon perfectly as all the flavours of the melon came back, but were intensified with this hot tea that clashed with the cold melon.
“Incredible.” I muttered.
This time, Julia walked out with a giant smile on her face as the staff quickly brought out something I recognised. It was the meringues she taught me earlier!
The plate was placed in front of me, and it was dressed up with some fresh fruit dusted in powdered sugar, and the meringue was sitting on top of what looked like a thick cream, but Julia started speaking.
“For dessert, I have gone with a personal creation. I call it the Sage Orb. It’s a sweet pavlova with a lemon and berry filling, served on a white Mikarto mousse, topped with fresh fruit dusted with powdered sugar, served with a hot berry tea and a chilled Pethra melon cube.”
I knew what this tasted like, and I still didn’t wait a second, cracking right into it, taking a spoonful of the filling and just savouring every bite. Even having tasted this earlier, pairing it with the tea changed the flavour of the meal overall drastically. It wasn’t sweet like I was expecting it to be, since it was a berry tea. Instead, it had a very savoury taste to it, with a sweet aftertaste, which blended with the citrus in the dessert and just elevated the flavour, leaving a tingle all over my tongue.
Everyone was silent as they ate, also very clearly savouring every bite.
Before I knew it, it was all gone, and I was already wishing there was another course. But just after the plates were cleared, all three chefs came out, bowing towards me.
“Thank you for having us. I hope you enjoyed our dinner,” Auguste said.
“It was the best thing I have ever had! I wish you were here longer. Now I have so many questions!” I said quickly.
I got a soft chuckle from Auguste. “Provided the king is okay with it, you’re welcome to come to the royal kitchen any time and ask your questions. For now though, we will let you enjoy the rest of the evening.”
There was a chorus of thank yous around the table before Auguste stopped two steps away. “Oh, you will probably want to prepare something for Lily. She’s been waiting in the kitchen, staring at everyone this whole time, though she seemed to enjoy the boar foot.”
With that, they made their way out of the dining room, Torrel and Julia waving to me as they left.
It was time to cook something special for Lily.